KitchenAid - 13-Cup Food Processor - KFP1318 - Black Matte

With food processors, you think of compact and convenient. Let me get this out of the way, food processors are not blenders. You have three settings to choose from; low, high, and off/pulse. More on that. The food processor itself is quite large. I don't mean enormous, but it towers over my blender. From a build standpoint, it's quite nice. The main base/motor housing has a nice heft and feel to it. That's where you'll see the three power settings. The workbowl is the other main component. This is where all of the magic happens. Fun fact, all of the main mixing components fit into the workbowl, so you don't need to place the smaller components in another location. After cleaning all of the main components, I decided to give the unit a go. I usually test a food processor or blender by making a salsa, but this time I decided to go with a Korean bbq marinade. One of the nice features is that it comes with three differently sized food pushers. I added all of the ingredients and what I was looking for was a good consistency. There's a slicer knob that let's you choose between thinner and thicker dices. In my case, I was looking for a very liquid consistency. The food processor did a great job in breaking down the separate ingredients. The workbowl lid is on a hinge so the lid stays open for an easy dispensing of the end result. I used a few pulses in the beginning and then finished it off with the high setting. The clean up was easy. I placed most of the components into the top portion of the dish washer, and that's that. All in all it's a great food processor, that's convenient and easy to clean.

We've had (and passed on) multiple food processors from Ninja, KitchenAid, GE and Cuisinart over the past decade and a half, but this one by far impressed us the most right out of the box. While not the most advanced of the bunch as it only offers two speeds and a pulse button, it's easily the most powerful of the half-dozen units we've bought to date and ranks right up at the top for being the MOST easy-to-use, easy-to-clean, and easy-to-store of all the food processors we've ever had. Unlike so many other food processor designs, this one doesn't require any twist-to-seal gyrations to lock down all the parts for duty. The work bowl simply snaps directly onto the motorized main base, and it only fits in place one way to make assembly completely idiot-proof. The work-bowl cover features a 3-in-1 opening and simply pops out of the hinge when opened at the proper angle--insert it back into the handle's hinge slot and it will securely click/clamp shut. There's also a very sturdy lid latch that keeps the cover completely sealed while the unit is in operation. Once you're done, everything snaps apart for exceptionally easy disassembly and cleaning. But the show-stealer is the innovative storage caddy that keeps the upper and lower driver adapters, chopping and kneading blades, adjustable slicing disc and reversible (!!!) fine/medium grating disc all neatly stacked and packaged for storage INSIDE the work bowl when not in use (there's even a plastic storage guide card you can keep with all the accessories so you always know if you've packed everything up properly). This allows you to keep all relevant accessories together with the food processor, so you NEVER have to go hunting for another part in your kitchen drawers or cupboards. Just be aware that the hinged top stores attached the unit with the feed tube facing up...total assembled height is just a hair under 18" which just barely fit under our kitchen cabinets; so, make sure you've got the vertical space to accommodate this unit if you want to store it underneath the cabinets or between some shelves in your own kitchen. Other design features include a thoughtful cord retaining ring built into the bottom that allows you to wind/unwind the cord length as needed. At a minimum, the largest food pusher's insert must be in place above the work bowl's lid (there's a silver guide rod that fits perfectly into a slot behind the feed tube) or the motor will not engage when one of the operating buttons is pressed. This makes it virtually impossible for someone to start up the processor's blades and then try to stick a hand down the large opening in the top of the work bowl. This is a great safety feature, though it will require you to trim down some REALLY large items (apples, potatoes, thick cucumbers, etc.) to feed through the bowl's widest opening--you can't just leave the large food pusher completely off the lid, stick a giant bunch of carrots that hang way out above the opening, and then start grinding away. The stainless chopping blade did an exceptional job at grinding up pecans and walnuts that were PERFECTLY formed and sized for baking in just a few quick pulses without an excess of fine nut dust or powder residue left behind. The reversible grating blade gives you flexibility in food prep without having to keep track of two separate grating discs--definitely a nice feature. The center of the slicing blade meshes with a 5-position adjustment control on the top of the lid--just turn the dial to the left for thinner slices or the right for thicker slices. In operation, this food processor is a MONSTER--we barely had to keep it running for more than a few seconds while it chewed through hard fruits, veggies and nuts...and the 13-cup capacity is one of the largest you can get in a consumer food processor right now. Thankfully, virtually all parts of the food processor are exceptionally easy to clean with large, easy-to-reach corners, divots, recesses and crevices that will make it tough for you to miss any food remnants during cleanup. The one exceedingly minor exception is a very small piece of folded metal on the underside of the slicing disc--it's only a few millimeters wide, but I did have to use a small brush to get some apple pulp out from underneath it because water alone wasn't enough to wash it out. As of this writing, there is also a french fry disc and dicing kit that will fit the KitchenAid 13-cup food processor, but they are not widely available yet though you can order them directly from KitchenAid. We were SO impressed with the performance of this unit that we plan to add those accessories to our stable in the near future and donate our old Cuisinart. Sure, you can definitely find food processors with more programs, buttons, and slicing discs or chopping blades than this one...but the upside here is that this processor simply WORKS, and it works beautifully. The powerful motor will make short work of anything shy of rocks or masonry and the cavernous work bowl gives you enough capacity that you probably won't be needing to empty and refill it that often unless you're planning on processing enough ingredients to operate a food truck. The controls are so simple and straight-forward that you don't have to remember anything special about how to get the results you're after, and it's so thoughtfully designed for easy cleanup and easy storage that using it never really feels like a chore. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED if you are in the market.

This processor is all you need for all your cooking devises. It is more compact then most which I think is important when it comes to storage.. The size is perfect for an every day cooking household, not a gourmet cook. I love it.

My new “best friend” in my kitchen! Precise cut, fast and easy to clean. Be careful handling the blades as they are very sharp! My prep time in the kitchen is less than half than what l used to take. I am very satisfied with this product

We bought this to replace our 20 year old Kitchen Food Processor. It works great for everything we need to do — blending, grating, and chopping. It is extremely well design. Easy to clean and everything packs up so nicely.

Seems to work as designed. The lid of the work bowl is heavy and doesn't want to stay in the open position very easy for it to slam shut on your. I had read about the work bowl discoloring when washed in the dishwasher. I have been hand washing it for now so it looks nice sitting on the counter because it's too big to fit in the cabinet.

There are so many options with this unit I haven't even had a chance to try them all. I like the slicing blade- I have sliced carrots, brussel sprouts and potatoes. I makes quick work of the veggies. I did find that the brussel sprouts would get stuck in the feeding tube. The feeding tube does give you several options of sizes so I could have gone up a size but I wanted the control of feeding them through the smaller tube. The way they planned to storage for all of the blades and accessories is great- Every thing fits in the bowl. They even give you a picture on the side of the storage unit to show you how everything stacks up. I wish my unit came with the dicing blade. I may see about getting that separately. I would love to dice onions and potatoes. The only reason I gave this 4 and not 5 stars is that it is VERY tall. I am not able to keep it in the pantry where I had my old food processor. I have to keep this on the counter. Even with the top of the bowl not attached, it doesn't fit on the average shelf in my pantry. Keeping it on the counter isn't all bad. I find I use it for smaller jobs that I might not if it was stored away. The cord is also VERY short- only 18". I realize this is for safety but with the layout of my kitchen I don't have any exposed plugs so it means moving things to get access to a plug. I am excited to try the two blades- One for chopping and one for dough. Overall, this is a very good machine. Storage is difficult due to it's size and the cord is very short. It is powerful and can manage even tough veggies easily.

Sometimes when you like to cook home made meals you need something extra for processing food. That is where a this large KitchenAid processor comes in. It allows you to make home made dough, sauces, and many other things. One of the first things we tried making in ours was home made meat balls. This specific model comes with many different attachments to help with processing different types of food. One advantage is that they are top rack dishwasher safe so when you are done you can put them right in the dishwasher for easy cleaning. All of the pieces store together inside of the processor which means less clutter inside of your drawers. The opening to add in food is large which makes it really easy to add food and blend together. The only downside to this mixer is that it is extremely tall. When all assembled it barely fits on the counter top under our cabinets. It is not a big deal at the end of the day and the large size just means it is able to fit more inside of it at one time. If you are someone who loves to cook at home and try new things I would highly recommend this food processor. It is high quality and does a great job. I would not expect anything less from KitchenAid.

Super fast and easy to clean. Shredded a block of cheese in seconds. There is some waste when chopping vegetables because the end gets stuck above the blade. The processor was bigger than I expected - I would probably get the next size down if ordering again.