Verdict
Pros
- Very well built
- Adjustable slicing blade
- Great performance
Cons
- Some minor bowl scratching
- No storage option
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £149
- 380W motor
- 2.1-litre bowl
- 0.71-litre mini-bowl
- Three-piece pusher tube
- Reversible shredding disc (2mm and 4mm), adjustable slicing disc, multipurpose blade, dough blade
What is the KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor?
There’s no mistaking a KitchenAid product, with its distinctive metal body and high attention to detail. The KitchenAid Classic 2.1l Food Processor is no exception; in fact, it’s one of the best-looking models out there.
KitchenAid sells the food processor in two sizes: 2.1 litres and 3.1 litres. I tested the 2.1-litre model. This model has the same features as the next size up, but is more than £100 cheaper, making it a better choice for most people.
Although it isn’t cheap, the KitchenAid Classic 2.1L is one of the best food processors on the market, capable of handling any job you throw at it.
Related: Best hand blenders
KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor – Design and features
As is the case with most KitchenAid designs, the Classic 2.1L Food Processor looks like it’s been liberated from a 1950s American diner. It’s big, curvy, confident, and is available in four colours to suit your kitchen (black, cream, red and grey). It’s something you buy because you want it to live on your worktop and be seen.
The KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor isn’t style over content, though; it’s clearly built to last. The first thing you’ll notice is its heft; it’s made to last. Almost everything about it says quality.
This model comes with a 2.1-litre main bowl, a mini bowl, main blending blades, dough blade, a reversible shredding disc and a slicing dish that can be easily adjusted to cut at a variety of thicknesses. You can also buy a citrus juicer, a French fry cutting disc, a parmesan/ice shredding disc and a reversible shredding disc, for £20 each.
KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor – What’s it like to use?
The KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor is a joy to use and designed for cooks that want the best. For general tasks, there’s a main cutting blade, which consists of two serrated cutters: one positioned higher up and one closer to the bottom of the bowl. This arrangement makes a huge difference when blending, preventing any bits being left behind and trapped at the bottom of the bowl.
I blended Thai red curry paste ingredients to a smooth mixture in super-fast time, without having to scrape around the bowl to ensure that I’d caught everything. That’s impressive performance.
The slicing disc can be adjusted for different thicknesses. It gave me good chunky coins of carrot down to slices so thin you could almost see through them. And all of them were uniform.
The reversible grating disc’s 4mm size has large enough holes that it could chop up an onion without becoming clogged. The other 2mm side gave a small, even grate. It demolishes vegetables in seconds.
There’s a smaller 710ml bowl for making reduced quantities, too. I appreciated the rubber seal around the rim of the lid, which meant that there was no leakage, even when blending with the bowl filled to its maximum.
The three sizes of opening in the feed tube proved useful. You can chuck in good-sized chunks of vegetables using the largest, while the smallest is helpful when you’re making dough using the high-quality plastic dough blade, and need to drizzle liquid into the bowl slowly.
Impressively, even with the tube fully open, the KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor didn’t throw plumes of flour into the air.
If there’s one disappointment, it’s that the bowl scratches. When I blended ice, the blades turned it to snow in mere seconds, but it left quite a few marks. That really shouldn’t happen on a machine that’s otherwise so well put together. If you’re going to crush ice, I recommend buying the ice disc, which sits at the top of the machine so should help prevent scratches.
I’d like a storage solution, too, since the accessories don’t fit into the main bowl. Given the high-quality of the food processor, I can forgive this oversight.
It’s also a shame that there’s no egg-whisking option. This is only available on the larger, more expensive Artisan 4L Food Processor, which is considerably more expensive. I recommend saving the money and buying this food processor and opting for a separate stand mixer for whisking.
Why buy the KitchenAid Classic 2.1L Food Processor?
Aside from the scratches on the bowl after blending ice, the KitchenAid Classic 2.1l Food Processor is an excellent tool for all types of cook. Excellent build quality, brilliant performance and easy to wash up, this is a great-value food processor that you’ll be proud to have on display.
Verdict
Looks good enough to sit out on your worktop, and it’s so well made that it will probably be there for years.
Trusted Score
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
