Hamilton Beach Professional 14-Cup Review

The Hamilton Beach Professional is a large, expensive model that didn't quite stack up to the rest of the competition. It only scored above average in our slicing and shredding tests, making it almost impossible to recommend. This model has a decently high list price, especially compared to models that scored significantly better, in some cases getting beat out by models that cost around $150 less.

Chopping

The Hamilton Beach Professional received the lowest score for this set of tests. This model took the longest to cease spinning, continuing long after the button was released. It also appeared that there was a decent amount of ramp-up time before the blade hit its top speed when the motor was turned on. This model also created the worst chopped almonds, leaving tons of whole almonds, and pulverizing the majority of them when it was run long enough to start resembling the other models, close to 32 pulses.

The Hamilton Beach Pro also did a subpar job at chopping carrots, receiving the second-lowest score. This model had a really large chop and seemed to produce two distinct sizes. This chop also looked a little more mushy and watery than the cleaner chopped carrots produced by the better models.

This food processor performed slightly better when it came to onions, creating a uniform chop that was comparable to the Braun or the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup.

Mixing

This model didn't do terribly well at mixing. It did the worst of our tested food processors at making mayonnaise, requiring one to make a massive amount of mayonnaise to actually mix it. The blades were so high up in the bowl that it took almost half a cup of liquid to be added before mixing even began.

When mixing pie crust dough, the machine shook violently and ejected a decent amount of flour from the bowl. This model took almost four times the number of pulses of the other models, and the dough was barely acceptable at that point.

This food processor did roughly the same when making pizza dough, shaking around and sounding like the motor was definitely struggling.

Pureeing

This model made decently good hummus, ranking the same as the Breville and just behind the Cuisinart Elite and the Cuisinart Elemental. Performance dropped when it came to making tomato sauce, producing a product that was a little on the chunky side, on par with the Black+Decker.

The Hamilton Beach Professional's score continued to drop when it came to nut butter and applesauce. This model produced acceptable nut butter after about 25 minutes (about 10-15 minutes longer than other models) and required a little human intervention with a spatula right at the start. The applesauce also took about 45 seconds longer than other models and left behind a decent number of chunks compared to other models.

This model redeemed itself in our leak test, tying for the highest score of the group. The bowl took about eight cups of water to reach the maximum fill line, and there was absolutely zero leakage.

Shredding

The Hamilton Beach Professional did a much better job at shredding than pureeing or mixing. It tied with one of our top machines, the Breville Sous Chef, for producing the best-shredded carrots, creating dry, crisp shreds that would be ideal for a salad. In addition to producing high-quality shreds, the Hamilton Beach was also very efficient, only leaving behind two small slices above the shredding disc.

Unfortunately, performance severely dropped when it came to shredding cheese and potatoes. The cheese shreds were pretty small and sickly looking, and a few big chunks managed to sneak past the shredding blade. The shredded potatoes were also stringy, and two substantial chunks were left behind. The shredding disc for this model also lacks any adjustments, forcing you to make medium-sized shreds.

Slicing

The Hamilton Beach Professional did an exemplary job at slicing tomatoes and followed that up with a second-tier performance at slicing potatoes and zucchini. The tomato slices were even and consistent, lacking any taper. This machine was also the easiest to use, producing the best slices on our practice run through the machines — when we were the most inexperienced using them. The zucchini and potato slices were awesome as well, though both had a somewhat rougher cut edge, knocking them down to second-tier quality. The slices still were consistent and lacked taper.

The disc on this model is adjustable, with an arbitrary scale ranging from 1-15. It was unclear whether this corresponded to a standard unit, though.

Cleaning

The final cleanup and dishes are one of the most unpleasant parts of using a food processor, and the Hamilton Beach Professional did nothing to alleviate that. This model scored poorly in our cleaning assessment.

The bowl, lid, blades, and disc are all noted as being dishwasher safe. We did find some significant shortcomings when cleaning this model manually. The blade is much shorter on this model, making it difficult to keep your fingers away from the blades when washing. We learned this the hard way.

The bowl and lid both had some raised plastic details that would ensnare food, proving very frustrating and difficult to clean.

Value

We found this Hamilton Beach processor to be exceptionally expensive relative to its performance — essentially the opposite of a value pick.

Conclusion