Steph, I had a really small food processor, and it was a lot more trouble than it was worth. I think 4 cups would be a very minimum size.

I ran a Google search on "food processor reviews" and the first two results were reviews from consummer research places with tests and a listing of places which sell the top brands, along with the reviews at those places from people who bought those models.

After we redo our kitchen, I'm planning to get the 11 cup size so I can also knead bread dough. My hands are not as adept at such activities any more, and I want to make breads in my new oven....built into what I hope will be my new gas stove, the 24" Bertazzoni gas range. I'm saving up money to get one of those!

Ditto what ML said. I have a Cuisinart blender/processor, but the processor part is really small. I like the blender part though.

moccasin - I'll look that up. I had a big one about 30 yrs ago, when it died I didn't replace it. about 8 yrs ago I bought one about 1 cp size. it's ok but won't be big enough. it's fine to chop an onion or mix a bit of sauce ... it'd be a pain tho to use to chop up a bag of carrots or a bunch of cauliflower, broccoli etc.

I don't want anything too big either - 4 cps oughta be just right! I can do things up once or twice a wk and keep in fridge. I probably ought to check a few recipes tho to see if any will need more space...

I looked at W while there today and they had a few nice looking ones and a few of those stick mixers also. 1 type was basically just for an individual size drink/smoothie. that'd be nice to have too. it wasn't very much - about 20.00.

my hands have been painful enough w/o me deciding to do a lot of chopping or even pushing thru a chopper thing like i saw on qvc. i'm having problems just turning the door knob to get in the house!

I forget the brand of mine. I have had it 25 years.It feeds from the top and shoots the chopped out a side shoot. Love it and just used it today. It is a bit of trouble to clean but I do it right away not giving food a chance to set up on it. LOl I got it at a yard sale for $5.00.

have you had/used yours a long time? do you use it a lot?

from what I'm seeing I think I'll end up going with either the cuisinart one or the black and decker. b/d has 450/500 w of power. both have one about 50-70 $s. that's about where I want to stay in price.

I looked at my 4 cp measuring cp and think maybe I should go for about 8 cps so stuff isn't crammed in it.

there was 1 at W that had 4 blades (2 layers of 2) but I don't remember what brand that was.

I will have to admit if mine broke I would not replace it. I use it mostly to grate carrots. the rest of food I prepare I just use hand grater or chop with a knife. It takes less time to chop with knife then dragging the food processor out using it then having to clean and put it away, They are heavy to lift and hard for me to get my hands on it. I hate things on my counters.

My rule of thumb is something that could fit a tight head of cabbage so I could make cole slaw without dismantling the thing after every load. My cole slaw needs carrots and onions as well as cabbage.

What I really need is something that slices strings of cabbage, which is why I bought that mandoline....and then promptly cut off the tip of my thumb (only a little on one side). Something sharp in the hands of an inept prep cook is a dangerous thing. :)

I have one of those hand held immersible thingies that really does a great job with whipping up omelettes and milkshakes. I remember it being less than $20? About?
Fits nicely in the silverware drawer.

shades - that's how I've been in the past - but, I'm gonna start eating mostly fresh veggies and fruit. Live, wholefoods and most everything needs chopped, mixed etc.

good part is I can mix stuff up and have in fridge so don't have to do it each day AND it's just me (and dogs) so I don't have to do as much as if I had kids to feed also.

and it hit me late last night that while a recipe may seem to need more 'room' because of the amount... I can cut a recipe in half since it's just me!

as things have been I chop up very little so didn't need anything really. tho, carrots for the dogs is getting old - lol! they love them (and so do I) so I either hand chop more than i'd like to or we go w/o carrots.

i have to check out yet what all they can eat raw other than carrots. and check boy's out with his vet!
no onion or tomato for them - that I know already.

moccasin - I'm with ya on having to continually dump the bowl so I can chop more/something else... it can add up quickly in a processor!

same with the sharp instruments. it's better if the sharp things have a barrier between them and my hands/fingers! If I need strips or slices i can still use my mandolin - WITH the handle part!!!

and I think the hand held thingie might be all I need to mix up a smoothie type thing. I haven't used my blender in yrs (it leaks anyway - and I've replaced the gasket etc and it still leaks).

Steph be careful on chopping up a bunch of stuff as some things do not keep well in fridge after chopping.

I am still a knife person and we have always been whole foods kind of people. I rarely buy prepared other then some canned veggies to have in pantry for winter when we can not get to the store. And I prefer frozen when we can get them home in time.

i will shades. i'm going to get a recipe book on it and there's a dvd of demonstrations on what to make, how to make it etc. i won't get into it a lot until after the move because i don't have the time (or space) right now but I figure I can get a head start in reading and watching the dvd when i'm resting and evenings when I've collapsed from cleaning, 'running around' doing things.

Steph, I bought a Ninja for my DF-in-law last Christmas and everybody here loved it. He needed to have all his food chopped small towards the end. The Ninja came with a big pitcher and a smaller bowl, and might be just what you need. The double blade does do a better job of making uniform sized pieces. Plus, you can totally puree things that you want to make into a smoothie, and put the whole pitcher in the fridge for your next meal. The motor totally detaches from the pitcher or bowl, so you mix and store in the same container.

I know, I sound like a commercial!

Here is a link that might be useful: See the video

i looked at one in W and online...does the plastic hold up well on it?

it's high on my list of possibilities. It's good to hear someone that really used it likes it!

It is a thick plastic. Since Dad died in March, I have not used it - especially with the kitchen disassembled. It seems as sturdy as anything else, maybe better.

That gadget looks very interesting. I'd like something that makes a bigger smoothie at once, the two-cup is a bit small for me and DH together. I don't want any leftovers, but think this is probably a 6 oz cup, which makes a 12 oz smoothie?
"cup" measurements these days can range from 4 oz to 8 oz. My little coffeemaker says 4 cups, but I get less than 2 full cups from it.

ML, that is when you use the pitcher instead of the smaller cup.

Aha. Thanks, Nancy. I forgot the pitcher is 48 ounces. The price seems reasonable too.

If you want to see the latest from Cuisinart, they are selling it in the Williams Sonoma Christmas catalog.
16 cup and 12 cup models. Oh boy.

Suggested retail price? %545 and %450 respectively.
Their price? $299.95 and $249.95 respectively.

Amen to that.

The Cuisinart Elite 4-cup miniPrep (suggested retail $110) is for sale $59.95. That is a little more like it.
I think I'll postpone a decision on anything for the kitchen until we redo our kitchen and see if I have any money left over for gadgets.

Gadgets. Sigh. Years ago we shed the air popcorn popper. Well we just bought a new one. Darn more stuff. Sure does a much better job then the microwave though. And the pups appreciate the over run onto the floor. Heheheheh

No more ideas on the food processor as at this point I am not planning on changing what has worked for me for years. But Nancy the one you posted does look really nice.

Chris, I was so afraid that microwave popcorn would be the death of hot air poppers that I went out and bought a new one to have if my current one ever goes belly-up! It is down in that basement of mine, somewhere.

OT:
We have an entire shelf of popcorn products in the skinny pantry. Black kernel, Orville kernel, cheap kernel, DH's micro (no fat, no salt), my micro (butter flavor, light or very light salt), and Kettle (now I know I bought a Whirleypop, where is it in that basement?)!

I have always gotten asthma symptoms if we use standard microwave popcorn. After the TV expose' on the lung problems of workers at the MW popcorn factories, I knew why!

The first thing I cooked on the new induction stove was old-fashioned stovetop, oil-in-big frypan popcorn. ;-)

PS and even more OT, I am working on a photo tour of the FR and Kitchen, see it later today.

OT and not to turn this to the popcorn thread. LOL I just read online to put popcorn kernels in the freezer to make them pop better.No idea why.

I do remember something about the mmicrowave doing something nasty to your lungs and popcorn. LOL Tried to forget about that. I do see the air popped is lower calorie if you do not use all the butter on it.

AND to keep it small house. The new air popper is much smaller in size than the old ones were. That does make it easier to stores. but the dang top wants to come off easily like the old ones. GGGRRR

And also the stops top models done in oil were also on sale so I guess it is pick your poison.

Chris

When we were married 7.5 years ago we registered for an 8-cup Cuisinart. A friend asked if it was OK if she got us the 10 (or maybe 12) cup instead since she liked it so much more. I'm so happy she did.Bigger is definitely better.

I don't use it real often but it's worked great for me every time. I run all the parts through the dishwasher no problem.

For awhile I was making a veggie slurry for the dogs and I would chop up probably 20 pounds of veggies at a time. I gave that up, but the food processor managed it just fine.

Oh, and the best popcorn in the world is made across the street from my office: Fireworks Popcorn. It's awesome!

Here is a link that might be useful: Fireworks Popcorn

"For awhile I was making a veggie slurry for the dogs and I would chop up probably 20 pounds of veggies at a time."

it's good to know that it handled that much in veggies without any problems! not sure I'll do that much at a time, but maybe thru-out the week I will.

Oh sorry, I should clarify that .... it wasn't 20 pounds all at once ... I did it in batches, but I'd have the thing running virtually non-stop for 30 minutes or more.

I've got the 10/12 cup Cuisinart which I received over 30 years ago! It was suggested to me by a friend, that I keep it out on the kitchen counter, that way I would see it and use it.

I do use it several times a week. The cleaning is just soapy water for container, lid and blades. The clear plastic container has gotten a little dull over the years, and the plastic on the blades a little yellow but it is still running great! It has been with us on all our military moves too.

Such a time saver for when I need more than one chopped onion etc.

Emily, it is always great to hear that some appliances are around for the long haul. I hope Cuisinart quality is still this good when I get ready to put one in our future kitchen redo.

'Oh sorry, I should clarify that .... it wasn't 20 pounds all at once '

no problem, I figured that. I'd do the same - run a bunch of something thru, dump it in a container and re-load - lol!

I ordered the ninja from qvc (4 easy pays). I figured if it didn't work out, at least my money isn't tied up. I'm thinking positive tho so don't pay s/h back. I also thought about the weight of the bowl/pitcher and plastic is good for me. also less likely to break if it slips out of my hands. It does have a huge pitcher that I thought would be good for making juice and sauce/ salsa. I'll probably use the smaller one most of the time.

most of the others don't get over 500 w, the vitamix qvc had on this a.m. is 1380 watts and the ninja is 1100 I think.

it should be here this week and I hope I have the time/feel up to spending time figuring it out and doing a test run with it!