How to Use Food Processor? – Shredding & Slicing Methods

A Happy Morning to all of You!

Today, I’ll discuss a kitchen appliance that will not only help you prepare instant meals but is quite capable when it comes to chopping and slicing.

Yeah, I’m talking about a Food Processor. Be it shredding, mincing, grating, slicing, or baking, this worthy appliance would be there to help you out.

The abrupt sales trend of its sales in Australia has intrigued me to such an extent that I’ve decided to explore it deeply.

All in all, I’ll focus on How to use a food processor elegantly. Furthermore, I’ll also demonstrate some easy tips to get the best out of a food processing machine.

Note: I’ll use a standard Cuisinart Food Processor to illustrate its use. However, you don’t need to worry if you’ve got a model from a different brand. Good thing is that almost all food processors have same assembling and working interface.

How to Use a Food Processor Perfectly?

The roadmap of using a food processor involves 3 different methods.

That is, the first method talks about using a food processor generally.

Second method discusses the utilization of extra blades and accessories.

Finally, the third method highlights some of the instant food processor recipes that you could try while living in Australia.

Without wasting further time, let us get a look into first method:

Method 1: How to Process Food in a Food Processor?

1. How to Assemble a Food Processor?

As I already talked before, different food processor models resemble each other in design and shape.

However, the assembly might differ depending upon the brand you are using.

Anyway, the assembly of a Cuisinart food processor is as follows:

First things first, attach the bowl to the electric base.

Next, use the standard processing blade and attach it to the base accordingly.

Make sure that everything is properly assembled.

Side Tip:

Keep the processor unplugged while assembling it. This way, you’ll remain safe and protected from unwanted accidents.

2. Adding Recipe Ingredients:

It depends upon what you want to make in a food processor.

However, some tips to keep in mind while adding ingredients are as follows:

Take a good look into what recipe demands, i.e. adding all ingredients at once or one by one.

Secondly, while adding liquids, make sure that the bowl is tightly attached to avoid overfilling. Keep the filling line in mind while adding liquids.

Never add hot liquids directly into the bowl. Let them cool down at room temperature for a while.

Last but not the least, chop large ingredients into small chunks to make the processing work easier for the appliance.

Side Note from a Professional Cook:

Amanda James, a professional cook advises that “Unlike a blender, the bowl of a food processor has a hole in the middle. Therefore, double check it while adding liquids. Moreover, avoid overfilling at all costs.”

Everything is plain simple up till now.

Moving along;

3. How to Process the Food?

Next step involves processing food for obvious reasons.

That said, don’t forget to cover the lid of your food processor properly.

Some premium ones won’t even start if you don’t cover them properly.

Anyway, a general Cuisinart food processor consists of an easy to use control panel.

It has “Run” and “Pulse” buttons available for processing food in different fashions.

Run Button: It allows the motor to run continuously. Run button is mostly used for blending and liquefying food recipes. Use it when you want food to become completely blended.

Pulse Button: Pulse button only works when you press it for a specific time. As soon as you remove your finger from it, the motor will stop working. Use this button when you have to chop, slice or shred food.

Finally, refer to the user manual that the manufacturer offers if your food processor consists of more than two buttons. Use those buttons as per guidelines.

4. Adding Extra Ingredients:

The tube on the lid of food processor could be utilized to add extra ingredients.

Use it to add extra food ingredients if your recipe demands so while the food processor is running.  

Furthermore, if your appliance doesn’t have a tube, then simply turn it off. Remove the lid, add extra ingredients, and turn it on again.

5. Finalizing the Recipe:

When done, serve the recipe into a container (could be a bowl, a cup, or a shallow pan).

Ta-da! Now you know how to use a food processor Cuisinart perfectly.

But, the story doesn’t end here.

Now, you’ll also have to clean the mess or in simple words, the aftermaths of making a recipe with food processor.

Take a look at how to clean a food processor as follows:

6. How to Clean a Food Processor Instantly?

Remove the plastic parts, blade, and lid, etc. from the electric base.

Next, soak them in soapy water and scrub them using a sponge and liquid dish soap.

Rinse them with hot water and let them dry before reassembling.

Now, about electric base: Take a damp cloth and wipe down food stains or pieces from the base accordingly.

Never ever submerge an electric base into water. It will literally destroy the motor and other electric parts.

Handle sharp blades with care and precautions while cleaning them.

Summary:

This way you will keep your food processor away from getting a foul smell.

It’s always recommended to clean the appliance thoroughly once you’ve used it.

Apply these techniques I’ve mentioned and enjoy using a food processor elegantly.

Method 2: How to Use Food Processor Blades?

If you are new to using a food processor, then you could’ve noticed that it’s more than just using a standard blade.

That’s what differentiates it from a blender.

A food processor, in fact, comes with a variety of blades including an S-shaped blade, chopping blades, shredding, and grating discs.

Therefore, to get the best out of your appliance you must know how to use food processor blades perfectly.

Let us take a look at using them one by one:

1. Inserting the Standard S-Blade/Using a Food Processor to Chop Vegetables?

S-blade is the standard attachment blade that you’ll get with almost every model.

It’s mostly used for chopping different food products including fruits and vegetables.

You could also use S-blade for pureeing soups and sauces, etc.

Furthermore, the S-blade could turn dry fruit into powdered form as well.

It’s the general blade attachment that is used when you have to make instant meals.

2. Using the Slicing Disk:

The most interesting part of using a food processor comes now.

Slicing disk mostly comes with the appliance you purchase. However, you can also get it separately.

It gets settled near the lid and is used for slicing vegetables and fruit, etc.

Using the slicing disk, you could do the following tasks:

Slice peeled potatoes without any hassle.

Slice a number of vegetables including cucumber, carrot, and beets, etc.

Besides, you could also use this disk for slicing Brussel sprouts.

Side Tips:

Use slicing disk for making instant salads of different vegetables and fruits.

Don’t start with adding the food into bowl as the slicing disk doesn’t work from bottom.

Attach slicing disk on the top first. Turn on the appliance and then pass vegetables or fruits through the disk.

3. Utilizing the Grating Disk:

Grating disk, first of all, is an alternative to slicing disk. It’s widely used for grating cheese, fruits, or vegetables to make different recipes.

One misconception I’ll clear here is that grating and shredding are the same things. There’s no difference between the two terms.

Anyways, a food processor’s grating disk helps you grate, shred, and slice multiple food products instantly.

I’ve used it for grating cheese, shredding cabbage, and slicing beets with efficiency.

4. Using Dough Blade: How to use a Food Processor for Baking?

Many food processors from prestigious brands like Cuisinart or KitchenAid offer extra dough blade.

Attach it to the base just like you attach a normal S-blade to the electric base.

You can use the dough blade for kneading different kinds of dough including:

• Pizza dough
• Pie dough
• Bread Dough and
• Pasta dough.

So, that’s how to use a food processor for baking. If your appliance doesn’t come with a dough blade, then purchase it separately.

Being done with two important methods of using a food processor thoroughly; we’ll now focus on trying different food processor recipes.

Take a look:

Method 3: Trying Easy and Instant Recipes:

1. Preparing Banana Nutella Ice Cream with Food Processor:

One of the recipes I love preparing with a food processor is Banana Nutella Ice Cream.

First of all, freeze half a dozen bananas overnight.

Next, peel and add the bananas into the food processor.

Turn the appliance on and allow the bananas to get blended smoothly.

Add 5 tablespoon Nutella to the frozen banana mixture and blend it.

Serve it immediately in a bowl and enjoy delicious and nutritious banana Nutella ice cream.

You could add more Nutella to the mixture as per your preferences.

Besides, additional toppings and whipped cream could also be added to the ice cream to enhance its taste.

2. Blending Chickpeas into Hummus:

For those who don’t know Hummus is a delicious creamy bean dip. It’s actually called Mediterranean cuisine because it originated from there.

For trying the recipe, add all Hummus ingredients into the food processor and blend it until it becomes smooth.

Pour the smooth hummus into a bowl and add some chickpeas on the top of it.

Serve it with chopped vegetables, sliced fruits, or pita bread, etc.

3. Prepare Nut Butter with Food Processor:

Nut butter is one of my favorite snacks and I casually make it while using a food processor.

It’s simple!

Add roasted nuts based on your preference into the food processor and turn it on.

Run the appliance until ingredients turn into powdered form.

Add a few drops of unflavored oil to the powder and blend it for a while.

After 8 to 10 minutes of blending, you’ll get smooth and creamy nut butter.

Side Notes:

You can use almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and sunflower seeds to prepare nut butter.

Once prepared, pour it in a jar and store it in a refrigerator for future use.

4. Prepare Tasty Salsa with Food Processor:

The last recipe worth a try is making delicious salsa while using a food processor.

Add all salsa ingredients at once in the bowl and start blending the mixture until it gets pureed properly.

For a chunky salsa, however, use the pulse button and stop it until you get the desired results.

Summing It Up:

That’s all from my side . I have shared some delightful food processor recipes with you.

Try them out and I’ll love to hear more from you. You can describe some newly invented food processor recipes in the comment box mentioned below.

I’ll surely feature them in near future.