Magimix 4200XL
One-minute review
The French know a thing or two about fine dining, so it’s no surprise a Magimix, which originated in the country, has been making food processors since 1971. With 50 years of expertise, the brand is one of the most well-known and well-respected food processor manufacturers around the globe.
The Magimix 4200XL, which is known as the Magimix 14 Cup food processor in the US, is one of the mid-range models on offer from Magimix. While it might not be its highest-spec food processor, it’s certainly not lacking in attachments and is a versatile multipurpose kitchen appliance.
The three-litre / 14 cup capacity will be big enough for most households and it comes with a storage box packed full of useful attachments for shredding, slicing, mixing, whisking, kneading and chopping. It can take care of lots of labor-intensive tasks, freeing you up to concentrate on finessing your creations.
For the times when you need to chop or blend small quantities there are two additional smaller bowls designed just for this, they nestle neatly in the main bowl so don’t require any extra storage space. It’s only got one blending speed, plus a pulse button so it’s simple to use and we didn’t have any trouble assembling all the various attachments.
On test, it produced excellent results in virtually every task we set it. It’s a great all-rounder with enough accessories to satisfy even the most adventurous cook and with more available to buy online you’ll never run out of uses for this appliance.
Magimix 4200XL price and availability
- List price: £300/ $399.95 / AU$899
The Magimix 4200XL Food Processor is a mid-range food processor available worldwide from the Magimix website and will set you back £300/ $399.95 / AU$899. As we mentioned above, it’s known as the Magimix 14 Cup Food Processor in the US.
As one of Magimix’s best-selling models, it comes with a wide range of attachments. Additional attachments are available to purchase separately, these include a citrus press, spiralizing attachments as well as a juicer and smoothie attachment, you can also get different sized grating and slicing discs.
Design
- Neat storage solution for attachments
- Parts slot together easily
- Three bowls for processing different quantities
The Magimix 4200XL is by no means small, the base is chunky and will take up space on your countertop. It measures 42.5 x 21 x 26cm / 16.7 x 8.3 x 10.2 inches (h x w x d). In addition to this, there’s a storage box for all the attachments, which while it does keep them neat and ordered, is another bulky thing to store. It measures 17 x 28 x 20cm / 6.7 x 11 x 7.9 (h x w x d). The food processor with bowls and lid (not including the accessory box) weighs in at around 8.2kg / 18lb so it’s heavy to move around.
There are various color options available so you can coordinate the appliance with your kitchen, it’s available in black, chrome and white. In the UK, there’s also red and cream variants, while Australia has the option of a white model.
It comes with two shredding discs, and two slicing discs as well as a whisk, small blade, large blade, a dough blade, spatula and BlenderMix attachment. Uniquely, the BlenderMix attachment sits in the top of the bowl and changes the direction of liquids from a centrifugal to a vortex motion, meaning this food processor can be used for blending soups, batters, milkshakes and smoothies - giving the best blenders a run for their money too.
The main bowl has a three litre / 14 cup capacity and there are two additional smaller bowls for processing smaller amounts, they sit inside the main bowl for neat easy storage. The feed chute in the lid can be configured in various ways with three different size chutes and pushers that make it easier to feed all sorts of different size foods into the processor.
The simple control panel features just three buttons; Auto is the start button and there’s a stop and pulse button as well. It comes out of the box pretty much fully assembled so there’s not much setup required. Additionally it comes with a hardback recipe book containing 100 recipes to get you started and provide inspiration.
All parts and accessories can be washed in the dishwasher but Magimix suggests washing by hand to prolong the life and preserve the appearance.
Performance
- Quiet
- Fast and powerful
- Stays stable on the countertop
We did plenty of tests in this food processor to try out the various attachments and functions and it’s certainly up to the job, it’s a powerful machine that didn’t struggle with anything we attempted. The BlenderMix attachment does its job and allows you to mix liquids in the food processor without any leakage out of the lid.
The sharp blade in the main bowl is equally at home chopping onion and making breadcrumbs as it is grinding diced beef. The onion and breadcrumbs were no match for this blade and there was no jamming when grinding the beef, with fast even results. We also mixed cake batter and it made short work of the task. We opened it once to scrape down the sides, but other than that the batter was evenly mixed to a smooth consistency.
The manual states that the dough blade takes just 30 seconds to knead a batch of bread dough. Sure enough, it combined the ingredients and kneaded the dough thoroughly in this time, giving us bread with a good even rise.
We milled hazelnuts using the smaller bowl and blade. Initially, we tried to do this using pulse but gave up and switched it on to chop continuously. It was a bit slow and the chopped nuts were a mixture of powder and some chunks. Disappointingly, some of the powder leaked into the larger bowl which meant this had to be cleaned as well.
Using the larger of the two discs, cucumber sliced evenly and with no waste, and as a whole cucumber fits easily into the feed chute without the need to cut it in half,it can produce whole slices. Shredded cheese was impressively even using the larger disc, with no waste or clumping. Carrot was quickly turned into clearly defined shreds with just a very small thin disc left un-shredded at the end.
We used the small shredding disc for chocolate, this gave us a nice fine result with no clumping or melting, although there were some pieces - around 18% - left on top of the disc not shredded.
We had some issues with the whisk attachment, as soon as the cream started to thicken, it would jam and couldn’t turn effectively which caused some of the internal mechanisms to shear. From what Magimix told us, coupled with other online user reviews, it appears this isn’t a common issue. However, we’d advise being careful to assemble the whisk components correctly and keep an eye on it during the first use.
The loudest tests were shredding chocolate and chopping nuts, registering 85dB on our decibel meter, which is equivalent to a lawnmower. But it’s worth noting that in general, it was one of the quieter food processors we tested, with most other tasks registering 75 to 78dB, which is the same noise level as when standing 50 feet from a busy dual carriageway.
Due to the number of parts it can be fiddly to clean by hand. But that’s the case for most food processors. Our review model was the chrome color, which marked easily and had to be wiped and buffed regularly to keep it looking its best.
Should I buy the Magimix 4200XL?
Buy it if...
You spend lots of time shredding and slicing foods
With two discs for fine and thickly shredded foods as well as two slicing discs for fine and thickly sliced foods this food processor can speed through large quantities, potentially saving you lots of time.
You want a well-made all-rounder
All the attachments and bowls feel well made and sturdy and it’s not lacking any attachments, so if you want a food processor that can do it all, this is a great choice.
You want to blend liquids
While it doesn’t come with a blender pitcher, the BlenderMix insert does allow you to blend liquids like batters and soups in the main bowl without any leakage.
Don't buy it if...
You’re on a budget
This isn’t the most expensive food processor from Magimix, but it’s still quite an investment. If you’re on a budget and you can plump for a smaller bowl or forego a few of the attachments, there are less expensive options.
You’ve got a small kitchen
The processor itself is bulky, plus the storage box will need a home, so if you’re already short on space, it might be worth opting for a more compact food processor with fewer attachments.
You need an extra-large capacity food processor
If you regularly batch bake or cook for a crowd, it might be worth considering the larger 3.6-litre / 16 cup Magimix 5200XL food processor, the larger capacity is better suited to bigger batches.
First reviewed: January 2022
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