KitchenAid Pro Line 16-Cup Review

The KitchenAid Pro Line is a large, expensive food processor. Unfortunately, its performance didn't match its price, and though it scored okay, it didn't take home any awards. We thought this model might take home the top score for mixing, as KitchenAid is known for making stand mixers and we thought that the experience would carry over, but this model was beaten by a handful of other models in that metric.

Chopping

This model delivered a solid performance in our set of chopping tests, tying for the runner-up position with the Braun and the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup (all ranking just behind the Breville Sous Chef).

The KitchenAid stops immediately when the blade is released, affording you a nice amount of control over the machine. It also produced very nice chopped onions, which were very uniform and of proper size, with only a few larger chunks in the mix.

Quality dropped a little when chopping carrots. They were a little too mushy, and left behind a handful of larger pieces that prevented this model from getting a higher score.

This food processor was about average at chopping almonds, requiring around 16 pulses to reach a level comparable with the top scorers. Unfortunately, this created a lot of pulverized almond dust in the process.

Mixing

The KitchenAid Pro Line did a little above average in the mixing category, mainly boosted by its superior mayo mixing performance.

While the motor didn't give signs of struggle, this model did abysmally at mixing pizza dough. This was the only machine that required human intervention to scrape down the bowl to successfully incorporate the dry and wet ingredients, eventually forcing us to give up and finish the dough by hand. Needless to say, this model received the worst pizza dough score.

It did much better when mixing mayo with our 1-Cup recipe, producing an acceptable finished product without too much difficulty.

Performance dropped back down for the pie crust dough test, tying for the lowest score of the group with the KitchenAid 9-Cup and the Hamilton Beach Professional. The pie crust was wet when we rolled it out, due to uneven mixing and failing to incorporate all of the necessary flour.

Pureeing

This model produced great applesauce and nut butter, tying for the best applesauce and the second-best nut butter. It took about 14 minutes to create acceptable nut butter, only requiring a single scrape with a spatula right in the beginning. The applesauce was created in about 15 seconds and was a perfect consistency. This model had zero leaks, with the water well above the seal when the machine was turned on.

Quality dropped a little when pureeing tomato sauce, producing an average result that was a little chunkier and took longer. The hummus was a little better, scoring above average.

Shredding

This is the only category where this model really fell short. The shredded cheese produced by this machine was thin and flimsy, with much larger cheese crumbles than the other KitchenAid model. The feed tube just barely fit the 2 lb block of cheese without trimming. It did about the same quality when shredding carrots, producing very wet and grainy shreds that wouldn't have been ideal on a salad.

The quality dropped even further when shredding potatoes, producing some awful, inconsistent shreds. The sizes of the shreds were all over the place, worse than the Black+Decker.

We found these shredded potatoes to be very inconsistent compared to other models.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

We also found the shredded carrots to be subpar.   Credit: Jenna Ammerman

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There was a fine and medium shred setting on the disc, which was the only part of this metric where we appreciated this model.

Slicing

This model did an excellent job slicing tomatoes, zucchini, and potatoes, and it has a great adjustable slicing disc.

This model fit our largest tomato in the feed tube, though it was a tight fit. The tomato slices were even and consistent, with little taper. The sliced potatoes were slightly more tapered than the tomatoes or zucchini slices but were still very, very high-quality.

The zucchini slices were also very good, but not quite as high-quality as the zucchini slices produced by the other KitchenAid model.

Cleaning

The bowl, blade, lids, and discs are all dishwasher safe, with the diagram appearing to show that the top shelf in the dishwasher is the most suitable. The blade is on the longer side, making it very easy to wash without getting cut. The bowl and lid were a little harder, but there were no particularly problematic spots that would capture food scraps, except for one or two spots on the largest lid piece.

Value

This model is a pretty terrible value, scoring in the middle of the pack but possessing an exorbitant list price.

Conclusion