The Different Types of Food Processor Blades

The food processor is an essential kitchen appliance that makes food preparation easier. Although most people use food processors for grinding, shredding or pureeing foods, very few know how the blades work. There are a variety of blades and each has its own function.

Here are three of the most common food processor blades and their unique features.  

S-Shaped Blade

The S-shaped blade is the most commonly used attachments. As the name implies, two curved blades stick out at different ends, forming a big s shape. Essentially, it is the most versatile tool for chopping, slicing, grating and grinding. It is useful for churning pesto, nut butter and many other food. This blade is located at the bottom of the bowl within the food processor. When it is on pulse setting, it will chop the ingredients evenly. However, the ingredients will turn into puree if it is pulsed continuously. Apart from chopping, the s-shaped blade does a good job of mixing, leaving you with a great mixture of ingredients like that of salsa or hummus.

Shredding Disc

The shredding disc is proficient at grating ingredients like cabbage, carrot and cheese. It is usually on top of the bowl. When food passes through the feeding tube, they will first reach the disc and the shredded food will dispense into the bowl of the food processor. It only takes few seconds to produce large quantities of cabbage or carrot shreds for raw salads, coleslaws, and so on. Since shredding discs come in a variety of sizes, you can shred any fruit or vegetable.

Slicing Disc

Similar to the shredding disc, the slicing disc is designed to attach to the top section of the bowl. This slicing attachment is ideal for slicing ingredients like potato, zucchini or apple. As soon as food enter the chute, they would be sliced into thin flat strips in no time. Be sure to insert ingredients into the chute slowly and individually so as to yield consistently fine and even slices.

There are dozens of blades you can use in the food processor to cut, shred, slice or grate ingredients. Once you utilize the right blade, you would get better results in terms of the preferred degree of coarseness or fineness.