Stop That Chopping, Start Using Our Favorite Food Processor (2024)

Cheese shredded cleanly and evenly in seconds without any leftover nubs or odd bits. The hummus came out just about as smooth as can be without stopping and scraping the bowl during its 5-minute processing time. Pie dough came together in a flash, with perfectly-sized pebbles of ice cold butter evenly dispersed throughout.

The Big Mouth doesn’t always need to tackle big jobs, and comes with a smaller 4-cup bowl for quick chopping and mincing. For storage, the small bowl and all the attachments fit into the machine, and there’s a cord storage area on the underside of the unit. As for cleanup, this is one of the only models we tried that’s dishwasher-safe, which we love not only for convenience, but because it let us clean the ultra-sharp blade and shredding discs without damaging our sponge or nicking our fingers.

What we didn’t like about the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Duo

Compared to the Breville Sous Chef, the 500-watt Hamilton Beach’s motor is only half as powerful — but it’s also half the weight, and less than one-quarter of the price. Unlike the Breville’s variable slicing disc, which has 24 settings for various thicknesses, the Hamilton Beach’s is static, offering one size and one size only. The Big Mouth also doesn’t come with a dedicated dough blade, though we found the sharp S-blade to be more than serviceable when making pie dough.

Specs

Capacity: 12 cup capacity
Size: 7.5” x 10” x 14.7”
Power: 500 watts
Included attachments: Stainless steel S-blade, reversible slicer/shredder, 4-cup mini food processor bowl
Attachments sold separately: None
Warranty: 1-year

How we tested

We focused our testing on three of the most commonly used food processor functions: chopping, shredding, and processing. For the first, we used the chopping blade on two onions with the pulse function and examined the results for consistency and quality; points were deducted for uneven pieces or watery, pulverized results. For the second, we used the shredding disc to dispatch a large block of sharp cheddar cheese, taking note of the texture and consistency of the shreds and how much (if any) waste was left over. We also considered how hard it was to wash and clean the shredding blade. To test the processing power, we prepared a batch of hummus and our favorite pie dough in each machine, swapping out the metal blade for the dough blade if included. We kept an eye on the performance of the motor, the ease of use and cleaning, and the quality of the finished product.

What we looked for

Besides examining the results of the individual prep tests explained above, we considered the following for all food processors we tested:

How powerful is the motor and how large is the capacity of the bowl?

The whole point of a large food processor is to make daunting prep tasks more manageable, so we were looking for models that could easily accommodate generous batches of dough, small mountains of shredded cheese, and an oversized Dutch oven’s worth of stew ingredients. We also paid attention to the strength and smoothness of the motor: Did it strain when working at high speeds or processing thick and sticky mixtures? When chopping, were its pulses firm and even?

Is it intuitive to assemble and use? Does it have any notable attachments or design features?

Most food processors have similar standard parts: a motorized base to which a food processor bowl attaches and a small selection of blades and shredders that rotate from a spindle inside of the bowl. We made note of extras like dedicated dough blades, bowls that doubled as measuring cups, and adjustable slicing discs that went the extra mile. While a dishwasher-safe model is nice, we didn’t let that factor in too strongly, because we suggest hand-washing food processors to preserve the longevity of the gaskets.

When to use a food processor, when to use a blender

The desire to avoid redundancy in your kitchen tools is a common one, which is why many people make the mistake of thinking that food processors and blenders are relatively interchangeable. As nice as that would be, the two appliances are suited for very different kitchen tasks, and frankly, are subpar at doing the job of the other. Food processors are great at chopping and mincing veggies, grating blocks of cheese at high speed, kneading pizza dough and bread dough, or making thick dips and sauces like pesto or hummus. However, because a food processor’s bowl is so wide, it can’t thoroughly blend ingredients for a super smooth purée. Blenders really only function well for tasks with high amounts of liquid due to their long and narrow shape. They are perfect for puréeing soups and smoothies. but a consistent rough chop is nearly impossible, even in a high-end blender like a Vitamix. That being said, heavy-duty blenders with powerful motors are great for making nut butters. Liquids or ultrafine consistencies? Go for the blender. Anything chunky, choppy, or thick? Food processors are the better choice. And, given their totally different design, this should go without saying, but neither make a particularly good juicer. You can find our list of the best blenders here.

Other food processors we tested

For many people, Cuisinart is to food processing what KitchenAid is to stand mixers, or what Kleenex is to tissues. And this new take on a Cuisinart food processor is an impressive appliance that passed all our trials with near-flying colors. It shredded cheese with ease, leaving us with fluffy, even shreds without any leftover knubs or odd crumbles. Five minutes of uninterrupted processing produced hummus that was light, airy and deliciously smooth. Pie dough pulled together quickly, with small, even pieces of butter, and a finished product that was easy to gather together and roll out after resting. It also comes with multiple speeds: high, low, and “mix,” designed for tasks like emulsifying. The only quibble occurred during our pulse chop test, when the blade stubbornly lodged itself into large pieces of onion. They eventually dislodged themselves without the need for us to manually pry them off, but by the time they did, our onions were minced — not chopped. But again, this is a minor quibble which doesn’t distract from the fact that the Cuisinart Core Custom is a damn fine food processor. It also converts, with the help of separately sold food processor attachments, into a juicer, a blender, and a mini food processor.

This is the newer model of the iconic food processor, once called the Classic Series. We found this to be a totally workable processor at a more affordable price point for people who want a straightforward machine with no extras. The Breville was simpler to set up, quieter, and came with a wider range of attachments, so ultimately this model lost the top spot.

This one is even simpler than the Custom 14-cup model above and comes at a reduced price. It’s noticeably flimsier than its more expensive siblings, which we noticed is called out in a significant number of Amazon user reviews. Additionally, the machine’s pulsing function allows for less precision than other models because the blade doesn’t stop spinning abruptly; after the motor stops, it continues spinning for a few split seconds until it loses momentum on its own.

This is our winner’s big sister; it comes with a number of additional attachments and four extra cups of bowl capacity, making it the largest processor we tested by two whole cups. It was also the heaviest (at 26 pounds) and tied for the most expensive. We found the Cuisinart Elite 2.0 lighter, more streamlined, and easier to use, so it won out in the luxe category.

The Cuisinart Continuous Feed didn’t fare as well in our tests as its competitors, but to be fair, it’s not really designed to be a powerhouse all-around processor. With a bowl that can only handle nine cups, it’s too small to fit vegetables that haven’t been pre-chopped, or produce hummus that’s smooth and creamy. This machine is designed for one thing: slicing and shredding large quantities of food without needing to continually transfer the results to a larger bowl. In addition to its standard processing bowl, this food processor comes with a special continuous feed bowl, which has a chute that immediately ejects sliced/shredded food into the container of your choice. Position a pot or mixing bowl beneath the chute, and you can process plenty of potatoes, carrots, cheese or whatever else you please without pause. It makes quick work of vegetables, which could make it a good buy for people who meal prep or subsist on large amounts of salad. But if you need a food processor that can do more than shred and slice, you should look elsewhere.

This was the least expensive model we tested and also the smallest—though the 9-cup work bowl was more than enough for a batch of hummus or single pie crust. Each of the two included blade attachments (one for chopping, one for dough) had a unique double-decker design that helped integrate all the ingredients without stopping and scraping them down with a spatula. But the reversible slicing blades weren’t as effective as some of the other models we tested, leaving large unsliced chunks of onion and hunks of cheese.

This pricey processor didn’t live up to its promise. The volume and violence of the motor while processing onions was off-putting, it leaked flour into the base when prepping pie dough, and left large chunks of cheese untouched when shredding cheddar. And the whole thing—a giant base and huge battery of attachments—took up so much counter space it seemed impractical for all but the most zealous home cooks with enormous kitchens.

This one fell to the bottom of our list in terms of both aesthetics and user experience. We found the base and accessory box needlessly bulky, and the performance, though satisfactory for basic chopping tasks, inconsistent for shredding and pastry.

As good looking as this machine is, it has multiple design flaws that make it a bad buy. We needed to cut onions into smaller pieces to fit into the large bowl; the small chopping bowl insert was all but useless, requiring us to essentially chop the onions ourselves before the machine could take a crack at them. The included discs are significantly smaller than the bowl, leaving a half-inch gap on all sides for large chunks of cheese to slip through when shredding or slicing. Our hummus recipe required five uninterrupted minutes of processing; while the motor was able to handle it, the finished product was grainy. It did a fine job of pulling together pie dough, but that doesn’t make up for failing three of our four trials.

Cuisinart Elite Collection 2.0 14-Cup Food Processor (discontinued)

Sadly, discontinued, this was our choice if you wanted to level up from the Breville Sous Chef. In our test, the Elite model really blew most of the competition out of the water in terms of versatility and effectiveness, and cost about $50 more than the Breville Sous Chef 12. If you’re looking for a larger bowl capacity than the Sous Chef 12 and don’t want to spring for the bigger Sous Chef 16, we’d point you to the Cuisinart Custom 14 mentioned above that comes in at the same price as the Sous Chef 12 that has, not only a large capacity, but an extra large feed tube, along with a Cuisinart food processor’s trademark durability (reflected in a 3-year warranty). and a lot of extras, which we consider worth the splurge—especially for a machine that’s sure to last you a very long time.

Why should you trust Epicurious?

We’re home cooks just like you—and we bring a home cook’s perspective to all of our rigorous testing. But unlike you, we have an extra 10 hours a day to spend geeking out over kitchen tools because it is literally our job. We don’t only use our recommended products in controlled settings, we bring the best ones into our own kitchens to help us put dinner on the table on a Wednesday night for our families, or to throw a dinner party for 12. When we recommend a product, you should trust that we’ve used it—a lot—just like you will. Read more about our testing process and philosophy here.