KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review

The KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor is impressively easy to use. With features like a twist-free bowl and accessory storage caddy, this large-capacity machine saves you time, as well as storage space. While it is a higher-cost machine, it is versatile and capable of easily handling larger food preparation tasks, so it will be an excellent addition to many kitchens. 

Its large capacity doesn’t make it ideal for smaller jobs, as you will see in our KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review. However, it’s overall design and performance easily ranks it amongst our best food processors. 

KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review: Price and availability

The KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor is available from Bed Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel for $199. It’s backed by a one-year limited warranty and is available in silver, white, onyx black, red and matte black. Take a look at our KitchenAid promo codes for ways to lower the cost.  

KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review: Design

The KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor is a larger machine that takes up significant counter space. Measuring 8.7 x 8.75 x 17.44 inches, its tall design wont fit underneath most overhanging cupboards, so you should consider its placement before you buy. It weighs 9.7 pounds, so it’s easy to move if you want to store it when not in use. In comparison to other models, like the Magimix Food Processor 14 Cup, which weighs 17 pounds, this 9.7-pound weight is light and makes the machine easier to pick up and move. 

This food processor comes with a multi-purpose blade, adjustable slicing disc, reversible shredding disc, and dough blade. Those accessories all fit neatly and compactly into the included storage caddy, and that caddy sits within the bowl for a space-saving storage solution.

One key design element is the hinged removable locking lid. Rather than having to twist the lid on and off of the bowl, as you do with a traditional food processor, the lid simply locks on and flips open when unlocked, for added convenience. This design keeps the lid and bowl together as one part, but you can remove the lid for cleaning. It’s paired with the Snap and Go bowl that you simply place down onto the base; there’s no twisting required. 

This machine features three large buttons that are easy to use. They have a nice, secure feel to them, and even if your hands are greasy or wet, they’re large enough to still be easy to operate. The buttons feature pulse, low, high, and off controls, so you’re able to change the machine’s intensity without dealing with complicated settings. 

The food processor has a sleek overall appearance. It features a modern style with some unique design elements, like the lid, and if you do leave it on display, it will look right at home in a modern kitchen.This model is also available in four color options, so it’s easy to color coordinate with your existing kitchen appliances. 

KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review: Performance

The KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor features a 500-watt motor, so it never felt short on power during our tests. It reached 82.3 dBA, making it a quieter model and pleasant to use. The quietest model we tested, the Cuisinart 14 Cup Custom Food Processor, reached just 65.2 dBA, while the loudest model, the Hamilton Beach Bowl Scraper 10 Cup, reached 93.9 dBA. 

The food processor’s performance varied from test to test. It easily chopped an onion in three seconds. The chop was consistent, and the resulting pieces were small. 

When it came to slicing, we had to pre-cut the carrot and the russet potato. The food processor has an auto-off feature that prevents the machine from operating unless the chute depressor is inserted. We had to cut a carrot to allow for that feature, and had to pre-cut the potato to get it to fit into the chute. The chute does have a three-chamber design that’s convenient, but this auto-off feature means you may have to pre-cut ingredients.

Slicing the carrot resulted in some inconsistencies. Some pieces were trapped on top of the disc, while some were cut sideways after bouncing on the disc, so slicing thickness and size varied. 

The russet potato was much better, slicing in seven seconds and resulting in consistent pieces. The machine sliced quickly and didn’t seem to struggle with the potato or carrot.

When grating cheese, we got a consistent grate but ran into an issue. While the ⅓-pound block of cheese easily fitted into the chute, some of the cheese built-up in the lid and chute during the grating process. 

We let the food processor run for 20 seconds to clear the backlog and complete the test, which was significantly longer than what other machines required. The grated cheese was consistent, but we had to work to remove the excess cheese from the lid and chute when we cleaned up.

The machine’s large capacity proved to be a problem when pureeing hummus. The bowl is so large that the hummus repeatedly spread out thinly within the bowl, making it difficult for the blade to thoroughly puree the mixture. As a result, we never got a truly smooth consistency.

The same issue occurred with the cookie dough. The machine repeatedly pushed the ingredients to the edges of the bowl, which made for inconsistent blending. 

The machine ultimately did blend the bowl, but we had to spend lots of time scraping the bowl edges. Larger batches of dough might yield better results.

KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review: Ease of use and cleaning

This food processor was very easy to use. The fact that the lid locks onto the bowl without any need to screw it on or off saves valuable time, especially when preparing recipes like cookie dough where you need to repeatedly open and close the lid. The ability to drop the bowl down onto the base and not worry about rotating it to lock it also saves time and makes the machine user-friendly. 

The adjustable slicing disc further contributed to the machine’s ease of use. Adjusting the disc is as simple as turning the plastic setting on the underside, which you can do in seconds. It’s simple and user-friendly. 

The attachments are easy to use, as well. The blades fit over and lock onto the shaft with ease, and the slicing and grating discs fit easily onto the removable spindle. The included storage caddy keeps all of the accessories well-organized and compact, and that easily fits within the bowl, so the accessories stay clean. 

Cleaning the machine was easy. You can detach the lid from the bowl and clean it as a separate part. The accessories are also easy to handle and clean, and the base is easy to wipe down. The parts and attachments are dishwasher safe, and a cord wrap helps to keep the base neat and tidy.

KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor review: Verdict

The KitchenAid 13 Cup Food Processor has some innovative features that make it easy to use. The lid lock feature is particularly helpful if you often need to open the lid to add ingredients. The adjustable slicing blade also lets you customize the machine’s slicing performance for precise results. 

While we did experience some performance issues in our tests, most of those related to the large capacity of the bowl. Although we wouldn’t recommend this food processor for smaller recipes like hummus, it’s a good option for larger food preparation jobs. 

This is a larger, taller machine than most, so it’s best for large kitchens with plenty of storage, especially keeping in mind that it won’t fit under most cupboards. At the same time, the ability to store the accessories inside the bowl when not in use saves space and is a helpful feature. This machine’s capacity is very similar to the 14-cup capacity of our top pick, the Magimix Food Processor 14 Cup, but the Magimix includes multiple bowl sizes, making it more suitable for smaller food preparation tasks than the KitchenAid is. The KitchenAid model is easy to use and significantly lighter than the Magimix’s 17-pound weight, so it remains a solid choice for anyone looking for a larger capacity machine that’s easy to pick up and store. 

If you’re looking for a food processor for plenty of large capacity tasks, this might be the model for you. If you’re looking for a smaller, more compact machine, consider the Cuisinart Elemental 8 Cup Food Processor, which features a quiet operation, a design that’s easy and intuitive to use, and which handled both large and small tasks well, like mixing cookie dough and pureeing hummus.