Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I killed my 11 c Cuisinart Food processor last night. I normally mix my sourdough by hand, but I just was gifted "Classic Sourdough" by Ed Wood, and I wanted to try his Cheese and Onion sourdough. I was going to dirty the food processor anyway to grate the cheese and chop the onion, so I figured I would get out the dough blade and try mixing the dough there. That was a mistake. I put the last 1/2 of flour in, turned my back to wash the measuring cup, smelled burning plastic and turned around to see smoke coming out of the motor housing.

So, the processor is 15 years old, and I got every dime out of it. We spent the morning comparing models. Asher is enamored of the new 13 cup models that have the dicing blades. If it works, it would be fun, not sure how often I would use it. I am more interested in basic chopping and slicing - the workhouse stuff. The Cuisinart was pretty good to me, lasting as long as it did; I have also had good luck with Kitchenaid, Breville and Zojirushi appliances.

What is everyone using these days?

--Lisa

I'm still a huge Cuisinart fan for an FP. I got my first 14 cup in 1977 and it still works. I now have . another 14 cup, I highly recommend going up in size. I've never wished it was smaller. For super small stuff I have the Cuisinart 4 cup elite. I bought most of the blades for my first one and still use them especially the French Fry cutter.

I second Alina's recommendation. I also have the Cuisinart 14 cup and it can do just about anything.
It's also the FP of choice for Ina Garten and top rated by CI. I don't think you could go wrong with that model.

Lisa,

FWIW, I use my Indian food grinder way more than my food processor.

Fuzzy,
Sounds interesting, which model grinder do you have?

This one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007T0CIVS/re ... IVS5207973

Advantages over FP: MUCH better at making pastes out of hard ingredients, especially Indian, Thai, and Mexican spice pastes (I've never seen an FP that could handle galangal).

Disadvantages compared to FP: no slicing/grating. Always purees, can't really do a fine mince.

... so it depends on what you use your FP for. Since I don't do slicing/grating, but I do do a lot of food requiring spice pastes, it's superior. Note that a Vita-mix works pretty well as a food grinder, although it does need a bit more liquid.

I'm looking at replacing my Cuisinart 11 cup with another one. My bowl has some cracks and the new blade they sent just doesn't fit right. I could buy a new bowl and complain about the blade but way back when I got it hubby burned the front display and the new stainless one at Costco is just so pretty.....
I need to look into whether all my slicing/shredding/julienne blades will work with the new model.

Fuzzy,

I already have a Vitamix, so I want a food processor that can slice as well as mix. I do like the Indian grinders, but they are kind of single purpose for what I need.

I wish the larger 14 cup Cuisinart came with the attachments that the 11 and 13 cup models do...

--Lisa

Lisa,

I actually have slicer/grater attachments for my KA, which I like better than the FP, for the simple reason of faster loading and faster cleanup.

More thoughts on this thread:

1) I already have the slicer and grater attachments for my Kitchenaid, which I shouldn't remind my husband about. They really don't work on softer foods well. I wonder what the options are in this area.
2) I am making vegetable soup tonight and wondering if that dicing attachment really would work on sweet potato or not. Or just soft fruits/veggies.
3) Will the 14c really mix stiff bread dough or am I going to burn another FP out? Because I *do* have the those slicing attachments...