The Difference Between Knives and Blades

I am trying to decide whether or not to purchase a food processor. I don’t have any knife skills as of yet, but I am trying to learn. Do you honestly believe that anything I would do in a food processor I could do with knives given that I learn the proper knife skills????

Actually, no. I hope my post on my preference for knives over food processors in most situations isn’t too misleading. Really, I just meant to express a strong preference for using knives to take care of the everyday jobs they’re designed for.

Knives work great for mincing and chopping. You can get onions, garlic, mushrooms, etc. to the sizes you want with a greater degree of accuracy with knives than a processor. When it comes to making bread crumbs or hummus without a food processor, though, you’re S.O.L. Pesto is easier with a processor, but can be done satisfactorily with a very large mortar and pestle, but a mortar and pestle of that size don’t often make an appearance in a kitchen that isn’t already well-stocked with tools (like a food processor).

As a interim step, what I might recommend is the deluxe version of the immersion blender from Kitchen-Aid. In addition to a hand blender, it comes with a whisk attachment and a mini-food processor attachment that does quite well for small quantities of things. It cleans up easily, stores in a drawer, and has multiple uses.

If, after using that for a while, you feel like a larger food processor is something that’s lacking in your life, you might then make the educated decision to get one. Truth be told, though, a food processor will spend more time taking up space on your counter than doing actual work. When it comes time to use it, though, it does come in handy.

5 Responses to “The Difference Between Knives and Blades”

  1. Cortney Says:

    If you decide to get a food processor, you might look around for a used one, either at thrift shops or an estate sale. My food processor is a hand me down from a friend, a no-brand model, and it’s held up over the last six years with no sign of breaking any time soon. I’ve mostly used it for hummus, pasta dough, and sauces.

    I agree with Jesse that it most of time time a food processor takes up space, but it is oh-so-handy when preparing the things listed above.

  2. SamChevre Says:

    The other thing you can’t do without a food processor is make emulsified sausages (like bratwurst or knackwurst) or fine pâté (you can make country pâtés).

  3. Chuck Says:

    When I got my first processor (25 years ago or so), I imagined it would be heaven on earth. Not so. So I got better at my knife skills, then learned how to better use the processor. Knowing what stuff looks like when it’s been skillfully processed with my knife, I could better control what I was doing with those whirring blades in the machine.

    All that said — I rarely use the processor anymore. I can mince an onion with my knife faster than I can get out and set up the machine. Practice those knife skills!

  4. Michelle Says:

    While it is true that you get a strong handle on basic cutting techniques, having a food processor always speeds things up, especially now that they have all of these tiny models that don’t need to be lugged out of a cupboard. I’m a busy mom of three, and I’ll take all the help I can get from processors that help with quick food prep. Try anything from Black and Decker…reliable and affordable.

  5. jwsharrard Says:

    Upside to smaller machines: they take up less counter space. Downside: smaller cutting capacity.

    Cook’s Illustrated did a comprehensive test of mini choppers and concluded that they have limited abilities: grating cheese and mincing parsley, for instance were tasks that none of the models tested handled to their satisfaction. Of the models they tested, the Black and Decker Chopper not recommended; the only model that they recommended was the Kitchen Aid Chef’s Chopper, and even that they found to be unable to do more than bruise the parsley. So, my recommendation still stands: even if you have a food processor that you trust for some tasks, it is no substitute for proficiency with a chef’s knife.

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