The blades and slicing tools that come with your new food processor may not make a lot of sense when you first look at them. Clearly, they do something along the lines of chopping because they come with a machine designed to do that, but some of them just don’t look … right. There are a few standard blades that come with most processors, and then others that are sometimes included as extras or bonus blades, and there are even others that can be purchased later. Your limits for getting your process on are totally up to you.
Types of Blades
Standards
There are a few different options that come with most processors, no matter the size or quality.
The most common food processor blade is called the S-Blade, and of all the blades that might be in your bag of tricks, this is probably the one that will get the most use. It’s just a circular piece that has two or more curved blades sticking out in opposing directions. When the blade spins, it basically obliterates everything in its path. You can make crumbs or teeny, tiny pieces, or you can keep the food more solid by running the blades for a shorter length of time.
The S-blade is not made for precision, but it will do a heck of a job of destruction if that’s what you’re after.
Like Frisbees, But For Cutting
After the basic S-blade, there are a host of other options that might be in that box, and most of them are probably pretty flat and entirely circular. These blades get seated in the bottom of the machine and then, while the machine is turned on, you feed the food in through the top of the machine. The discs allow for pieces of all sizes, and you can tell what you’re getting by looking at the grates or slicers that cover the top of the disc. With even the most basic machine, you will usually get one slicing disc in the package with a new processor, and it may double as a grating disc as well. You can chop your veggies and grate your cheese with the same disc. YUM!
From there, you can purchase discs of all shapes and sizes. You might even be amazed by the precision that you can get just with the options that came in the original box. No matter how big you want your slices or how tiny you need to mash everything up, you can get a disc that does it. Keep in mind, though, that no matter the purpose, these things are SHARP.
Juicy
Some processors come with attachments that will make the machine work like a juicer rather than a chopper. If you are a frequent juicer, you will probably prefer a specialized juicing machine, but if it’s something you won’t need often, it might be worth it to get a juicing attachment for your food processor instead.
Make That Motor Work
One of the more stressful things you can put your food processor through is kneading dough. Some of them have the power to work through it, and others will just fall flat no matter what you do. A lot of machines come with dough blades and others require you to buy them as additional accessories. I have seen more than one type of dough murder a stand mixer, so if your processor can handle it, more power to you! Even though some stand mixers are kind of made for kneading dough, they don’t always work well.
Julienne Fries
Or Julienne anything, really. The julienne blade can turn just about anything into small sticks that can be fried or sauteed, steamed or roasted, or whatever you can think of. If you like the crispy potato sticks that come in a can, that’s pretty much what you get from the jullienne blade.
It’s not a french fry blade, so you won’t get thick-cut potatoes using it, but you can get some interesting slices and dices out of it. Keep in mind, though, if you want something a little more substantial, you can actually get a french fry blade.
Gentler Options
Some attachments let you treat the food you’re making a bit more carefully. One optional attachment is an egg whisk that won’t destroy your eggs, but will get them all nice and scrambled without you having to do it by hand. If you’re making a lot of food for a crowd, that can be pretty helpful.
Think In And Out Of The Box
Some really great things will come in the box of toys that you have, and others you will have to acquire later. You just have to decide what you want and how you want it, and then find the tool that does it. There are so many options, the sky’s the limit.
Final Thoughts
So these are the blades or attachments which comes with the food processor and I hope you will be able to work with them as I mentioned that when you start doing work accordingly you will be able to understand which blade work for which purpose. If you don’t have a food processor then go for it there are many best food processors available in the market.