The machine adjusts automatically to the food being processed, while a choice of small or large feed chute allows you to keep vegetables upright. This means you can control the flow of ingredients. Storing discs and blades in a dedicated box means they’ll stay sharper and be more effective at chopping and shredding. Store them loose in a drawer and they'll gradually become blunter from rubbing against other items. What speed settings do I need on my food processor? The mini bowl fits inside the main one, and, crucially, has a seal around the edge to stop food spilling out, so when we chopped herbs, there was only one bowl to wash, not two. A separate recipe book has some ideas to get you started, but as you might expect, most of them are basics, such as pesto, mayonnaise, coleslaw, bread and pizza.

If you’ve ever put off using your food processor for small or medium-sized amounts because of the mountain of washing up at the end of it, the 4200XL is the clever solution you’ve been looking for. It comes with three bowls that nest inside each other, meaning that you can whizz up herbs or mayonnaise in its mini bowl or shred veg in the midi one without having to wash the large main bowl. The Easy Prep Pro isn’t perfect – its buttons are big and bulky, plus you have to hit the Off control rather than just the High or Low to stop it, which isn’t terribly intuitive. There’s also no dedicated storage for the discs or large chopping blade (though the mini bowl and blade store inside), meaning they could end up becoming blunt sooner than they should.

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All attachments fit comfortable into the dishwasher, and while there is only an On, Off and Pulse setting, these are incredibly powerful and fast. Our one reservation was that there is no way of slowing down for rougher chops. For this, it's best to use the pulse setting in short spurts.

The chopping disc is clever, too. It has three blade attachments for grating and slicing, and these pop out for easy alternation. There was quite a large gap between the blades and top of the bowl in testing, meaning that not everything got shredded evenly. This bowl does have a huge capacity though, which was able to handle an entire cabbage for a coleslaw mix.

Customer reviews

What the Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ BN800UK does excel in is smart features. It has a blend, chop, puree, and mix setting, as well as a pulse button and three strengths for blending. These programs mean you can simply press to chop or mix depending on your desired outcome, and the process is pre-timed and hands-free. You could even get set on the crudites for your new pureed dip. The Morphy Richards Prepstar Food Processor stood out to us because we loved its stand mixer counterpart - the Morphy Richards Mixstar - is one of the top mixers we've ever tried. The Morphy Richards Prepstar Food Processor is good too, but it's a little less finessed. Everything comes stowed away inside a caddy that slots into the generous 4 litre food processor bowl. This lifts out for use and you can attach the blades or whisk to the central column, which then attaches to the handle that slots into the top of the machine. This handle is plugged in and then twisted into the bowl, which did take some getting used to. Use a food processor’s wattage as a rough guide to its power. Remember that how a food processor is designed can have as much bearing on its performance. More watts won’t always mean it’s a better machine but anything over 650W should have enough muscle for most tasks. Are food processors easy to clean?

The Easy Prep Pro answers this need nicely – it’s more of a day-to-day appliance rather than one you haul out every so often. Plus it’s lightweight and compact enough to move around the kitchen as required. Its two bowls – a main 1.9-litre and mini 700ml – plus matching chopping blades and two reversible slicing/grating discs, are all dishwasher safe. Other perks included the large bowl that could handle multiple punnets of mushrooms and more than enough onion for any meal. It's got sturdy shredding, slicing and chopping disks that are held in place by a frame for no wobbling as you slice, and the insert into the feeding chute can also be used to measure liquids. All the food processor tools fit into a handy box after use, leaving just the main 3.7-litre bowl and mini bowl to be stored on the die-cast metal base. There’s also an LED timer for counting down and up. It seems like food processors just keep on coming out with more attachments and smart options - some can even be used as a blender, and you can even give your stand mixer a break with a food processor to make dough or whip up cream or mayonnaise. The Russell Hobbs Desire Food Processor has two speeds and a pulse setting, which is very high power and can create smooth sauces easily. It also features a creaming disk, which really impressed us when we used it to make mayonnaise, although it is better used with large quantities thanks to the wide base of the bowl.However, keen cooks and those who like to make batches for the freezer will get more use from the extra kit. Your handy little kitchen helper, this Russell Hobbs Desire Food Processor will make all your food prep tasks effortless. From chopping, slicing, dicing, shredding, beating or even creaming, this versatile food processor takes care of the food prep so you can spend less time in the kitchen. In tests, the 4200XL consistently produced excellent results regardless of the task. It sliced onions and celery evenly in the midi bowl (with none of it landing in the main bowl), turning a 10-minute chopping tasks into 30 seconds of processing. Then we were able to take the midi bowl out, slot the whisk into the main bowl and add three egg whites. After about five minutes, the whites were light and fluffy and had increased in volume to fill the bowl. As well as built-in scales and a weighing plate, it comes with several slicing and grating discs, knife blade, dough blade, whisk, folding tool, mini bowl, grinder, blender jug and even a citrus press for on-demand OJ. chop vegetables for soups, mince garlic for stir fries or process nuts for desserts, this nifty processor can do them all.

It has a three-litre main bowl – with the option of a ‘mini’ 1.6-litre bowl that fits inside. Although the chopping bowl is quite large we found that it struggled when filled above half way, with anything above this point struggling to reach the blades.Storage is a key consideration if your food processor comes with lots of kit. Look for designs that allow you to store tools inside the bowl or that come with boxes or cases. Some food processors may also be able to double up as a stand mixer, blender or mini chopper, making them a better value all-in-one buy. Where will you store your food processor? It performed similarly well when using the blade in the main bowl to liquidise vegetable soup. The BlenderMix ring helped to deflect the liquid down towards the blade, rather than it splashing up into the processor lid, so that after two minutes it was smooth. Another advantage is that the bowl can blend hot liquids, so there was no need to cool the soup to room temperature before processing. A final reason to buy is that it’s dishwasher-safe. There is an incremental speed dial for processing plus a pulse. The range of blades will suit both the keen chef and those who like to batch cook. An extra-wide feed tube accommodated every vegetable without much chopping beforehand. Other features of note are a 30-minute eco mode, and a storage box for the blades, ensuring that they stay as sharp as possible. The size of your food processor bowl will affect how much you can prep in one go. The largest can be up to four litres – ideal if you batch cook or have a big family – but for everyday jobs 1.8-2 litres should be enough. A wide feed chute is also a plus as it’ll mean less initial prep for larger items, such as potatoes or courgettes. Look for a good-quality BPA-free plastic bowl and lid so they’re robust enough not to have to be replaced in a few years. Is storage important?