favorite food processor

12 years ago

My son wants a new food processor for Christmas. He is my foodie/chef. I have a very old Cuisinart that works ok, but I have never thought it was great.

Anyone have a make and model of a really great food processor to recommend?

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Comments (20)

mary3444
12 years ago
I have had a Cuisinart for 10 years. I would not purchase anything else. Never had a problem with mine.
patti43
12 years ago
I have a Cuisinart, too. No gripes here except I got a 7 cup and wish I'd gotten the 9 cup. Check with Macy's and Kohl's. They sometimes have fantastic deals on them this time of year.
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I have had a food process for 35 years or more. So, I have used it from the time I had babies to the present time when my nest consists of my husband, his 85 year old mother, and me. When I was cooking big meals, the time saved chopping onions, celery, etc. was far more than the time spent washing the food processor, bowl, lid, and blades. (Yes, you can put all those things in the dishwasher, but boy do they ever fill up the top of the dishwasher fast.) Now, not so much. I can get out a paring knife or chef's knife and chop my one onion, one stalk of celery, and wash that knife in very little more time than it takes to put the processor together, much less wash and dry it all. That being said, when I am doing big cooking, like at the holidays, I am very glad to still have a food processor. On those days, when I am chopping pounds of onions and whole stalks of celery, pounds of nuts, etc., it's more than worth having. I have let the blender go by the wayside over the years. The food processor does everything it can do and more. I do like my little immersion blender from time to time. I do not use my FP for making bread. I have a Zoji bread machine for that, and I will never want to be without that. I make pie crust by hand with a steel pastry cutter. It makes a bit bigger mess, but the quality of the crust is far better than any I was ever able to make in the FP. I have a Victorio Food Mill, so I don't use my Food Processor in canning, except if I am making relishes with onions and garlic. I probably don't even need to use it then, but I don't want the allium smells in the Victorio's parts. I confess that I have grown lazy and buy most cheese already shredded now. But when I was cooking for a crowd, I used my FP shredder blade a lot. It saves money and time without a doubt. I have had Cuisinart, KitchenAid, and an inexpensive one that came from WalMart years ago. You know what? They have all performed basically the same, though the inexpensive one was louder. The Cuisinart and Kitchen Aid lasted longer, but probably not enough to justify the extra expense. Nevertheless, I have a KitchenAid right now and I really do like it. I would hate to be without, but the day may come when I need the counter space more. Our needs do change as time passes.
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You know, I spent a lot of money on a Cuisinart food processor- its an 11 cup, so decent capacity. I'm a bachelor, so when I cook, I make REALLY BIG batches, and it entails A LOT of veg prep. I typically make 10-11 quart batches of soup, chili, etc. At first, I was severely disappointed with the peppers/onion chopping. I mistakenly used the S- blade for things I shouldn't. Somebody on this site said that "it takes practice". So true. I am now chopping with my food processor with decent results; I would dare say almost presentable where it matters. I basically use the disc (round) slicing blade (not the shredding blade), and I sort of crowd the small round feed tube on top of the lid to keep the vegetables together and unable to move around. For example, I put half a small bell pepper cut into four pieces plus half of the top, pushed it down quickly, and got a nice chop. So, it's possible to cut down (haha) prep time with decent results. If it works, I am attaching a pic of a chop I just did. I am making chicken, peppers, onion, and black beans with cilantro lime rice (basically Chipotle at home). YUM! :) So yes, food processor is your friend. Happy cooking all!
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"I do worry about the high calorie count of smoothies, though, which is part of why we only buy them infrequently." The major advantage to making your own is you control the ingredients. Start with a non fat greek yogurt, add half a frozen banana and frozen strawberries for a great, low fat, healthy smoothie. I regret I didn't have my blentec when my girls were eating purees, but now that they are older (school age), I find the smoothies even more important because it ensures they eat wholesome, healthy foods. If you look at the Sneaky Chef or Seinfeld cookbooks, you can get alot of ideas for adding purees to food. Your Au Gratin sounds divine. If it will peel the spuds, I will go buy the cuisinart food processor today. LOL!
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I forgot about Thermomix. :) It's barely available in the U.S. I think the Magimix at Williams Sonoma is the 5200XL but I can't find a good description of the Magimix models. I like the concept of the multiple bowl sizes. I have an 11-cup which is often not quite big enough but other times just right. My main reason for liking the Magimix, given that there are positives for both it and the Cuisinart, is aesthetic. :) I was looking awhile back, before I was able to fix my Cuisinart (I think percussive maintenance did the trick), and was tempted by the Robot Coupe, but it's so un-pretty! And I don't really need a commercial machine. OTOH, my mother's old disks might fit the 14 cup Cuisinart. I'll have to look into it. And them. To see if I really want them. I use the grater and the rasp on my current one, but not the slicer. And I have a KA mixer and a Vita-mix, so I don't need it to try to do what they do. :) I definitely don't need the Pastisier, and I'm not Euro enough to want the one that cooks. :) I have lots of pots.
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Orchidllauraga
12 years ago
I have a KitchenAid FP and I love it!! Wouldn't want anything else.
alisande
12 years ago
I have a KitchenAid too. I can't compare it to any other brand because it's the only one I've ever owned. I've had it for years and years, and it's great!
sjerin
12 years ago
Twenty-year-old Cuisinart. So far, so good.
oldfixer
12 years ago
Never had one, so can't recommend other than a good knife.
Lillie1441
12 years ago
I just recently bought a Ninja.It has 3 different size containers and a set of blades at the top and bottom of the container.This helps to evenly mix the contents.The motor sits on the top of the container.So far I really like it.I ordered it from QVC but you can find them online or on the QVC website.
carol_in_california
12 years ago
I have had my Cuisinart since 1983....I still use it a lot.
I feel I have gotten my money's worth over the years.
I have most of the disks and even a pasta attachment and it has been worth every penny.
Fun2BHere
12 years ago
I have a Magimix. Love it!
Elmer J Fudd
12 years ago
I've been through a few lately (returned all) and I'd say the newer ones are rather inferior. Hold on to those oldies, you'll have trouble replacing like for like, even within the same brand.
Jasdip
12 years ago
I had a Philips one for 30+ years that I loved. It finally bit the dust, and I saw a Black and Decker reduced to $20 and bought it.
It has a wide-mouth feed and is very powerful. In fact, I think it's too powerful. The pulse button doesn't start and stop immediately, it takes a few seconds to wind down. I mostly use my processor for breadcrumbs and scalloped potatoes, so it's fine for my use.

Crap, I got the pic from google images, and it's big and blurry. Sorry
Marilyn Sue
12 years ago
I have an 11 cup Kitchen Aid and have no complaints with it. I have had it for several years. My daughter bought it for me. I use it a lot.

Sue
bob_cville
12 years ago
For a long time I never had a food processor and would just use a good knife. However a couple of years back we had a bonanza of basil, and wanted to make and freeze pesto. I think it was quicker to drive to town (15 min) buy a food processor, bring it home, set it up and use it, than it would have been to chop all of the basil by hand. I rarely use it since its rare that there is any time saved once set-up and clean-up time are factored in. The one I got was this one by Hamilton Beach

I do really like that it is low-profile enough that it fits in a drawer, because that's where it spends most of it time. I don't think it is powerful enough to make dough or some of the other more intensive tasks people use them for, but since I have never felt like making dough, it hasn't been a problem.

I do now also have a low-end ninja blender system that can also work pretty well as a food processor that I got at a yard sale for $5.
dees_1
12 years ago
I am a kitchen gadget junkie. I have a 9 cup Cuisinart FP that I've had for close to 20 years. I don't use it much but I like it. I have a Cusinart mini chopper that I use a lot and an Braun immersion blender that has a small chopper attachment. I also have a Ninja 1200 but I don't use it as a FP. I like the KitchenAid approach with the larger and smaller bowls.

I mostly use my knives though. If I have to grate a lot of cheese, I'll bring it out. If I have to slice thin, I use a mandolin.

Yeah, I'm a kitchen gadget junkie.
Georgysmom
12 years ago
I had a Cuisinart and hated it. I now have a Hamilton Beach wide mouth and love it, but then again, I mostly chop by hand and use the food processor for shredding cheese or cabbage for slaw. I will say this, though, if your son is a foodie, you should probably stick with the Cuisinart. That's the machine of choice on almost all cooking shows I watch and he would probably be disappointed if you got him something else (even if it was better).
Elmer J Fudd
12 years ago
I returned a Cuisinart recently.

Among other problems, the newest models have a ridiculous design flaw - there's a internal lid in the food chamber that food gets trapped behind. There's no easy way to clean it. Pieces just accumulate and fester, really disgusting.
jel48
12 years ago
I don't have a food processor and have never had one, but saw the ad for this one on TV the other day and thought it sounded really nice. You can adjust the thickness of the slices without ever opening it up, or even stopping it from running if it's already running. But, I also think it's kind of pricy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Aid Food Processor
Lee
12 years ago
If your son is the family foodie/chef I would let HIM choose which food processor he wants.

I say that because I checked out jel48's link which showed that website carries over one (1) dozen Cuisinart models and over 2 dozen KitchenAid models. WOW!
Since even a gift card limits him to the selection carried by that store, I would just give him the cash in a box with a copy of a food processor inside -- nicely wrapped, of course.
kayjones
12 years ago
I have two 2 standards - both Sunbeams and a mini B&D - I have had good experiences with all of them. I would not like to cook without one - they are SO versatile!
maire_cate
12 years ago
I bought my Cuisinart in 1983. It's still going strong. But so many brands are no longer the same - they've been bought by other companies who also buy the name and market it that way. Cuisinart went bankrupt and was bought by Conair...the small appliance maker.

Here's the top ten ranking from my online Consumer Reports:

Breville ($400)

then 3 Cuisinart models

Hamilton Beach Big Mouth

Oster

Hamilton Beach

Magimix

Kitchen Aid

Black and Decker

favorite food processor

Comments (20)

mary3444

patti43

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