Cookware.com Review: Hamilton Beach Chef Prep 10 Cup Food Processor & Paderno World Cuisine Composite Tongs

As I mentioned last month, I have once again teamed up with the CSN Network, who provided me with a complimentary $60 gift certificate to use at one of their 200+ stores. One of my favorite things to shop for is kitchen gadgets, so I quickly decided that I would spend my certificate at Cookware.com. I’ve been wanting a food processor for some time now, so I immediately started browsing the food processor category. I carefully considered which one I should go with – I’ve never owned a food processor before, so I did some research on the different brands and features available. I knew I wanted one that could double as a blender, since mine broke a while ago. After some debate, I decided that the Hamilton Beach Chef Prep 10 Cup Food Processor would likely suit my needs the best: It had a 10-cup capacity, which I knew was a must, 525 watt motor, and advertised its ability to puree foods – I broke my blender trying to puree pumpkin for a pie, so this seemed right up my alley! Customer feedback seemed to be fairly consistent, and for the $54.99 price tag, this seemed to offer the most bang for your buck.

Since I had a few dollars left on my gift certificate, I also picked up a pair of Paderno World Cuisine 7 1/8″ Composite Tongs for $3.14, since I needed a new pair of tongs anyway. I applied my gift certificate and paid just $9.95 for shipping – can’t beat that for a brand new food processor!

I was very excited when my package arrived and couldn’t wait to try out my goodies. First, let’s talk about the tongs. They are made of non porous composite nylon and polyamide materials, and built to be heat resistant up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Bear in mind that because of their petite size, they are not meant for larger items. The only thing I’ve had a chance to try them on so far is corn on the cob, which was a little too big for the tongs, although I did manage to pick it up. However, I think that for small jobs, such as picking up things like salad or cold cuts, these would be perfectly appropriate.

Now, onto the food processor. The first thing I noticed was that the product manual was fairly brief, at ten pages long – It walks you through the assembly and provides operating instructions, but doesn’t go into great detail. The manual also includes a 1-year limited warranty, which makes me feel more confident in my purchase; I know I have some recourse if I encounter any mechanical issues.

For my first test, I decided to make a fruit smoothie, because that’s what I’ve missed the most since my blender broke! This was my first time ever using a food processor, so it was all new territory for me. I tossed in a chopped banana, frozen strawberries, tofu, and then added milk until I hit the “fill” line for liquids on the side of the unit.

It worked great as a blender – the only thing I would add would be a lip on the side to make it easier to pour liquids. I had a hard time serving the smoothie and had to use an ice cream scoop to spoon the smoothie into the glass.

A noteworthy aspect of this food processor is how easy to clean it is. All of the parts can be cleaned separately and quickly, and the bowl, lid, and blades are all dishwasher safe. Apparently, not all food processors clean up well – I told my dad how happy I was to have a food processor, and he asked: “Yes, but have you tried to clean it yet?!” Actually, this is much easier to clean than my old blender was, which is a definite plus!

My next project was using the unit to chop celery for a tuna casserole that I was making. I was really excited to see how it would work chopping vegetables, as that was one of my main reasons for wanting a food processor. I decided to use the “Slice” blade for the job, and it sliced each celery stalk in seconds, literally.

The blade chopped the celery much finer than I would have for a casserole, but I actually preferred it this way – smaller pieces meant that I could fit a lot more celery in the casserole than I could normally since it took up less volume. And since the celery was finely chopped, the taste was subtle; this makes it easy to “Sneak in” more veggies into all kinds of dishes. And more vegetables are always a win in my book!

A few days later, I was preparing a potato salad to take to a family reunion. Once again, I needed to chop celery, but this time I wanted larger pieces. I decided to use the chopping blade by itself, without the slice blade, as I had done when preparing the smoothie previously. The pieces still came out fairly small, but worked just fine for potato salad.

The chopping blade also worked great on the hardboiled eggs which I had prepared for the potato salad:

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the finished product, but it was a big hit at the reunion!

So far, I am thrilled with my food processor. I’ve only scratched the surface of its features, and I still have a lot to learn. This will be a massive time saver for me – now I can make things like carrot cake without spending ages slaving over a grater! The unit works fast and efficiently, finely chopping stalks of celery in just seconds. I definitely think I chose the right unit for my needs; given the capacity, number of options, and price, Hamilton Beach’s Chef Prep 10 Cup Food Processor fit the bill for me.

So readers, weigh in: Do you own a food processor? Do you have any tips for me?