If you landed on this article by looking for the term, juicer vs food processor, then you are in luck. Because I am about to tell you all about how food processor and juicer are two different kitchen appliances. And based on the intended use, budget, kitchen space, we’ll look at the best option for you between the two.
Is the Food Processor and Juicer Same?
No, they are not. To know-how, two motors with blades and containers that cut food down into smaller pieces are not the same machines; you will have to know first, what a food processor is. A food processor is a blender like a kitchen appliance. It is primarily used to blend, chop, dice, and slice to help with the prep-work before for ingredients.
But a juicer is mainly intended to be used to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. It shreds the fruit into smaller pieces and uses pressure to extract juice from them.
Major Differences between Food Processor and Juicer
The differences between food processor and a juicer are more straight forward than the difference between juicer and blender. Because these are totally two individual appliances. You may need only one or both.
Types of Food Prepared by Juicer and Food Processor
A food processor is best suited for pre-cook food preparation. Need to grind beef into hamburger? puree dips? Or maybe you need to whip up mayonnaise get a food processor. You also grate fruits, vegetables, and cheeses with its shredding disk. With a slicer disk attachment, you can slice chips with it. A food processor can do all that and then some. That means you can also make uncooked recipes like nut butter, salsa, bean dips, and different sorts of humus.
A juicer, however, will let you make juice like the ones you can get in restaurants. Offering a satisfyingly light consistency. You can use juicers to get liquids prepared with or without fibers and pulps based on your dietary needs. Oppositely, juicing with a food processor can not be the right way of making juice.
Set of Attachments
A juicer is mostly a one trick pony. It does a single thing and does it the best. And that’s why they are a stand-alone machine in itself. But generally, there are no attachments with a juicer.
On the other hand, the food processor is like a jack of all trade. Generally, a food processor comes with three individual attachments. Shredding disk, S-blade slicing disk, and all three disks have their own purposes. The shedding disk doesn’t actually mix anything. But you can grate vegetables, cheese, and fruits for you. The slicing desk also does not cut anything but, you can slice your vegetable cheese super-thin. However, with an S-blade attachment, you can mix fruits, vegetables, nuts, and cheese while cutting them. With an S-blade, you can do something called a rough-job. This means you can start and stop the blade repeatedly and get the desired and consistency you want. For some uncooked recipes, you need to make the ingredients have a little bit of texture. Also, with the same S-blade, you can grind meat. With these attachments, you can take advantage of the food processor for several uses comparing to the juicer.
Size of the Machine – Juicer vs Food Processor
Another differentiating factor can be the size of the food processor and juicer. A food processor is a bulky appliance to your kitchen, taking up counter-top space. But, if you have a big family and need to prepare food in large volumes, a food processor can make your life easier.
On the other hand, a juicer is a more compact machine and takes up little to no space than its counterpart. As the juicer gets rid of all the fibers are from the juice, you can accumulate a lot more nutrients in a small amount. So, in terms of nutrition, a juicer cannot be beaten by a food processor. In terms of bulk food preparation, a food processor is your only best friend.
Can a Food Processor be used as a Juicer?
A food processor does not have the necessary blades to be used as a juicer. So, no food processor cannot be used directly as a juicer. The sharper blades of a food processor are handy to chop down foods but not to a juicer level. If you want to get close to a juicer, you can buy a blender and use a lot of liquid to get close to the watery consistency. However, even with the best blender, you won’t get the consistency of a juicer.
Can I use food processor to extract juice?
Though you can’t use a food processor directly as a juicer, you can, however, use the food processor to extract the juice out of your vegetables and fruits, and here is how. First, you have to peel and chop the fruits and vegetables into small pieces. Then you have to stuff the fruits in the food processor. Add the lighter ingredients in the bottom and the thicker ingredients on the top to increase blending efficiency. Unlike blenders, you don’t need to put any liquids in a food processor to blend something. Finally, you can use a fine patterned strainer is strain the mixture unless you want a smoothie. This process works just as great as a juicer. But, it’s a much more hectic job and takes a lot of time compared to a juicer.
Food Processor vs Juicer: Which One is Better for You?
Before you pull the trigger on one, let’s remind ourselves of the advantages of both appliances. The juicer is a quick, easy and efficient appliance. If your diet consists of mostly liquid foods. As liquid-based diets are getting more famous, people are looking more into the juicer market. On the contrary, if you are a dedicated cook and love to prepare food for everyone. a food processor can offer you a lot of versatility in your food-making adventures. With its attachments and a bit of creativity from yourself, you can almost not buy a juicer and get away with it. If you are deciding between two, go with a food processor because of the added versatility.
Bottom Line
So, to summarize, both a food processor and juicer have their assigned job in your kitchen. But it’s up to you to decide if you really need another appliance just to make food slightly easier. If you enjoyed this kind of comparison, maybe checkout grinder vs juicer. Thank you so much. Spend responsibly.