Absolutely- I got a used one for just $15 and it makes things very easy. You can make pie dough in about 1 minute (2 cups flour, 2/3 cup butter, 1/2 tsp salt, process and add ~1/4 cup cold water while spinning until you have a dough ball). You can also do things like hummus, salsa, guac. You're right that it's not great for everyday chopping because it's very easy to overdo it or leave big chunks behind. It is good for shredding (potatoes, cabbage) if you have the top attachment.
For limited purposes, they're great, but they're not as revolutionary as you might think or hope. Round our kitchen, despite the existence of a full-dress food processor, most everything gets made or mixed by hand or, if a machine is necessary, using a KitchenAid mixer (e.g. for cake batter). The rare exceptions are sauces / condiments that require really fine chopping and blending. Regular pie dough gets made and mixed with (washed) hands (remember, in ordinary pie dough you don't actually want the butter to be evenly blended throughout).
How good is your blender? We have a combination blender and food processer that, well, blends and processes.
My girlfriend uses the processer to make bread crumb toppings from things like Ritz crackers, and there's no better way to do it. I've used it to make salsa and barbecue sauce and really like having it around for those occassions.
I'd say that if you cook a lot and aren't sure you need it, you don't. Various of my family members have had them, and they've generally collected dust.
(On the other hand, I do keep on thinking about the pie-crust potential. I have trouble with pie crust, and it would be nice if it were easier. If you have a big kitchen with a lot of storage space, then it might be worth it.)
If you make salsa, you might enjoy the power of the processor; I made a gallon for a party one night- it took me 5 minutes from veg to dip. Before that fateful day I detested the whole food-processor industry.
I think the way to go about buying a food processor is to determine another kitchen gadget that you kind-of need and find the combination utility. Whatever you can think of, it exists in tandem with a food processor.
There is a certain value in being able to use the words "mortar and pestle" daily. If you get the food processor, you might have to give that up. That seems like a pretty high price to pay for a little less work.
I like having two food processors. One for large projects and another smaller chopper for making smaller needs, such as dipping sauces or vinaigrettes for one.
But the spice grinder may not be up to what you want to do! For instance, I used my coffee bean grinder to make a dipping sauce once, because it was small, and now it is teh rusted.
I just started to feel a lot better about the number of my meals which take the form "Chop some stuff up, put it on n tortillas, put the tortillas in the toaster oven."
Some unsolicited advice, called to mind by the mole story: any recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of chile powder does not have your best interests in mind. It is a shenanigan recipe.
Is it possible that what I picked up at the store was not what you all are calling "chili powder", but something else, like pain? I would double check, but I foolishly moved it into an unlabeled container, where it's currently sitting and gloating. I'm pretty sure the original packaging didn't say "pain".
SB—that might've been jalapeno salt or (God help you) habanero powder. Hot stuff! Chili powder falls somewhere in the flavor-spice continuum between cumin and the little dried pepper flakes you see at pizza parlors.
Not long ago I absent-mindedly dumped into my beans-n-stuff the amount of dried pepper flakes that I'd been planning to dump in of chili powder. (Was that an island constraint violation or what?) I think I'd already put in the stewed chipotle peppers. That was flavorful.
If you have a food mill as well as your blender, you won't need a food processor. Food mills are great for things like tomato purée, shrimp bisque and pea-pod soup because they take out the seeds, shell fragments and fibers respectively, which neither a blender nor a food processor will do. But they also do well at things a food processor can, like making hummus or chopped liver.
Speaking of hot things, has anyone ever tried insanity sauce? Someone I knew was drunk, and he accidentally went to the bathroom with just a smidegeon on his finger. Ouch!
I find that peeling the apples first is a lot less laborious than forcing them through the food mill, but I like my applesauce chunky. (Recipe: peel apples. Slice chunks off core into pot so that only apple flesh is in pot. Don't worry about size of chunks. Add tiny amount of water, so bottom of pot is wet, mayber two millimeters deep. Cover pot, boil over lowish heat. Ten minutes later, try to mash with fork. If it's not applesauce yet, keep boiling until it is. Add a little red wine if you like it pink, cinnamon if you like cinnamon. )
I find that leaving the skins on gives the sauce a nice, ruddy complexion, and also subtle tannins. So red wine sounds like a appropriate substitute. I'll have to try it sometime, if I'm ever making heretical applesauce.
41: dsquared, are you the only Brit who has heard of Julia Child? I thought that she created cooking television, but everyone tells me that that particular honor belongs to some crazy lady in England whose food was blue. (Delia Smith can be traced back to this woman, apparently. JC was way more fun than Delia Smith.)
A bottle of rasberry wasabi mustard somehow ended up in our fridge (neither of apartment-mates recall buying it). It is among the best condiments I've ever experienced.
Tartar sauce is too limited. And, McIlhenny's? That's not a condiment! It's a flavoring agent. Insanity sauce, for instance, is thick enough to be poured over your hot dog. McIlhenny's would just run all over and make the bun soggy. Chopper, don't come in here with your french-loving ways!
Well, I don't truly consider it the king of condiments. That was just for (weak) comic effect. But since you asked, I put it on fried seafood of any category. Oh, and french fries. Loooove the tartar sauce on the french fries. And sometimes on burgers, when I'm feeling puckish.
I think the french horn is called such, because like the French Disease, French Kissing, etc., it's very existence is evidence of sexuality which no proper Englishman could bear to discuss without a euphemism. What other instrument requires you to stick your hand up into something moist and warm?
dsquared, are you the only Brit who has heard of Julia Child?
Hope not; she's cited pretty prominently in the introduction to "French Provincial Cooking" by Elizabeth David, which is a bigger seller than the Bible over here, or at least it ought to be.
If I have a jillion sixpence in the bank, but incur debts of 9 squillion rubles and 2 jibbety lire, but also see an income of .000001 hojillio shillings, how much money do I have/owe, in pesos?
She heard there was a guy in there hung like this.
I was at a pub quiz at the weekend and one of the questions related to the Corcovado Christ statue near Rio de Janeiro. Someone asked "oh yes of course, which is that statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched" and was greeted with the reply "almost all statues of Jesus have his arms outstretched, it's one of the things he was famous for".
Absolutely- I got a used one for just $15 and it makes things very easy. You can make pie dough in about 1 minute (2 cups flour, 2/3 cup butter, 1/2 tsp salt, process and add ~1/4 cup cold water while spinning until you have a dough ball). You can also do things like hummus, salsa, guac. You're right that it's not great for everyday chopping because it's very easy to overdo it or leave big chunks behind. It is good for shredding (potatoes, cabbage) if you have the top attachment.
Posted by SP | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 6:39 AM
For limited purposes, they're great, but they're not as revolutionary as you might think or hope. Round our kitchen, despite the existence of a full-dress food processor, most everything gets made or mixed by hand or, if a machine is necessary, using a KitchenAid mixer (e.g. for cake batter). The rare exceptions are sauces / condiments that require really fine chopping and blending. Regular pie dough gets made and mixed with (washed) hands (remember, in ordinary pie dough you don't actually want the butter to be evenly blended throughout).
Posted by slolernr | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 6:54 AM
How good is your blender? We have a combination blender and food processer that, well, blends and processes.
My girlfriend uses the processer to make bread crumb toppings from things like Ritz crackers, and there's no better way to do it. I've used it to make salsa and barbecue sauce and really like having it around for those occassions.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 7:12 AM
What Slol said. Of course, I enjoy doing fine chopping by hand and hand mixing pastry dough.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 7:31 AM
My roommate has one and loves it.
Posted by Adam Kotsko | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 7:52 AM
How do you decide which blog to post stuff to?
Posted by David Weman | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:09 AM
Eh? This is the only blog Alameida posts to, as far as I know.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:18 AM
Re: 6: It is determined by the need for secrecy. In this case, her in-laws must never know her deep and burning desire for a food processor.
Posted by Isle of Toads | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:21 AM
I'd say that if you cook a lot and aren't sure you need it, you don't. Various of my family members have had them, and they've generally collected dust.
(On the other hand, I do keep on thinking about the pie-crust potential. I have trouble with pie crust, and it would be nice if it were easier. If you have a big kitchen with a lot of storage space, then it might be worth it.)
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:33 AM
If you make salsa, you might enjoy the power of the processor; I made a gallon for a party one night- it took me 5 minutes from veg to dip. Before that fateful day I detested the whole food-processor industry.
Posted by TJ | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:41 AM
I think the way to go about buying a food processor is to determine another kitchen gadget that you kind-of need and find the combination utility. Whatever you can think of, it exists in tandem with a food processor.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:42 AM
There is a certain value in being able to use the words "mortar and pestle" daily. If you get the food processor, you might have to give that up. That seems like a pretty high price to pay for a little less work.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:56 AM
it's true; my in-laws must never learn of my needs. but, it seems kinda cool? I've got a KitchenAid also. well, and a spice grinder. still...
Posted by alameida | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:56 AM
I like having two food processors. One for large projects and another smaller chopper for making smaller needs, such as dipping sauces or vinaigrettes for one.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:59 AM
But the spice grinder may not be up to what you want to do! For instance, I used my coffee bean grinder to make a dipping sauce once, because it was small, and now it is teh rusted.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:00 AM
I think this definitively proves that spice grinder != food processor.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:12 AM
I want to second SCMTim's pestle proviso.
I have a huge mortar and pestle.
You don't hear that often enough these days.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:15 AM
I sort of wish I had one for making pasta and the aforementioned pie dough. That's it, though.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:27 AM
Whoa, the mole. (shudder)
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:31 AM
You do come out of the story well, though. (Aside from your irresponsible non-kitchen-appliance having ways.)
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:36 AM
I just started to feel a lot better about the number of my meals which take the form "Chop some stuff up, put it on n tortillas, put the tortillas in the toaster oven."
I do, however, have a blender.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:38 AM
(I mean: after following the link in 16.)
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:39 AM
Some unsolicited advice, called to mind by the mole story: any recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of chile powder does not have your best interests in mind. It is a shenanigan recipe.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:44 AM
Other good uses for the food processor: breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, hamburger (in a pinch).
Posted by Matt #3 | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:47 AM
Yeah, quarter cup's not nearly enough. So long as you're using Gephardt's, the only chili powder with real flavor to it.
Now that Susan's gone, though, it's 21 for me.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:50 AM
Yeah, quarter cup's not nearly enough.
It depends on the proportions, doesn't it?
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:55 AM
25: Why "though"? Nothing stopping you from putting 1/4 cup of chili powder in your stuff you're going to put on the tortillas.
Gephardt's, eh? Noted.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:03 AM
My protocol with chili powder is to put as much as I feel should go in, then do it again. And possibly again.
Posted by silvana | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:07 AM
Is it possible that what I picked up at the store was not what you all are calling "chili powder", but something else, like pain? I would double check, but I foolishly moved it into an unlabeled container, where it's currently sitting and gloating. I'm pretty sure the original packaging didn't say "pain".
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:18 AM
I've heard food processors do a nice number on poppy pods . . .
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:18 AM
But it does have a color like brimstone, and giggles like a baby Satan when I open then lid.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:21 AM
I'm guessing it's powdered cayenne pepper. They look pretty similar.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:24 AM
SB—that might've been jalapeno salt or (God help you) habanero powder. Hot stuff! Chili powder falls somewhere in the flavor-spice continuum between cumin and the little dried pepper flakes you see at pizza parlors.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:27 AM
Alameida's choice of title for this post now seems strangely prescient.
Posted by My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:29 AM
Not long ago I absent-mindedly dumped into my beans-n-stuff the amount of dried pepper flakes that I'd been planning to dump in of chili powder. (Was that an island constraint violation or what?) I think I'd already put in the stewed chipotle peppers. That was flavorful.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:31 AM
If you have a food mill as well as your blender, you won't need a food processor. Food mills are great for things like tomato purée, shrimp bisque and pea-pod soup because they take out the seeds, shell fragments and fibers respectively, which neither a blender nor a food processor will do. But they also do well at things a food processor can, like making hummus or chopped liver.
Posted by theophylact | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:39 AM
Also applesauce. Proper applesauce is made with the skins left on, and then removed with a food mill.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 10:41 AM
Speaking of hot things, has anyone ever tried insanity sauce? Someone I knew was drunk, and he accidentally went to the bathroom with just a smidegeon on his finger. Ouch!
Posted by bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 11:04 AM
I find that peeling the apples first is a lot less laborious than forcing them through the food mill, but I like my applesauce chunky. (Recipe: peel apples. Slice chunks off core into pot so that only apple flesh is in pot. Don't worry about size of chunks. Add tiny amount of water, so bottom of pot is wet, mayber two millimeters deep. Cover pot, boil over lowish heat. Ten minutes later, try to mash with fork. If it's not applesauce yet, keep boiling until it is. Add a little red wine if you like it pink, cinnamon if you like cinnamon. )
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 11:04 AM
I find that leaving the skins on gives the sauce a nice, ruddy complexion, and also subtle tannins. So red wine sounds like a appropriate substitute. I'll have to try it sometime, if I'm ever making heretical applesauce.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 11:18 AM
they were good enough for Julia Child so they are good enough for you. It does sound a bit barbaric to use one for slicing onions though.
Posted by dsquared | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 11:56 AM
You don't mention having a food mill. I mostly use mine for smoothing/blending pasta sauces that want smoothing or blending.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 12:01 PM
Get one,they're a wonderful timesaver
Posted by LARRY | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 12:18 PM
Insanity sauce has a nice flavor, and quite decent heat. The bottle didn't last long.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 1:50 PM
41: dsquared, are you the only Brit who has heard of Julia Child? I thought that she created cooking television, but everyone tells me that that particular honor belongs to some crazy lady in England whose food was blue. (Delia Smith can be traced back to this woman, apparently. JC was way more fun than Delia Smith.)
Posted by bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 1:52 PM
You know, I've never made applesauce. I have apples. However, I am absent a food mill. Maybe I'll try LB's method.
I've never made applejuice either. Can one make that without a juicer? Yes, I realize I could just google it.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 1:54 PM
oooh, that Insanity Mustard looks good!
Mustard is the best condiment.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 1:58 PM
Mustard is the best condiment.
Tartar sauce, bitch!
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:06 PM
Tabasco. Please.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:09 PM
Aioli
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:10 PM
A bottle of rasberry wasabi mustard somehow ended up in our fridge (neither of apartment-mates recall buying it). It is among the best condiments I've ever experienced.
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:15 PM
Tartar sauce is too limited. And, McIlhenny's? That's not a condiment! It's a flavoring agent. Insanity sauce, for instance, is thick enough to be poured over your hot dog. McIlhenny's would just run all over and make the bun soggy. Chopper, don't come in here with your french-loving ways!
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:17 PM
For your timewasting pleasure, I present you with the Original Condiment Packet Museum.
Posted by My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:41 PM
Tartar sauce is too limited.
Perhaps to a small mind.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:45 PM
If you can find pomegranate vinegar, it's a lovely variation on the theme.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:51 PM
54: My mind could be bounded by a nutshell. But really, why do you put it on besides fried catfish?
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:55 PM
Chopper, don't come in here with your french-loving ways!
Have I ever told you guys my theory for why the french horn is called the french horn?
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:55 PM
what
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:55 PM
57. Non.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:56 PM
Pomegranate vinegar is a variation on tartar sauce?
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:57 PM
57. Non.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:57 PM
Well, I don't truly consider it the king of condiments. That was just for (weak) comic effect. But since you asked, I put it on fried seafood of any category. Oh, and french fries. Loooove the tartar sauce on the french fries. And sometimes on burgers, when I'm feeling puckish.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 2:59 PM
I think the french horn is called such, because like the French Disease, French Kissing, etc., it's very existence is evidence of sexuality which no proper Englishman could bear to discuss without a euphemism. What other instrument requires you to stick your hand up into something moist and warm?
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:10 PM
What other instrument requires you to stick your hand up into something moist and warm?
The strumpet.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:11 PM
One hojillion points to apostropher.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:13 PM
Can I cash my points in for fabulous prizes?
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:24 PM
In fact, a flourish of strumpets is making its way to your address as we speak.
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:28 PM
You misunderstand. That's how they greet you in hojillia, by pointing.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:28 PM
dsquared, are you the only Brit who has heard of Julia Child?
Hope not; she's cited pretty prominently in the introduction to "French Provincial Cooking" by Elizabeth David, which is a bigger seller than the Bible over here, or at least it ought to be.
Posted by dsquared | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 3:28 PM
I have a food mill. but no strumpets.
Posted by alameida | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 8:07 PM
Is 1 hojillion < > 1 jibbity-billion?
Posted by slolernr | Link to this comment | 10-25-05 9:15 PM
A hojillion is a squillion jillions, while a jillion is a jibbety squillions. A squillion is a billion bullion Marillions. It's all very simple.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 8:43 AM
Oh my God. Marillion too?
(I've never actually heard them, but that didn't stop me with Dido.)
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 8:49 AM
You've all heard this joke, right?
Aide: Mr. President, four Brazilian soldiers were killed in a tragic accident this morning.
Bush: Oh my God! How many is a brazillion?
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 8:55 AM
Yes. I'm pretty sure it's the best joke ever.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 8:57 AM
the best joke ever
It's the best joke ever that can be told without hand gestures.
Why did the blonde go to church?
[Stretch arms out to sides]
She heard there was a guy in there hung like this.
Why are there no good boxers at The Mineshaft?
[Put fingertips and thumbtip together to make a teardrop shape out of hand]
Everybody there thinks this is a fist.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 11:43 AM
If I have a jillion sixpence in the bank, but incur debts of 9 squillion rubles and 2 jibbety lire, but also see an income of .000001 hojillio shillings, how much money do I have/owe, in pesos?
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:02 PM
All of it.
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:02 PM
Michael is—Billy Joel's accountant!
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:06 PM
I'm disappointed that "Burning Questions", "Burning questions II", and "Burned into my retina" didn't lead to a post titled "Burning Sensation".
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:22 PM
They might yet—or might have, had you not ruined everything.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:32 PM
Yeah, when I posted my comment on the misadventure with the Insanity Sauce, I thought that it really belonged in a thread called "Burning Sensation."
Posted by bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:37 PM
FYI: burning sensations are covered in the Owner's Guide.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:37 PM
This thing was supposed to come with a manual?
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:39 PM
What, yours is automatic? Really, the stick shift is better.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:40 PM
The push-button transmission's always worked fine for me.
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:45 PM
Continuously Variable is more efficient.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 12:53 PM
I'm waiting for the prices on the hybrids to come down.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 1:05 PM
I like manual, but I have a tendency to wear out the clutch.
Posted by My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 1:35 PM
I like long, scenic country drives.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 3:34 PM
Ogged likes goin' mudding.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 3:44 PM
Why did the blonde go to church?
[Stretch arms out to sides]
She heard there was a guy in there hung like this.
I was at a pub quiz at the weekend and one of the questions related to the Corcovado Christ statue near Rio de Janeiro. Someone asked "oh yes of course, which is that statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched" and was greeted with the reply "almost all statues of Jesus have his arms outstretched, it's one of the things he was famous for".
Posted by dsquared | Link to this comment | 10-26-05 6:50 PM
"dsquared, are you the only Brit who has heard of Julia Child?"
More than one brit followed The Julie-Julia Project
( http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/ )
so no.
Posted by dave heasman | Link to this comment | 10-27-05 9:01 AM