Engineer Carl Sontheimer introduced the first food processor to North American consumers in 1973. He spent a year adapting a French industrial blender to the needs of home cooking. The resulting appliance needed several years to build a reasonable amount of popularity before it finally sold well. Sontheimer’s invention has changed the way food is prepared all over the world.

Because it can quickly and easily chop, slice, shred, grind and puree almost any food, it is one of the more flexible kitchen appliances available. Additionally, some of the models aid in juicing, beating batter, kneading dough, and grinding meats.

Contemporary food processors come in three basic sizes: full, compact, and mini. No matter what size they are, the essential components are the same: a motor, a bowl with a lid and feed tube, and a set of attachments. Some models come with big and small bowls for use with the same base.

Common ingredients like cheese and carrots and shredded speedily and efficiently, and in no time at all you can have slices of potatoes and apples sliced with the slicing disc. All you need to do is to push your desired food through the feed tube using the nozzle.

Some added techniques are required to chop, grind, or puree food. Attachments fit on the shaft that is lowered into the bowl in simple food processors. The most frequently encountered attachments are shredding and slicing discs and S-shaped blades. The metal discs sit on top of the bowl over the shaft. When food is pushed down the feeding tube, it hits the discs, which then grate or slice the food before it drops into the bowl.

You will find that the apertures on the shredding and slicing discs can be adjusted so as to create fine, medium, or coarse food bits. Several different versions of these discs can be bought separately if they are not already included in your food processor. Additionally, you can supplement your food processor equipment further through the purchase of more multipurpose attachments, such as a blender processor.

You can also find a particular container to hold all of the attachments in one place, and extra work bowls, which can be handy if you are making numerous things in the food processor and don’t want to wash out the bowl between tasks.

The food processor was originally built in 1973, well over thirty years ago! Once the invention was published it took the public many years to realize how handy this invention is. This is one of the best kitchen appliances you will ever find. It can do practically every kitchen function with virtually any food item you can come up with. If you purchase specific models and “additions”, you can do other things such as juicing, baking preparation. You may want also buy additional attachments for your processor, such as a blender processor which can be used to make your tool more multipurpose.

- Gregory Vice