| Product: |
Prestige 50507 Mini Food Processor |
| Date: |
03/08/07 (654 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Small and compact food processor, dishwasher safe implements and jug; chops well.
Disadvantages: Noisy, poor results of shredding and whisking due to its blade and design of jug. Poor safety lid.
Since moving into a shared flat before my own single room becomes ready for official leasing, I've had to share a flat with four other students. The kitchen has the cheapest of cheap small kitchen appliances on offer as standard features. One of them is this tiny little Prestige food processor...
** Nar’s Quick Skip Spec **
• 300ml maximum capacity; (but it struggles!)
• 2kg overall weight; (heavy for some, lightweight for others)
• Shredder & slicer disk: Reversible and stainless steel (dishwasher safe too!)
• Priced from Argos at £16-99, now £11-99 (August 2007).
• 300 watt motor: Oh but its noisy!
• One speed button with pulse function.
** Why Choose Prestige? **
In so many ways the Prestige food processor makes sense if you live on your own because of its miniscule size. It reminds me of an old Haden food processor I used to have before I bought my better quality Kenwood food processor but the Haden suffered on ability because of a poor continuous food chute that chucked out the food in use and spat out liquids when the door on it had been closed over.
On design, the Prestige is not dissimilar though; right down to the small capacity plastic acrylic basket and locking top with pusher feeder tube, it does remind me of my old Haden, but in this respect it does away with the silly continuous feeding tube and additionally the basket, top, feeder and accessories are all dishwasher safe which my Haden’s parts never were.
Two blades are supplied with this mini food processor; a steel blade for normal whipping, mixing and slicing through vegetables such as onions (more about particular testing on vegetables to come!) whilst a reversible metal disc with shred/grate marks and a sharp slice edge helps to make change over easy and quickly. An additional spindle is also supplied which must be inserted first before the discs can be put be locked into place, before the lid. My regular food processor however has the bother of pushing plates into another plastic disc carrier before it can be put in and doesn't have the facility here of simply swapping over the disc to the other side for other preparation work.
Simple detailing is kept to a minimum here on the Prestige with a permanent on/off button which stays on if you want continuous action, or press lightly on the same button to activate the pulse function. As with all pulse functions, you have to keep your finger on the button all the time but it's a good addition here and the button is clearly marked to show when it can be switched on and off. This is of course also displayed in the black and white paged booklet but it only shows the basics and there are no recipes added.
White plastic adorns the whole body of this little miracle marvel with a few inserts of light blue around the switch area and general labelling. The 300ml mixing bowl is very small, but then again it is a mini food processor. Argos currently sells this product as well as another chopper which has been designed only to incorporate a steel blade for purifying baby food…So with its recent price cut from £18 down to £12 how does it perform?
** In Use **
The Prestige can shred up to a large onion or two small average onions and it does it well when using the steel blade. It’s a shame though that despite the rubberised feet, the Prestige is unstable when it comes to smashing up the onion at the first point of contact with the blade and this is something that I find the Prestige suffers from because of its small size. Afterwards it does calm down and the Prestige remains stable with other food prep – but give it hard vegetables and you may have to stand near it! It is surprising given the small capacity that it manages to do anything with only 300 watts power additionally but this is also the same wattage on my own Kenwood food processor which sports a bigger bowl but at a slightly higher price (and comes with a lot more accessories) as well as being bigger and better placed.
Shredding cheese with the shredder disc however proved disappointing. I found that the last remainder bit of cheese can actually get stuck around the top and at times depending on the shape can lift the top off the food processor bowl top if you try to slam the last part of food down, roughly (even when it locks into place to activate the machine) . This is worrying particularly as the top has been locked down to activate the machine. Carrots however proved to be a mixed blessing with the last part wasted between the top lid and the shredder plate.
Hard cheese such as Parmesan is a general no-no for this food processor; it simply doesn't have the right type of blade and power behind it to cope with the toughness.
Slicing cucumber and virtually any kind of vegetable that you can put through a normal sized food processor poses no problem for the Prestige either although you do have to remember that it is a small machine and it has a small capacity bowl, so the amount of food placed has to be halved if you are used to a bigger machine. What does the full capacity equate to exactly? Well it means half a long, large cucumber will easily fill the small 300ml capacity when sliced.
** More Downsides **
When I tried to purify soup, and despite the “safety interlocking lid,” I discovered that part of the capacity jug leaks if you try to put too much in. There are graduations on the jug and a middle line which shows the maximum of liquid the Prestige bowl can actually take but I'd have liked to have an air tight mechanism which ensures no leakages and before you say anything, my Kenwood is better in this respect and has the ability to double liquid volume thanks to its Maxi disc attachment. It all becomes very clear who the better performer is between Prestige and Kenwood even though the Prestige is the tinniest food processor I have ever tried. Nuts, castor sugar (for icing sugar) and coffee beans however are all food products which the blade cannot grind to a fine ground, and small bite size particles are all that it will chop up.
Whisking milk however proved to be problematic because whilst there is no actual whipping blade, the use of the steel blade ensures some degree of whisking ability but it doesn't whisk and froth up milk very well despite the helpful manual's ability to suggest so. 250 ml of milk for example serves up one average serving of many milk based drinks including yogurt and healthy milk shakes but I think it's the lack of design on the simple steel blade which lets it whisking ability down here. The Prestige also failed to whip up double cream in seconds, remembering that the steel blade is the only other attachment you get here for general whisking and whipping.
And forget the idea that even if it has a steel metal blade, it will crush ice. Unfortunately the design of the blade has no thick serrated edges which are requisite design points needed for ice crushing capabilities.
Lastly, the worst principle of ownership however is the noise element. I find the Prestige is bearable for short, quick tasks, but for long term and long durations of time, this food processor suffers from a very high whine motor.
** Anything Else? **
Although all food prep discs and steel blade have been made with stainless steel, the steel blade has been very cheaply made and does not come with any protection. Whilst the blade has no perforated marks on it like a proper cutting knife, it is possible to cut yourself so you have to be careful. The blade fins warp easily but not enough to impede actual performance.
After five to ten minutes of one continual use, I found the motor unit and body was quite hot to touch.
General build quality is okay but you do get what you pay for in this respect. The upside is that there is not one other rival in the market which can mirror what the Prestige food processor can do, unless you buy a reconditioned machine which is bigger and likely to take up more worktop space. Magimix and other premium brand companies (such as Dualit) have a small food processor like this on the market but they are far pricier and come with a lot more attachments.
Another worthy consideration of this little machine is the fact that it is so little! Put two electric can openers together and you'll get the general idea of the length and height that this little machine occupies. For most kitchens then, this machine can be hidden away at a moments notice thanks to its weight and size.
** Washing Down **
Well if you don't own a dishwasher, then hot soapy water ensures that the plastic jug and parts can be washed easily. Removing the colouring of carrots however is always a burden to remove and even I don't have any tips on how to shift the staining colour. One upside is that staining doesn't occur that much, but that may have something to do with the small size of the jug and the general plastic quality, which isn't too bad and doesn't reek of cheapness. General acrylic is clear plastic with no tint of light blue or grey.
** Conclusion **
Now I know why this little machine sits in a shared student flat and seems to get little use. Although it can do the most basic tasks of shredding some vegetables, I don’t think it’s a good all rounder. For some consumers taking the strain out of manual dexterity may well approve of this food processor, but the quality of the food and endless problems of actual results coupled with the noise factor may seal the fate of this sorry little machine despite its price cut. Thanks for reading. ©Nar2 2007.
www.argos.co.uk
Summary: Despite the price cut, its still not good enough for most people who love to cook.
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