Depending on your needs, you might choose one over the other, or you might want both. We have a guide to the best countertop blenders (as well as to the best handheld immersion blenders and the best personal blenders) if you’re interested in getting one. Iconic Cuisinart® food processors chop, purée, slice, and shred with ease. For our final food tests for these products, we attempted to finely dice up about a half-cup of cilantro.
And this KitchenAid is a great option for people who don’t want to invest in a $250 machine. You can’t knead dough or shred ingredients in it, but you can grind or chop small portions of vegetables or nuts, which is more tedious to do by hand. Downsize from 4 full separate appliances to a single base with 4 attachments. The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab has tested more than 30 food processors, including mini food processors in recent years.
And we didn’t notice any straining or stuttering of this model’s 240-watt motor, even when it was chopping a fibrous jumbo carrot. As long as you don’t try to use the Food Chopper for heavy tasks, such as making nut butter, we don’t think there’s much risk of burning out the motor. The Cuisinart has a strong motor and a heavy base (roughly 18 pounds with the bowl on) that keeps it stable. Though its 750-watt motor is less powerful than those on some other models we tested, such as the 1,200-watt Breville Sous Chef (our upgrade pick), this didn’t negatively affect the Cuisinart’s performance. Making pizza dough was our most motor-intensive test, and the Custom 14 kneaded it effortlessly, without wiggling across the counter like some other processors we tried. As a private chef, I can say this brand’s mini food processor is worth the splurge, as I’ve owned one for over two decades.
Many mini food processors chop and puree but fewer shred and slice. We were pleased to see that this pick includes a shredding and slicing disk like most full-size counterparts. While we have not tested this pick in the lab, we have found that Hamilton Beach products are generally reliable. This model also includes a reasonable chute for its size, meaning you can easily cuisinart toaster costco feed through standard blocks of cheese as well as carrots and cucumbers. We did note that many reviewers complained that the lid is designed with a delicate tab that broke for some users. To start, we tested how evenly each food processor could chop a variety of ingredients, including onions, fibrous carrots, soft tomatoes, delicate parsley, and whole almonds.
Read on for more detail on how we test mini food processors as well as what to look for when shopping for one. For great advice that can be handy for your mini, check out our tips for how to best use a full-size food processor. In recent years, we’ve tested over cuisinart air fryer oven 30 food processors, including mini versions. To help you find a model suitable for your needs, we conducted in-depth research on the breadth of compact food processors on the market, considering each one’s size, design, performance, and ease of cleaning.