This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
It's spinning too fast!
When you need to grate or slice vegetables, you generally use an electric machine that does all the work: a food processor, a mixer with a "slicer" extension or similar.
Are these machines really suitable? Generally speaking, yes of course, but there's one criterion that often poses a problem, and that's speed.
Are these machines really suitable? Generally speaking, yes of course, but there's one criterion that often poses a problem, and that's speed.
11 K 5/5 (2 reviews)
Keywords for this post:EquipmentGratingBeatingKneadingSpeedRotationLast modified on: November 12th 2023
It's spinning too fast!
It happens very, very often in the kitchen, when you need to grate, julienne or slice vegetables for one of your recipes.
You wash them, peel them, and then run them through one of your machines using the right disc or grater.
We all do this, and it's only natural, after all: it's super-fast, super-convenient and relatively efficient.
Many of us use what in France is called a "robot-coupe", or equivalent, a food processor with a simple electric motor and cutting discs of various sizes.
Granted, it works very fast - it takes 2 or 3 seconds to grate a carrot, for example - but it has an annoying tendency to sometimes rough up the vegetables, and to make carrot purée and juice at the same time as it grates - you'll find a bit of this at the bottom of the machine's bowl. This is even more pronounced with tender vegetables such as zucchinis or cucumbers.
This isn't too bad for a simple carrot salad, you may say, but you have to admit that what is grated with this tool is necessarily in very, very small, very fine pieces, and sometimes this isn't great for the recipe and its texture.
The problem is that the food processor runs too fast, much too fast for this job, and therefore produces this "purée" effect, which is a bit painful.
It's almost impossible to reduce the speed of the machine (I've tried using a variable speed drive on mine), it starts to work badly, so what can you do?
Well, you "still" have to buy a new electric machine, which takes up a lot of space, but it's a good option.
To sum up: conventional food processors run too fast when cutting or grating vegetables, and are far less efficient than a dedicated vegetable grater that "spins" much more slowly, or even better, a simple and economical hand grater.
You wash them, peel them, and then run them through one of your machines using the right disc or grater.
We all do this, and it's only natural, after all: it's super-fast, super-convenient and relatively efficient.
Many of us use what in France is called a "robot-coupe", or equivalent, a food processor with a simple electric motor and cutting discs of various sizes.
Granted, it works very fast - it takes 2 or 3 seconds to grate a carrot, for example - but it has an annoying tendency to sometimes rough up the vegetables, and to make carrot purée and juice at the same time as it grates - you'll find a bit of this at the bottom of the machine's bowl. This is even more pronounced with tender vegetables such as zucchinis or cucumbers.
This isn't too bad for a simple carrot salad, you may say, but you have to admit that what is grated with this tool is necessarily in very, very small, very fine pieces, and sometimes this isn't great for the recipe and its texture.
The problem is that the food processor runs too fast, much too fast for this job, and therefore produces this "purée" effect, which is a bit painful.
It's almost impossible to reduce the speed of the machine (I've tried using a variable speed drive on mine), it starts to work badly, so what can you do?
The alternatives
Well, you "still" have to buy a new electric machine, which takes up a lot of space, but it's a good option.
To sum up: conventional food processors run too fast when cutting or grating vegetables, and are far less efficient than a dedicated vegetable grater that "spins" much more slowly, or even better, a simple and economical hand grater.
Lasts posts
Butter vs. grease
We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?December 1st 20258675
Getting out of the fridge early
Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?November 24th 20251,0415
Who's making the croissants?
When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...November 23th 2025937
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20252,5855
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20257,4393
Other pages you may also like
Wipe meats and fish before cooking
When you want to cook meat or fish, there's a very simple yet very important step to take before you even start: It's to dry, or wipe, each side of the meat or fish, sometimes called "dabbing" or "sponging". But why? And how? Let me explain.April 14th 20248,9434.5
The little trap of thick cream
When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...December 13th 20247,3925
Should I believe my oven?
Can you really trust your oven? This is an important question as we are always tempted to take the temperature indicated as gospel truth and, unfortunately, this is rarely very precise. .July 4th 201133 K4.6
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021147 K4.5
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .February 7th 2017134 K 14.1
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.