Customer Reviews

Black & Decker FP1400 Quick N' Easy Plus Food Processor

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I don't have a huge need for a food processor, so I chose one that had a few basic features, and which was really inexpensive. I've only had the machine for a month or so, but I've found that it's completely satisfactory, given the low price tag. It chops things up to consistent sizes, and I haven't had any troubles with food sneaking out of the plastic insert when it's supposed to stay in the bowl.

It's no Cuisinart or Kitchen Aid, but overall, it's not bad! The controls have a solid feel to them, and the machine itself doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart at any given second - it's very solid. Everything is dishwasher-safe, which is a huge plus. I expect any processor to be quite noisy, and this one is, but not so much so that I wouldn't use it. The bowl is a good size, so I don't have to empty it out until I'm done with whatever food currently needs to be chopped/shredded.

I have noticed that the bowl locking mechanism is a little bit sticky, but with firm (not "brutal" or "harsh") pressure, it slides in just fine.

Overall, it's met my expectations for a machine of its price.

From day one ...the machine was noisy, the cup was impossible to fit on, and when it ran all I smelled was burning wire. I sliced carrots, shredded lettuce, then I really tried it out, tried making a little pie dough in it. Not a rough chore, it did it well. However, the next time I went to use it, I turned it on and was awarded a blue blaze, a small fire, and some melted plastic. Unfortunately it wasn't the 4th of July, or I would have been a hit in the kitchen, that's for sure. The FP 1400 went out with the garbage. Since then, because of some other spectacular failures, Black & Decker and I have separated amicably, Black & Decker living in anyone else's apartment but mine; me, living comfortably with Krups and other kitchen denizens that last longer than four uses.

I never used to be much of a cook, but since I had my daughter seven months ago, I began to realize the importance of eating real food at home, and not out of styrofoam take-out boxes. As such, I needed to buy a great deal of kitchen accessories. I scrimped where I could, and splurged where it was appropriate. Many of my low-price deals have been greatly pleasing (specially-priced Calphalon cookware, and a very low-price cutlery set from Amazon among those purchases), but this is not one of those purchases.
For the positive outlook, this machine does the job it's supposed to do: the food is cut easily and efficiently, to the desired size and texture. From my experience, I've found most food processors to be noisy, so that doesn't bother me like it does the other reviewers. In fact, for all the work it does, I expect some noise. And all of this sure beats using my arms and a knife, no matter how sharp the knife may be.
What I object to is the fact that it has one malfunctioning "feature." The machine boasts the option of either grinding the food into the base, or removing a plastic insert and adding a metal divider to funnel the food out of the chute and into a separate bowl. This was one of the major selling points for me when I shopped for a food processor- otherwise I would have gotten one of the super-small Cuisinarts. But if you use this feature, lots of bits still get into the base; if you choose not to use the chute, and you put the plastic insert in to keep the food in the base, food still flies out through the chute, no matter how well the insert is placed.
One of my first ventures with this food processor was to shave carrots for a carrot cake. It did most of the job well (except for shooting food out of the chute when it wasn't supposed to), but there were still chunks of carrot that got stuck in the mechanism that I couldn't shave down any further. And the plastic is not very resistant to staining- after that one venture, it is permanently stained a weird orange color (I know carrots are known for staining things, but ususally it cleans out of most surfaces just fine!).
If I had to do it all over again, I still would have spent a small amount of money on a food processor- as it turns out I don't use it a whole lot in my house, and I needed the big bucks to go into a Kitchen Aid mixer. But I would have opted for a small (1 1/2 cup) Cuisinart mixer instead of trying to maximize my dollar and get this one. Sure it holds a lot more than the minis, but there's a reason it's got such a cheap price tag- it is a cheap machine. Black & Decker needs to stick to the garage-variety tools and stay out of the kitchen.
Bottom line: if you need a bigger food processor, and can't afford a good one, this could be okay, provided you don't mind cleaning up a big mess. Otherwise, use a hand grinder until you can save up the money to buy a better food processor; you won't regret spending the extra- they're well worth their price tag.

I've had this food processor for over a year. This was the first large food processor I have bought. I tend to use my food processor a lot. I use it to make salsas, hummus, any veggie chopping that I can (because I'm lazy!) all kinds of things. I've used it at least every 2 weeks.

Loud? YES. I will definately agree that it's loud. But I don't care. It's a food processor. I don't generally run it for more than a few minutes at one time, so considering its price it doesn't matter to me.

Durability? I've had no issues with the motor at all. It's never showed a sign of lagging or failing, thankfully. The 8 cup container is plastic. I am sure it would shatter if you really bashed it into something, but it's held up fine for me and I throw the lid and bowl and all accessories into my top rack dishwasher when I'm done with it. (goes along with that lazy habit)

My only criticism of this unit is the shield for tossing out sliced veggies (if you are using the slicer disc). When I'm chopping using the standard rotary blade, and I have the shield in place, the shield can leak if I have too much of a liquidy mixture in the bowl. Since I make a lot of salsa, if I have too much salsa in the bowl and I turn this baby up to high, I'm gonna get some leakage. But, this is pretty much a user error. I believe the instruction book says don't fill your bowl more than 2/3 of the way up :-)

Good quality, more than worth the price. If you are not sure if you'll use a food processor enough to spend a ton of money on one this is a great way to find out.

The Black & Decker FP1400 has a very sturdy bowl and a very good chopping blade and a fairly good shredding/slicing disk. The unit styling looks very nice, but beauty is only skin deep with this one as the sound that it makes is one of the loudest food processors I have tried out. The sound is no way near as nice as a Cuisinart or Kitchen Aid. It is so noisy that it has a high pitch squeel that resembles a noisy hand drill. The moving parts inside the unit sounds like cheap plasticy grinding gears. Don't buy this.

I hate to be ungrateful (this was a gift from my mother), but it is the worst appliance I have ever used! It does every job terribly, it's noisy...I hate it! Spend the money if you can. Go for a Cuisinart! I know I will be...

I bought this because I didn't want to spend $$$ on other processors if I could get one for so less. I was wrong. It is very noisy and not very durable. In less than a year, the bowl shattered and the attachments (with the base) broke off. Cheap plastic - otherwise the motor and everything else were working just fine. A replacement bowl from B&D would cost almost the same as I paid for the whole unit. So I decided to try a more expensive Cuisinart DLC-2007 Prep 7 7-Cup Food Processor from amazon.com. It has 3 year warranty on the unit and 10 years on the motor. Hopefully I didn't make a mistake this time.

I would have given negative stars, but there isn't an option for that. I was looking for an inexpensive food processor for the occasional job that requires a food processor. Black & Decker usually makes very good appliances, and for the price I paid, I said what the heck. What a mistake! This processor sounds like it's heralding the apocalypse and after 3 uses, one of the bowl clips snapped right off. I also tried to use the continuous flow chute. About 1/4 of my chopping ended up in the processor bowl. Thankfully, it didn't explode like the other reviewers! I guess I'll have to wait for a Cuisinart or Kitchen Aid to go on sale...

I received this as a wedding gift. It is easy to clean. And does what it needs to do.

Leaks, even with leak guard on. Grates well if you use a small amount of food at once, but forget it if you want to try to hash a couple of potatoes at once. You'll wind up with some potato mush and some potato chunks. And speaking of CHUNKS....the reason I really don't like this thing is because the slicer/shredder disk doesn't just shred, it slices all at the same time! If you want cheese shreds, be prepared for shred/chunks. The problem is that as the food passes between the shred holes on the disk, it slips down into the dull side of the slicer hole and slices at the same time! This is my first processor; maybe all of them with the reversible disk work this way. I know processors are supposed to be multi-taskes, but only when you want them to be. Geesh! This one's going back to the store.