Consumer Reports – September 2019

Food Processor

The 16-cup Sous Chef does

everything well, including

slicing, shredding, and

grating. It comes loaded with

accessories, including a mini-

bowl attachment and whipping

blade that pack up nicely in a

storage case.

BREVILLE SOUS CHEF BFP800XL/A

$400

81

For a budget buy, this 5-cup

food processor delivers solid

performance and is among the

best at grating. It’s also two

appliances in one: There’s a

6-cup blender jar included. In

our tests, it earns a Very Good

rating for making icy drinks and

for crushing ice.

OSTER PRO 1200 BLSTMB-CBF-000

$90

69

Along with the shredding and

slicing disk, this 12-cup model

comes with an interchangeable

dough blade and a 4-cup

bowl to handle small jobs like

chopping a handful of herbs or

nuts. It earns a Very Good score

for chopping and shredding.

CUISINART ELITE COLLECTION 2.0
FP-12BCN
$200
Greatly reduces prep time for chopping 67
vegetables, nuts, herbs, and more.

Can slice practically any food thinner
and more uniformly (not to mention
more quickly) than you can by hand.

Emulsifies ingredients in seconds for smooth
mayonnaise and creamy dressings.

It can be noisy when operating.

Sharp, curved blades can be tricky to clean.

(Some are dishwasher-safe, but take care

when loading and unloading them.)

It’s difficult to process small amounts (say,

a few cloves of garlic) unless your machine

has a mini-bowl attachment.

Always set the blade in the
work bowl before adding food.
And let hot liquids cool down
before adding them.

Use the pulse function to
get an even chop and avoid
overprocessing. Otherwise,

onions and other foods with a

high water content can quickly

turn into a purée.

Periodically stop and

scrape down the sides of

the bowl with a spatula for

a more homogenous mixture.

When making soup, strain

out the cooked vegetables from

the stock pot and purée them

in the work bowl. They‘ll blend

smoother without liquid.

For easier blade cleanup

after making dough, return the

empty bowl to the motor base

with the blade attached and

pulse once. Excess batter will

spin right off the blade.

Partially freeze meats and

cheeses before shredding or

grating for the best results.

WHAT TO MAKE: SAU C ES /

PURÉES / SALSA / DOUGH / GROUND

MEAT / COLESLAW / NUT BUTTER /

BREADCRUMBS / HUMMUS

WHAT IT CAN DO: DICE / CHOP

/ SLICE / EMULSIFY / BLEND /

KNEAD DOUGH

Pretty Pesto

Pine nuts, Parmigiano,

and basil can be quickly

turned into a sauce.

TIPS FROM OUR EXPERTS

PROS CONS

This workhorse can chop, slice, shred, and purée many different ingredients. If you regularly cook for a

crowd or like to prepare multiple batches of a recipe, you might want a bigger model, with a capacity

of 11 to 16 cups. Otherwise, a 7-cup model is fine for most tasks and takes up less space.

44 CR.ORG SEPTEMBER 2019