Food processors: Choosing a food processor Food processor video guide
Food processors, kitchen machines and mini choppers: what's the difference?
Mini choppers are good at chopping nuts
The three types of food preparation appliance featured in this advice guide are: food processors, kitchen machines (sometimes known as a stand mixer or food mixer) and mini choppers.
Reviews of the latest products and more information on all three types can be found in our food processors review.
Food processors, kitchen machines and mini choppers are designed to make life in the kitchen easier for you.
You’ll still have to weigh and prepare food, but you’ll save more of your precious time by letting the food processor, mixer or chopper tackle the trickier tasks – often in seconds. Plus, the results are a lot more consistent than the average person could achieve by hand.
Food processors and kitchen machines are great if you want to cook a batch of meals ahead of time and freeze them for another day.
Mini choppers rose to fame after Delia Smith used one as a ‘cheat’ gadget on her TV programme in 2008. They’re basically a very small version of a food processor and are excellent at speedily processing small portions of food.
How to make tomato salsa in a mini chopper
Check out our mini chopper video to see how quickly you can make fresh tomato salsa:
Please enable JavaScript to access this content.
Recipe for fresh tomato salsa
Ingredients
- Two small tomatoes – quartered
- One small onion - peeled and quartered
- One garlic clove - peeled
- One small green pepper - peeled, cored, quartered, then brushed with oil and grilled or roasted until the skin is slightly blackened
- One small green chilli
- A few sprigs of fresh coriander
Method
Quarter the tomatoes, place four or six pieces into the mini chopper, along with one quarter of the grilled green pepper, a small piece of green chilli, the clove of garlic, two quarters of the small onion and a couple of sprigs of coriander.
Pulse for a few seconds and then continuously blend for a couple of seconds more until the desired consistency is reached.
Process the remaining ingredients separately to make a larger batch.
