Faster than a Mini Coupe

Author's Rating:

Pros: Finely chopped, nicely ground items, attractive, easy to use, easy to clean, light-weight

Cons: Must precut some items to ensure even-ness, Longer cord desired.

The Bottom Line: 
The Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus may be small, but it packs a big punch.

Author's Review
The Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus was a wedding gift. We previously had a no name mini processor and registered for the Cuisinart because of its reputation and the size was just right for our kitchen and needs.

Description:
The mini prep plus has a base that comes in 3 colors red, white, or silver. We have silver with black buttons. The base has little rubber feet to avoid scratching countertops and limit noise and movement when in use. The black cord reaches about 2 feet. The 3-cup bowl is transparent with a black handle. It locks into place over the base. Inside the bowl is a white blade holder and 2 silver blades, which lock inside. The cover is transparent and also locks into place. The blades will not move if the processor is not secure.

There are two settings. Chop turns the blades in one direction and grind spins them in the other. The button has to be held down for the blades to turn.

The mini plus also comes with a small white spatula to scoop processed contents out of bowl.

For more info visit: www.cusinart.com

What I use it for:
- Grinding nuts for brownies or pies
- Apples for apple sauce
- Garlic and onion in cooking
- Carrots, egg, bacon, celery for salads
- hashbrowns
- Coffee
- Dried fruit for trailmix

Likes:
- Impossible to cut self during use; won't work unless in lock position.
- Machine is attractive and goes with kitchen.
- Makes less noise than old machine.
- Easy to maintain holding button without much vibration.
- Finely chopped walnuts perfect for brownies.
- Tomatoes for sauce.
- Other items come out finely chopped or nicely ground.
- Easy to clean. Sponge down base. Run soapy water through rest of processor.

Dislikes:
- Must cut items up for even processing. Example: precut onion and put pieces on all sides of bowl before processing to ensure even chop.
- White blade holder covers center hole during use. Once blade is removed to scoop contents out of bowl, food falls out of the center hole and onto counter and floor.
- Will puree everything, if not button is held instead of pulsed.
- After making tomato sauce, bowl holds stain for several washes.

Recommendations:
I recommend Cuisinart Mini-Prep Processor for all small food processing jobs. The machine is only about 6-inches in diameter, taking up little space on the countertop. Using it means not lugging out the blender or bigger processing machine.

It is the perfect size. Many recipes call for a cup of an item and this one holds 3 cups. Finely chops all items and as long as you start with several pieces of item, chop or grind is pretty even.

Everything needs to be locked into place to work and button must be held, creating a safer processing experience.

I can imagine this item also does wonders with homemade baby food, but have yet to test this out.

Lean&Mean