Tefal® Fresh Express Review

Sometime ago, what looks like a mini alien landed on the kitchen worktop courtesy of Lakeland. "Oh!" is all what he said to express his befuddlement. Oh, indeed, The Tefal Fresh Express looks a little like a bot-dog, it has a very modern design, yet it is reminiscent of the 1950's. Undoubtedly, extremely stylish with its matt burgundy front and 5 colourful drums to jazz the lot up.

This Mini Food Processor comes with on board accessories which are directly stored in the body. Five little colour coded drums to help prep food: red for coarse grating, thick slicing is dark green as thin slicing is light green, not to forget the orange cone for fine grating and last but not least the yellow implement (more about it later).

Click, click. With one click the chosen cone is fitted in the cone holder with another the latter is engaged in the body and off you go.

The Tefal Fresh Express is extremely handy for small portions. The fact that a bowl or even a saucepan can be place under the machine gives it a edge on its large relative. For example, cheese omelette: grate the cheese directly in the beaten eggs, et voila.

And since no kitchen appliance is without a downside, here the main bug could be defined as "showering". Remember the yellow cone, this little helper is a star, it grates fruits finely and when you need to grate two tonnes of apples for chutney, this is a god sent. However when it comes to most other things, the Fresh Express "sprays and spits" some out, so you end up with carrots, cheese and bread crumbs not only in the recipient below but on the worktop too.

Then, there are some tricks to know to avoid frustration: if you press too hard, especially with "tough" vegetables, the plunger is likely to get stuck in and will be difficult to retrieve. When cheeses are too soft they stick to the drum and don't get grated.

Having said this, The Tefal Fresh Express has found proud place in my kitchen, I use it more and more, it looks good, it grates, cuts, shreds and slices all but fingers, it is fast and compact, easy to clean and partly self-storing.

Click here to see it in action
Costs £49.99 at Lakeland,

Three years on, in December 14, Fresh Express broke down, the weak part was the clipping funnel and plastic cone which take a lot of pressure. One of the clip snapped and that was the beginning of the end. It has not been perfect but I'll miss it for quick grating tasks.

Pictures on this post are courtesy of Lakeland