KitchenAid 7-cup Food Processor

Oct 17

A food processor is a very useful kitchen appliance, but I bought mine to make something that might not immediately be connected to this device. While I really enjoy home made biscuits and pie crusts, making them is my least favorite part, which is why I decided to buy a food processor. Of course, I can make and have made a lot of things other than that, which is a bonus. As for this particular model, I just went to my local Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up something I thought was reasonable.

Purchase info:

This was purchased a year or two ago from Bed Bath and Beyond. Being so long ago, I don’t remember how much I paid for it, but I’m sure it was less than $100. It can be found here for $85 at the time of writing.

Build Quality:

Despite all the touch points being plastic, I find the build quality to be solid. The plastics are thick and sturdy and I never have the impression that I might break something. The buttons feel nice and work well, while the blades come plenty sharp right out of the box. I think an upgrade would be a simple way to keep the plunger in the top, as I have opened the top countless times causing the plunger to fall out. Yeah, I should just pay more attention, but I doubt I’m the only one who does this. Also, the main blade can be a little hard to clean as it has a bunch of voids on the underside for things to get stuck in. I’ll give the build quality a 9/10.

Functionality & Performance:

For biscuits and pie doughs, this food processor gets the job done. After cutting butter into smaller cubes, it has no problem incorporating it into the flour to make a biscuit dough or pie crust. As for more liquid mixtures, the processor does just as well. Looser mixtures get processed sufficiently and the processor doesn’t struggle. The only area I’ve notice it struggle is with mixtures that are on the sticky side, as they will get stuck under the blades and on the sides of the bowl, preventing things from getting cut up effectively. I don’t think that power is a problem at all, but maybe the blade design or bowl design could be finessed to fix that problem. Cleaning is pretty easy, too, other than some mixtures finding their way up into the underside of the main blade housing. I will also say that I appreciate the accessory attachment with the grater and slicer, which I’ve used a few times to make quick work of cheeses. Noise isn’t excessive, probably one of the more quite motorized kitchen appliances. I’ll give the performance a 8/10.

Is it Necessary?:

Once again, most of these kitchen appliances aren’t necessary, but they sure do make certain tasks much easier. I think that outside of smoothies, this can do almost everything the average blender can do, so if you’re looking for versatility, maybe this is something to lean toward.

Do I recommend it?:

Yes, I recommend this food processor. For less than $100 I have very few complaints and I think it’ll last you 5+ years easily.

Overall Rating: 9/10

This is a very solid food processor and I think almost everyone would be happy with it. It’s built well and to last with performance that’s on par with the price point. I’d look elsewhere only if it’s out of your price range or you plan on making a lot of sticky things with it.

The Recipe Analyst