A food chopper blade column for use in a food chopper having a receptacle and cover. The column will be rotated in a cutting direction within the chopper during use, and mounts a plurality of cantilevered blades spaced circumferentially about the column. The upper blades include a leading edge having a single bevel cutting edge on their lower face, as well as trailing edge which is angled downward. The lowermost blade includes a leading edge having a single bevel cutting edge on its upper face, and a flat trailing edge.

A funnel accessory for a KitchenAid® brand stand mixer with a hub protruding from its motor head. The funnel accessory has a funnel, with a top opening relatively larger than a bottom opening, affixed to a mount having a hub receiving opening oriented so as to be perpendicular to the top opening of the funnel. The mount is formed with a slot sized to receive a thumb screw of the hub; pushing the mount over an external wall of the hub while aligning the slot to receive the thumb screw couples the funnel accessory to the hub.

A micro puree machine has a drive motor positioned within a lower portion of a housing extending along a vertical axis. A mixing shaft positioned within an upper portion of the housing extends at a non-parallel angle relative to the vertical axis. The bowl of ingredients is installed to an angled surface of the upper portion of the housing along the mixing shaft axis, allowing for easier viewing of the bowl installation.

A method for operating a stand mixer includes receiving, at a controller of the stand mixer, a signal indicative of a parameter of food contents in the stand mixer, and receiving, at the controller of the stand mixer, a signal indicative of an operating parameter of a motor of the stand mixer while the motor operates to mix the food contents. Then, determining, at the controller of the stand mixer, that a mixing operation of the stand mixer is complete based at least in part of one of the signal indicative of the parameter of the food contents, the signal indicative of the operating parameter of the motor, and time. Then adjusting, with the controller of the stand mixer, operation of the motor when the mixing operation is complete.

Described herein is a food processing apparatus (2) comprising: a container (4) having an interior; a sieve disposed within the interior of the container (4) and dividing the interior into a processing volume (14) and a collection volume (16); and a processing member (8) for processing food disposed within the processing volume. The sieve (7) comprises: a first separation member (10) comprising a set of first holes (32); and a second separation member (12) adjacent the first separation member and comprising a set of second holes (33) which are arranged such that they overlap the set of first holes to form a plurality of aligned openings (35) which pass through the first and second separation members (10, 12) for allowing food to pass from the processing volume (14) into the collection volume (16). The first and second separation members (10, 12) are movable relative to one other between a first position and a second position so as to vary the degree of overlap of the sets of first and second holes and to adjust the cross-sectional area of the aligned openings (35). Each aligned opening (35) is formed by two sides (82, 88) of one of the first holes (32) and either: one side of one of the second holes so as to define a triangular cross-sectional shape, or two sides (82′, 88′) of one of the second holes (33) so as to define a quadrilateral cross-sectional shape. In the second position, each aligned opening (35) is defined by portions of each of said sides (82, 88; 82′, 88′) of the first and second holes (32, 33) which are shorter than in the first position such that the aligned openings (35) have a smaller cross-sectional area when in the second position than the first position.

A hand-held mixer includes a housing, a pillar coupled to the housing at a pillar proximal end and extending to a pillar distal end, a motor within at least one of the housing and the pillar, a first beater hub removably receiving a first beater, and a battery receptacle at the pillar distal end. The battery receptacle receives a battery pack with a battery for powering the motor such that the battery pack is operable between a docked condition and an undocked condition. In the docked condition, the battery pack is engaged with the battery receptacle to provide power to the motor. In an undocked condition, the battery pack is disengaged from the battery receptacle. The battery pack moves along a battery pack axis that is substantially perpendicular to a first beater axis of rotation from the undocked condition to the docked condition.

Food processing apparatuses having a drive unit which has more than one mode of operation, works with more than one food processing container, and/or may be operated in more than orientation are disclosed. The drive unit may be operated in first and second modes of operation. In some embodiments, the drive unit may be actuated in a different manner in the second mode of operation as compared to the first mode of operation. In some embodiments, the orientation of the drive unit in the second mode of operation is vertically flipped upside-down as compared to the orientation of the drive unit in the first mode of operation.

A speed control assembly for an appliance includes a bracket and a cam that is slidably coupled with the bracket and has an engagement edge. A lever is operably coupled with the cam and is configured to move the cam along the bracket. A slider is fixedly coupled with the bracket and a magnet is disposed adjacent the engagement edge. A ball bearing that is in magnetic communication with the magnet is configured to be selectively engaged with one of a plurality of retention spaces that are defined by the engagement edge of the cam. A sensor is configured to detect a position of the magnet.

A shaker top and beverage container are provided, which may together form a cocktail shaker. The shaker top comprises an interface part arranged to be liquid-tightly connected to the beverage container, the interface part comprising an interface body and a radial clamping module for radially engaging the beverage container. The beverage container may be filled with a substantially non-carbonated beverage, for example up to 90 percent of the total volume of the beverage container.

A micro puree machine includes a mixing shaft coupled to a blade and rotatable by means of a gear. A magnet is coupled to the gear and a rotation sensor is mounted on the machine housing. As the mixing shaft descends into the pre-frozen ingredients, the rotation sensor detects a magnetic field of the magnet as the gear rotates and generates a rotation signal in response. A controller receives the rotation signal and determines a rotation count associated with the gear, causing the mixing shaft to ascend back toward the housing once a pre-selected rotation count has been reached. The pre-selected rotation count correlates with the partial processing of the ingredients.