Food Processor vs. stand mixer attachments?

[Marzipanlily79]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site, and I'm just getting my feet wet with serious cooking. I received an artisan stand mixer (KitchenAid) for Christmas and I'm thinking the next step is to get some sort of food processor.

The device will probably be used at least 2x a week. I intend on expanding my family over the next few years and I hope to make baby food with it. I am very interested in increasing the amount of vegetables I cook with and I am a lazy person in some ways, so I imagine the device I choose will help greatly.

I'd also love to make things like hummus, babaganoushe (no idea how to spell that, sorry!) salsa, etc.

I already own a mandolin slicer (love it although my husband has sliced his knuckles on it and is banned from it...) and I have a "stick" mixer that I've used to puree stuff for soup a few times that I liked as well.

I've read a few reviews for several KitchenAid food processors and for the stand mixer's attachments and they seem 50-50 (at least on amazon). I enjoy making all sorts of foods from all over the world so I guess the bottom line is versatility. Also, if the thought is to get a seperate food processor, what size is good? (This is most likely going to be a gift from a family member whose main concern is that I get one I can use and use often, not so much the price...)

Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences you may have are welcome!
Thanks!

[Drama Queen]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site, and I'm just getting my feet wet with serious cooking. I received an artisan stand mixer (KitchenAid) for Christmas and I'm thinking the next step is to get some sort of food processor.

The device will probably be used at least 2x a week. I intend on expanding my family over the next few years and I hope to make baby food with it. I am very interested in increasing the amount of vegetables I cook with and I am a lazy person in some ways, so I imagine the device I choose will help greatly.

I'd also love to make things like hummus, babaganoushe (no idea how to spell that, sorry!) salsa, etc.

I already own a mandolin slicer (love it although my husband has sliced his knuckles on it and is banned from it...) and I have a "stick" mixer that I've used to puree stuff for soup a few times that I liked as well.
As for Kitchen Aid attachments, I have a few of those too but none of them will do what the food processor does so we're talking about 2 very different appliances. You can't grind meat in a FP but you can with the KA meat grinder for instance. I would suggest going with the FP and at least one slicing blade. You can always add from there.

I've read a few reviews for several KitchenAid food processors and for the stand mixer's attachments and they seem 50-50 (at least on amazon). I enjoy making all sorts of foods from all over the world so I guess the bottom line is versatility. Also, if the thought is to get a seperate food processor, what size is good? (This is most likely going to be a gift from a family member whose main concern is that I get one I can use and use often, not so much the price...)

Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences you may have are welcome!
Thanks!

I own an 11 cup Cuisinart Food Processor that I've had for about 8 years. It's without a doubt one of the best appliances in my huge collection of appliances. (I have to have everything that comes down the pike.)
You'll be surprised at how often you'll use it. I prefer the Cuisinart because it seems to be reliable with very few problems, I've never had a problem with mine, and parts are always available. I'm sure you'll find that you'll use yours a lot more than you think so buy a good quality FP and have fun with it.
I also have the slicing, and shredding blades so the manoline would be unecessary and no more cut knuckles.
As for the KitchenAid mixer attachements, I have a few of those too, but the FP and KA are two very different appliances and do different tasks. You can grind meat with the KA meat grinder but you can't in the FP. Go with one slicing blade for your FP at first, you can always add later.

[Big Daddy's House]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site, and I'm just getting my feet wet with serious cooking. I received an artisan stand mixer (KitchenAid) for Christmas and I'm thinking the next step is to get some sort of food processor.

The device will probably be used at least 2x a week. I intend on expanding my family over the next few years and I hope to make baby food with it. I am very interested in increasing the amount of vegetables I cook with and I am a lazy person in some ways, so I imagine the device I choose will help greatly.

I'd also love to make things like hummus, babaganoushe (no idea how to spell that, sorry!) salsa, etc.

I already own a mandolin slicer (love it although my husband has sliced his knuckles on it and is banned from it...) and I have a "stick" mixer that I've used to puree stuff for soup a few times that I liked as well.

I've read a few reviews for several KitchenAid food processors and for the stand mixer's attachments and they seem 50-50 (at least on amazon). I enjoy making all sorts of foods from all over the world so I guess the bottom line is versatility. Also, if the thought is to get a seperate food processor, what size is good? (This is most likely going to be a gift from a family member whose main concern is that I get one I can use and use often, not so much the price...)

Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences you may have are welcome!
Thanks!




Get a K'Aid food processor. They are the best!!

I own their top-of-the-line model - the Pearl Metalic KPFP850PM. It's the best, but it's expensive! But you can get a lower priced model and still get affordable top-knotch quality! :)

[Len-NJ]

I agree with Big Daddy's House - I love my KitchenAid stand mixer and have a ton of attachements for it but I decided to use a separate processor because I have to keep the mixer and processor in the pantry and pull them out when I need them due to space issues - the processor is much eassier to lug around and put away. I recommend something with at least 6-8 cups in size, the little ones are not very useful. This (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FOPLHW?ie=UTF8&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FOPLHW) is the one that I have - the large size is great especially when preparing for dinner parties.

[Big Daddy's House]

Thank you.

Mine stays on top of the portable dishwasher because it is atrouciously heavy.
But it's the best one K'Aid makes, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!!

[magdelinewest]

The KA meat grinder attachment is one of the better ones I think.