They’re obviously similar, but what’s the difference between a blender and a food processor?

Let’s find out what exactly we should be using each kitchen appliance for.

Definitions: 

• Blender: an electric culinary grinding and mixing appliance, consisting of a container with propeller-like blades at the bottom that are whirled by a high speed motor to puree, chop, or mix foods.
• Food processor: an electric appliance with interchangeable blades within a closed container into which food is inserted for slicing, shredding, mincing, chopping, pureeing, or otherwise processing at high speeds.

Blenders:

• Are excellent for making smoothies and cocktails.
• Are great for pureeing and chopping small amounts of food.
• Have large blades that are not very sharp.
• Have a powerful motor.
• Are not great for doughs or batters.
• Can be simple, or can be highly powerful and expensive tools.

Food processors:

• Are great for chopping and grating, as with vegetables or cheese.
• Can also handle harder foods like nuts.
• Can mix and knead dough and batters with the correct attachment.
• Have very sharp blades.
• Do not have a powerful motor.
• Do not work well with liquid-y foods.

As we can see, blenders have non-sharp blades and are great for liquid-y stuff. Food processors have super sharp blades and are meant for grating or chopping stuff.

Then, there’s an immersion blender, a sort of jack of all trades. An immersion blender is immersed in a pot or bowl. It’s handheld, easy to use, and compact for storage. Immersion blenders are perfect for making not exactly beverages, but dishes with a liquid element to them, such as tomato sauce, whipped cream, and mayonnaise.