(Almost) Perfect Processor (Kenwood FP920 Food Processor)

Member Name: samjc1

Product:	Kenwood FP920 Food Processor
Date:	23/05/06 (7257 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Professional quality food processor, large motor, cuts, grinds or mixes anything you throw at it!

Disadvantages: Quite expensive, spindle falls out when you dismantle it

After the sad demise of our third mid priced foodprocessor we decided the time had come to buy something a bit more expensive. We knew we wanted one piece of equipment rather than a separate liquidiser, chopper and mixer and after an intense bout of cyber browsing we settled on this one. We paid £104 for it from Amazon, but they are now charging £123.

WHAT DO YOU GET FOR YOUR MONEY?

Most importantly you get a brilliant quality base unit, which all of the attachments fit onto. It has a 1000 watt motor which means it can deal with pretty much anything you want to process at home. The controls are very simple, turn the dial one way for a powerful pulse, the other way to turn up the power slowly. It is this very simplicity that makes it so wonderful to use.

There is a fitting on the top of the base unit where the spindle sits. Now, the spindle (they call it a drive shaft, but that just makes me think of Charlie from Lost, so I'll stick to spindle) is my only gripe about this machine. Whenever you are using the bowl, you have to put the spindle in first, then the bowl slots over it. "Sounds simple" you might say, and indeed it is. Putting aside the fact that both hubby and I have managed to load the thing up and switch it on, only to find we forgot to put the spindle in (not exactly a fault of the unit, I grant you), almost without fail the spindle falls off when you lift the bowl up.

When (if!) the spindle is in place, the large bowl slots over it, and the usual array of slicing discs, mixing blades etc. can be added (List at the end of the review). The top then slots into place and away you go. The 3 litre size shuold be big enough for most domestic use.

If you want to mix small quantities (perhaps babyfood) there is a smaller bowl (minbowl) which fits into the larger bowl with its own blade.

Using the 1.5 litre liquidiser is even easier, it slots into the fitting on the top of the unit. This makes billiant smoothies and milkshakes, also VERY good for mixing ice-cream mix!

The spice mill also fits straight onto the base unit and is ideal for curry officianados as it grinds up spices (and coffee) to a very fine consistency.

There is also both a citrus and a centrifugal juicer, I haven't used either so can't comment on those.

A special mention must be made of the flexible spatula, it doesn't look much but it certainly gets every last bit of food out of the bowl. Terrific!

There is also a storage unit which is great but you can't fit all the blades etc. in (at least I can't). This is a white bowl which sits inside the big bowl for storage.

QUALITY
The most noticeable advantage of this over other food processors we have owned, is how solidly eveything fits together. Everything is made from good quality materials and very well designed (except perhaps that blessed spindle!). I thnik for the price it is exceptional value for money.

LOOKS
The base unit, while maybe a bit chunky, has a good quality chrome finish and looks great out on the woorktop.

STORAGE
You need quite a bit of cupboard space for all the attachments,even with some of them in the carousel. I put all of it away when not in use and it pretty much fills one shelf of my kitchen cupboard.
The base has integral cord storage and handles.

EXTRAS
You get a leaflet that shows you all the bits and pieces etc., plus the obligiatory cook book, which I haven't dipped into yet. The instruction leaflet is clear and well laid out.

I never usually buy extended warranty but I have in this case for two reasons;
1 It only worked out to £3 a month and
2 We spent over £30 on one replacement part for my last processor (which wasn't enough to save it) and as the liquidiser is made from glass, I thought it a wise investment.

EASE OF CLEANING
Everything except the base goes in the dishwasher, and all the bits dismantle so it gets a thorough clean. The base is wipe clean.

CONCLUSION
I guess if you've read this far you've worked out that I am pretty pleased with this unit. If you like cooking and you are prepared to pay the extra, this is an excellent machine that I expect will last for years and year.

Thankyou for reading and rating this review.

FULL LIST OF PROCESSING ATTACHMENTS

Thick Slice and Shredding disk
Thin Slice and Shredding disk
Parmesan grating/Potato rasping disk
Julienne/fine chipping disk
Twin metal beater geared whisk
Dough tool
Knife blade


OTHER ACCESSORIES INCLUDED
3.0L bowl capacity
Glass 1.5L liquidiser
Multimill
KenstoreTM attachment storage carousel
Spatula

Summary: Great buy for foodies, watch out for the spindle...

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