Thinking of buying a food processor but not sure what size to get? Like many things in life, the middle ground is usually the safest place to be. If you are trying to fill the needs of a small household, a medium-size processor is the probably way to go.
In this Hamilton Beach 8-Cup Compact Food Processor review, we’ll look at a very affordable machine that can deliver some amazing results.
Hamilton Beach 8-Cup Compact Food Processor Review: Notable Features
- 250W power
- 6-speed settings
- 5 attachments
- Storage case for attachments
- Lightweight
- Beaters may be hard to insert
- Eject button may be stiff
- Little noisy
The Hamilton Beach 8-Cup Compact Food Processor is 15.5 inches tall, 10.7 inches wide, and weighs about 5 pounds. The package includes the base, an 8-cup work bowl, a slicing/shredding disc, a lid with a feed tube and a pusher. The switch knob on the base allows you to select from two continuous speeds, or use the “Pulse” function for intermittent operation.
There are two suction cups on the bottom of the base to help keep it steady. An S-blade at the bottom of the bowl is used for chopping, mixing or pureeing. For slicing or shredding, use the dual-purpose reversible disc. One side is for slicing, and the other side is for shredding. You can check each side’s function by reading the marking on it.
To save space during storage, you can flip the lid over so that the feed tube rests inside the bowl. Then put the slicing/shredding disc on top of the lid.
Chopping
Roughly cut your food, such as onions, into cubes about one inch thick. Use the pulse function to chop them down to the size you desire. As with all food processors, the longer it runs the more even the pieces are in size. But don’t run it for so long that it turns into a puree.
Mixing
Dough can be made with great results in this Hamilton processor. Make sure the butter is chilled and firm. Add in the ingredients and start off by pulsing the blade. Once the mixture takes shape, you can then use one of the two continuous speeds to finish the job. For convenience, the pusher has holes in the bottom so that you can add water, or other liquids, to the mixture during operation.
Slicing
Since the feed tube is only about 3 inches long by 2 inches wide, anything thicker than that you’ll need to trim down. Insert the food into the feed tube and apply moderate force with the pusher as it gets processed. The slices you get are about 2mm thick, about the right size for most purposes.
As with most food processors, larger pieces are likely to be left unprocessed because of the gap between the pusher and the blade. Simply collect the pieces and stack them vertically in the tube for processing. This is also how you can julienne your vegetables.
Shredding
Flip the disc around and have the shredder side facing up. If the food is too long, use your hand to push it down until you can use the pusher for the rest of the way. Make sure your food is fresh and firm for the best results. When done properly, both the slicer and shredder can deliver great results in mere seconds.
Bottom Line
For a medium-size food processor, this Hamilton Beach is very economically priced. And because of this, the product is not made of the best materials. But as long as you don’t abuse it, it can deliver very satisfactory results. For something that can save you hours of manual labor, we think it is worth paying a small price.
However, it does get noisy. But since most operations only last a few seconds, this should not be a concern for most people. The parts are all dishwasher-safe, but cleaning by hand with warm water is usually all it takes.
