Processing Dates

[BlueBell]

I'm new to the diet - I'm about 12 days in. I've tried a lot of recipes using soaked dates. However, I've had a lot of problems processing, and the reason why is this: They will blend for a few seconds, and then they will stick to the walls of the bowl, or under the blades. The blades will keep spinning, but the dates are out of range by that point.

I'm starting to think my food processor is a bad one. It only cost me $60, and I'm wondering if that's the reason why?

-Blue

[Rawkinlocs]

Your food processor is probably fine - this usually happens if you have a small amount of dates to process in a large capacity processor. Just stop the machine every few minutes to scrape the dates down from the sides, process, stop, scrape down, process... until the dates are fully processed.

I've also just either added a few more dates OR add a little bit of water to help it along more.

[BlueBell]

That's what I've been doing. But it's very annoying. I have to stop every couple of seconds, scrape them back in, and continue.

That makes sense though - having too large a bowl for a small amount. I guess I could look into getting a smaller processor for smaller jobs...

Thanks!

[cassidy]

Hey Bluebell -
I have a small one and a large one.
I use my small one for small tasks - salad dressings, frostings, a little pesto here or a little pate there.
I bought my little one at target for $9 and I love it!

[GlimR]

Sometimes I use a fair amount of dates so I process them all at once.......after soaking maybe a cup or two, I process them, adding just a bit of water as needed. It makes a smooth date paste that will keep for several weeks in the fridge. I just use a T. at a time as needed.

[Frog]

Hmmm, good tip GlimR!