What kind of cooking do you do? If you mostly like smoothies and
milkshakes, a blender. If you like slaws, do stir fries, make pizza
(whir chunks of mozz into pencil eraser-sized bits works beautifully),
then a FP. If you want a little of both, an FP and a Braun stick, which
takes up little room.
Old fashioned blenders are of limited use for me, but I do have one for
the final grinding of my spice mixes (in the Oster "coffee grinder" jar).
blacksalt

My current living situation dictates conserving kitchen space somewhat
so I've been shopping for a nice kitchenaid or cuisinart
food processor or possibly other suggested brands but my sister thinks
I should considered the dual combo unit which has a small FP and a
small blender around 600 watts..my not so well informed argument is..a
good FP can do it all plus knead bread which I don't think the dual
units offer but I may be way on that point?

I do know there are many well informed people in this newsgroup who'll
hopefully give me some ideas and suggestions since this could be a
fairly expensive purchase.

=m=

maestro wrote on 28 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking

> My current living situation dictates conserving kitchen space
> somewhat so I've been shopping for a nice kitchenaid or cuisinart
> food processor or possibly other suggested brands but my sister
> thinks I should considered the dual combo unit which has a small
> FP and a small blender around 600 watts..my not so well informed
> argument is..a good FP can do it all plus knead bread which I
> don't think the dual units offer but I may be way on that point?
>
> I do know there are many well informed people in this newsgroup
> who'll
> hopefully give me some ideas and suggestions since this could be a
> fairly expensive purchase.
>
> =m=
>
>

If you live alone, may I suggest a $40 or less stick/wand blender. Easy
to use and to clean...more uses than either a blender or Food
Processor. If you get the one that has the chopping, dicing
attachments. Easy to make Mayo, purree soups, remove lumps from
gravy...grind, chop and dice small amounts of whatever etc...and you
usually need to just rinse it clean and put it in the cupboard or
drawer.

Now it won't make bread, coleslaw or whip cream, but it is very handy.
And it takes up very little space

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic Since Aug 2004
1AC- 7.2, 7.3, 5.5, 5.6 mmol
Weight from 265 down to 219 lbs. and dropping.
Continuing to be Manitoban

On 28 Apr 2005 19:40:32 -0700, "maestro" > wrote:

>My current living situation dictates conserving kitchen space somewhat
>so I've been shopping for a nice kitchenaid or cuisinart
>food processor or possibly other suggested brands but my sister thinks
>I should considered the dual combo unit which has a small FP and a
>small blender around 600 watts..my not so well informed argument is..a
>good FP can do it all plus knead bread which I don't think the dual
>units offer but I may be way on that point?
>
> I do know there are many well informed people in this newsgroup who'll
>hopefully give me some ideas and suggestions since this could be a
>fairly expensive purchase.

If you don't need a blender, whereas you want the FP to knead dough,
then that's what you should get. However a FP is not a totally
satisfactory substitute for a blender, when you need a blender.

I have the Cuisinart dual unit and I like it. The blender part is
plenty large for anyone; the FP is small (3 cup) but that meets my
needs.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Curly Sue wrote:
> If you don't need a blender, whereas you want the FP to knead dough,
> then that's what you should get. However a FP is not a totally
> satisfactory substitute for a blender, when you need a blender.
>
> I have the Cuisinart dual unit and I like it. The blender part is
> plenty large for anyone; the FP is small (3 cup) but that meets my
> needs.
>
> Sue(tm)
> Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Sue,does your unit have an optional dough hook for small batches of
dough..it seems to have the power?

"Monsur Fromage du Pollet" > wrote in message
...
> maestro wrote on 28 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking
>
>> My current living situation dictates conserving kitchen space
>> somewhat so I've been shopping for a nice kitchenaid or cuisinart
>> food processor or possibly other suggested brands but my sister
>> thinks I should considered the dual combo unit which has a small
>> FP and a small blender around 600 watts..my not so well informed
>> argument is..a good FP can do it all plus knead bread which I
>> don't think the dual units offer but I may be way on that point?
>>
>> I do know there are many well informed people in this newsgroup
>> who'll
>> hopefully give me some ideas and suggestions since this could be a
>> fairly expensive purchase.
>>
>> =m=
>>
>>
>
> If you live alone, may I suggest a $40 or less stick/wand blender.
> Easy
> to use and to clean...more uses than either a blender or Food
> Processor. If you get the one that has the chopping, dicing
> attachments. Easy to make Mayo, purree soups, remove lumps from
> gravy...grind, chop and dice small amounts of whatever etc...and you
> usually need to just rinse it clean and put it in the cupboard or
> drawer.
>
> Now it won't make bread, coleslaw or whip cream, but it is very handy.
> And it takes up very little space
>

Do cheaper stick blenders not whip cream? My Bamix does, though it's a
bit more than $40.

-T

maestro wrote:

> My current living situation dictates conserving kitchen space somewhat
> so I've been shopping for a nice kitchenaid or cuisinart
> food processor or possibly other suggested brands but my sister thinks
> I should considered the dual combo unit which has a small FP and a
> small blender around 600 watts..my not so well informed argument is..a
> good FP can do it all plus knead bread which I don't think the dual
> units offer but I may be way on that point?
>
> I do know there are many well informed people in this newsgroup who'll
> hopefully give me some ideas and suggestions since this could be a
> fairly expensive purchase.

If it's an either / or, go for the food processor, if you really think you
need one. I have a blender somewhere in the kitchen. I can't remember the
last time I used it. I have not needed it since someone gave me a stick
blender. The FP comes in handy for making bread crumbs, slicing orange
peels for marmalade, processing fruit for jam, and my wife likes to use it
for making meat loaf.

On 28 Apr 2005 22:46:45 -0700, "maestro" > wrote:

>
>Curly Sue wrote:
>> If you don't need a blender, whereas you want the FP to knead dough,
>> then that's what you should get. However a FP is not a totally
>> satisfactory substitute for a blender, when you need a blender.
>>
>> I have the Cuisinart dual unit and I like it. The blender part is
>> plenty large for anyone; the FP is small (3 cup) but that meets my
>> needs.
>>
>> Sue(tm)
>> Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!
>
>Sue,does your unit have an optional dough hook for small batches of
>dough..it seems to have the power?
>

No :<

It's the SmartPower Duet (Cuisinart). The food processor part has a
chopping blade and a single, reversible shredder/slicer disk. Every
so often I wish I had a larger one with more disks, but those times
are so rare that the convenience of having a smaller unit that I can
leave on the counter in my tiny kitchen is much more important.

I like it so much I gave one as a present to my sister because I
couldn't take trying to shred things on her tinny (as in cheap
aluminum) dull box grater. Her kids like using the blender part for
smoothies. It's a versatile unit for those who don't have the space
or need for a more expensive one.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Monsur Fromage du Pollet wrote:
> >
> If you live alone, may I suggest a $40 or less stick/wand blender.
Easy
> to use and to clean...more uses than either a blender or Food
> Processor. If you get the one that has the chopping, dicing
> attachments. Easy to make Mayo, purree soups, remove lumps from
> gravy...grind, chop and dice small amounts of whatever etc...and you
> usually need to just rinse it clean and put it in the cupboard or
> drawer.
>
> Now it won't make bread, coleslaw or whip cream, but it is very
handy.
> And it takes up very little space

I think some of the sticks do come with alternate beaters/whisks, and
so would indeed whip cream.

N.

"maestro" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> My current living situation dictates conserving kitchen space somewhat
> so I've been shopping for a nice kitchenaid or cuisinart
> food processor or possibly other suggested brands but my sister thinks
> I should considered the dual combo unit which has a small FP and a
> small blender around 600 watts..my not so well informed argument is..a
> good FP can do it all plus knead bread which I don't think the dual
> units offer but I may be way on that point?
>
> I do know there are many well informed people in this newsgroup who'll
> hopefully give me some ideas and suggestions since this could be a
> fairly expensive purchase.
>
> =m=
>

A FP cannot puree things as finely as a blender. Otherwise it is definitely
more flexible.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

wrote:
> Monsur Fromage du Pollet wrote:
>>>
>> If you live alone, may I suggest a $40 or less stick/wand blender.
>> Easy to use and to clean...more uses than either a blender or Food
>> Processor. If you get the one that has the chopping, dicing
>> attachments. Easy to make Mayo, purree soups, remove lumps from
>> gravy...grind, chop and dice small amounts of whatever etc...and you
>> usually need to just rinse it clean and put it in the cupboard or
>> drawer.
>>
>> Now it won't make bread, coleslaw or whip cream, but it is very
>> handy. And it takes up very little space
>
> I think some of the sticks do come with alternate beaters/whisks, and
> so would indeed whip cream.
>
> N.

My stick blender is a cheapie I picked up at Walgreen's, of all places, for
$10. It works like a charm and came with a whipping/pureeing attachment and
a small chopping blade (for breaking up larger chunks of stuff in liquid,
like the potatoes and leeks in my purees potato-leek soup). The disc
attachment would whip cream were I so inclined. If I need a more heavy duty
slicing or chopping job I have a Hamilton Beach food processor tucked away
with several grating, chopping, slicing discs. I rarely use it.

I can't seem to justify the need for a big stand mixer (nor do I have the
room for one).

Jill