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Hamilton Beach 10-Cup Review

For those trying to save some dough, this inexpensive model will get the job done, especially when it comes to pureeing and chopping
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Hamilton Beach 10-Cup Review (One of our favorite models for the price - the Hamilton Beach.)
One of our favorite models for the price - the Hamilton Beach.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Price:  $55 List
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Manufacturer:   Hamilton Beach
By David Wise and Austin Palmer  ⋅  Jun 27, 2024
64
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#7 of 10
  • Chopping - 20% 7.0
  • Mixing - 20% 5.0
  • Pureeing - 20% 9.0
  • Shredding - 15% 6.0
  • Slicing - 15% 5.0
  • Cleaning - 10% 5.0

Our Verdict

The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup impressed us with its performance, considering its low retail price. It ranked decently in nearly all of our rating metrics, performing especially well in our pureeing and chopping tests, though it wasn't the best model for mixing. If you're on a tight budget, this is one of the best options. To see how it measures up to the other models we tested, check out our best food processor review.
REASONS TO BUY
Great at pureeing
Good at chopping
Inexpensive
REASONS TO AVOID
Leaky
Not the best at mixing
Loud

Compare to Similar Products

 
Awards Best Buy Award
Best on a Tight Budget
Editors' Choice Award
Best Overall Food Processor
Best Buy Award
Best Bang for the Buck
Best Buy Award
A Compact Bargain Option
 
Price $55 List
$54.99 at Amazon
$500 List
$499.95 at Amazon
$250 List
$237.07 at Amazon
$120 List
$99.99 at Amazon
$40 List
$39.99 at Amazon
Overall Score Sort Icon
64
83
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64
46
Star Rating
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Bottom Line It won't slice down the competition but will chop up its price tagChops up the competition in every metric, but at a high priceBest overall performing model for the priceDelivering excellent performances in the majority of our tests, we think this is a great kitchen appliance for anyone shopping for quality on a limited budgetThis is the cheapest, lowest-performing food processor in our fleet
Rating Categories Hamilton Beach 10-Cup Breville Sous Chef... Cuisinart Custom 14 Ninja Professional Black+Decker 8-Cup
Chopping (20%)
7.0
9.0
6.0
6.0
5.0
Mixing (20%)
5.0
9.0
6.0
6.0
6.0
Pureeing (20%)
9.0
8.0
8.0
7.0
4.0
Shredding (15%)
6.0
8.0
6.0
7.0
3.0
Slicing (15%)
5.0
7.0
7.0
7.0
4.0
Cleaning (10%)
5.0
8.0
6.0
5.0
5.0
Specs Hamilton Beach 10-Cup Breville Sous Chef... Cuisinart Custom 14 Ninja Professional Black+Decker 8-Cup
Largest Bowl Size 10 cup 16 cup 14 cup 9 cup 8 cup
Time to Make Nut Butter 10 min 10 min 19 min 7 min 25 min
Motor 450 Watt 1200 Watt 720 Watt 850 Watt 450 Watt
Decibels at 3 ft 96 dB 67.5 dB 61.5 dB 80 dB 95 dB
Accessory Storage Case No Yes No No No
Measured Weight of Base 3.1 lb 15.5 lb 12.4 lb 4.5 lb 3.1 lb
Dimensions 8.5" L x 10.5" W x 15.5" D 18" L x 8" W x 11" D 10.75" L x W: 7.75" W x 15" D 7.3" L x 9.9" W x 15.6" D 10.7" L x 7.5" W x 15.3" D
Speed Control High/Low/Pulse/Off On/Off/Pulse On/Off/Pulse Chop/Puree/Dough/Disc/Low/High/Pulse On/Off/Pulse
BPA Free Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Mini Bowl Blade N/A Yes Yes N/A N/A
Feet Suction Cups Smooth Rubber (Non-Skid) Smooth Rubber Suction Cups Suction Cups
Cord Storage Internal Internal None External Cord Wrap Underside Cord Wrap
Slicing Disc Non adjustable Adjustable to 8mm Non adjustable Non adjustable Non adjustable
Shredding Disc Medium Fine and Medium Medium Non adjustable Medium
Dough Blade No Yes No Yes No
Whipping Attatchment No Yes No No No
Citrus Juicer No No No No No
Dicing Kit No No No No No
Built-in Bowl Scraper Yes No No No No
French Fry Disc No Yes No No No
Julienne Disc No Yes No No No
Model # 70730 BFP800CBXL DFP-14BCNY BN600/BN601 FP1600B

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup is an affordable option if you need to outfit your kitchen with a basic, decent-performing food processor.

Performance Comparison


hamilton beach 10-cup - the hamilton beach is one of the best food processors if you are on...
The Hamilton Beach is one of the best food processors if you are on a budget.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Chopping


The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup did very well in our chopping metric, earning a high score for its solid performance at chopping onions, carrots, and almonds. It performed on par with some of our higher scoring models, which is notable.


In addition to the food chopping tests, we timed how long the blade would remain spinning when the “Pulse” button was released to see how much control you had over the amount of chopping. This model earned extra points by stopping immediately. The Hamilton Beach did an alright job chopping onions.

hamilton beach 10-cup - these  onions weren't quite as consistent as we would have hoped.
These onions weren't quite as consistent as we would have hoped.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

It did an excellent job chopping carrots, creating a uniform mixture of carrots with only a few larger pieces remaining. This model did average chopping almonds, requiring about ten more pulses than the top model to get a workable product. Unfortunately, it pulverized a decent amount of almonds into almond dust.

Mixing


This model didn't do the best in our mixing metric. We mixed up a batch of pizza dough, pie crust dough, and mayonnaise in this food processor and compared the results to its peers to come up with scores.


Despite lacking a dough blade, it quickly mixed the pizza dough, but the motor sounded like it was having a tough time mixing. It did a little worse with the pie crust dough, shaking violently while mixing and shooting flour out of the top. There was also a copious amount of flour that would become stuck on the lip of the lid, creating a huge mess when the lid was removed. However, this machine still made acceptable pie crust dough despite its shortcomings. Unfortunately, it leaked everywhere when we tried to make mayonnaise, severely dropping its score.

Pureeing


The Hamilton Beach earns a high score for its superior pureeing performance, tying for one of the top scores. We made hummus, tomato sauce, nut butter, and applesauce in each machine and had a panel compare the quality of the final product. We also conducted a leak test to see if water leaked when we filled the food processor to the maximum fill line and the motor engaged.


This leak test did not go well for this model, as it leaked water everywhere.

hamilton beach 10-cup - when filled to the maximum fill line with water, the hamilton beach...
When filled to the maximum fill line with water, the Hamilton Beach leaked profusely.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

In direct contrast to that terrible performance, the Hamilton Beach made some of the best hummus of any food processor we tested, with a unanimous decision by our panel of tasters. It also made excellent nut butter, on par with the Breville, though the top wobbled like crazy while it was grinding. This food processor continued its stellar performance in our tomato sauce test, creating the ideal consistency sauce after 30 seconds of pureeing, the exact amount called for in the recipe. It also made decent applesauce.

Shredding


Our shredding test consisted of grading the quality of shredded cheese, potatoes, and carrots produced by each machine and comparing the level of shredding adjustability present on the blade of each machine.


We needed to trim our peeled potatoes to fit in the feed tube, but the quality of the shredded potatoes was very high. Two smaller chunks became trapped above the blade, dropping this model's score slightly.

hamilton beach 10-cup - the shredded potatoes were very uniform, perfect for hashbrowns.
The shredded potatoes were very uniform, perfect for hashbrowns.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The shredded carrots were a little on the wet side, not nearly as crisp as the Cuisinart Custom 14, but the shred size was decently even. Once again, two small pieces remained un-shredded.

hamilton beach 10-cup - these carrots were a little to wet to be desirable for a salad...
These carrots were a little to wet to be desirable for a salad, though the size was constant.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The two-pound block of cheese did require trimming to fit in the feed tube, but the shredded cheese produced was slightly above average, with nice-looking cheese strands and a good cheese strand to crumble ratio. This model only had a medium shred setting.

hamilton beach 10-cup - the combination slicing and shredding blade, set up to test.
The combination slicing and shredding blade, set up to test.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Slicing


We sliced potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini to determine scores for this metric, looking for slices of even thickness and a consistent performance by each machine.


There is no way to adjust slice thickness with this device, so you get what you get. Unfortunately, it basically destroyed our tomatoes rather than slicing them. The entire inside of the tomato was flung against the bowl, leaving only a shell behind. We had to cut the tomatoes to fit them into the feed tube, and it appeared this severely impacted slice quality.

The Hamilton Beach partially destroyed the tomatoes when slicing them.
The Hamilton Beach partially destroyed the tomatoes when slicing them.
The results of our zucchini slicing test.
The results of our zucchini slicing test.

It sliced potatoes effectively, but the slices were a bit rough and had lots of taper. It did substantially better with zucchini, creating slices on par with the Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup, but the cuts weren't quite as clean as we would have liked.

hamilton beach 10-cup - the components of the hamilton beach drying after our cleaning test.
The components of the Hamilton Beach drying after our cleaning test.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Cleaning


The final aspect of our testing echoed that of actually cooking: dishes and cleanup. We rated these products on how much of a pain they were to clean after being used, something we had lots of experience with after all of the previous tests. The Hamilton Beach wasn't the easiest to clean, but it didn't give us much grief, either.


The bowl, blades, discs, and lid are all safe to clean in the dishwasher, though suitable for the top shelf only. The blade was in the middle in length, but it was much slipperier to hold with its smooth plastic finish. The bowl didn't have any problematic places to clean, but its small size made it a little harder than many other models. All in all, the lid wasn't too bad to clean, with only a tiny gap around the feed tube that would catch food.

hamilton beach 10-cup - the included accessories with the hamilton beach.
The included accessories with the Hamilton Beach.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Should You Buy the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup?


The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup is one of the best food processors in its price class. If you've got less than a hundred bucks to shell out for a food processor, we think this is your best bet. While it had some significant drawbacks, it should do a great job for most food prep tasks — just as long as it's not something that can leak out.

What Other Food Processors Should You Consider?


For the price, this model is hard to beat. However, you can get a slight upgrade at a reasonable price in the Ninja Professional Food Processor. If you own a Vitamix blender, you might love the idea of having an attachment that fits onto your current Vitamix motor, saving cabinet space. If you want the best food processor in the test, that's the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro. Though quite pricey, it excels in nearly every test metric and was our overall favorite model.

David Wise and Austin Palmer