The Right Way to Use your Food Processor for Everyday Tasks!
The food processor is truly a versatile kitchen appliance that transforms your cooking. It is your all-in-one kitchen assistant that makes meal prep a breeze. Whether you want to slice, grate, cut or mince, it helps you do it with consistency & a lot quicker too. Are you one of those people; who prefers to take the food processor out only when you’re hosting dinners? Well, that is going to change today. We will teach you how to speed up your everyday tasks using the mighty food processor. And you won’t be putting it back in its box ever. Plus, we have a blog on using the food processor for some amazing things in the kitchen. Don’t forget to check it out.
How to knead your dough in a food processor?
Do you love to make roti but absolutely despise kneading the dough? Do you prefer to use homemade dough for your pizzas but dread kneading it?
Now you can enjoy kneading dough in your food processor. Yes, we will show you how to knead the perfect dough for your chapatis & pizza.
- Metal blades are the best at kneading dough quickly & effectively. Do not use plastic blades for kneading. They only drag the dough or cause it to stick to the sides of the bowl. Therefore, make sure that you’re using metal blades to knead the dough.
- The 2nd tip is to use cold water while kneading. The cold water counteracts the heat produced during kneading & maintains the flavor & rise of the flour.
- When we knead doughs for chapatis, we add ghee or oil usually; to ensure that the dough is soft. Therefore, we recommend not to over-knead the dough. Otherwise, the texture of the dough will become too gooey to roll.
- A pro tip to knead the dough is to add the water slowly while the processor runs, rather than adding all the water in one go. This ensures that there is no mess due to liquid overflow and, you can control the texture of the dough too!
How to prep your vegetables?
Pakistan is blessed to have the most fertile lands which yield the finest fruits and vegetables. Not only this, but people love to grow vegetables in their home gardens. Tomatoes, chilies, lemons, etc., are commonly seen in lawns & rooftop gardens; nowadays. Growing vegetables is fun but, prepping vegetables is not an enjoyable task. Nobody wants to invest time, energy & patience to clean, peel, cut & dice vegetables. Unless you’re the middle-class mother of the heroine in one of our Pakistani dramas😝.
But today, we will show you a few tricks from our arsenal that will make vegetable prep; effortless in the food processor. And you can make mixed vegetable curry in almost half the time.
- Choose the correct slicing disk for your particular vegetable. Westpoint food processors come with different slicing disks that allow you to slice or grate vegetables in different thicknesses. It means you can choose as per the recipe & your requirement. Slicing works best with firm ingredients, like cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, etc
- Whenever you’re chopping, grinding, or grating vegetables in the processor, use the pulse function. It allows you more control than processing does. Because you can always give the vegetables another round of pulse to chop them more finely, but you can’t go back. Secondly, when you use pulsing, ingredients are redistributed with every pulse. It ensures food is chopped evenly.
- Before placing your vegetables in the feed tube, you might need to trim them, depending on their original size. Always use steady pressure when you push the food through the feed tube. It will have an impact on the final output.
- A protip is to lightly oil your feed tube, processor bowl & your slicing & shredding disks to make sure that you can clean them easily with the spatula. Oiling or greasing makes sure that the grated vegetables don’t gum up on the disk.
How to slice or grind meat in the processor?
When we buy mincemeat from outside, we only have 2 options. It is either chopped with chunks or pulverized into a paste. What if we told you that you can make the perfect ground meat in your food processor without any hassle. If you’re passionate about cooking, you will agree that every recipe demands a particular type of ground meat. Therefore, all you need to do is follow these tips & you can mince beef, chicken & even seafood as per your liking:
- Try to use partially frozen meat for mincing; if you want to have a chunkier texture.
- While grounding meat in the processor, make sure you keep checking the consistency of the mince; every few minutes. The ideal type of texture needs to be loose yet tender. This type of ground meat does not become pasty or dense after it is cooked.
- While making mince at home, use different cuts of meat & fat to create the right mix of flavor & texture for your recipe. You can check out our blog which shares some basic tips on sorting & storing meat.
- To slice meat in the processor, always use stead & firm pressure while pushing the meat pieces down the feed tube. Don’t forget to check the orientation of the meat pieces.
Conclusion:
We hope you will use our actionable tips & have fun prepping for your meals with your food processors. From kneading dough to cutting vegetables & grounding meat, you can do it all like a pro in your food processor in a matter of minutes. Don’t forget to give your food factories a thorough cleaning after using them.
