Preliminary note: To my knowledge, the only major bricks-and-mortar retailer regularly stocking this product for under $50 is Wal-Mart. (At least that’s true in my metro-Kansas City neighborhood.) It’s likewise available via Wal-Mart’s web site (walmart.com) and Amazon.com for the same price, $49.88. Moreover, Amazon offers free shipping.
The Hamilton Beach “Big Mouth” 70590 14-Cup Food Processor:
Plenty of power!
The gratifyingly stable, hefty base houses a 450-watt electric motor more than powerful enough to tackle any job for which this product is actually designed. (If you want this machine to last, don’t try chopping ice with it; it’s not a “blender”, and it’s absolutely not designed for that function.)
A big mouth is a good thing!
Some consumers (especially those with limited countertop space) might argue that this food processor’s 14-cup (clear-plastic) bowl is much larger than what a one or two-person household actually needs. But I consider the unit’s ample capacity–not to mention its eight-pound weight, 8.5-inch circumference, and 16.2-inch height–to be less important than its vaunted “Big Mouth” food-loading chute. Virtually any competing food processor in this price range has a much smaller food chute precluding the insertion of, for example, an entire medium-sized tomato. With such smaller units, you must manually pre-cut much of your food into pieces small enough to fit into a tiny chute. I ask: Why spend your hard earned on a smaller (and probably flimsier) “food processor” that won’t actually do (virtually) all your “food processing” for you?
Basic operation
Operating this unit is easy. The white, attractively styled, heavy-duty-plastic base’s four suction-cup feet instantly and securely grip nearly any smooth surface. (You need only firmly tilt the unit to one side to release that grip.)
The 14-cup bowl is easy to twist into position upon the base. As an “idiot-proof” safety precaution, in order for the base to operate, not only must the bowl be securely attached to the base, but also the bowl lid and the hinged lid of the upper “food chute” must be securely attached/shut.
After attaching the bowl to the base, you select one of two stainless-steel rotary blades (discussed below), depending on whether you want to chop, mix, slice, or shred. It’s quick and easy to drop either rotary blade into position upon the central “motor shaft”. When using the two-sided “slicing/shredding” blade, just don’t forget to first set the little “removable drive sleeve” upon the central “motor shaft”; this positions the “slicing/shredding” blade at a much higher point (on the central shaft).
Two stainless-steel rotary blades are included: (1) A propeller-like “chopping/mixing” blade, whose name is pretty self-explanatory; and (2) a “slicing/shredding” blade that’s “reversible” (two-sided): its “shredder” side is great for instantly converting large chunks of cabbage into cole slaw; and its 3mm “slicing” side is great for converting your average zucchini into “three-millimeter-thin” slices.
Unfortunately, a three-millimeter thickness means that folks wanting to pan-fry potatoes are likely to be dissatisfied unless they order an optional six-millimeter blade via a toll-free phone number provided in the owner’s manual (page four). An optional “French Fry Blade” is likewise available. On the one hand, it seems pretty stingy of Hamilton Beach not to have included those extra blades in the package from the get-go; on the other hand, the majority of consumers (including me) won’t absolutely need them, and I wouldn’t have been thrilled about spending several more dollars for this food processor.
But what I cannot defend is the outrageously high price Hamilton Beach charges for those optional blades (and you don’t discover the price via the owner’s manual; instead, you must phone their sales department)! Each optional blade costs a whopping $19.99 (or you can order both and receive a measly $5 “discount” on the package deal)! There’s also a $7.50 “shipping and handling” fee. Consequently, to own both of the optional blades, you’d need to shell out an extra $42.48, which amount rivals the $49.88 (Wal-Mart) cost for this entire food processor (including the two “standard” blades, one of which is actually a “two-in-one” reversible blade)! Needless to say, I won’t be ordering either of the optional (and basically unnecessary) blades.
When you want to chop or mix, just drop the food pieces through the chute and into the bowl below, then shut the hinged chute lid so that the base can be switched on.
When you want to slice or shred, just: (1) set the little “removable drive sleeve” upon the central “motor shaft”; and (2) drop the “reversible” (two-sided) slicing/shredding blade atop the removable drive sleeve. Then use the bottom of the removable “Food Pusher” (resembling a small drinking glass) to force a whole (“de-stemmed”) tomato (or other fruit/vegetable) downward while using the main rotary dial to operate the machine at the speed of your choice.
The base’s easy-to-understand rotary control dial has six positions. At the right there are four speed positions (numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4). In the middle there’s an “O” position (meaning “OFF”). Finally, at the far left there’s one “pulse” position (which means that the machine will run as long as you keep the “pulse” button pressed; the instant you let go of that button, the machine stops).
I read an older (February 2006) review of this model stating that there was a blue dial around the control knob that illuminates when the unit is operational. That same reviewer likewise stated that the plastic bowl was lightly tinted blue. Perhaps there’s been a slight production change since then, for my recently purchased unit lacks (and simply doesn’t need) any illumination around the control knob; and the bowl, lid, and Food Pusher are fully transparent, not tinted.
The below-discussed owner’s manual (booklet) includes three detailed “food processing charts” that should answer virtually any consumer’s questions regarding which “speed” to select and how many seconds to run the machine for a given type of food. Amounts to load and resulting “yields” are likewise indicated on those handy charts. But a little hands-on experimentation worked so well for me that I can say you might not actually need to consult those charts to perform your most familiar kitchen tasks with complete satisfaction.
Clean-up and care
Disassembing the lid, bowl, and blade is quick and easy.
Clean-up is likewise easy. In many instances you can just immediately rinse the lid, bowl, Food Pusher, and blade(s) thoroughly under a faucet and let them air dry till your next meal. Otherwise, all the parts (except the base) are said to be dishwasher-safe. (Mind, for fear of warping, I’d be hesitant to place any plastic part closely adjacent to a dishwasher’s heated-drying element!) Note: Be sure to inspect the lid’s topmost nooks for the occasional, tiny, lodged (but easily rinsable) piece of cabbage, etc.
The base itself should never be immersed in water but can be wiped with a damp cloth or sponge.
The owner’s manual (booklet)
The 52-page, rather well written, easy-to-understand manual is sufficiently illustrated (with small, simple, black-and-white line drawings). The first 17 pages are in English; all remaining pages comprise analogous French and Spanish sections.
The stapled booklet measures 8.25″ by 5.5″, and it chiefly comprises the following sections:
Important Safeguards (pages 2-3)
Parts and Features (pages 3-4)
Using Your Food Processor (pages 4-7)
Food Processing Charts (pages 8-9)
Troubleshooting Guide (page 10)
Cleaning, Storage & Maintenance (page 11)
Recipes (pages 12-16)
Customer Service/Warranty Information (page 17)
Miscellaneous points
This product is manufactured in China. Regardless of that, it appears remarkably well designed and durably made. Nothing about its operational “feel” or “noise” strikes me as suspiciously “shoddy” or “cheap” (unless you were to insist that the detachable bowl, lid, and food chute were made of heavy glass instead of light-but-durable plastic).
Warranty: The manufacturer’s one-year limited warranty basically covers everything except the (stainless-steel) cutting blades.
Power cord: The base’s permanently attached electrical power cord is, alas, only 28 inches long (purportedly to prevent accidents involving young children), and so you’ll either need to locate the machine rather near an electric outlet or avail yourself of an extension cord.
You can conveniently store the blades, Food Pusher, and removable drive sleeve right inside the bowl.
I read an older (February 2006) review of this model stating that there was a blue dial around the control knob that illuminated when the unit was operational. That same reviewer likewise stated that the transparent plastic bowl and lid were lightly tinted blue. Perhaps there have been some slight production changes since then, for my recently purchased unit lacks (and simply doesn’t need) any illumination around the control knob; and the bowl, lid, and Food Pusher are fully transparent, not tinted.
Some reviewers have mildly complained that, when you’re using the Food Pusher to force food downward through the chute and onto the revolving “slicing/shredding” blade, there’s a bit too much of a gap between the bottom of the food chute and the blade, resulting in the last portion of food not ending up sliced (or shredded). I’ve indeed noticed this myself, but it’s actually only a trivially small amount of “unprocessed” food that gets left behind–so small, in fact, as to be scarcely worth mentioning. It’s assuredly not the highly noteworthy problem that a minority of reviewers have implied.
Summary:
I’m delighted with my new Hamilton Beach Big Mouth 70590 14 Cups Food Processor. Whether I want to shred/chop cabbage into zesty cole slaw; slice a fresh zucchini into temptingly thin discs; or finely chop-and-mix assorted fresh veggies and fruits into a pleasingly sweetened, highly digestible concoction, remarkably little preparation, processing time, and clean-up are required.
I also found that chopping whole, roasted, unsalted peanuts produced some pleasing “natural” peanut butter (as long as I added a bit of water) rivaling what I occasionally bought at a health food store many years ago. Of course, clean-up of the sticky residue from inside the plastic bowl required slightly more attention and effort than was the case with most fruits or vegetables.
I can’t emphasize enough just how much preparatory, manual slicing is eliminated by this model’s “Big Mouth” food chute. If you still aren’t impressed, just visit your nearest retailer (such as Wal-Mart) and contrast the diameter of this model’s accommodating food chute with that of most competing models (especially the cheaper ones). It’s well worth paying the modestly higher cost for this ample unit instead of settling for a bottom-end food processor that (based on reviews I’ve read) likely won’t work so well or last as long anyway. On the other hand, why shell out for much costlier products that reportedly can’t do much, if anything, that this affordable, powerful Hamilton Beach model can’t?
