Peter-A's Full Review: Braun K 650 CombiMax 8.45 Cups Food Processor
My wonderful wife bought me a new food processor for Christmas, after my old Braun Multipractic UK11 finally broke after 15 years of regular us, when the central spindle suffered a spiral fracture, probably due to the torque of spinning bread dough, and the clear plastic bowl was starting to crack. We could probably have bought replacement parts, but likely for a similar price as a new machine.
She chose the Braun because we have been so pleased by our other Braun appliances.
The first thing I noticed about this new machine is the bowl design. Braun has installed a permanent sealed spindle into the bowl, so this bowl doesn’t leak when half-full, like the old machine did.
COMPONENTS
The bowl is made of clear plastic, so you can see the contents easily. The bowl has volume graduation marks up to 2 litres, though in my experience it works best when less-than half-full.
The basic cutting blade is not much different to my old one; it sits on the spindle in the bowl, and spins near the bottom of the bowl.
The shredding blade fits into a holder, and spins near the top of the bowl, allowing chopped food to fall into the bowl. There are three different blades for various chop sizes, easy to change.
Other components include a dough hook and a whipping blade, but I find that the standard blade works just fine for both functions.
The parts are easy to recognize, and I had no difficulty figuring out how they fit together.
OPERATION
I use a food processor as a mixer and blender as well as a chopping tool. I find that it mixes and chops everything well except dough.
This is an easy machine to operate. Pour the food into the chute in the bowl cover, using a plastic food-shover/measuring cup to keep it moving down the chute.
The controls are very simple – a speed dial from crawl to full spin, and an on-off dial. The latter has a pulse button, which is great if you need only a quick shred without pulverizing the food.
CLEANUP
Cleanup is always a concern for a food-processor, because there are at least 4 awkward-shaped components to clean – the bowl, the blade, the cover and the food-shover. But it is not that tough a job – perhaps a minute in the sink. Unless the food residue is sticky, the dishwasher works well too, but the weird shaped components take up a lot of space.
The new sealed spindle prevents liquid from leaking down onto the main body of the machine; a good design feature!
DURABILITY
The machine seems to be well designed and manufactured, and the components fit together snugly. Based upon our experience with other Braun appliances, we expect that the tough plastic components will last until the sun goes supernova.
SUMMARY
I am very pleased with this food processor. It was inexpensive, works really well, is simple and well made, and looks smart and functional too. I would buy another one if we lost this to a burglar. It does the job superbly, and I have no hesitation in awarding it 5 points!
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