Can a Food Processor Grind Coconut?

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It’s no secret that a food processor can perform multiple tasks in the kitchen. From grinding meats to chopping nuts, shredding potatoes, and shaving Brussel sprouts, a food processor helps to simplify the ingredient preparation process. But despite its multiple uses, can a food processor grind coconut?

A food processor can easily grind coconut. However, you must crack the coconut open before cutting it into small pieces that can fit inside your food processor. Once inside, pulse the food processor for a couple of seconds before stirring and grinding again until you achieve the desired consistency.

The food processor is a handy kitchen appliance that can make meal preparation a lot easier (and efficient). Read on for a step-by-step guide on how to grind coconut using a food processor as well as a discussion of some of the best processors in the market and their various uses.   

What Is a Food Processor?

Commonly referred to as a kitchen workhorse, a food processor is a handy kitchen appliance commonly used to facilitate most repetitive tasks in food preparation. Activities such as dicing, slicing, chopping, and blending can be easily done by an electric food processor. 

Food processors are often compared to blenders due to their similar functions. However, food processors are more versatile as they often come with several attachments that allow you to work on both wet and dry ingredients.

Unlike a blender, a food processor can knead the dough, chop herbs, cut veggies, grate carrots and pulverize ingredients like oats and nuts. 

How To Grind Coconut Using a Food Processor

Food processors are among the most versatile kitchen appliances, as they can take care of repetitive tasks such as chopping and grinding, leaving your hands free to perform other tasks. 

Below are steps to observe when using a food processor to grind or grate coconut. 

Prepare the Coconut

Before putting your food processor to use, you’ll need to prepare the coconut first. Take the coconut and break its outer shell, ensuring that you keep the flesh only. Take a knife and carefully peel the brown layer (for white coconut recipes) off, leaving the white inner part. 

Cut the coconut flesh into smaller pieces, which will allow the food processor’s blades to perform a thorough grinding job. Once satisfied with the size, place the coconut pieces inside the food processor. 

Pulsate the Coconut

Ideally, you should first pulsate the coconut in the food processor, allowing it to break down into smaller pieces. As the coconut continues to disintegrate into tinier pieces, stop pulsating and set the processor to grind continuously.

While you can also set the food processor to grind from the start, pulsating will give you more control, especially if you don’t want to overgrind your coconut. 

Remove the Stuck Coconut and Continue Grinding

Most food items tend to get stuck on the sides of a processor during grinding, which can affect the efficiency of the device. You’ll need to remove the tiny coconut pieces from the processor’s sides before continuing.

Once you’re done removing the coconut, return to grinding and allow the coconut to reach your desired consistency. 

Best Food Processors

A food processor is basically an assistant that helps make your life better (and easier) while preparing meals. Food processors come in different shapes and sizes, with costlier ones coming with more advanced features. 

Below is a brief discussion of some of the best food processors in the market.

Oster 2-Speed 10-Cup Food Processor

The Oster 2-Speed 10-Cup Food Processor stands out due to its ease of use. The no-frills processor features an S-shaped blade for chopping, a dough blade, and a shredding disc that helps you prepare meals. 

It comes with a 5-inch (12.7-cm) wide mouth chute that allows you to feed large vegetables, bulbs, and fruits with minimal to no prep work. Moreover, the two-speed pulse setting allows you to have better control when processing your ingredients. 

Pros

  • The accessories and blades neatly stack in the bowl for convenient organization and storage.
  • It comes with a 2-speed setting that enhances your overall precision when grinding.
  • A wide-mouth chute allows you to fit different-sized ingredients.
  • It features an S-shaped blade that allows you to chop anything from decadent desserts to delicious appetizers.
  • It comes with a stainless steel disk for shredding ingredients.
  • Integrated slicer blades allow you to slice cheese, veggies, and more ingredients with great consistency.
  • A dough blade allows you to knead with great ease.

Cons

  • The blades might bruise some herbs like parsley when mincing.
  • Bowls are not of the highest quality.

Cuisinart FP-12DCN Elite Collection 12-Cup Food Processor

With this Cuisinart 12-Cup Food Processor, you get a wide array of accessories ranging from a 4-cup work bowl, which nests inside the large bowl, to adjustable slice discs, reversible shredding disc, and a superior, 1000 watt motor. These features make the food processor among the most capable and efficient in the market. 

The processor integrates Cuisinart’s exclusive SealTight Advantage System that prevents spills and locks in the blade to enhance overall safety when pouring out ingredients. All the device’s removable parts are dishwasher safe, while the electronic touchpad is wipe-clean and easy to use. 

Pros

  • Both the 4-cup small bowl and the 12-cup large bowl come with measurement markings and pour spouts for ease of use.
  • The 1000-watt motor enhances the processor’s overall performance.
  • The SealTight Advantage System locks the blades and seals the bowls, thus preventing injury or spillage.
  • The feed tube is wide enough to fit different-sized ingredients.
  • It comes with classy, easy-to-use electronic touchpad controls.
  • It comes with a dough blade, slicing disc, reversible shredding disc, spatula, and an instruction book.
  • All the processor’s removable parts are dishwasher safe.

Cons

  • It might prove a bit difficult to set up and use for the first time.
  • It is costlier than most food processors.

Hamilton Beach Food Processor

The Hamilton Beach Food Processor comes with two speed plus pulse and features high/low-speed settings that give you more control during use. The large feed chute allows you to fit large fruits and vegetables without the need to chop. 

Its greatest selling point is its versatility, as it can act as a food and vegetable chopper as its reversible stainless steel disc slices and shreds with great ease. The stainless steel S-blade helps to puree, chop and mix ingredients. 

Pros

  • The reversible disc allows you to slice and shred ingredients.
  • The bowl scraper attachment prevents ingredients from sticking on the blades, eliminating the need to start and stop the device.
  • All the removable parts can be used in a dishwasher.
  • It comes with 2 speeds plus pulse and a powerful 450-watt motor.

Cons

  • It cannot retain splash when operating, which can lead to messes if overfed with ingredients.

Ninja Professional Plus Food Processor

The Ninja Professional Plus Food Processor boasts a 9-cup capacity that makes it ideal for both small and large households. It comes with a dedicated preset program that allows you to shred cheese, chop veggies, prepare the dough and grind sauces at the touch of a button. 

This high-quality food processor comes packed with a host of accessories ranging from a reversible shredding and slicing disc to a dough blade, quad chopping blade, chute lite and pusher, disc adapter, and a 20-recipe guide. 

Pros

  • It is easy to assemble and use, courtesy of its preset programs.
  • The blades and discs are made from high-quality material.
  • It comes with several useful accessories that help make meal preparation a breeze.
  • All the plastic parts are BPA-free and dishwasher safe.
  • It features a professional-grade 1000 watt motor that can easily turn tough ingredients into purees in a matter of seconds.

Cons

  • The tube feeder is a bit too narrow for some ingredients.

Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor

The Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Processor comes with a multiple chute options feature (5” (12.7cm) feed , 2 ¾” (6.99cm) feed, and 1 ½” (3.81cm) feed) that gives you more control when inserting food items. You’ll also love that the slicing disc can be adjusted up to 24 different settings from paper-thin to extra-thick cuts. 

For increased performance, the food processor comes with a heavy-duty 1000 watt induction motor. The motor’s direct-drive control and overload protection ensure your device will neither fail nor falter. 

Pros

  • It comes with a high-quality, micro-serrated S-blade that delivers consistent chopping, processing, and mixing of a host of ingredients.
  • The adjustable slicing disc allows you to cut both thin and thick slices within the 0.3mm- 8.0mm (0.01in-0.31in) range.
  • The multiple chute options allow you to insert different ingredients with little to no work.
  • It has enhanced safety features as the motor won’t operate unless the lid and bowl are correctly locked.

Cons

  • It is expensive.
  • The short cord might affect flexibility during usage.

Elite Gourmet Maxi-Matic Food Chopper Processor

This 300-watt, four-cup food processor is ideal for small families and tiny kitchen spaces. It features a unique vertical blade movement while rotating that allows for even chopping of ingredients. A two-speed operation and a pulse feature give you the control required to grind different items. 

For enhanced safety, the food processor comes with a micro-sensor that must be work-bowl activated before chopping begins. The locking lid also prevents splashes and subsequent messes. The simplistic, highly compact, no-frills design of this food processor makes it ideal for basic kitchen work. 

Pros

  • It chops and dices ingredients with great efficiency and at fast speeds.
  • The two speeds with a pulse speed setting give you more control during usage.
  • The unique vertical blade movement while rotating makes grinding a lot easier.
  • Compact design allows for space conservation both on the countertop and storage drawers.
  • It comes with illuminated, touch screen controls that are easy to use.

Cons

  • It is not the most powerful food processor around.
  • The locking lid can easily break if incorrectly handled.

What Are the Main Functions of Food Processors?

Food processors are not mandatory kitchen appliances; however, having one on standby can make your life a lot easier. They perform tasks that are usually performed by knives, blenders, stand mixers, graters, mortar and pestle, and pastry blenders- pretty handy, right? 

Below are some of the main functions that food processors perform. 

Slicing

Food processors often come with a slicing blade that slices your ingredients once they make their way inside the chute. They can also chop ingredients in different sizes, giving you greater flexibility when working on different recipes.

You can use your food processor to slice cucumbers, eggplant, carrots, zucchini, and a host of other veggies. 

Chopping

Most food processors usually come with an S-shaped main blade primarily used for chopping ingredients. Once you place your items inside the processor’s bowl and turn it on, the s-shaped blade spins and chops all items into tiny pieces.

Speed and pulse settings allow you to determine the grinding or chopping consistency based on the recipe you’re working on. 

Pureeing

A food processor can effectively puree different types of foods, from chickpeas for hummus recipes to grinding tomatoes to make a paste. Food processors allow you to transform lumpy soups into velvety smooth ones.

But be careful when pureeing, as most entry-level processors aren’t leak proof enough to prevent spills that can make the work area messy. 

Grinding

You won’t need a pestle and mortar to grind your spices and other food items, since most food processors can grind foods to different consistencies depending on speed settings and mortar power.

You can even grind foods like coconuts, provided you prepare them well enough. For best outcomes, you’ll want to cut hard ingredients like coconuts to smaller sizes to avoid overworking the blades. 

Making Doughs

The food processor’s basic chopping blade can easily incorporate the butter into flour when preparing the dough. The process is pretty straightforward as all it needs is a few pulses, which eliminates the need to cut butter using a pastry blender.

Some high-end food processors also come packed with dough blades that can be used to knead the dough. 

Grating

Most food processors also come with grating disks that make grating a breeze, as you can easily work on cheese, carrots, and potatoes without the need to use a grater.

Not only does the grating function help save you time during meal preparation but it also eliminates the risk of injuring your fingertips when grating.