A food processing apparatus comprising: a container (402, 3102, 3202, 3302) including at least one rotatable, sharp blade (408, 410); a drive unit having a drive coupler (2802, 2804) configured to rotate the at least one blade (408, 410); a controller configured to control the drive unit; and at least one non-transitory memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the controller, in response to a first user input, to sequentially: activate the drive unit for three seconds or less to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a first pulse; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for three seconds or less to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a second pulse; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a first blending segment; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a second blending segment; pause the drive unit for at least one second; and activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a third blending segment; wherein a total time period of all activations of the drive unit that are at least five seconds for blending segments is at least twenty-three seconds. a container (402, 3102, 3202, 3302) including at least one rotatable, sharp blade (408, 410); a drive unit having a drive coupler (2802, 2804) configured to rotate the at least one blade (408, 410); a controller configured to control the drive unit; and at least one non-transitory memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the controller, in response to a first user input, to sequentially: activate the drive unit for three seconds or less to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a first pulse; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for three seconds or less to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a second pulse; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a first blending segment; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a second blending segment; pause the drive unit for at least one second; and activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a third blending segment; wherein a total time period of all activations of the drive unit that are at least five seconds for blending segments is at least twenty-three seconds. activate the drive unit for three seconds or less to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a first pulse; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for three seconds or less to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a second pulse; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a first blending segment; pause the drive unit for at least one second; activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a second blending segment; pause the drive unit for at least one second; and activate the drive unit for at least five seconds to rotate the drive coupler (2802, 2804) as a third blending segment; wherein a total time period of all activations of the drive unit that are at least five seconds for blending segments is at least twenty-three seconds.