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This little appliance does way more than chop veggies.

A good food processor can chop, slice, dice, knead and puree, making it one of the most versatile tools you can have in your kitchen. But if you’re unfamiliar with how to use your food processor or you don't know about all the kitchen tasks it can accomplish, there’s a good chance your handy appliance is sitting around underutilized.

The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab regularly tests food processors and evaluates each unit's ease of use, cleaning and assembly, plus the variety of settings it has to offer. Our experts carefully measure food processors' performance by using them to slice and shred vegetables, dice onions, mince parsley, grate cheese and knead dough. The best units, like our winning 12-cup Breville Sous Chef, have the right capacity, accessories and power to handle all these tasks and more. While a food processor can’t fully replace your chef’s knife, it can save you a lot of time in the kitchen by speeding up tedious tasks.

Ready to start slicing and dicing? Here’s everything you need to know to get the most out of your food processor:

Before you start using your food processor, you’ll need to make sure all the parts are clean and properly assembled. Most food processors come with an electric base, a plastic work bowl, a blade shaft, multiple blades, a work bowl lid, a feed tube and a plunger.

A standard food processor has a wide work bowl with a capacity between 2 and 14 cups — we recommend larger models between 12 and 14 cups for the most versatility. An S-shaped blade sits in the bottom of the bowl, and the blade can be plain-edged or serrated; the plain edge delivers clean cuts and is better for chopping meat and most vegetables, while the serrated blades can puree as well, working well on nut butters and frozen ingredients.

Most food processors have one speed, though some can have high, medium and low settings. The highest setting is good for smooth purees and working through tough ingredients, while the low setting is good for processing softer ingredients.

A pulse setting is great for incrementally chopping food and controlling the blade to limit your risk of over processing. It’s also great for getting an even chop: The stop-and-go motion allows unprocessed items from the top to fall onto the blade to be processed. Otherwise, items close to the blade just continue to be processed, making the bottom more fine than the top. (If your appliance doesn’t have a pulse setting, you can manually pulse.)

In addition to the basic S-blade, many food processors come with slicing and shredding discs, dough blades, dicing attachments and other accessories. Switching blades and discs and using different speeds — plus the pulse function — allows you to have more control over your ingredients and get the most out of your appliance. Always handle your blades with care.

Food processors are good for much, much more than just dicing vegetables. Here are some everyday kitchen tasks your processor can handle with ease.

Although good food processors are fairly durable and versatile, they can’t accomplish everything. Avoid these mistakes to get the best results (and the longest lifespan) out of your appliance.