How to Use a Food Processor

A food processor is really four tools in one bowl: a chopper (the S-blade), a slicer and a shredder (the discs), and a dough mixer. The reason so many sit unused is that owners only ever use the S-blade to chop, and never fit the discs. Here is how to get the whole machine working for you.

The jobs it does brilliantly

• Shred cheese and vegetables.Fit the shredding disc and feed a block of cheese or whole carrots through the chute — a pound of cheese in seconds, and it never sticks to your knuckles like a box grater.
• Slice evenly.Fit the slicing disc for uniform potato, cucumber or onion slices — faster than a knife and, for large volumes, safer than a mandoline.
• Make dough. With the S-blade or a dough blade, pizza and pie dough come together in under a minute. Pulse the dry ingredients, then add liquid through the chute with the motor running.
• Grind nut butter and hummus. Run the S-blade for a couple of minutes, scraping down once or twice, and roasted peanuts become butter. A capable motor matters here.

The jobs it does badly

It does not make smoothies (that is a blender job — a processor leaves them lumpy and can leak liquid from the bowl), it does not whip cream well, and it will not produce a neat cube dice unless it came with a dicing kit. Know the limits and you will not be disappointed.

The cleanup shortcut

The number-one complaint about processors is washing up. Two habits fix most of it: prep dry ingredients before wet, so you can wipe and reuse the bowl instead of washing between steps; and rinse the bowl and blade immediately after use, before food dries onto them. Most bowls, lids and discs are dishwasher-safe on the top rack, but check your manual.