The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 66

tool, and you don’t need a silly infomercial from the 1980s to tell you that Want a pitcherful of margaritas? The regular blender’s your friend Need to make two quarts of pesto? OK, pull out the food processor But for smaller, everyday blending tasks, an immersion blender is the tool for the job Ever get annoyed at those ropy pieces of egg white you come across when breading food? Blend the eggs for a few seconds, and they’ll be perfectly uniform and smooth You like froth on your hot chocolate? Heat it up in the pot and buzz it to create a luxurious foam Lumps in your béchamel? All gone How about if you want to make just a few ounces of perfectly smooth cauliflower puree or a half-cup of mayonnaise? Yep, you can that with an immersion blender too The Braun PowerMax, which is only about $30, has been performing admirably at least three times a week in my kitchen for the past eleven years now It’s the most reliable sidekick I know Unfortunately, it’s not widely available these days, as I found out when stocking the kitchen at the Serious Eats World Headquarters So there we use the KitchenAid Immersion Blender (about $50), which works just as well You can get it as part of a package that includes a whisk attachment and a mini–food processor, but believe me, those are dust collectors and you don’t need ’em Food Processor At a bare minimum, a good food processor should be able to: • Finely chop dry ingredients like nuts and bread crumbs In order to this, a processor must have an easy-to-use pulsing action and a motor that stops and starts on a turn • Roughly puree vegetables for things like marinades, dips, and rustic soups (for full-on smoothness, use a regular blender) Bowl shape, power, and blade design all affect how well a processor can accomplish this It should also not leak • Grind meat Short of a dedicated meat grinder or an attachment for a stand mixer, the food processor is the best way to grind fresh meat Meat can be tough to chop, so a very sharp blade and powerful motor are necessary • Easily form emulsions when making sauces like mayonnaise or a light vinaigrette Bowl design can affect the way the blade makes contact with liquids • Knead bread dough quickly and efficiently This is the most-heavy-duty kitchen task of all, and the processor’s effectiveness relies mostly on the power of the motor I also like to have at least an 11- to 12-cup-capacity processor, which makes grinding meat and making dough much easier Some models come with a mini-prep bowl that can be inserted into the main bowl for small tasks These are cute but essentially useless Whatever the tiny bowl can do, I can with a knife That may take slightly longer, but if you consider the time it takes to wash the blade, bowl insert, and lid, it’s no contest There’s also no use for a processor that’s going to get gummed up or jammed every time it hits a hard nut or sticky dough Particularly prone to failure are models with a side- ... affect the way the blade makes contact with liquids • Knead bread dough quickly and efficiently This is the most-heavy-duty kitchen task of all, and the processor’s effectiveness relies mostly on the power of the motor... can be inserted into the main bowl for small tasks These are cute but essentially useless Whatever the tiny bowl can do, I can with a knife That may take slightly longer, but if you consider the time it takes to wash the blade, bowl insert,... not leak • Grind meat Short of a dedicated meat grinder or an attachment for a stand mixer, the food processor is the best way to grind fresh meat Meat can be tough to chop, so a very sharp blade and powerful motor are necessary