When French catering company employee Pierre Verdun realized that his customers were spending a lot of time preparing vegetables, he designed the first basic food processor. It was a very basic model and it was not much more than a bowl with a blade in the bottom that moved to stir the ingredients. This was the beginning of the company known in the United States as Robot Coupe USA Inc.
There is not much difference between blenders and food processors, the main difference being the blades. They are fixed in a blender while those in a food processor can be removed. Different blades will allow for different types of chopping and brewing. A blade will do the work that a whisk cannot and different types of blades will allow products to be cut and minced differently.
In 1960 the Robot Coupe company was created and began to manufacture them for the catering industry. Although a better model was available in the late 1960s, it was 1972 before a version was made for use at home.
There are a number of different products available including vegetable prep machines, bowl cutter blender, electric blenders, and automatic juicers. The designs are easy to understand, but if the components are not assembled correctly, the desired effect will not be achieved. For a mixer, a plastic bowl is placed around the shaft and the blades are attached to the shaft. For cutting they will be placed at the bottom, for slicing they will be closer to the top. The feeding tube is the last part to be added, and it is through it that the ingredients are added.
The machine has various speeds and these can be changed during the process. For establishments of different sizes, there are suitable machines. The machines are specifically designed for different foods, so there are many different types. Some can be used for some items, such as various vegetables, but separate ones would be needed for ice cream and sorbets.
These mixers are high-end equipment and operate to the highest standards for catering or home use. The solid ingredients can be turned into quite thick meals, such as soups, or by switching to the mixer, you can prepare mayonnaise or “fromage frais”. In 1974 there was the Magimix and this was the beginning of houses that had easily affordable equipment that made cooking much easier for people who cook at home. The 1960s and 1970s were the time when dinner became more popular, and as products like the hostess cart were developed, it made sense for advances to be made in the kitchen.
In 1992, the company developed a scientific arm. This allowed lab workers to mix their ingredients with the same level of ease as kitchen staff. This made it easy to work with items as diverse as tablets or cosmetics.
Robot Coupe has won awards, including the USDA National Peanut Research Laboratory, for point-of-purchase analysis of aflatoxins. They are recognized as leaders in both research and technology.
