Purrs like a kitten -- slices, chops and shreds like a TIGER!!!
Written: Sep 04 '03 (Updated Sep 08 '03)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Ease of Cleaning:
Style:
Pros: Compact, stylish, wide color choice, unbelievably quiet, fast and powerful, mini-bowl included.
Cons: Storage box is awkwardly designed and won't hold additional accessories.
The Bottom Line: I can't imagine anyone but a professional restaurant chef needing more power and features than this machine offers. Cooking is a BLAST with this baby!
starstuff's Full Review: KitchenAid KFP600 Ultra Power 11 Cups Food Process...
First of all, Epinions.com displays two separate sets of reviews for this same model: the KitchenAid Ultra Power KFP600 Series food processor. The most reviews (20 at this writing) are under the description "KitchenAid Ultra Power Food Processor," and several of those reviews do NOT refer to the KFP600 series, although that's the model in the graphic. So be careful and check the model number of the unit you're considering before you rely on a review! A KFP600 will NOT cost you a mere $40! That price is for a small KitchenAid mini chopper. Other models being reviewed are the 5-cup and 7-cup models; the KFP600 is an 11-cup model with a mini-bowl included. The KFP600 series presently goes for a minimum of around $200 on most online sites
WHAT A DEAL!
That said, I got mine in Empire Green for an incredible $149.99 from Amazon.com, with a $20 credit toward future Amazon.com purchases (sorry, the credit offer only applies to purchases made by August 31, 2003, but keep your eyes open, Amazon.com makes similar offers frequently). At this writing, only the Empire Green model is available at that price; Onyx is available for $159.99, and White, Cream, Blue and Red are available for $198.00. Brushed chrome is available for, I believe, around $250.
Note that Amazon.com does not charge sales tax and shipping via UPS is FREE for this item. Can you beat that? YES! KitchenAid is offering rebates on various food processors purchased between July 1 and December 31, 2003, and the KFP600 gets a $30 rebate. You can get more information at www.kitchenaid.com.
So, I wound up with a kick-butt, professional-class food processor for a net outlay of $99. Am I a happy slicer-and-shredder? Yessssss!!!!!
ASSEMBLY
None! Everything comes fully assembled and ready to use. You'll want to wash everything before using with food, of course. And be careful! Other reviewers weren't kidding when they said the blades are super-sharp.
The motor assembly is packed separately from the bowl and storage box. The bowl comes with the mini-bowl and its own little mini-blade in place inside the main bowl, with the cover and food pusher attached. The storage box contains the chopper blade for the main bowl, a plastic blade for mixing bread dough, an attachment that goes over the motor spindle that holds the slicing or shredding disks, and three disks: a medium slicing disk, a medium shredding disk, and a third disk that has a thin slicer on one side and a thin shredder on the other.
Also included is the weirdest spatula I have ever seen -- two prongs on one end, for cleaning out tight crevices or poking food out from the shredder holes, I suppose, and a bizarre-looking spatula at the other end that looks like it got caught in the slicer!
The storage box is the only thing I don't like about this model, and other reviewers seem to echo my sentiments. It's unreasonably large and bulky for its purpose and could hold far more disks and accessories in the space it takes up.
Setting the unit up consists of simply positioning the bowl on the motor housing spindle. REMOVE THE COVER FIRST! You must turn the bowl cover to the left to remove it before trying to place or remove the bowl from the motor spindle -- this is very important! If you try to attach or remove the bowl with the cover still on, you'll break the assembly.
PERFORMANCE
Before I washed my new toy, I decided to sacrifice a few apples to try it out. What fun!
I wanted to try out the mini-bowl first, since some other reviewers said it wasn't possible to process food in the mini-bowl without dirtying the main bowl. I dumped an entire apple in the mini-bowl, cut in quarters, and let 'er rip. Three seconds later, I had a bowl full of perfectly chopped apples. There was absolutely nothing in the main bowl; the cover had formed a perfect seal over the mini-bowl and kept the main bowl from getting dirty. Really an ingenious design! I can't say that a more liquid mixture wouldn't have seeped out, but if it had, I would have been a lot happier to have it spray out over the outer bowl than all over me and my kitchen.
To use the slicer/shredder attachments, you simply remove the mini-bowl and/or chopper blades and slip the disk spindle over the motor spindle. The disks fit on top of the spindle, and you then replace the bowl cover.
I used both the thin and medium slicer disks to slice up some apples, and got almost paper-thin slices from the thin disk and about 1/8" slices from the medium slicer. You can also buy a thick-slicer disk to get 1/4" slices. When I positioned the apple quarters cut-side down, I got perfect apple-pie slices. The speed was incredible! I did get an unsliced piece at the very end sliding around on the top of the disk, but that can be minimized by filling the feed tube to the top, or you can simply hand-chop the leftover piece. It's really minimal and I don't think it's a big deal.
The shredder produced perfect apple shreds about 1 1/2" long. Would have been perfect for potato pancakes or hash browns if I'd been using potatoes! And again, lightning fast.
NOISE
Shockingly quiet for such amazing power and speed! Three curious cats didn't turn a hair when I chopped up an entire apple in a matter of about three seconds. My old Sunbeam Oscar food processor would send them scrambling out of the kitchen and running for cover under the bed.
CLEAN UP
Ah, the real bottom line: Is the thing such a pain to clean that you'll wind up using it once or twice and then dread the chore of cleaning it so much that you'll never touch it again?
Well, I only used it with apples, so I pretty much cleaned everything up by just rinsing. I examined all the parts carefully as I washed them up, looking for any potential problem areas. The only thing I noticed that might pose a problem with any sticky or oily mixtures is a narrow channel in the cover. I believe that's what the prong end of the spatula is designed to clean. Everything else looked easy to get to with a sponge. If you have a dishwasher, you're in luck, because everything (except the motor, of course) is dishwasher-safe. One reviewer said a bit of rust showed up on her disks when she washed them in her dishwasher, but I can't speak to that.
The motor assembly itself is completely sealed and the buttons are flush to the surface and sealed under a soft plastic shield that keeps food or liquid out. All that you should ever need to clean the housing is a wipe with a damp sponge.
MANUAL and RECIPES
The KFP600 comes with a decently-written instruction manual, very well-illustrated, and a lot of really good-sounding recipes to jump-start your new food processing lifestyle.
ACCESSORIES
The KFP600 comes with enough to keep most cooks content, but if you're gadget-happy like me you'll want to own one or more of the several accessories available: an egg/cream whip, 1/4" slicing disk, 1/4" shredding disk, parmesan/ice grating disk, french fry disk, julienne disk, juice extractor, citrus juicer, and six-disk storage holder. Whew! Pass me that Christmas wish list!
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
Rated number one in its class by a leading consumer magazine 600 watts of smooth power Dough blade, slicing/shredding discs, and recipes included Incl...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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