Since 2003 I have often wondered what I could do without my food processor. The amount of cheap knives I’ve gone through cutting up vegetables for soups which have broken off by the handle has been pathetic. I’ve had riveted knives which have been better but when you’re rushed off your feet you really need a food processor which can chop, slice, mix, knead and blend – particularly if you like cooking. Before considering what I could buy my mum gave me her very old Morphy Richards food processor which had actually been left to her by a friend who moved to the U.S.A and couldn’t take the model with her. It had given her service for about three years and despite its bulky size, it coped well with the tasks I gave it but then one day decided to break down.
About the Brand & Pricing
Kenwood as a brand have been making food processors since the 1970’s although they were one of the first companies to make a domestic model for the common consumer rather than commercial companies such as RobotChef and Magimix who still today make wonderful machines with Sabatier blades but at a price! Amongst budget brands however there has always been Kenwood’s budget food processor FP 101/110/116 range, over the years which have been developed to incorporate other tools and more recently a blender attachment which the FP110 does without. The Kenwood FP 110 was available at £29-99 (2007) which was purchased at Argos (the Chrome version was the same machine but came in at £34-99) but now it is even cheaper at £24-49 at Argos and sometimes carries their exclusive brand name “Cookworks,” instead of the white Kenwood model. If Argos bring out the identical Cookworks model it is usually priced at a lower scale of £21-99 so it’s well worth looking for this model regardless of the name.
These days, from 2011 onwards, this model has been replaced by the FP120 model and is priced at £32-99. It is very similar to my FP 110 save for a newer design but comes with the same attachments and bowl capacities.
Nar2's Quick Skip Product Stats
• Steel blade – Dishwasher safe including all plastic attachments.
• Shredder plate & Slicer plates (fits into a plastic PVC universal holder).
• Maxi disc – a wonder canopy which doubles capacity of liquids!
• Plastic whisk attachment – great for eggs.
• Citrus Juicer attachment – open design.
• 1 Kenwood plastic spatula - one of the best on the market.
• 1 Speed plus Pulse button - slide control and/or button.
• Red shredder/slicer tool plug.
• 0.8 litre capacity & 800 ml capacity without Maxi Disc added; 1.4 litres increase with maxi disc for liquids only.
• 2.5 kg full weight and 300 watts.
• Safety Interlock with thick acrylic lid and handled jug.
• Price £29-99 but on average £20 to £35 (second hand prices also common around this figure.)
Design
The design of the Kenwood FP110 is very simple but efficient and I find the whole design quite nice looking even if it is basic white plastic which adorns the body. The numbers for the speeds are clearly marked and the controls move nicely without looking overly cheap - a consideration given the price.
Kenwood make three different models which is why there are three model numbers – the FP101 has a slider bar, my FP110 has the same slider bar to control the speeds and additional push down button for pulsing. The FP116 however is a waste of money in my eyes as it is the same as my white model in terms of spec other than the fact the chrome/silver paint heralds a bigger price just for the finish. For the chrome version for example you’ll spend around £10 more but on all three models there is also cord wind hooks fitted behind the main front fascia which is a boon as the 3 metre cord can be too long in use if the machine is near a plug socket. Four rubber sucker plugs complement the Kenwood and ensure the model sticks to a flat level surface permanently which banishes older models moving across work surfaces when the highest speed or bulky food is being processed.
Attachments
The juice attachment has a catch already fitted on which means it’s the only attachment that can be used without the lid in place - but as with the rest of the attachments on the Kenwood, it is easy and incredibly safe to use for the fact that it has a safety lock built in that only activates once it is locked in place. A spindle fits inside the juicer vent which spins around at high speed and its here that you place halves of limes, oranges or lemons to be juiced. The only downside to the juicer is that you have to keep your hand on the cut lemon/lime or orange at the time as the spindle ferociously tears away the lining of the fruit selected. You'll get a ferocious vibration on the back of your hand at the time of use and unless you have a plastic cup before hand over the desired fruit, the moment you take your hand away, the moment the fruit can fly off. It is not an attachment for the most sensitive of people, but the finished result is filtered citrus juice handy for baking or simple consumption, helped by the vented sieve which catches all the pith and seeds.The trick with this cheaper machine is that both the slicer plates and shredder plates fit into a universal carrier - similar in look to the whisk attachment which is a flat rounded attachment with 4 holes either side to allow air into whatever mixture you wish to whisk - please note it's not a balloon whisk. My mum's bigger Kenwood food processor has complete discs but these are difficult to store - at least the plates on this model are a great deal smaller and therefore much easier to hide away.
All slicer & shredder plates are easily changeable which snap fit into the universal carrier when you need to use the machine. However there is a red catch which must be fixed to the bottom of the universal spindle before any food is placed in the blender jug - otherwise the blades will stop working half way, food prep gets wasted and the lack of the red catch locked at the bottom of the slicer/shredder plates can also burn out the motor.
Despite some flaws with the attachments, what I've always loved about Kenwood is the safety aspect - if the top lid isn't locked in properly heard by the audible click, the machine can't be used.
What the Kenwood Can Do
Well to start with it is great at shredding cheddar cheese, partially because Kenwood haven't been stingy with the power ratio of the speed - the machine is quite quick at shredding cheese compared to my larger, bulkier and dated Morphy Richards model. Like many food processor systems however, the last bit of cheese does tend to get stuck and ends up flying around the lid of the bowl instead of being shredded. All the more for me though!!
For general vegetables such as carrots and greens the steel blade must be used and it only takes a few pushes on the manual controlled pulse button to zap anything you want rather than use the slider control which slices too quickly compared to short bursts of manual dexterity. For example after a couple of seconds you'll get perfectly diced onions without tears but leave it longer than 10 seconds or more and you get mush! Chopping nuts isn’t a problem for the FP110 either. It manages to chop generally all food items very well, but it is a pity that it cannot for example grind coffee beans, which would surely be of benefit for anyone looking for an all-rounder. Thanks to the simplicity of its design it is so easy just to whip out the blade via the pick up design at the top whilst the shredder/slicer plates are easy to push out or push in and lock when in use.
Maxi Disc - What is It?
Whilst the blade works really well and the similar slicer and shredder plate, the biggest surprise has been the Maxi disc. You get a full paper user manual which shows you in diagrams and good English what each part is supposed to do, but even I at the time was initially confused as to what the Maxi disc actually does. Looking like a part for a cyclonic vacuum cleaner it is a simple round lid with a middle hole which has been raised. This is the collar which fits over the blade at the time in use. The maxi disc is however aptly named - for blending liquids such as soups or sauces, the Maxi disc when placed over the blade and then with the top lid and feeder tube placed over and locked into place will double the volume of liquid in the jug! Now this is a neat idea and gives more versatility to a machine which doesn't look like it can cope - but it does so very well! It can only be used with the steel blade however.
Quality & Ease of Cleaning
The bowl/blender jug itself is of good quality plastic/PVC Acrylic which is dish washer safe - In fact everything seems to be dishwasher safe according to the manual and I've had no problems so far in the four years I've had the FP 110. Although the plastic jug is a good thick quality item, the body of the machine can be wiped clean and with it being white, it still holds a good gleam. My friend went and bought the chrome version and constantly moans that it gets finger marked easily, so let that be a warning for you if you like your machines to look clean in the kitchen.
Space And Measurements
Given that the FP100 series is the smallest food processor in Kenwood's range the measurements for this model are 32cm (length), 16cm width and height of 26cm.
It is also fairly lightweight without coming across too heavy. What does the size equate to? An average budget cool wall 2 slice toaster. As for power, the Kenwood FP110 has a 300 watt motor, same as the more current Kenwood CH180 kitchen chopper, so whilst it isn't the most powerful, it is eco-friendly.
Downsides
Generally if there is one aspect which is annoying (aside from the red catch which can be lost over time for the spindle to the shredder/slicer plates) is noise from the motor. Whilst the pulse is great in short blasts, the continual noise of the food processor in speed 1 (the only continuous speed) gets really obtrusive at times, but in its defence the Kenwood can be left on its own at the other side of the kitchen whilst you do other food prep tasks. It doesn't however stop working if you have it on for more than an hour although it does have a thermal cut out facility and the product is BEAB approved for safety in mind.
If you don't have a dishwasher then washing everything by hand is just as good - although it’s best to leave the top lid and jug just to soak in the sink instead of applying more manual hand power! The blades and shredder/slicer plates are stainless steel made so washing these down take a matter of seconds.
Another downside is the whisk attachment. Since this is a budget machine it does without Kenwood’s better geared mix tool. Here the flat tool has holes to allow air into mixes, but it fails on whisking cream or any milk added recipes. It can however whisk eggs very well, but that’s about it. For general whisking the steel blade is so much better in this respect.
FInal Thoughts
So far I have found that the FP110 by Kenwood is ideal for me and it could be a good buy for couples who do a little bit of baking but need a machine to cope with shredding vegetables etc for salads and similar recipes rather than mixing up dough or cake mix due to its smaller capacity. It's ideal for slicing vegetables, including hard raw vegetables such as carrots and potatoes and as such it is a general good all rounder offering a bit more capacity than their more recent Kitchen Chopper, pushed by Delia Smith. Obviously if you have a more demanding palate as well as adore baking, this machine could well be too small by its very capacity, but for the odd shredding or slicing, this is a much better machine to consider than Kenwood's smaller kitchen chopper, and is the natural step up from that machine. The FP100 range is generally the "micro/mini" food processors and it is good to see after all this time, Kenwood have continued with this tradition. Thanks for reading! ©Nar2 2011
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Kenwood's Compact Kitchen Wonder! 
