What to choose - a blender or a food processor: technical characteristics of devices and comparison of devices

A blender is one of the most commonly found appliances in the kitchen. This popularity is due to the wide functionality of this device. Its main purpose is to grind solids, but with the help of additional attachments it is also capable of mixing liquids, beating eggs and many other operations.

However, the market offers other devices that can handle some tasks better than a blender.

Choosing the right device ultimately depends on your needs.

Why do you need a blender and what is it?

The blender works by rotating sharp steel knives. This design makes it easy to chop fruits and vegetables, meat, and can also be used to crush ice, nuts or crackers.

The ability to grind a particular product is primarily determined by the power of the device . It is worth noting that blenders are hand-held and stationary.

A hand blender consists of a handle with a motor and control buttons, onto which an attachment with metal blades is attached.

During operation, such a blender is lowered into a container . The equipment of different models depends on their cost; more expensive devices may have a whisk attachment for whipping liquid and semi-liquid products, as well as a special bowl for chopping solid ingredients.

A stationary blender is a body with a container in which rotating steel blades are placed . To grind food with such a blender, you need to place the necessary components in the bowl, close it with a lid and turn on the device at a certain power.

Of course, a blender has its pros and cons.

pros

• chopping fruits, vegetables, meat, some solid foods;
• high speed;
• gives a homogeneous consistency at the output;
• functionality increases with the presence of different attachments.

Minuses

• does not grind food into fine pieces, but rather into a puree-like mixture;
• high operating speed causes rapid overheating of the engine, as a result of which it is often necessary to take a break;
• makes a loud noise.

The versatility of a blender can be very conditional, since additional functions (beating or chopping) are not performed as well as when using special separate devices.

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What is the difference between a blender and a food processor?

A blender is a compact device designed for whipping liquid and soft products. It consists of a handle with control buttons, a chopper bowl and a removable knife responsible for processing raw materials. It is often equipped with a whisk - in this case, using the device it becomes possible to prepare very delicate mousses and creams.

Immersion blenders are the most popular. They are small in size, inexpensive, and can be used with any glassware, not just the included glass. But there are also stationary models - their advantageous differences include a more spacious capacity and increased power.

In a stationary blender, you do not need to constantly hold the button pressed to grind food.

Attention! Most frothers work with fruits and hard vegetables, but some units also support crushing nuts and ice.

The difference between a food processor and a blender is its broader functionality. The unit supports:

• cleaning vegetables and fruits;
• kneading dough;
• whipping cocktails and purees;
• cutting and chopping food;
• twisting meat into minced meat;
• crushing ice, nuts and coffee beans.

The advantageous difference of the device is that it is completely universal. In fact, the device replaces a mixer, blender and juicer at the same time. The device comes with not only replacement knives, but also shaped attachments, filters, graters of different sizes and additional containers.

The negative differences of a food processor include large dimensions and high price

Food processor and its functionality

A food processor, as the name suggests, combines many different functions needed for cooking. It is capable of grinding, cutting, mixing, whipping various products, chopping meat, squeezing juice.

Types of combines depend on their functionality . Relatively speaking, a food processor can combine the following devices: blender + meat grinder, blender + mixer + dough mixer, blender + juicer, etc.

Before choosing a combine, you need to have a good understanding of which functions will really be useful to you and which ones will not. To quickly grind or mix products, you can purchase a compact and relatively inexpensive device.

If you have a large family, for which you need to prepare a wide variety of dishes a lot and often, then a massive food processor with many attachments and functions will be an indispensable option..

pros

• easily copes with all the tasks assigned to him;
• thanks to its versatility, it allows you to save money, since it combines a blender, mixer, meat grinder, and juicer;
• Provides easy and fast processing of large volumes of products.

Minuses

• high price;
• big sizes.

If you compare a food processor with a blender, you need to understand that a blender is designed for chopping and mixing products . Thanks to its attachments, a food processor can perform significantly more tasks.

A blender is usually equipped with one (maximum two) bowls and several attachments. The combine has a huge number of bowls, a variety of knives and graters.

There is also a purely visual difference: a food processor is quite large and requires a lot of space, while a blender can often fit in a small corner or in a drawer (if we talk about a manual model), since it has more compact dimensions.

The cost of the combine is much higher, since it has a complex design and has many additional attachments and accessories that expand the versatility of the device.

A simpler blender is, accordingly, much cheaper.

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Purpose and features of a food processor

A powerful and spacious food processor can easily handle complex culinary work. Multifunctional household appliances are equipped with:

• a set of replaceable attachments and discs;
• several bowls (bowls) of different sizes;
• additional elements and accessories for mechanical processing of products.

Food processor

Cooking machines perform the functions of several gadgets. Thanks to the available attachments and accessories, they perform the following functions:

• blender;
• meat grinders;
• mixer;
• shredders/vegetable cutters;
• dough mixer;
• juicers;
• ice crushing devices;
• coffee grinders.

Multifunctional harvester

Universal devices easily handle cutting fruits and vegetables. With their help, you can grind very hard coffee beans, squeeze juice, and cut food for salads and other dishes.

Depending on the model, the number of removable attachments and options can vary greatly. The more functions a device has, the more expensive it is. Housewives who plan to cook food in large quantities or who want to learn all the basics of cooking find it very difficult to do without such a culinary machine.

Thanks to the special shape of the self-sharpening knives, the universal unit copes with chopping or slicing even hard products.

Harvesters are equipped with removable bowls, which can be made of plastic, glass, or metal (stainless steel). Metal containers are the most durable and strong.

Culinary appliances are designed for preparing large portions of semi-finished products (dough, minced meat) or finished products (creams, sauces, cocktails, fruit drinks). In household devices, the volume of bowls varies from 1.5 to 5.5 liters.

Shredder Application

A chopper is a cross between a food processor and a regular manual chopping machine. As a rule, this device consists of a bowl with a handle on top.

Choppers allow you to finely chop both whole foods and large pieces.

Chopped food can be added to salad or processed in some other way. Depending on the chopping method, these devices are divided into choppers and multi-cutters.

The main working element of a chopper is a rotating blade-impeller . Such a device is even capable of whipping some liquid products (sauces, pancake dough, cream). The quality of cutting depends on the operating time of the knives, as well as on their location.

When the blades are positioned low, you will get a puree-like mixture, and when the blades are placed high, you will get a fairly coarse cut. As a rule, the height of the knives can be adjusted.

It is worth noting that the chopper does not give a uniform consistency: the finished mixture will consist of both small and larger particles.

A homogeneous composition can only be achieved by grinding the products to a puree state.

Multi-cutters have rotating disks on which notches of different sizes and shapes are applied..

Such devices can chop and cut food into slices, and the particles will always have the same size.

You will not be able to beat or stir liquid products using multi-cutters. Typically, multi-cutters do not have their own bowl, so they are used in their own container, just like a hand blender.

pros

• excellent crushing of hard products (meat, nuts, ice);
• obtaining uniform, well-cut pieces;
• small dimensions of the device.

Minuses

• little functionality;
• heating during prolonged use.

A chopper is in many ways similar to a blender, both in functionality and appearance. It is worth noting that the bowl for chopping food in a chopper is always located at the bottom, while in a stationary blender it is installed at the top .

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Blender

An easy-to-use universal assistant becomes indispensable in every home. The blender does an excellent job of chopping food, mixing cocktails, making purees and baby food. Some models can beat eggs and chop ice. This electrical appliance is easy to store, quite easy to use and affordable.

Types of blenders and their features

Devices of different types differ in their method of use, power and application capabilities. Let's look at the most popular ones.

Manual. This blender consists of a handle with a built-in motor and an attachment with knives. The device is immersed in a container with products that need to be crushed or mixed and does the job after pressing a button. The advantages of this type are its compactness, lightness and the presence of a battery, which allows you to use the blender portable. An immersion blender can be used to prepare small portions directly in a plate, and it chops boiled and soft foods faster.

There are also disadvantages: hand blenders can handle a small amount of food. Also, when working with this option, there is a high probability of staining the surrounding area with splashes during cooking. Fortunately, the problem can be solved by careful use or use of utensils with higher edges.

Stationary. Unlike the first one, this blender is more complete and powerful. It consists of a body, containers of various shapes and sizes, and interchangeable attachments with knives. It works “independently”: there is no need to hold the device in your hands or press the button for a long time. As a rule, there is a self-cleaning function, which makes working with the blender easier and reduces cleaning time after cooking. High power allows you to grind harder products. The disadvantages of this type include: noise during operation, the need to use a bowl and large size.

Using a juicer in the kitchen

Juicers are a completely separate class of devices that differ widely in functionality and purpose. However, in any case, they all serve to perform one task - squeezing juice.

Types of juicers:

• For citrus fruits . Allows you to obtain juice only from citrus fruits, has low power and compact dimensions.
• Auger . This device works on the principle of a press - the product is placed under a screw, which moves and forcefully squeezes the juice out of the product. This type has the highest productivity, as it can squeeze maximum juice out of the pulp.
• Grid or centrifugal . The most common type, the working element of which is rotating knives placed in a container with mesh walls. During operation, the product is crushed and rubbed through a mesh, due to which the juice is released, and the unnecessary pulp is automatically removed into a special container. The performance of such a juicer depends on its power; the most powerful devices can process hard fruits and vegetables.

The advantages and disadvantages of juicers depend on their type and power. It’s worth taking a closer look at the differences between a juicer and a blender:

pros

• A juicer produces pure, pulp-free juice, while a blender produces mixed juice that is more like a liquid puree.
• The juicer removes the used pulp into a separate container, while the blender leaves it along with the juice.
• The operating time of juicers ranges from 5 to 15 minutes. Expensive blenders are able to work until the desired consistency of the product is achieved.
• The juicer can even handle hard vegetables and fruits. A blender will simply chop them up, or, in extreme cases, turn them into mush.
• A juicer is used only for making juice, while a blender is suitable for making purees or a variety of fruit smoothies.

Minuses

• no significant deficiencies were identified.

In general, the choice again depends on the needs that arise in the kitchen . A blender allows you to carry out a variety of operations, but you cannot get juice with it. If you need freshly squeezed juice, then you cannot do without a high-quality juicer.

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Features and functions of a food processor

The device is designed for processing various products. It can replace several types of equipment at once: juicer, mixer, meat grinder, vegetable cutter and others. A device with high power may interfere with thick dough. This significantly reduces cooking time and makes the process convenient.

Advantages of a food processor:

1. Capable of grinding hard products.
2. Has a wide range of functions. Having purchased a food processor, you will not have to additionally purchase a blender, meat grinder, juicer, or mixer. This will save kitchen space.
3. High speed of processing a large number of products, which is especially important for preparing preparations for the winter.
4. Does not heat up during prolonged use.

Disadvantages of the combine:

• high price;
• Requires a lot of space to store additional attachments.

To avoid unnecessary spending, when choosing a combine harvester, you need to pay attention to the attachments and materials used in manufacturing. If all the functions of the device will not be used, then you should give preference to a small product with a minimum of attachments. The choice of model is also influenced by the bowl. They come in different volumes and are made of plastic, stainless steel and glass.

One of the important characteristics that you need to consider when purchasing is the power of the device. If you do not plan to grind solid products, then a device with low power and operating speed will be sufficient.

Comparison of blender, food processor, juicer and chopper

This table shows the various operations that can (or cannot) be performed by the devices discussed in this article.

It is worth noting that the comparison took into account the possibility of expanding the functionality of the device through additional attachments . For example, a blender can beat eggs if it has a whisk attachment, and a juicer can theoretically be used to chop fruit, although this is not its purpose.

If you are faced with the question of what to choose, a blender, or some other device, you need to clearly understand the purpose of the various devices . The blender is good at chopping and mixing products, in addition, its functionality can be slightly expanded due to attachments.

You can't get juice with a blender; a juicer will do the job perfectly. If you only need grinding, then you should choose a special grinder. A food processor, in turn, will cope perfectly with all of the above tasks .

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Food Processor Features

When talking about such a functional device, it is easier to point out what it cannot do. Of course, setting the table or washing dishes with a food processor is “not up to the task.” But what he can do is amazing. The unit is capable of:

• peel vegetables;
• cut, grind and shred;
• sweep the dough;
• squeeze out the juice;
• beat puree, cocktail, cream;
• make minced meat;
• grind coffee beans, crack ice or frozen foods.

Speaking about such a functional device, it is easier to point out what a food processor cannot do

Apparently, it was not for nothing that it received such a name. But performing a wide range of tasks is possible with a fairly significant configuration. Therefore, additional elements of the device include numerous attachments, containers, graters, knives, filters and more.

It turns out that a food processor includes several devices that operate from the main body, which acts as a blender, mixer, juicer and other units. And all this fits in one device.

It is clear that the device takes up a lot of space, is expensive and has high power. At the same time, based on this information, it is impossible to call it or the blender better or worse. For a clearer understanding of what is better to choose: a food processor or a blender, you can look at the comparative characteristics of the units.

For housewives who love to cook, purchasing a food processor will definitely become a necessity.

How to decide on a choice - a blender or a food processor

Food processors are multifunctional devices and can handle a wide range of tasks. Despite the fact that blenders are inferior in terms of characteristics and number of tasks performed, they are popular due to their cost and compact size.

Making a choice between these kitchen helpers is quite difficult. Therefore, it is important to decide what exactly the device is being purchased for . The best option would be to buy a good food processor with a large number of attachments and a powerful immersion blender.

But if the family budget is limited or there is no storage space? In this case, you need to set your priorities correctly. If the family has a small child or a lover of cocktails and smoothies, then the best option is a powerful blender. For those who are interested in winter preparations, a food processor with attachments is more suitable.

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