I have a dangerous mandoline. When I went to replace it a few years ago I found that cheap FPs cost the same. I bought a low end Kitchen Aide at Target. I like it and use it regularly. I would buy one with more blades if I was doing it again. I also have a ninja which I like but use less often. The ninja is more of a blender than a FP.

I've had my 11 cup Kitchenaid for a long time. Couldn't be more pleased, except the newer ones have a much larger feed and I would love that.

It depends on the job I need done.

I can "process" a lot of food using a good knife, cutting mandolin, and a box grater, and they are usually my first choice. I do a lot of food prep. for the dehydrator and the mandolin is the best tool for that.

Since I'm an unrepentant gadget person, (other people have shoes and handbags, I have kitchen "stuff"! ;-), I have a selection to choose from, depending on what needs done or what gives the best results.

- Cuisinart (7-cup) for big jobs, but I rarely use it. I'm rarely happy with the results. I thought no kitchen was complete without a quality food processor, but it's the one I'd be willing to live without.

-Hamilton Beach Food Chopper (mini processor) - super job on small amounts of nuts, bread crumbs (fresh or dried), finely-chopped vegetables, etc. I've had and used this one for 20-years.

-Magic Bullet - has a number of unique uses, but works best for making small batches. Does a good job on refining sugar, chopping garlic, onions, ginger, nuts.

-Ninja Mini Food Chopper - The newest addition and the one I use the most. The Magic Bullet was a little too small for many things I did with sprouted lentils or a sprouted mixture of grains/seeds/beans for making patties, and the Cuisinart too large.

-Grainlady

The Ninja is a blender (I have one), it isn't a food processor.

A FP can take cutter disks to grate and slice, or a blade to chop; the lid has a feed tube; the controls allow "pulsing" (turning the motor on for just a second).

Cuisinart and KitchenAid make FPs. I find Amazon user reviews pretty informative.

If buying new, I'd get the $99 classic Cuisinart model, like the link below. They are big enough and powerful enough for most uses. You don't get the bells and whistles of the $200-300 models, but I don't use a FP often enough to care.

Here is a link that might be useful: Like this

I have the basic Cuisinart 9 cup and like it but I don't use it terribly often. I have a Cuisinart mini chopper I use for small jobs, a Ninja 1200 (blender) that is rarely used but it's less than a year old. I mostly use my knives and mandoline.

If I had to buy another food processor, the KitchenAid one with two bowls looks like it's versatile and the wide feed tube makes it useful. It got high ratings from America's Test Kitchen.

That is the one i would probably get if i needed one. Johnliu posted. Amazon reviews are usually 'purchased' reviews, but the jury is out on that these days. Though pretty obvious if one is wacked-out false.
Like grainlady, i have a dozen other go-to kitchen tools that i have gravitated to over the years. Mostly hand tools that i enjoy for hands-on and quiet therapeutic prep.
I did use mine, 25 yrs old now, the past few months for quick sauces, salsas, and garden harvest explosion.
I don't see it listed anywhere. A shame. It is still a workhorse and does so much. Maybe a discontinued safety issue? When i pulled it out of storage after 5 yrs, it all slid together like butter and my memory of its use was as clear a riding a bike. It has been nice to have all these years...
Might just be the small size that i have such good chop consistent mixing. A large family might need a bigger model but then it needs the storage room and the hauling in and out.

Mine has the side feed option that dispenses slices into a bowl for large quantity. A citrus juicer and a grater.

Like Grainlady said, it absolutely depends on what you want to use it for. I recently got a Cuinsinart that has a smaller bowl that fits inside the large one, for smaller quantities. The Cuisinart is great for pureeing things quickly and fully. It is NOT good if you need a slow speed and only want to process gently, as for making pie dough or getting a coarse chop. I made falafel last week-end, and the Cuisinart pureed the soaked, uncooked fava beans into a powder in no time. Good thing I didn't want them chunky. I used it to make pie dough a couple of weeks ago - just to mix the butter & shortening with the flour, and it pulverized that in no time as well, and the pie crust ended up being a bit tough, even though I added the water outside of the FP.

One good thing about the Cuisinart - the slicing blade is adjustable, so you can set it to whatever thickness you want for your slices, and it will slice huge quantities in nanoseconds. If you do not want to slice huge quantities, it is not worth the trouble to set it up and clean it afterwards. Better to have good knives.

Don't know if this helps.

Lars

I have had my Cuisinart since 1983......I have many disks and even the pasta maker attachment.
It has been a workhorse.
I don't use it as much since there are just two of us now but it has served me well.

I've never seen the side feed option for a Cuisinart. Cool!

Thanks. I seldom use my little processor but that's mainly because it doesn't do much. When I see them used on tv, they seem to use them for everything, from slicing to making dough.

I have a Cuisinart that I never use, it's brand new. I also have this awesome Oster Kitchen Center that's old as the hills that is wonderful. I love it!

My Dad had an old Oster Kitchen Center that worked like a charm, I used it for years to grate cabbage for sauerkraut, 50 pounds or so at a time. It had a meat grinder, a blender, a mixer, all kinds of stuff. Stepmother hates to cook and only likes fast food, so she sold it at the farm auction for $7.00. Sigh.

I have a KitchenAid and I like it a lot, for some things. I can't manage to make decent pie crust in it, like Lars, mine comes out tough and it's easy to process too long and when it gets warm it needs to be chilled to handle and any time saved is negated. I don't do vegetables for salsa because the pieces are too inconsistent. I've never used the small bowl for anything.

It works wonderfully, though, for mayonnaise or aioli, and shreds that cabbage for sauerkraut and makes nicely smooth hummus. It makes Jessica's lime chipotle marinade and chops up all the fresh cilantro, which my blender doesn't do well at all.

If I have just a little bit of something to slice or chop, I'm pretty good with a knife and clean-up is a lot faster and more efficient. I also have a mandolin which I never use. It's actually Elery's and it'ssupposedly a good model but it folds up for storage and I can never get the darned thing to stay standing up, and the hand guard won't stay stuck in any food that I've tried yet. It can stay in the basement, pah, I hate it. The last time I tried to use it to slice potatoes for a gratin I ended up pitching it across the kitchen. I'd give it away, but it's not mine, so I just don't use it.

Annie

I found the model i have. Discontinued as i thought but nice to see all the parts are still available. Quite a few on ebay.
I gave it such a workout last night i should get a spare.
Made the veggie mix, ginger, gr onion, etc for my dumplings.
Made slow cooker black bean chili...used it for the carrots, onion, celery, parsley.
spicy salsa for tacos, lots of cilantro, switched to basil for a 'fri night pizza' sauce...
used frozen cherry tomatoes...dab of yogurt and fetta for taco topping, can of chick peas, lime, toasted sesame oil, etc for humus, finished with a nice lemony salad dressing.
Never rinsed or cleaned the bowl...just left a bit of each sauce behind on purpose to help flavor the next. Wish i had a cucumber and could have made a nice Greek garlic dip...
pheew, all ready for the weekend. Lots of choices, lol. Gotta love speed prepping.
Delish corn tortilla tacos last night with all the fresh toppings...lots left for chili toppings.
I like chili to rest a day. Maybe dumplings tonight instead of pizza.

Here is a link that might be useful: little pro plus

Oh, the point of all that...
My sister can't, does not, cook. Never has. Nada. Eggo waffle, can tuna, frozen box dinner.
Microwave stuff. She just retired and moved in with here boyfriend. They entertain all the time.
Big fancy kitchen with all the bells. They always buy dips. I want to teach her this holiday to make three simple dips. A salsa, maybe two...a smoked spicy chipotle, and a mild one. A greek cucumber garlic using non-fat yogurt, and a humus. She has no knife skills at all so a small processor would be perfect. Bingo, christmas gift! And i'll show her how to use it.