Alright, let me tell you about my time with this Black and Decker Quick and Easy food processor. I picked one up thinking it might save me some chopping time in the kitchen, you know? Wasn’t looking for anything fancy, just something basic.
First thing, getting it out of the box. Standard stuff, the base, the bowl, the lid, the chopping blade, and that disc thing for slicing and shredding. Gave all the washable parts a good rinse with soap and water, let them dry. Always do that with new kitchen gear.
Putting it Together and First Tries
Okay, so assembly. Pretty straightforward. Popped the bowl onto the base, twisted it till it clicked. Then dropped the S-shaped chopping blade onto the center post. Easy enough. For the first run, I figured, let’s try onions. I hate chopping onions, makes my eyes water like crazy.
I roughly chopped an onion into maybe four big chunks, tossed them in the bowl. Put the lid on, twisted that till it locked too. It won’t turn on unless the bowl and lid are locked properly, which is a good safety thing, I guess. Found the button, or rather, the paddle switch thing on the front. It’s labeled ON/OFF/PULSE.
I just held down ‘ON’ for a few seconds. Whoa Nelly! That thing spun fast. Opened it up, and yeah, onion mush. Okay, lesson learned. Next try, I used the ‘PULSE’ side. Just tapped it a few times, short bursts. Much better. Got a nice, even chop without turning it into liquid. Success!
Trying the Other Bits
Next up, I wanted to try the slicing and shredding disk. You take the chopping blade out and put this flat disk on the post instead. One side slices, flip it over, the other side shreds.
- Slicing: Tried some cucumber for a salad. Locked the lid, which has that feed tube on top. Turned it on (just ‘ON’ this time) and pushed the cucumber pieces down the tube using the pusher thingy. Got nice, even slices pretty quick. Way faster than doing it by hand.
- Shredding: Flipped the disk over. Grabbed a block of cheddar cheese. Cut it into pieces that fit the feed tube. Ran it through. Got shredded cheese in seconds. Definitely beats scraping my knuckles on a box grater.
Making Something Simple
Felt a bit more confident, so I decided to make a quick hummus. Dumped a can of chickpeas (drained), some tahini, garlic cloves, lemon juice, and a bit of salt into the bowl with the chopping blade back in. Pulsed it a few times to break it up, then let it run on ‘ON’ for maybe 30 seconds. It got thick. Scraped down the sides with a spatula. Then, with the machine running, I slowly drizzled a little olive oil and water through the small hole in the pusher in the feed tube. Let it run till it looked smooth enough for me. Tasted pretty good!
Cleaning Up
Taking it apart was easy. Rinsed the bowl, lid, blade, and disk right away under the tap. Most gunk came right off. I checked the little manual, and yeah, the bowl, lid, and blades are supposed to be top-rack dishwasher safe. Tossed them in there later. The base unit, obviously, just needs a wipe down with a damp cloth if anything splashes on it. Wasn’t too much hassle.
Overall thoughts? Look, it’s called ‘Quick and Easy’ and it pretty much is. It does the basic chopping, slicing, and shredding well enough for simple, everyday tasks. It’s not a powerhouse for kneading dough or super heavy-duty stuff, but for the price and the size, it gets those smaller jobs done without much fuss. Happy enough with it for what it is.