KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor, KFP1318, Contour Silver

Why it's worth it

The KitchenAid 13-Cup is the one we'd hand to most home cooks. It's big enough for a family batch of soup base, the feed tube swallows whole tomatoes and potatoes, and the bowl clicks on without the twist-and-swear routine older processors are known for.

Thirteen cups is the size most kitchens actually need. Good Housekeeping Institute testing found that processors under 8 cups turned out uneven hummus once a batch got past a cup of dried chickpeas, forcing you to run it again in halves. Thirteen cups clears that bar with room left over. You can shred a whole block of cheese, build a double batch of salsa, or prep vegetables for the week without stopping to empty the bowl.

The 3-in-1 feed tube cuts out most of the pre-cutting. KitchenAid sizes it for tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and the other awkward round things that usually need a knife first. That matters more than it sounds. Pre-cutting is the part of processor prep that eats your time and dirties a cutting board, and skipping it is the difference between grabbing the machine and deciding it isn't worth the trouble.

From our review of 6 food processors, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Thirteen cups is the size most kitchens actually need
• +The 3-in-1 feed tube cuts out most of the pre-cutting
• +You can change slice thickness without shutting it down
• +Setup and cleanup don't fight you

What to know

• –It's too tall to hide
• –KitchenAid doesn't publish a wattage for it