What to choose - a blender or a food processor: technical characteristics of devices and comparison of devices
A blender is one of the appliances most commonly found in the kitchen. Such popularity is due to the wide functionality of this device.
Its main purpose is to grind solid products, but with the help of additional nozzles it is also able to mix liquids, beat eggs and perform 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.
Content
Why do you need a blender and what is it like?
The blender's work is based on the rotation of sharp steel knives. This design makes it easy to grind fruits and vegetables, meat, and it can also be used for chopping ice, nuts or crackers.
The ability to grind a product is primarily determined by the power of the device. It is worth noting that blenders are manual and stationary.
A hand blender consists of a handle with an engine and control buttons, on which a nozzle with metal knives is put on.
When working, such a blender is lowered into the container. The equipment of different models depends on their cost, more expensive devices may have a whisk nozzle for whipping liquid and semi-liquid products, as well as a special bowl for shredding solid ingredients.
A stationary blender is a body with a container where rotating steel blades are placed. To grind products 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 of work;
- gives a uniform consistency at the exit;
- functionality increases with different nozzles.
Minuses
- does not grind products into small slices, but rather into a puree mixture;
- high speed causes rapid engine overheating, as a result of which a break is often necessary;
- makes a loud noise.
The multifunctionality of the blender can be very arbitrary, since additional functions (whipping or shredding) are not performed as well as using special separate devices.
Food processor and its functionality
A food processor, as the name implies, combines many of the most diverse functions necessary for cooking. He is able to grind, chop, mix, beat various products, chop meat, squeeze juice.
The types of combines depend on their functionality. Relatively speaking, the harvester can combine such devices: blender + meat grinder, blender + mixer + mixer, blender + juicer, etc.
Before choosing a harvester, you need to understand well which functions are really useful to you and which are not. A compact and relatively inexpensive appliance can be purchased to quickly grind or mix food.
If you have a large family, for which you need to cook a variety of dishes often and often, then a massive combine harvester with many attachments and functions will be an irreplaceable option..
pros
- easily copes with all the tasks assigned to him;
- thanks to its versatility, it allows you to save money, because it combines a blender, mixer, meat grinder, juicer;
- provides easy and fast processing of a large volume of products.
Minuses
- high price;
- big sizes.
If you compare the harvester with a blender, you need to understand that the blender is designed to grind and mix products. Thanks to its attachments, a food processor can perform significantly more tasks.
A blender, as a rule, is equipped with one (maximum two) bowls and several nozzles. The harvester has a huge number of bowls, a variety of knives and graters.
There is a purely visual difference: a food processor is large enough, it needs a lot of space, and a blender can often fit in a small corner or in a drawer (if we talk about a manual model), because it differs in more compact dimensions.
The cost of the harvester is much higher, since it has a complex structure and has many additional nozzles and devices that expand the versatility of the device.
A simpler blender is therefore much cheaper.
Chopper application
The chopper is a cross between a food processor and conventional manual slicing of products. As a rule, this device consists of a bowl, on which a handle is put on top.
Choppers allow finely chopped whole products as well as large pieces.
Chopped food can be added to the salad, or processed in some other way. Depending on the grinding method, these devices are divided into choppers and multi-slicers.
The main working element of the chopper is a rotating impeller knife. Such a device is even able to whip some liquid products (sauces, pancake dough, creams). The quality of the cut depends on the operating time of the knives, as well as on their location.
With a low placement of the blades, a puree mixture will be obtained, and with a high one, a fairly large cut. As a rule, the height of the knives can be adjusted.
A homogeneous composition can only be achieved by grinding products to a puree state.
Multi-cutters have rotating discs, on which a notch of different size and shape is applied.
Such devices can chop and slice products, and the particles will always have the same size.
Beating or stirring liquid foods with multi-cuts will not work. Usually multi-cutters are not equipped with their own bowl, so they are used in their dishes, like a hand blender.
pros
- excellent crushing of solid products (meat, nuts, ice);
- obtaining uniform, well-cut pieces;
- small dimensions of the device.
Minuses
- little functionality;
- heating with prolonged use.
The chopper is in many ways similar to the blender, both in functionality and in appearance. It is worth noting that the bowl for grinding products from the grinder is always located below, while with a stationary blender it is mounted on top.
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. It allows you to get juice only from citrus fruits, has a small capacity and compact size.
- Auger. Such a device works on the principle of a press - the product is placed under the screw, which moves and forces juice out of the product. This type is characterized by the highest productivity, since it can squeeze a maximum of juice from the pulp.
- Mesh 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 juice is released, and unnecessary pulp is automatically removed in a special container. The performance of such a juicer depends on its capacity, the most powerful appliances can process solid fruits and vegetables.
Advantages and disadvantages of juicers depend on their type and power. It is worth considering in more detail the differences between a juicer and a blender:
pros
- A juicer allows you to get pure juice without pulp, while a blender makes juice with impurities, which will more likely look like a liquid puree.
- The juicer removes the used meal in a separate container, and the blender leaves it with the juice.
- The operating time of juicers is from 5 to 15 minutes. Dear blenders are able to work until the desired consistency of the product is achieved.
- A juicer can even handle hard vegetables and fruits. The blender will simply chop them, or, in extreme cases, turn them into porridge.
- A juicer is used only for making juice, and a blender is suitable to make mashed potatoes or a variety of fruit smoothies.
Minuses
- No significant deficiencies have been identified.
In general, the choice again depends on the needs arising in the kitchen. The blender allows you to carry out a variety of operations, but with it you can not get the juice. If you need freshly squeezed juice, then in this case you can not do without a quality juicer.
Comparison of blender, food processor, juicer and chopper
This table shows the various operations that can (or cannot) be performed by the devices described in the article.
It should be noted that during the comparison, the possibility of expanding the functionality of the device due to additional nozzles was taken into account. So, for example, a blender can beat eggs if there is a whisk, and a juicer can theoretically be used to chop fruits, although this is not included in its purpose.
| Type of transaction | Blender | Harvester | Chopper | Juicer |
| Vegetable / Fruit Shredder | Yes | Yes | Yes | medium |
| Mashed potatoes | Yes | Yes | medium | not |
| Meat chopping | medium | Yes | Yes | not |
| Chopping nuts | medium | Yes | Yes | medium |
| Ice crack | medium | Yes | Yes | not |
| Cocktail making | medium | Yes | not | not |
| Beating Proteins / Yolks / Eggs | medium | Yes | not | not |
| Making homemade mayonnaise | not | Yes | not | not |
| Pancake batter | medium | Yes | medium | not |
| Thick sour cream dough | medium | Yes | medium | not |
| Dough for baking pies / cheesecakes | not | Yes | not | not |
| Juice squeeze | not | Yes | medium | Yes |
| Coffee / Spice Milk | not | Yes | Yes | not |
| Cutting a specific shape / grater | not | medium | Yes | not |
If you have a question - what to choose, a blender, or some other device - you need to clearly understand what purpose various devices have. The blender is good at chopping and mixing products, in addition, its functionality can be slightly expanded due to nozzles.
You can’t get juice with a blender, a juicer can do this very well. If you only need grinding, then you should choose a special grinder. The food processor, in turn, perfectly copes with all of the above tasks..
Useful video
From the video you will find out which is better - a blender or a juicer:
A blender or a food processor, is that the question? What to choose? You need to look at the number of people in the family, if the harvester is much better. The hand blender is more mobile and easier to wash. You can use the episode in the cooking process, while the harvester requires installation and configuration. Ideally, you must have both.
I am a hostess with great experience and cook a lot, including often baking and making juices with pulp in the fall for the winter and often cocktails. I have 3 types of this equipment in use: a harvester, a hand blender and a small smoothie blender. Of course, most often I use a harvester, but the rest of the assistants are also in demand, everyone has their own work and it is convenient for me to have 3 types of this equipment.
Of course, every housewife should be a priority. First I bought a good harvester, and after a while I acquired a blender, and then from a budget position. I chose the submersible version of the blender, it seemed to me universal due to the fact that I could grind the products in a pan and in a cup.
I am a mother of 4 children, I have 3 men and a daughter, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I use a food processor, he is my biggest assistant, chop, grind, knead the dough, he copes with everything!
In my opinion, a food processor is better than a blender. It has everything for cooking. But the blender helps out well when you need to quickly mix something for breakfast, for example. I am on healthy food for the second month. In the morning, fruits and vegetables raw for the diet you need to eat. I quickly mix everything with a blender and breakfast is ready. It’s convenient and doesn’t take much time, otherwise I’m always in a hurry. And I use the combine before the weekend when I cook for my family.