Oster Total Prep 10-Cup Review

Performance Comparison

Chopping

We took to the kitchen for hands-on testing, chopping onions, carrots, and nuts. The Oster 10 Cup starts up quickly and chops most items with some mass but struggles with looser, lighter foods — like flour. Generally speaking, this device does not yield a particularly even chop across the board.

We put two small onions in the Oster, and the bowl felt somewhat crowded. It successfully chopped most of the onions but seemed to leave an undesirable amount of larger, un-chopped pieces. We continued pulsing to try to break down the larger pieces, but that only minced and mushed the smaller bits leaving the larger ones crowd-surfing on top.

We had a similar experience with carrots. We were left with a variety of differently sized pieces, and the more we tried to break down the larger chunks, the smaller the previously chopped bits got. The heartier carrot was left less mushy than the soft watery onions, but the lack of consistency was disappointing.

The nuts seemed to chop a little more evenly than the onions and carrots. That being said, there was a lot of dust and a small handful of completely whole almonds. Overall the Oster leaves a lot to be desired in the chopping department. If you are looking for an even chop rather than a hodgepodge of minced and untouched pieces, then the Oster may not be the right choice for you.

Mixing

For this test, we tried making mayonnaise and pizza crust from scratch. The Oster 10 Cup struggled with this task. It shook so much that we thought it would vibrate right off the counter, and the noise was a little off-putting. It was clear that the motor was struggling.

During our mayonnaise making, the ingredients would not combine. Adding excessive oil was the only way to achieve a harmonious mixture, but the recipe did not call for as much oil as the Oster 10 Cup required. Making pizza crust was almost as hopeless. Butter chunks would not mix in thoroughly, and a large amount of flour remained pressed to the bowl's bottom, sides, and top. Generally speaking, we were underwhelmed with the Oster's mixing capabilities.

Pureeing

Next up, we performed our pureeing test. We made hummus, nut butter, tomato sauce, and applesauce. A lot of our purees were left feeling a little grainy or coarse in texture, and the pieces of food that flung to the top and sides remained whole.

The nut butter took roughly eight minutes in the Oster and yielded a surprisingly creamy final product. There was a fair amount of splatter on the walls, and it was still somewhat grainy and textured compared to the more expensive options in our test suite, but overall enjoyable.

The tomato sauce took about 30 seconds. The tomatoes blended up nicely, but we found that our garlic was left rather chunky. While we don't mind delicious garlic chunks in our spaghetti sauce, it is worth noting that blending it for longer did not yield a smoother result.

The applesauce had a similar inconsistency to it, as everything that flung out onto the sides and top remained completely un-pureed. That being said, it took just under a minute to make decent applesauce, so we would consider that a win for the Oster 10 Cup

We also tested the spillage rate by filling the food processor to the maximum fill line with water and mock-blending. There is no rubber seal, so water does spritz out a bit, especially when filled right up to the max fill line, but we were surprised at how little water escaped. If you are pureeing something particularly liquidy, staying below the max fill line is best.

Shredding

Many food processors offer multiple shredding options, but the Oster only provides one. It performed okay in this metric testing.

During our cheese shredding test, the inconsistency was apparent. There were large chunks left unshredded, pieces stuck to the lid, and a fair amount of crumbles left over. The shredding also yielded a weird thick spiral piece or two, leaving us perplexed. It also mutilated our potato test. The potato came out soggy and mushed rather than shredded. Carrots, on the other hand, shredded quite nicely. The only real issue we had here was that it left a good amount un-shredded.

Slicing

Similar to our lack of shredding options, the Oster offers no customization to the slice size; you pretty much just get what you get. We sliced up a tomato, potato, and zucchini with low expectations, and while these slices fall short compared to the more premium models in our review of top-ranked food processors, we were pleasantly surprised by the results.

The tomato remained unmutilated but a little tapered. We were pretty impressed that it was not simply squished into oblivion. Half of the potato came out nice and evenly sliced, while the other half was extremely tapered.

The zucchini test was an interesting one. The Oster produces nice even slices while you manually push the vegetable through, but as soon as you recruit the plunger, the consistency of the slicing diminishes. It is difficult to keep longer vegetables upright, and the slices begin to taper. Like most of the other tests we performed, the Oster struggles with consistency here.

Cleaning

The Oster does pretty well in the cleaning metric. When compared to the rest of the items in our test suite, it scored right around average. The bowl, lid, blades, and disc are bisphenol A-free (BPA-free) and therefore dishwasher safe.

As for hand washing, the blade is quite small and can be a little difficult to clean where it attaches to the shaft. The bowl is a breeze, but sometimes food gets stuck in the plastic bits that secure the lid. The lid is composed of three pieces that can be taken apart and are easy to clean, although there are some channels next to the chute that trap food. The pizza dough took quite some time to clean out and proved much easier with a brush than a sponge.

Should You Buy the Oster Total Prep 10-Cup?

While the Oster is inexpensive, it doesn't blow us away in any of the categories we deem the most important. For just a bit more, you can get a device that performs significantly better.

What Other Food Processors Should You Consider?