Food processor brands

Good afternoon gents. I looked over the blender post and it turned up some good results fast. Looks as if the VitaMix or Blendtec are the ultimate and the Waring will do for less than industrial rock crushing!

What I need worse than a blender(we have a functional KitchenAid) is a very good quality food processor. It does not have to the most powerful in the world, just efficient. They seem to be broken down into about three general sizes. 2-3 cups, 4-6, and 6-9. Our current Kitchen Aid is in the middle of that range. Truth be told, at times it is too small. It works just fine but if you are processing up bulky stuff it gets a bit dodgy. Would stepping up to a 9-12 cup model be a good move? I have heard that these things really can be too big and make processing smaller amounts a pain. Thoughts? How about brands? Cuisinart seems to be the de facto "name" in processors but I am wide open to suggestions. Thanks for the help.

Regards, Todd

I forgot to add something. Controls. I have become a minimalist with this stuff. I don't want twenty buttons on the front of this thing. ON/OFF/PULSE works. Maybe two speeds if it is convenient to use.

We have one of those Cuisinarts you mention, but I would submit that it is a bit on the complicated side (heck, the darn thing came with its own instructional DVD). Still, it does the job remarkably well.

I suggest the following. Get a Cuisinart for the larger recipes and admirable power, and a $14 Black and Decker Handi-chopper for the small stuff. The latter isn't nearly the quality of the former, but it'll do for basic 1-2 cup jobs, and is much easier to operate and clean.

Phog Allen said:

They seem to be broken down into about three general sizes. 2-3 cups, 4-6, and 6-9. Our current Kitchen Aid is in the middle of that range. Truth be told, at times it is too small. It works just fine but if you are processing up bulky stuff it gets a bit dodgy. Would stepping up to a 9-12 cup model be a good move? I have heard that these things really can be too big and make processing smaller amounts a pain. Thoughts? How about brands? Cuisinart seems to be the de facto "name" in processors but I am wide open to suggestions. Thanks for the help.

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A popular magazine (they don't like to be quoted) that reviews products and publishes REPORTS on CONSUMER goods rates KitchenAid very highly ... as a matter of fact, the 7-cup KA ($80) was picked as the "Best Value" and the 12-cup ($200) was chosen as the best performer out of the whole field.

KitchenAid also has a 9-cup model for $150 that scored well, but it received a worse-than-average score on pulsing.

Some brands (I think KA is one of them) have a smaller bowl that fits inside the big bowl, so that should solve the problem of processing smaller batches. It makes it a whole lot easier to clean, too.

One thing you want to look for, regardless of brand, is a wide feed tube. Generally, heavier units mean higher quality, and make sure you can get spare parts and replacement/accessory blades when you need them.

You're right that Cuisinart is a major player in the small appliance game ... in fact, out of the top 10 performers, the score was KitchenAid=4, Cuisinart=4, Oster=2. Kitchenaid was the clear leader, scoring both Win, Place and Show in performance, in addition to one model being "Best Value" with 7th place in performance.

One thing I like about Cuisinart is that they produce scaled down versions of their small appliances that don't scrimp on quality or leave out too many features of their big brothers. They're just smaller. This is important for someone who's only cooking for 1 or 2 people, or cramped for space, and don't want to sacrifice features or performance in order to conserve countertop space.

If you don't subscribe to "that magazine" yet, you should. An on-line subscription is only $26/yr, but it will save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of research time when you need (or want) to buy something.

Unfortunately, they don't review razors, brushes or soaps. That's why I come HERE.

Hi gents. Thank you for the responses. I have done some more web checking and found that indeed, Cuisinart is not necessarily the brand it once was. If what I am reading is correct, they were originally made by Robot Coupe. Weird name huh? I will tell you something even more weird. I have used and worked on one of these things. At work we service most of the kitchen equipment in the dormitories. The first time I saw this Robot Coupe I thought; "say what the hell is this?" A THREE PHASE FOOD PROCESSOR! With a three hp motor. If you understand electric motors at all, you understand that 3hp polyphase motors are POWERFUL . I had to replace the starting contact and multi position switch. I knew nothing of the brand's significance to the culinary world. I did experience the use of the machine. It was one of the veg prep machines that spits the product out of a chute rather than processing it in a bowl. It flies through the toughest vegetables with ease. I suspect you could use it double duty as a wood chipper for your yard! I went to the web site and found they make single phase 120v versions of these machines as well. Albeit in a less powerful form. They are still STOUT counter top appliances. I know the models we have at work are quite expensive. Closing in on $1200. That is obviously beyond my budget and then some. It may be worth checking into the Kitchen Aid since there seem to be some on the web who say that Robot Coupe is making theirs now whereas they used to make Cuisinart. Interesting.

Regards, Todd

I'm with Gruder on this one. I have a full sized Cuisinart, and their tiny model that I bought for five bucks, as it fell off the back of a truck. I use it at least 5X as much as the larger one.

Cuisinart is the standard for home food processors, imo.

I have a larger cuisinart that I bought for $10 at an estate sale. Looked like it had been taken care of and came with 6 different blades. It has ON & PULSE/OFF. The patent dates are from the 80s (I think) so its certainly a great product. If you don't want to buy one new (at the time I wasn't sure how much I'd use it, so wanted to go the cost effective route)...you can usually find them at an estate sale or perhaps online for cheaper.

I have the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus, bought it a year or two ago. I find it is completely solid and reliable.

Sorry to bump. Anyone else before this hits page two?

Regards Todd

We have had a Kitchen Aid model for well over 10 years now, very minimalist on the controls, that works very well. It's volume capacity is in the mid-range, eight cups, I think.

The Cuisinart does have more options, or did at one time, but for day in and day out slicing, dicing and whirling up stuff on a grand scale, this Kitchen Aid cannot be beat. My mom had the Cuisinart and I like the operation of the Kitchen Aid better.

I should add that my Kitchen Aid was really made by Kitchen Aid. The brand is made by Whirlpool now and I believe Cuisinart is no longer made by the French company that first developed it. Whether that makes a difference or not, I do not know.

I love my KitchenAid; it's larger (9-12 cup range?), but has in insert that's more like 1-3, so it's still good for small amounts. Pulses fine, IMO.

We have the Kitchenaid 9-cup model and so far, we really like it. It has a mini bowl & blade that fits into the larger bowl, making it a 4-cup chopper. Large feed tube. Solidly built. Hasn't balked at anything we've fed it so far.

I have the 12 cup Kitchenaid and would buy another.