What is a good food grinder?

We need to purchase a food processor but we can not afford an expensive high quality item at this time.



Specifically I want to make Humus. The beans seem to be quite hard. The last time I made it, it burnt up my blender. I dumped them straight from the can (rinsed) and it took quite a bit for the initial puree and I had difficulty mantaining cavitation until the puree was very smooth.



Will an inexpensive hand held blender/mixer do the job? Will I get more than three uses out of it? How much should I plan to spend for a cheapy that I can use more than once? $10.00? $20.00? Will boiling the beans to a sweet pea consistency help?



I liked What we made with light garlic and heavy roasted red peppers. Any other single ingredients that taste good?



Thanks



Frank Pytel
What is a good food grinder?
If you really want the 'BEST' - go to your local Goodwill and see if you can find one of those old hand crank steel grinders. You know the ones that they clamped onto the side of the table with a c-clamp??



They don't make them any more - why I don't know. Sadly, I didn't get my grandmother's grinder - my aunt did. But those things could literally grind up NAILS if it had to I bet.



As to the electric ones - they all seemed the same to me (I am not a fan as you can tell - but have bought a cheap processor for the times I might need one). But I wouldn't suggest a hand held model for what you are thinking of doing.
Reply:You do need a food processor, not a blender. A blender needs more liquid than a food processor, which can do solid foods.



I don't think a mixer will suffice. Food processors aren't that expensive. I think mine was $40.