Food processors are like an extra set of hands when it comes to help in the kitchen. They can do everything from slice and grate, to chop, mix, stir and even knead doughs. Once upon a time, food processors were large, heavy, and bulky, so have things changed much? I recently received a sample of the Hamilton Beach food processor to try in my home to see what it’s good for, and what it can help me with in the kitchen. It’s a very inexpensive food processor that’s also got one unique feature that seems to deal with one of the troublesome aspects of using a food processor and that’s scraping down the sides constantly. So has Hamilton Beach got it nailed when it comes to the best food processors in 2023? I’ll find out in this hamilton beach food processor review and let you know if I think I can recommend this gadget to you.
Hamilton Beach Food Processor with Bowl Scraper
Summary
The Hamilton Beach food processor holds a lot of food while taking up relatively little real estate. It feels substantial but it’s not heavy, making it easy to store away or get out for a quick recipe. It makes fast work of a lot of tedious kitchen tasks, and can handle everything from slicing and grating to chopping and mixing, with ease.
Pros
- Works amazingly well
- Easy to set up and use
- Quick cleanup
- So affordable!
- Bowl scraper is genius
Cons
- Could use more finesse in speed control
What’s in the box of Hamilton beach food processors?
What you get in the package is simple and straightforward: there’s the motorized base of the food processor which includes a non-removable motor shaft. Many food processors make this removable but not here. Then the processor itself consists of several parts:
- Bowl
- Chopping/Mixing blade
- Lid with pusher
- Reversible slicing/shredding disc
- Bowl scraper
My hands-on video review
This food processor has a surprisingly small footprint, but at the same time it looks like it will hold a decent amount of food for prep.
Set up
There’s not really much in the way of set up; just plug the machine in and it’s essentially ready to go. You’ll need to choose which parts and pieces you need for the task at hand and assemble those, otherwise that’s it.
Chopping & Mixing
If you’re looking to chop vegetables, you can simply drop large chunks into the bowl. During my review I used onions. When you’re ready to chop, just align the lid with the handle of the bowl. That creates a safety lock that allows the blade to begin when you turn the control knob. Amazingly this machine is extremely fast and the blade is very speedy and powerful. It makes quick work of pretty much any type of vegetable.
There are two speeds and a pulse option
The only caveat I’ll make here is that there is really not a lot of speed control and doesn’t seem to be a way to truly slow it down or chop more slowly or more gently. The way to get a courser chop is to simply run the machine for less time. In the recipes I tested out I mainly needed finer dice so the machine did quick and excellent work of it for me.
One of the most important Hamilton food processor instructions is to add the bowl scraper before you process any of your ingredients. Otherwise you’ll be trying to wedge the scraper in amongst a bowl full of food; not ideal.
I also used this machine to mix a dough to make bread. The recipe I chose is specifically designed for a food processor or a blender, so it worked great in the Hamilton Beach food processor. Despite the fact the blade is a cutter it didn’t destroy my dough and made quick work of the kneading for me.
Using the bowl scraper
The bowl scraper is actually pretty genius, and I fell in love with it from the first use. While your Hamilton Beach food processor is doing its work, you can use the small lever on the lid to maneuver the scraper to scrape the bowl as it works, carving stuck-on food back into the bowl for further chopping. It actually does an extremely thorough job at scraping the sides and getting wayward bits back in front of the blade.
Next up was a homemade hummus. Here the Hamilton Beach food processor really shines. It made a perfectly uniform dip and managed all the ingredients really well. The bowl scraper was brilliant here since when I make hummus with another older food processor, I have to stop about four or five times to scrape down the sides. Here, I was able to simply toggle the scraper around the sides of the bowl while it was mixing and everything finished up extremely quickly. I was left with a perfectly textured hummus.
This tool is so simple yet so smart I can’t believe I haven’t seen a food processor that does this before now.
Slicing & Shredding
The Hamilton Beach food processor will also manage both slicing and grating. The cutting disc that does this is reversible; so whichever action you want, you turn that side of the disk up and then set it over the motor shaft where it will click into place.
I tried it with carrots, and made uniform slices for a soup. The only thing to note here is that there is really only one thickness option so you can’t get fatter or thinner slices. Even so the slices were uniform and worked just fine for my recipe.
Flipping the disk over to test out the grating, I tackled a firm cheese, so I could make a quiche. The gratings are much thicker than I would normally use for something like this; more of a rougher cottage style than a finer grating. Nonetheless, they worked great in my recipe, and I was happy with the results.
Overall review: Hamilton Beach Food Processor with Bowl Scraper
Overall, I’m extremely happy with the results of the Hamilton Beach food processor. Based on my experience and numerous Hamilton Beach food processor reviews, it’s clear that this appliance consistently delivers exceptional performance and reliability.
On the pro side, it holds a lot of food while taking up relatively little real estate. It feels substantial but it’s not heavy, making it easy to store away or get out for a quick recipe. It makes fast work of a lot of tedious kitchen tasks, and can handle everything from slicing and grating to chopping and mixing, with ease.
So what are the downsides? There’s not a lot of ability to finesse the speed with this machine so you have to be careful not to over mix or over chop. There’s also no adjustability with slicing or grating thickness. In my opinion, those are very minor distractions that don’t take away from the overall performance of this food processor.
Plus, there’s also the fact this food processor sells for just about $55 US. It’s more in Canada at $109CAD (and yeah the Canada vs US prices are a bit out of control). I think this is a great food processor for a great price. I can absolutely recommend it to you.
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