We all enjoy the delicious chutneys, make the garlic paste (which makes food simply

awesome) and enjoy the mango shakes and watermelon juice in summers. Though the
tasks like slicing, grinding, chopping, blending, shredding and pureeing of several food items
like vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc., that are required for preparation of numerous dishes and
desserts are quite tedious and time consuming when done manually. This is when a food
processor comes to the rescue.

THE BASICS

Before proceeding onto discussing how a food processor works and what one should look for
when buying a food processor, we must know what functions a food processor can perform
and why is it called as a multi-tasking kitchen tool.

The tasks one can perform with a food processor include:-

 Grinding. A food processor makes for a very powerful grinding tool which can grind
anything from nuts, to sugar, to whole grains, etc.
 Chopping. This is one of the most used functionalities of a food processor. A food
processor can be used to chop all types of vegetables and fruits into uniform slices to serve as
salad or to use in other recipes.
 Kneading. This is a task that requires a lot of physical effort and labour when done
manually. But, with the help of a food processor, kneading of flour can be done quickly and
efficiently.
 Pureeing. Be it for preparing sauces, for preparing dips or for preparing soups,
pureeing of various vegetables and fruits together is a task which is performed by a food
processor with ease.
 Grating. A food processor is a very capable grating and shredding tool. So, the next
time you plan to make your favourite pasta or pizza at home, your food processor would be
more than happy to grate the cheese for you.
Having discussed the various functions a food processor can perform and how it helps in
reducing the stressful manual labour, let us proceed to discuss how a food processor actually
works.

A food processor consists of a motor, which is present at the base of the food processor and
is the heaviest part of the appliance. The weight of the motor ensures that the food processor
stays at one place and does not move around when the motor is spinning at high speeds.
From the motor, a shaft extends upwards to power the various attachments which solve
specific purposes among chopping, kneading, grinding, etc. A bowl, into which the food
items are loaded for performing any of the above mentioned functions fits onto the shaft and
locks into position.

A lid sits on the top of the bowl and attaches snugly onto it, thus preventing any spillages that
might happen when the motor rotates. The bowl and the lid are made of durable and high
quality plastic.
The lid has a tube, known as the feed tube, one can load the food contents into the bowl with
the help of this feed tube.

Now, having learnt about the working of a food processor, let us proceed to discuss the areas
one should pay attention to when buying a food processor that ensures that the appliance
would serve you well for several years to come.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A FOOD PROCESSOR

The Motor
When it comes to buying a food processor, one must pay utmost attention to the wattage of
the motor that powers the food processor. A motor with higher wattage ensures higher spin
speeds. Higher spin speeds ensure that even the densest of the food items are finely chopped
and the thickest of the nuts are efficiently ground.

As a rule of thumb,

 If there are five or more members in your family, it is wise to go with a food
processor that has a motor of wattage 750 W and beyond.
 For a family having three-four members, a 600–700 W motor shall be sufficient to
carry out all the tasks productively.
 Any lesser than three members in the family, a 500–600 W motor shall suffice.
The above mentioned capacities of the motor, according to the family size have been
mentioned by taking into consideration that most of the food preparation would be done at
home.

The Feed Tube

As mentioned earlier, a feed tube allows to load the food contents in the bowl. Therefore, a
feed tube should be wide in size. A lid with narrow feed tube often requires pre-cutting of
many food items by hand before they can be loaded into the bowl or one would have to
remove the lid altogether, to load the larger food items directly into the bowl. This could
become cumbersome when food items need to be loaded into the bowl more than once.

The Attachments
This is one of the most important components of a food processor. Without having the proper
set of attachments to cater to one’s intended use, no matter how capable the motor or how
durable the bowl is, they would not be of much use.
The attachments that are generally required to cater to the Indian cooking conditions are:-

Standard attachments

 S-shaped blade. Also known as the Sabatier blade, this blade sits at the bottom of the
bowl and comes as standard in every food processor and is good for performing average tasks
like chopping and mincing. Additionally, the sabatier blade can also be used for kneading the
dough, however, the kneaded dough is not as even, as obtained by using a dedicated kneading
attachment.
Specialized attachments

 Shredding, Slicing and Grating discs. These three attachments are made of metal
and sit at the top of the bowl over the shaft. They work in similar ways, though they solve
different purposes. Through the feed tube, food item is pushed in the bowl where it makes
contact with the rotating disc and gets shredded or sliced or grated into finer pieces,
depending upon which of these three attachments is used. The finer pieces of food obtained,
get collected in the bowl.
 Dough blade. This attachment is made of plastic and has straighter paddles than the
S-shaped blade. This allows the blades to do a better job at kneading the dough rather than
just slicing through it, which happens in the case of S-shaped blade.
 Blender. This attachment is in the form of a jug and fits onto the shaft, right in the
place where the bowl fits and is used to make milkshakes, smoothies, etc.
 Citrus press or juicer. This attachment is dome-shaped and sits at the top of the
shaft. When a fruit is pressed along the rotating dome, the pulp of the fruit gets removed and
is collected in the bowl.
Now having understood about the different components of a food processor and the various
types of attachments that perform specific functions on the food items, let us proceed to
discuss the ways in which some manufacturers try to cut manufacturing costs and maximize
their own profits and in turn deliver a sub-standard product to the customers, the motor and
blades/attachments of which have a very short shelf life.

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

 Poor quality overheating motor. The motor of a food processor is one of its most
important components and covers almost 30 percent the cost of the entire food processor unit.
Hence, it is one of the favourite areas of some manufacturers to cut costs and increase their
profit margin. The inefficient motor deployed by some manufacturers tends to get extremely
warm only after a few minutes of spinning. As you might be aware that metals expand on
heating, which causes the copper windings in the motor to initially distort and then finally
melt, thereby leaving the entire food processor unit, out of operation. Cost of repairing the
motor might range from a few hundred bucks to more than a thousand bucks and this process
is recurring.
 Inefficient blades and attachments. The quality, sharpness and durability of the
blades and attachments are often overlooked by many customers. This gives some
manufacturers a perfect opportunity to cut costs. What those manufacturers do is, instead of
actually making use of high quality razor-sharp stainless steel blades in the food processor,
they tend to merely polish the ordinary blades to make them look like they are of great
quality and can cut through any food item. However, in reality, the shine and the sharpness of
those poor quality blades wear off within two to three months of use. Following which,
customers have to get the blades replaced and this process goes on.

Now, having learnt about how some food processor manufacturers cut costs, let us proceed to
zero down on some of the best built food processors, both in terms of the quality of the
attachments used and the build quality of the outer body. The food processors mentioned
below make use of high quality materials both for the motor as well as the blades and are also
energy efficient in their working and thus offer great value for money.

Here are points of contrast of Mixer-Grinders:

Power — Power in watts represents the potential of mixer grinder machine motor. It impacts the quantity
restriction of product which you are going to mix or grind in the grinder.
Number of Jars — The mixer & grinder set you purchase ought to have exclusive sorts of jar units
according to your usage.
Noise — Noise level can also be an vital factor. Nobody desires a machine which is too noisy. Unlike
historic mixer grinder, new ones have less noise level.

Its generally the motor watts difference, the higher the watt the more rpm
is generated and the lesser time it takes to grind any stuff. You can also
load more quantity in the jar of 750 watts mixer as compared to 550 watts
mixer.
Most of the mixer grinders with below 500 watts are most affordable ones
and at the same time helps you to save energy.But majority of recent
models are either 750 watt or more indicating the shift in customer
preference.

If you want the best mixer grinder in India, you should pick one with a
motor of 750 watts for efficient grinding, whether it is for batter, chutneys
or juices.
A high wattage one does not give you better result every time. The
performance depends again on the manufacturer and the quality of the
machine. In some cases, lower wattage mixer grinder performs job better
than even expensive ones.

As you know companies also go with people preference and come up with
models based on their liking.If you see all mixer grinders available in
India,many are available with 550W and most of the recent ones are with
750W.

So it indicates that ,though 550W mixer grinders are popular,companies are

slowly shifting majorly towards 750W mixer grinder.

So it’s better to go with 750 watt or more when choosing a mixer grinder.
But you could go with 550 watt or less mixer grinder if price and energy
consumption is the criteria for you.
1. Preethi Zodiac MG 218 – 750 watt Mixer
Grinder with 5 jars
One of the best selling mixer grinders in India today, the Preethi Zodiac MG 218
comes with a powerful 750 watt Vega 5 Motor. This makes it capable of grinding
turmeric in 2 minutes. Some of the other features are listed below.

 Centrifugal juicer to prepare fruit and vegetable juices

 Super Extractor capable of extracting milk/tamarind essence
 Blender for preparing dosa milkshakes and lassi
 Multifunctional stainless steel blades
 Rotary speed controls
 Long list of accessories that includes kneader in addition to the jars and blades
 Safety features available

Butterfly Matchless 750-Watt Mixer Grinder with 4 Jars

(Grey and White)

 750 watts powerful motor

 Aesthetically designed, shockproof and impact resistant ABS dual colour body
 Elegantly designed handle and unbreakable lid
 Special ventilator to reduce motor heating
 3-speed motor for faster and efficient grinding
 5 years warranty for motor and 3 year warranty for product
Philips Viva Collection HL7701/00 750-Watt Mixer Grinder
with 4 Jars (Elegant Lavender and White)
 750-watt motor makes it apt for a small Indian family
 The open coupler attachment allows for easy cleaning
 Strong stainless steel blades
 Suitable for making excellent Dosa, Idly batter.
 4 jars for various purposes
 Enhanced ventilation system
Bajaj Twister 750-Watt Mixer Grinder with 3 Jars (White)

This is a high quality and high-efficiency appliance. The features are exceptional.
Have a look at some of them.

 750 watt motor makes it a powerful appliance

 30 minutes rating
 3 stainless steel jars
 The provision of transparent domes and clips makes it a flexible appliance.
 The motor comes with a 5 year guarantee
 Overload protector available
 

Maharaja Whiteline Mg Joy Elite (MX-166)

750 watt Mixie
A typical Indian brand, the Maharaja Whiteline series is perfect for the Indian kitchen.
These are the features of this mixie.

 4 jars of different sizes for addressing various needs

 750-watt motor allows for higher efficiency and power
 Frontal rotary controls add to the attraction
 Good speed of 18000 rpm
 Made from high-grade plastic
Preethi Zodiac MG 218 750-Watt Mixer Grinder with 5
Jars

Find latest price

Preethi Zodiac MG 218 has been featured in our list of best mixer grinders and best
juicer mixer grinder owing to its powerful motor, user-friendly features and
adeptness.
It consists of 5 jars including an insta-juicer which can be used to juice both hard
and soft vegetables equally well; and a master chef jar acts as a food processor jar
to take care of kneading, chopping, slicing and grating with minimal effort. Each jar
has ample capacity, basic safety features and is designed for easy cleaning too.

The versatile mixer grinder has sturdy body with anti-skid base that ensures the
machine doesn’t vibrate or move even while doing heavy duty grinding. Using
Preethi Zodiac, you can grind idili batter, spices, masala, coconut chutney,
paste and all other types of day-to-day grinding jobs pretty easily.
The machine has an elegant appearance and eye-catchy design too, making it a
perfect fit for a modern kitchen. On the flip side, it takes a bit of storage space to
keep all 5 jars and the mixer grinder. The machine is a tad noisy too. The citrus
juicer attachment is not as sturdy as one would expect too.
Even so, the positives far outweigh the negatives, making it a perfect choice for any
Indian kitchen.
Philips Viva Collection HL7701/00 750-Watt Mixer
Grinder with 4 Jars

Find latest price

Philips Viva Collection HL7701/00 consists of 4 jars namely a chutney jar, dry jar,
wet jar and a juicer extractor. The chutney jar has 0.5 L capacity, while the next
size jar has 0.75 L capacity, foolowed by 1 L and 1.5 L capacity each.
The jars and lids are made of sturdy material. However, the gasket doesn’t do a
perfect job as the lid may open on it own while working. So, you may have to hold
the lid while running the jar. A few users also suggest that the handles aren’t as
durable as you would expect.
The safety features include an auto cut off in case of overload. The jars are
designed for easy cleaningtoo.
Performance wise, the mixer grinder is capable of grinding to smooth
consistency and is overall good for dry grinding spices, making idili/dosa batter and
chutney/coconut paste etc.
Butterfly Matchless 750-Watt Mixer Grinder with 4 Jars

Find latest price

The first thing you notice about Butterfly Matchless mixer grinder is its stylish
appearance. The performance doesn’t fall far behind either.
The jars are pretty sturdy and is made of thick stainless steel. The 500 ml chutney
jar can be used for both dry and wet grinding. The other two jars with 1.25 litre and
1.75 litre capacity can be used for making idili batter as well as for blending milk
shakes and making juices.
The jars are ergonomically designed with a peep lid so that you can check the
consistency of the ground paste or even add water without having to open the lid.
The juicer jar is also well-designed so that the seeds remain separate from the juice.
Talking about the drawbacks, the jars tend to get heated up even after grinding for a
few minutes. The grinding consistency doesn’t seem as smooth as Preethi Zodiac or
Blue Leaf Platinum too. The noise level too isn’t quite optimal.
Even so, it is a stylish addition and a good option if you don’t plan to do heavy duty
grinding like turmeric, garam masala and such.

nother mixer grinder under Rs.3000 of price group from maharaja

whiteline brand. Maharaja whilteline is known brand since years,
they have good trust of people. And maharaja whiteline was known
only for mixer grinder earlier. But with time goes, brand didn’t make
enough changes and still producing same old appliance.
First of all, it is having only 3 jars (normally mixer grinder does
have 4 jars). It does have powerful motor of 750 watts. In 750
watts of power, this is 2nd cheapest mixer grinder in india, from
known brand. The company has given ergonomic handles to jars,
and which doesn’t allow you to slip from your hand. It comes
with 1.5 litre of liquid jar, 1 litre of dry jar, and 0.3 litre of chutney
jar.

Maharaja whiteline provides 2 years of warranty on product and 5

years of warranty on motor. Though, many customers are not
happy with the customer support of maharaja whiteline. Do check
out the pros/cons below;

Pros :-

 Cheap and affordable price.

 750 watts of powerful motor.

Cons:-

 Only 3 jars provided.

 Noisy operation.
 Poor quality of ABS body.
 Poor customer support.

3. Bajaj Twister 750 W Mixer Grinder

 Bajaj Twister is the superhero that could
save your kitchen and your pocket! It is a 750 W mixer grinder that helps in efficient
mixing, whipping, mincing or grating. It has an amazing body design with a
multifunctional blade system for mixing wet or dry kind of food processes.
It also has an auto shut off feature that turns off the appliance when the task is done.
Some other cool features include a saviour motor overload protection system. It has
various advantages along with a warranty of 2 years on the product and 5 years on its
motor.

It also comes with a 3-speed control system with an incher facility. This also helps in
controlling the maximum RPM’s or preventing food from spilling when the grinder
reaches its maximum speed. Most people have rated it highly, as it is trustworthy and
durable.

Specifications:
Motor: 750 W
Number of jars: 3 jars- liquidizing jar, grinding jar and chutney jar
Other features:
1. Motor overload protection
2. Auto shut-off feature
Warranty: 2 years warranty on product and 5 years warranty on motor
Pros:
 Great value for money.
 Has been proven to work at top notch condition for more than a few years.

Cons:
 The body of the jars may start rusting after a while in some rare cases.
 The lid of the jar must be handled with care while the mixing is in progress.
Might be a little noisy for a few households.