Geri B

exactly how/for what, does one use a food processor? I have a small electric chopper that I use if I need to, but was watching some you tube where a food processor was used to grate potatoes.......got to wondering what else? Looked some up, just out of curiosity, price range is quite varied......and some recipes: hummus, make your own peanut butter, mayo, baby food, none of which really interest me. Do you have one, what do you do with it?

Barb in Louisiana

I use mine to make chicken salad. It's amazing the difference in taste from chopped to ground chicken meat. My daughter uses hers to chop onions, celery, bell pepper, but she was cooking for a bunch of people. It's just me & my husband. I really should find out more that it will do because it just sits there on my counter a bunch of the time.

Edited to add: I just looked up FP's online. Mine is about 15 years old. It has the blade up above the bowl, so it basically is just a large chopper. I know that I would use one more if I had the blade down in the bowl so that it actually mixed things up. Now....do I really need one? Probably not.

paoberle

I use my food processor to make hummus, grate vegetables and cheese, slice onions and potatoes (and other vegetables). It can be used to make pizza dough and purée soups. It makes quick work of large jobs.

cashs_mom

I have a small one I've had for years. I can't remember the last time I used it or even exactly where it is now that I think about it.

marge954

I have a medium sized one and I use it to grate cheese for pimento cheese, cabbage for slaw, onions so I don't cry, and potatoes for hash browns. I also use it for slicing veggies and cooked chicken. It also has a blade that I use to make crushed ice which I love better than ice cubes. I don't have to wear my hands and shoulders out chopping tomatoes, onions and peppers when making chow-chow. I didn't use it much as first until I realized how much time it would save me. The only problem I've had is accidentally cutting my finger on the slicing blade...it's sharper than my rotary cutter!

Wanabee Quiltin

When I cooked all the time, I used mine every day. I chopped and shredded my vegetables. I never used it for meat, but I think that might work OK for me now. I loved mine, I would never give it up. I love it at Christmas when I chop all my nuts for my cookies and breads. Hmm, now I think I will start using it again, get it back up on the counter.

Watson

I use it for grating cheese, chopping cabbage and onions/carrots for soups, pureeing for hummus/cheese dips, slicing potatoes/onions (Although I usually use my mandoline for that), chopping nuts/candies for Christmas baking.
If you don't make big bunches of stuff, you're likely better off with a small food chopper and an immersion blender, IMO.

Watson

Doggramma

I have a large one and a small one. I use the small one a lot for chopping nuts, onions, cheese, etc. The big one rarely gets used because it's so big and heavy to drag out. But it's great for slicing potatoes for scalloped potatoes or chopping big amounts of veggies.

MaggieLou

I have one but rarely use it. About the only thing I use it for is making the filling for deviled eggs. For just two people it's too big and I hate cleaning it.

feline fanatic

It is only me and my DH but I do use mine a lot. I have a Cuisineart. I probably use it for grating cheeses more than any other thing. I don't like to buy pre-grated cheese because of what they put into it for an anti-clumping agent (basically it is sawdust). I use it puree soups, chop veggies, mix cake and cookie batters, make meat spreads. It really does make quick work of making a cheesecake batter. I also use mine to make whipped cream.

When it is canning season it is indispensable to me when making my massive batches of tomato sauce for canning. I use it to chop all the onions, peppers and garlic before cooking the tomatoes down into sauce, then after it is done I use it to puree the sauce (and I can still leave it just a little bit chunky). In recipes when I need a lot of chopped garlic it makes quick work of it, just peel the cloves, turn the machine on and drop the cloves in with the machine running.

Ideal for making my own bread crumbs and cracker crumbs. I have also used it to make my own home-made sausage but if I had a meat grinder attachment I would use that instead. You have to be careful when using the chopping function on raw meat, it is easy to overdo it.

It does do a decent job of slicing hard veggies but I prefer a mandolin for that.