Magimix 4200XL Review

The Magimix 4200XL is a powerful, well-designed, premium food processor. It is a versatile appliance that comes with many accessories to give you the ability to process a wide range of foods and with an accessory storage case to house everything. The design is such that each piece is useful in processing and a breeze when it's time to clean up. Other than its high price, we found it hard to beat when compared with some of the other models on the market.

Performance Comparison

Chopping

To evaluate the chopping performance of each food processor, we chopped up onions, nuts, and carrots, only quartering the onions before processing them. During these chopping tests, we monitor how many blade pulses it takes to achieve ideal chopping results. The goal is to get the most uniformly sized pieces of the food with the least amount of blade pulses possible, saving time and avoiding hacking up the foods any more than desired. As we use the pulse function, we check responsiveness, noting how quickly it starts once pressed and how quickly it stops when released.

The Magimix delivered a mixed performance in this area. It produces ideal results with the quartered onions, chopping up the batch in just eight blade pulses. But it struggles with the carrots and nuts. After three pulses, the carrots were mostly still in large pieces. As we continued to pulse the blade, the carrots slowly continued to chop, but after 12 pulses, there remained a variety of sizes of pieces: some large, some minced. Chopping the nuts delivered similar results to the carrots. After 15 pulses of the blade, around 20% of large chunks of nuts remained, and 80% had been reduced to smaller pieces and dust.

Mixing

We evaluated the mixing capabilities of each food processor by preparing three popular recipes: pizza dough, pie crust, and mayonnaise. As we mix the pizza dough in each machine, we look for a well-designed blade that is able to mix the dough efficiently and effectively. We also pay close attention to how the food processor functions as the dough thickens. Oftentimes, we observe a visual and audible change that indicates the load increasing on the motor as it works. Ideally, the food processor's motor handles the load well and remains stable as it processes the dough until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Our pie crust testing helps us understand how well the pulse function of the food processor works while mixing and how quickly an ideal pie crust consistency can be reached. Lastly, making sure to choose an appropriately sized mixing container, we whip up a batch of mayonnaise and pay close attention to how well the processor can combine and eventually emulsify the ingredients into the end product.

The Magimix easily breezed through all of our tests, delivering outstanding mixing performance when making pizza dough, pie crust, and mayonnaise. The pizza dough came together quickly and easily, creating a well-mixed dough that didn't seem to overload the food processor's powerful motor. We noticed a small amount of movement from the food processor while mixing the dough on the counter, but it was minimal and did not warrant any stability concerns. We observed similarly high performance when mixing up the mayonnaise and pie crust. The mayonnaise ingredients were effortlessly incorporated into a beautifully textured final result. The near-perfect pie crust produced by the 4200XL came together without any signs of butter chunks or unmixed flour. Throughout our mixing tests, we felt that the pulse button was very responsive and an ideal example of what we would expect from a high-end food processor.

Pureeing

We formulated five tests for this metric to evaluate how well different foods of different textures can be pureed and verify that they don't leak when processing large amounts of liquids. In our testing, we made hummus, nut butter, apple sauce, and tomato sauce. Our fifth test is a fill line leak test, where we fill the food processor with liquid up to its max fill line and run it for one minute while we closely inspect for leaks.

Our puree test proved a simple feat for the 4200XL, delivering a nearly flawless performance across all five types of foods. The hummus came out smooth and creamy after less than a minute, and the motor showed no signs of any load throughout the process. This was the fastest food processor we tested, taking only three minutes to produce smooth and consistent nut butter, beating the average of all others by nearly 15 minutes. The tomato and apple sauce tests yielded similar results, quickly producing a great consistency in only thirty seconds with no signs of struggle or missed chunks. The Magimix uses a rubber seal to prevent leaks, a feature not found in some of the other food processors we tested. The gasket worked well during our leak test, and we finished this metric test without any spills.

Shredding

We selected some of the most commonly shredded foods, such as cheese, potatoes, and carrots, to evaluate each food processor's abilities in this area. We compare the quantity of food each processor can fit at once and whether trimming the food first is necessary. We carefully observe the resulting material to see if any chunks are left unshredded. We also note which of the food processors come with multiple grating discs, allowing for different sizes of shreds to be created.

The Magimix 4200XL comes with two different-sized discs, allowing for 2mm or 4mm shreds. After cutting it in half lengthways, we were able to fit a full 2 lb. block of cheese in the machine without emptying the container midway through. We tested the 2mm and 4mm cutting discs when shredding the cheese, and only a few chunks made it through to the pile of otherwise perfectly shredded cheese. When we started on the potatoes, we found they fit just fine without any further cutting, and the shreds produced were perfectly uniform, leaving behind only one unshredded slice per potato. We observed similar results when shredding the carrots. Consistent pieces were created by the discs, leaving behind only one unshredded slice per carrot.

Slicing

We use tomatoes, potatoes, and zucchini to evaluate how well each food processor can slice up these common foods. We also note if any of the food processors come with accessory discs to produce differently-sized pieces. Ideally, the foods would be uniformly sliced, a minimal amount of juice would be created, and the food would not be mutilated or squished in the process.

Similar to the grating discs, two slicing discs are included with the Magimix, a 2mm and a 4mm. And if you'd like more variety, additional sizes of slicing discs are available for purchase from the manufacturer. We started testing with tomatoes and found that a full fruit (no, not vegetable) fit in the feed tube with no issues. It produced excellent, uniform slices, created minimal juice, and caused no mutilation of that tomato. After being peeled, the potato fit in the feed tube as well and was sliced with ease. We noticed that the potato slices seemed to have a small taper to them, which was exacerbated when we switched from the 2mm disc to the 4mm disc. The taper was also apparent on the zucchini slices but was very minimal overall.

Cleaning

When it comes to cleaning, the manufacturer's recommendations vary greatly from appliance to appliance. As we reviewed each food processor, we appreciated accessories that were designed to be easy to clean, with no hard-to-reach crevices that might trap food. We also paid attention to the design of the blades and slicing discs to ensure they could be safely handled during cleaning. Many manufacturers say their food processor components to be cleaned in the dishwasher, but not all, so it is best to double check your manual. We found that most recommend against using the dishwasher on any type of sanitization cleaning cycle that might expose components to high heat while specifying to use only the top rack of the dishwasher.

The 4200XL is a well-designed appliance, and you can tell that the manufacturer kept the user in mind while designing it. The shaft lengths we long enough to be able to get a good grip and allowed us to handle the blades safely. Even the smallest blade was easily cleaned without any concern for safety. The bowls are simple but thoughtfully designed and have no hard-to-reach crevices where food may get stuck. A bottle brush is your best friend when cleaning the chute accessory, but again, the smooth plastic makes it simple to clean after processing any type of food.

Should You Buy the Magimix 4200XL?

The Magimix 4200XL is one of the greatest food processors that money can buy in today's market. If your budget allows it, we would feel confident recommending you add it to your shortlist. It excels at every aspect of food processing and is an efficient and powerful kitchen appliance. When it comes to tidying up, the design is well thought out and simple to clean. But, if you're on a tight budget, this might not be the best option, and we can recommend a few budget models that still have reasonably good performance.

What Other Food Processors Should You Consider?

As we review the food processors in our lineup, we evaluate them individually and then compare them collectively. This allows us to identify their strengths and weaknesses and determine which ones best fit which use cases. If you like what you see with the 4200XL but aren't feeling 100% confident in making a decision, check out the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro. The Breville comes in at the same price as the 4200XL but performed marginally better overall in our testing. Both offer state-of-the-art features, various accessories, and professional-level performance. The Magimix edged ahead in puree performance, and the Breville stood above the rest in our chopping testing. If you're looking for something more budget-friendly but don't want to sacrifice too much on performance, the Cuisinart Custom 14 is worth looking at. The Cuisinart Custom 14 delivered an adequate performance across all our testing metrics, doing notably well in puree evaluation. It doesn't have the largest motor of the food processors we tested, and it doesn't offer some of the included accessories we found with higher-priced models. However, it has the largest capacity, at 14 cups, and is considerably cheaper while still being a capable appliance.