I have a cuisinart pro classic....but it's so old it was called a DLC 10....it's great for tough jobs...
I don't "grind" dry bread for crumbs...I use the medium grating disc and have crumbs in the wink of any eye.
No FP does well at "grinding" semi frozen meat....it gets stringy and wraps around the blade. Try the slicing disc instead.
I would replace what you had....abd Bed bath and beyond has them for $99 lost I looked!

And if it could also dice raw pancetta, it would be worth its weight in gold!

If you have the budget for it, and can't say enough good things about the Breville Sous Chef. Even better is the Sous Chef Peel & Dice.

There's a lot about them in this forum and appliances.

There is a smaller bowl, which works great for smaller jobs but only has a knife. Works great, though, especially as the big bowl is quite big. I haven't done the frozen bacon, but I just made three squares of last year's matzah into bitty crumbs no issue. :) I do break things up first.

My biggest word for how it works is "FWOAM!". I don't usually gush over countertop appliances, but this one is gush worthy. Really well designed, with a people first though, rather than shipping/display first.

And is the Breville huge? I only have 16" from countertop to cabinets... It would not need to be fully assembled all the time, but I am a bit worried about getting a monster.

Also, of the Cousinart, I liked that it had the simple lid (the one without food guides); in the end it's the lid I use 90% of the time, and I can put ingredients in (oil, basil, etc) very simply through the central hole. Does the Breville also have a simple lid, or does one need to use the lid with tall food guide all the time?

Hm... I'll measure. It might be a bit of a monster, but I think it's worth it. On their website there's something funky with the sizes. There is a smaller one, 12 cup, that doesn't do the peel and dice, but fully assembled they say it's still 16.5" They're on sale now.

The accessory storage caddy is brilliantly designed, but more of a storage hog. And the extra dicing sets have another good sized caddy. But much, much love here even so!

https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/food-processors/bfp680.html

I've never seen a lid that didn't have a food chute on a Cuisinart (I had one for many years but wore it out). The Breville does have the chute. Both brands require the pusher to be in the chute in order to operate. It's a safety measure. I'm wondering if your old FP was from before that feature was added.

I'm curious, is there a reason you cannot just get a new Cuisinart?

Or simply get a replacement blade?

https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/food_processors/

I definitely could get another Cuisinart. I am very tempted by just getting the 7cup Pro Classic again with the flat bowl cover.

On Amazon, reviews of the Breville Sous Chef cite:

- very short cord

- the plastic bowl breaks often where it inserts in the base

- the plastic bowl cannot be immersed for washing

- the blades sometimes damage the top of the cover

Overall, that's an impressive number of complaints for what should be a quality product. Is this also the experience on this forum?

Or go pro with a Robocoupe!

Okay, rounding, and fully assembled including the cap on the center vial of the pusher, my Breville 16 cup Sous Chef Peel & Dice is nearly 18" tall. Call it 18" including some wiggle room. The motor base is about 9"x11". It's a bit curvy and I just eyeballed the corners against the measuring tape, but again, tried to be generous. I think the website measures are a combo of metric and inches, but marked as inches.

The pusher has a round middle vial and an oblong removable middle section. It can make the cleaning a little more involved, but it's great if you want a larger opening to add while it's running. There is no drizzle hole in the center vial, like there is on a Cuisinart, but you can easily pour or use a spice funnel or similar, to do your drizzle. Or drill your own hole.

This is the thread where I learned about it, and reported back. It's from years ago, so ignore the bits about special pricing and offers for the extra dicing kits.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4896049/breville-sous-chef-peel-and-dice-processor-best-thing-in-my-kitchen#n=53

I wrote this last Summer comparing the two FPs--there's a lot of other stuff on that thread so I'm copying the Breville stuff here:

A lot depends on how you cook and what you want a food processor to do. I don't use it much for daily, small cooking, though you could, and it comes with a small bowl and knife set for small tasks (the big bowl is sufficiently bigger than my Cuisinart that it gets rid of some of the annoyances just by being bigger. For instance, you can shred a large block of cheese without having to dump out several times, though you might need to redistribute in the bowl). It's easy to clean. Most pieces can go in the dishwasher, though I don't for various reasons of my own. I often cook larger meals (for 6, 12 or 36), however, or have limited time or limited stand-around-fiddling-with-prep gumption, and it does so much so fast! The first to go is the grating. FWOAM! Done. There's an adjustable slicer. I could use a mandoline, but the machine is easier...and FWOAM! It dices. Really. Though not so well with hard roots. With more amenable things it's a miracle. It doesn't have a rasp (which is why I keep the Cuisinart for the one thing it has always done a superior job on),

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my old Cuisinart does a fine job of grating cheddar, and even as soft as mozzarella. The problem is the size of the bowl, 11-cup. All the shreds land in a small area next to the chute and stay there, so it has to be taken apart and emptied several to many times per block. I think the bowl on this model Breville is 16-cup, so it accommodates more to start with, and the cheese seems to fling farther, though that may be just from being wider. It still needs to be opened once during a big block of cheddar, but the disk comes off the top of the spindle, whereas the Cuisinart spindle is locked to the bottom of the disk. Taking the spindle out leaves all kinds of room for mess. With the Breville, just lift the disk, push grated cheese to a less full (not completely empty) part of the bowl, then drop it back on and go back to grating. I don't know if new Cuisinarts have closed bowls and/or detachable spindles. Mine is from 15-20 years ago. My mother's 1965 Nu-tone had no problems grating cheddar either, nor carrots. I can't remember about potatoes.

I think I also grated potatoes on the Cuisineart. The grating of the cheddar comparison above would hold for anything. Grating potatoes of any kind, and sweet potatoes, is a dream on the Breville. FWOAM! With my old Cuisineart, you have to push. Not muscle-y, but if you don't use some downward pressure on the pusher, the disk will go round bumping the potatoes but not shredding them. The pusher on the Breville is heavier plastic, and has three, rather than two parts (i.e., another form of more weight), so that might make a big difference. I do hold the pusher, but I think the potatoes go faster than I can push. That's why my lingering impression is "FWOAM!"

N.B.: I don't make hash browns, but do use it to make latkes for the multitudes. The holes seem equivalent to my old box grater, but I think they're a little smaller than on my dish with lid grater. I don't know if exact size of the grated matter matters to you. So far, there aren't any add-on disks. The grater disk has big holes on one side and little on the other, which works very well. The little holes will do fine strings of parm. I think it's about the same as they use for those bags of tiny strings of grated cheese at the store, I still prefer the powdered, for which you need a rasp. As I said, I'm keeping the old Cuisineart just for that. Other people want it too, going by comments on their site (i was hoping to find the disk had been added, but will take the comments).

An issue may be that the whole shebang--all the accessories including the main knife--fit in a beautifully fitted housing. The initial peel and dice kit, which is an add-on to the Sous Chef (which you can also buy without it) is fitted into a tray that connects under the main housing. The extra two dicing kits (a separate purchase), have their own fitted housing. If they add more disks, it'll probably be a set with their own storage box, to match. And I don't know what else it could do. The rasp is the only side of the box grater that isn't covered. The slicer is adjustable so you don't need extra sizes. Maybe another size of julienne? A second grating disk with holes in between the current ones and giant on the other, like for shredded lettuce and cabbage? I'd buy and use that set, not just to get the rasp. But I don't know if it would sell well enough to be worth their while.

Re the peeling, it's not perfect. I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere regarding this that the standard size potato in the antipodes is much smaller and rounder than ours, and that's what the peeler is for. It is not suitable for fries, unless you're making matchsticks, nor for any time you want a pretty whole peeled potato, but if you're making hashed browns, mashed, latkes, scalloped, diced or any kind of dish where they're cut up, it does work. There are often a few little spots of skin to clean up, and it won't get into the concave bits where the potato grew around a stone. Plus all I said above about how they get beat up, and you do lose as much as with a too good manual peeler. It's totally not perfect, and I'd never bother for one potato.

For dozens of latkes, I get the bags of smaller potatoes from Trader Joe's which need only one or two cuts, if any, to work, and hand 'em over to the peeler. It works best with three or four chunks/potatoes at a time, so I clean up the first batch while the next runs, and the whole bag is done in half the time or less, and with much less actual work or fatigue.

--------------

I've also used the peeler on an apple. Same beat up and not pretty, but for cooking purposes, it worked just fine.

Luca, I'm not trying to sell you. Just trying to give you a complete picture so you can make an informed choice. It is very powerful. Since my first post, I've remembered that my Cuisinart used to stick and come to a halt on various vegetables, but the Breville just cuts through, and I think that's what you wanted.

You have almost sold me, except that it seems large and complicated, and I love how compact is my Cuisinart with the flat lid. If only I had a blade (it seems I have to get a whole new one to get a blade)... The advantage of the flat lid is that when I make e.g. pesto sauce, I can keep the center open and use it to add basil leaves, oil, pine nuts, etc, gradually while it is spinning, super easy. Also when I mince onions or celery, I can do it with the flat top, which is so much easier to clean...

What really tempts me of the Breville is the variable-thickness slicer, which seems to be very well implemented. But I have a mandolin already...

I want something simple, simple to clean, reliable, with a variable thickness slicer, grader, and perhaps a Julienne. I usually don't mind emptying the bowl multiple times; I don't think I have ever found a 7-cup processor too small.

At any rate, I am incredibly grateful for your in-depth review. I am just very undecided now between the Breville and just another Cuisinart Classic Pro.

Thanks for the picture! I'm unfamiliar with that model. Have you tried looking for a new knife on eBay, or through an appliance dealer/repair? Or Cuisinart directly? I reread your top post and see that yours is newer than mine, not older, so knives really should be available somewhere.

The Breville can do the adds the same way you describe. That's what the removable middle of the pusher is for. The new Cuisinarts have that too, with the round center that comes out (my 20 year old one does). The Breville has that as well as the larger one, so the pusher is actually three pieces. Only the outside piece has to be in place for it to operate.

You can see the pieces here at Sur La Table.

I never used the slicing disk on my old Cuisinart after the first few tries. The Breville is easier and a lot faster than a mandoline for about the same cleanup. Full sized, that is. I have a little paddle mandoline that does small and thin really fast and pops in the DW.

The important difference, I think, is that the Breville is probably a lot more powerful than your Classic.

You might be happier in the long run, however, just going with what has worked well for you all along. I wasn't so happy with my old Cuisinart, and didn't use it hard. When the pulse button wore through the covering, however, I was glad to replace it. :) Since you like your a lot more, finding a new knife or replacement unit might make more sense.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/333566975156

Lots of blades and other parts for the Cuisinart Pro Classic on eBay, not expensive at all.

Thank you all! Now I need to decide what to do :-) but it's good to have options!

I have a 1 mm. 2mm and a 4 mm slicing disc for my cuisinart. and a fine shredding and a medium shredding disc and a juilienne disc....which really doesn't work very well....all the pieces are curved because it spins.
I like the locking lid and the feed tube....I can add all sorts of stuff while it's working. and I believe you can get the flat lid too. But you can't use the flat lid with a disc.....and many of the things you want to do can't be done by any processor without a disc and slicing or grating blade.
you can dice things with the feed tube and a disc by slicing....and then picking up and and putting it into the feed tube with an opposite orientation>The issue of the grated or sliced stuff falling in one pile, easily fixed by giving the processor a shake.
There is one at church and many who use it don't have one at home and are not accustomed to using one. I have seen someone grate cheese and get the work bowl so full that the blade stalls..... so I don't think the capacity of a 7 cup bowl is a problem. Frankly I prefer the smaller for many things, I think it's quicker to get a good smooth puree.
I to have low clearance and slide it under my overhang with the bowl on the base and the top upside down in the bowl.
AND....it's $99!

I like my breville, which I got to replace a great 35 year old la machine that I dearly loved. I did have the a piece of the rim of my Breville bowl/container chip off pieces of plastic in my initial runs, and was not happy about it.

was even less thrilled with the company response. said that they had never heard of it before and gave me a song and dance that sounded like 'it sucks to be you'.

still, I like the machine, and you gotta store the top upside down in the bowl to get it to fit under the cabinet. It sure is nice, and is fab for slicing. too.

My Cuisinart is a Pro Classic like Luca's, except the base is silver metallic - a special edition 25th anniversary model.

Not that long ago Cuisinart replaced blades for free when it was found that the original blades were defective. There was a thread about it here, and that's how I learned of it and got a replacement new blade. Was yours that broke a new replacement blade or the original, Luca?

P.S. Not as recent as I thought - 2016:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4334983/cuisinart-processor-blade-recall#n=58

I got the Magimix 3200xl, and this is my review.

In summary, it is good, but just forget about using the middle bowl. Stow it away somewhere, and just stick to small and large bowls.

In detail:

I got the Magimix, and I immediately pulled out its sticky rubber feet, and stuck to the bottom some of those fabric slide-protectors used for chair and table legs. In this way, I can slide my Magimix easily from under the overhead cabinets (I have 16" of space and the Magimix just fits) to a position on the counter where I can use it. The rubber feet it came with are far too sticky, and can damage the Magimix while sliding it around.

The first thing I did was pesto sauce. The sauce came out great, but the cleanup was nothing short of a disaster. I used the three bowls in, as per instructions. While making the pesto, the inside of the small bowl was fully coated with oils, and so, I could not pull the small bowl out of the medium bowl. If I gripped with my hands inside the small bowl, they would slide because of the oils, and there was not enough space between the small and medium bowls for me to insert my hands and pull out the small bowl. GRRRRR!!! I had to put all three bowls in the sink, fill with soap and water, and only then my hands were able to grip the small bowl and pull it out.

Lesson: if you use the small bowl, DO NOT use also the medium one. There is no need, and you just make cleanup much more difficult.

On the positive side, the chute was very easy to use to add basil, pinenuts, oil while making pesto, and was very easy to clean. The pesto also was perfectly blended.

The second thing I made was some ... meatballs, except they were mostly vegetarian. But this aside, I used the large bowl, and the chopping blade, and it worked very well. Vegetables and cooked turkey were perfectly minced using the pulse setting, to the precise coarseness I wanted.

The third thing I did was slicing zucchini. I learned my lesson, and I did without the middle bowl, to make cleanup easier. It worked just fine. I used the 2mm slicing blade, and the slices that came out, in truth, were more like 3mm than 2mm. The cuts were perfect, super clean, no mushing, and the zucchini were perfect.

So in summary, this seems a bit of an overcomplicated processor. But just forget about the middle bowl. This way, when you use the small bowl you will be able to actually slide it out of the large bowl, and when you just use the large bowl, the Magimix will be as simple to use as any other food processor.

The storage box for the blades is super handy, and I just keep it in the corner of the counter, next to the Magimix, so finally I have at hand all I need without having to go cabinet-diving.

If you forget about the middle bowl, cleanup is easy, the blades are super sharp, the motor is very powerful, and the processor is a pleasure to use. I don't think the Magimix is deeply superior to my Cuisinart, but the chute and bowl feel more solid, it seems very well made, and I have no complaints at all.