A cooking food processor makes sense if you regularly prepare meals that involve processing ingredients before cooking them, and you have somewhere practical to keep the bowl and accessories. If you already have a suitable cooking appliance, consider a food processor instead. If reheating and cooking are your main priorities, look at a combination oven, but don’t expect it to chop or knead. If you often make dough and bake, it’s also worth considering a cooking food processor with a baking function and checking what comes in the box.
You’d like to prepare and cook food using a single appliance. Before giving it a permanent spot, remember to allow room for the bowl, lid and accessories too. Que Choisir recommends considering how much space a cooking food processor takes up when choosing one.
If you cook for several people or prepare meals in advance, compare the bowl’s usable capacity with your usual portions. Then check whether the appliance and its accessories are easy to set up in your kitchen.
If you knead and whisk more often than you cook meals in a bowl, a cooking food processor with a baking function is worth considering. However, Kenwood says that some of the Cooking Chef’s multifunction features may require optional accessories.
In a small kitchen, start by thinking about the jobs you need the appliance to do. Then check how much space it needs when in use and when stored away.
| What to consider | What to check | Who is this for? |
|---|---|---|
| Space it takes up | Measure the appliance with its bowl and lid in place, and decide where you’ll store the accessories. | When every bit of worktop space matters, I want to know whether one appliance will genuinely replace the others I keep elsewhere. Around 36% of consumers put available space first. |
| Preparation and cooking | Identify the tasks involved in making your usual meals and check which accessories are included to carry them out with the same appliance. | If my meals involve chopping or mixing ingredients before cooking, I want to do both without using several appliances. Around 29% of consumers prioritise this combination of preparation and cooking. |
| Capacity and baking | Compare the usable capacity with the portions you prepare, and check whether kneading or whisking accessories are included. | If I cook in larger quantities or regularly work with dough, I wouldn’t choose based on the bowl’s apparent size alone. Around 21% of consumers prioritise capacity or dough preparation. |
| Cooking and reheating | If these are your main needs, compare a combination oven, but don’t expect it to prepare ingredients for you. | If I do little ingredient preparation but regularly cook and reheat food, an oven’s features matter more to me. Cooking and reheating come first for around 14% of consumers. |
A feature listed in the specifications doesn’t tell you which accessory you’ll need or where to store it. In its cooking food processor tests, Que Choisir looks separately at preparation, cooking and accessories.
Make a note of the tasks you do every week, then check the features and accessories included with the exact model you’re considering.
The bowl, lid and accessories can all affect how much space you need while using the appliance. Magimix, for example, publishes different dimensions for the bowls used with the Cook Expert XL.
Measure the space with the appliance set up and ready to use, and make room for the parts you remove from it.
Recipes offered with a food processor may depend on a separate service. Vorwerk describes Cookidoo as a subscription service for the Thermomix.
Check the terms for accessing recipes and what the appliance can do in manual mode without a subscription.
A combination oven is designed for cooking and reheating, but it won’t chop, mix or knead for you.
If preparing ingredients is still essential, consider the oven as a separate cooking appliance, and add a food processor if you need one.
According to Vorwerk, the Thermomix TM7 combines food preparation, cooking and guided recipes.
The Companion range combines food preparation and cooking features, which vary by model and bundle.
The Cook Expert XL is designed in part for preparing larger quantities, provided you have enough room for it.
The Cooking Chef is a cooking food processor with a baking function to consider if kneading and whisking are your priorities.
These models show two cooking food processor options that combine food preparation and cooking, followed by a combination oven to consider if cooking and reheating are your main priorities.
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Worth considering if you want to prepare and cook food with one appliance, with the added convenience of built-in scales and a large touchscreen.
Check how much space it needs with the bowl and accessories in place. Also confirm how many recipes are included before making this a deciding factor.
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Worth comparing if you want to prepare and cook meals with one appliance, and the touchscreen and listed recipes suit the way you cook.
Before choosing, check the usable capacity for your portions, how much space it takes up in use and the cleaning instructions for the accessories.
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Worth considering if cooking and reheating are your main needs, rather than preparing ingredients.
The stated capacity in the product name is 42 L. Check the space available and the clearance needed for installation. This oven won’t replace a food processor’s chopping or kneading functions.
No. Guided recipes aren’t essential for using a cooking food processor, as Que Choisir points out. However, check how easy the manual mode is to use on the model you’re considering, and look at the terms for accessing any recipes you’re interested in.
Find out which recipes and features remain available without a subscription. For the Thermomix, Vorwerk offers Cookidoo as a separate service. Check the trial, access and renewal terms before relying on its recipes.
Compare the usable capacity with your usual portions, then measure the space needed to use and store the appliance. Manufacturers don’t always use the same terms: Vorwerk lists a maximum capacity of 2.2 L for the Thermomix TM7, Moulinex a 4.5 L bowl for the Companion Pro, and Magimix a usable capacity of 3.8 L for the Cook Expert XL.
Yes, when a business sells the appliance to an individual in France. The Ministry of the Economy explains that this mandatory guarantee applies to new, second-hand and refurbished goods. Keep the product description and proof of purchase in case the appliance you receive doesn’t match what was advertised.