The food processor was introduced into the American market by engineer Carl Sontheimer in year 1973. He spent some time in France learning how he could make the industrial blender smaller and useful for household use. A few years later the food processor found its way into all kinds of household and became the bestselling kitchen equipment.
There are three different kinds of food processors – full, compact and mini. Food processors of all sizes consist of the three main components – a motor, a bowl with a lid and a tube through which you feed in the products. Rest are the attachments which consist of different blades.
A well prepared food keeps the family happy and function smoothly. A good food processor can be the ultimate help for the kitchen in a household. Some of the functions of a good food processor are:
-
Chopping – Chopping is probably the most important part of cooking which takes up a lot of time and manual energy. A food processor can chop any vegetable and fruit in matter of seconds without even having to sweat.
-
Shredding – The most common function of a food processor is shredding. Even the tiniest vegetable pieces are shredded into bits which are almost impossible to achieve by bare hands and a knife. Also the time it consumes to shred is in seconds instead of hours manually.
-
Slicing – Other than chopping and shredding, slicing is also an important part as it gives you that wonderful paper-thin or fine slices of vegetables, fruits etc for that ultimate presentation of your dish.
-
Grinding – Almost all food processors comes with a grinding attachment which is used to grind meat. The meat must be a little frozen so it can be grinded. If the meat is grinded for too long it will turn into a paste.
-
Processing – it’s equipped with a heavy motor which helps in churning heavy cream into butter. Also mayonnaise can be prepared in a food processor without having to lift your hands to do all the whisking. All kinds of batter for frying and deep frying can be prepared within a fraction of time it would other take to do by hand.
-
Making Puree – All kinds of purees can be whisked in matter of seconds and give your dishes that creamy look that makes it look delightful. Tomatoes and onions are probably the most pureed vegetables around the world.
-
Diversity – Use your processor to make your own salsa, dips, sauce, hummus, spreads etc in seconds. Just put in the basic ingredients like fresh vegetables, cheeses etc; then give it a quick spin and you have fresh dips, sauce etc ready. It is fresh and healthy without any external preservatives added.
A food processor is an extremely important and an indispensable part of the modern kitchen. People these days have less time to spare so equipment which saves time is always the best. Moreover a good food processor does not require too much maintenance and is easy to handle.