food processor question

[Rosendula]

Lurking in the back of a cupboard I found a funny-looking thing that looked like it should go with the food processor. Out came the instruction manual (yes, I keep them and even know where they are!). Turns out, this funny looking thing is an emulsifying disk. Ah! That explains it -- not.
Can anyone shed any light please?

[Green Aura]

Not really, but it sounds like it's for making mayonnaise and stuff like that, where you're making an emulsion.

[Odsox]

I have one of these for a hand-held (stick) blender ... the sort you can put in a saucepan, and GA is quite correct it's for making mayo and whipping cream.
Also with mine it will whip skimmed milk into a cream substitute.

[Graye]

Is it about the size of a CD with wavy edges?

I've long lost the instruction book on my Moulinex but it has little pictures on the buttons and these seem to suggest mousse type things, ie gentle whisking.

[Rosendula]

Is it about the size of a CD with wavy edges?

I've long lost the instruction book on my Moulinex but it has little pictures on the buttons and these seem to suggest mousse type things, ie gentle whisking.

Yes, that's just what it's like. So I could froth milk with it, but not try to make butter?

[Graye]

I think it's really intended for mayonnaise, milk frothing, light mousses etc.

Were you looking to make butter? My Mom is an ace butter maker and she uses her Kenwood with K beaters. She buys up all the reduced cream in her local Waitrose (down to 10p a pint most weeks), makes up the butter without salt and freezes it in handy size greaseproof paper packs. I always leave with a few whenever I visit!

I'm not sure what you could use on a different type of processor - the whisks might be too delicate and the blades would just chop it up, although that wouldn't matter as you could soon shape it once the buttermilk was all poured off. I'm sure there is somewhere here who can tell you a method which is a bit less labour intensive than churning though...

[Annpan]

Shake it in a big jar - I've done this and it is pretty easy, takes a while though but a good occupation for a toddler

[Rosendula]

Thanks for the tips. I usually make butter using the chopper but wondered about the emulsifier with there being a small gap below it where the buttermilk could drain to. Having looked at it again, I don't think the bumps on the disk are big enough to give the cream a good enough beating, so I won't even try. I'm just curious about the disk.