Best kitchen purchase I ever made

Author's Rating:

Pros: Sturdy and quiet workhorse.  Cuts food preperation time significantly.  Worth every penny.

Cons: Limited disk choices come with the machine and no choice of having a chute.

The Bottom Line: 
For anyone really into cooking, the Cusinart 11-cup Food Processor should definitely be considered.  It's solid help in cutting food prep time and getting more consistent results.

Author's Review
I have owned many, many low cost food processors over the years.  Every single one of them was rendered useless in a matter of months.  The biggest problem I have encountered over and over again is that the part that get the most torque, the stem holding the disks, is made of plastic and breaks very quickly.

The fact that these parts are also made of plastic on the Cuisinart worried me.  But, Cuisinart seems to have figured out that spreading out the area where the torque will happen will reduce the chance of breakage.  The way the disks attach on the Cuisinart is far superior to anything I have experienced in the past. 

What I love about my Cuisinart 11-cup Food Processor:

*  It has a very quiet operation compared to all the processors I've had in the past. 


*  The Cuisinart feels solid in it's operation.  It does not hesitate to process through tough food items. 


*  The cutting surfaces are sharp and strong.

*  It provides very fast food preparation.   It will slice through an onion in a fraction of a second or shred a pound of cheese in just a few seconds.


*  Having everything cut to the same thickness has proven to improve my recipes.  When all the peppers, for example, are cut to the exact same thickness, it all cooks much more consistently.


*  The 11 cup capacity of the bowl is quite sufficient for my large family of ten people.

*   I like the concept of having a narrow food pusher inside a wide food pusher.  It gives me the ability to customize how I feed portions of food into the processor.  (See my note in the "tips" section regarding a little issue I have with this)

What I don't love about my Cuisinart 11-cup Food Processor:

*  Washing the parts is somewhat difficult due to the many crevices and pieces to take apart

*  I'm really not fond of the dough kneading abilities.  The dough hook stays low in the bowl and does not grab enough dough to process it quickly enough.  I find that there are dry spots that have not been pulled into the dough for quite a long time in the processing.  I get much better results when I knead my dough by hand.

*  I was greatly disappointed when I realized that, not only does it not come with one, but you can't even buy a chute attachment for the Cuisinart 11-cup Food Processor.  That was one thing the cheap machines had that I liked a lot.  When I'm making a big batch of coleslaw, for example, I always liked adding the chute attachment and shredding my cabbage right into a large mixing bowl.  Now, with my Cuisinart, I only have the ability to shred about 11 cups at a time, then I have to stop the machine, open it up, scoop out the shredded cabbage, put the machine back together again, close it up, and then proceed to shred the next *small* batch of cabbage.

*  Another disappointment was that the processor only comes with two disks: one for shredding, one for slicing.  You don't get any choice on the size you want to shred or slice your food into unless you purchase extra disks.  The extra disks are rather expensive, as well.  So far, I have not invested in more disks, but I plan to. 

*  Some people may not like how heavy the Cuisinart 11-cup Food Processor is.  It's totally not an issue to me since it permanently lives on my counter.  I use it absolutely every day and there is really no use in putting it into a cabinet when I'm done. But, if that is something you would typically do, be aware it is a very weighty machine.  Expect it to weight about 18 pounds.

*  The slicing and shredding disk don't seem to completely finish the job.  There is almost always something left on top of the disk when I finish.  This typically happens with cheese, but will also happen with vegetables on occasion.  It seems like there is just a bit too much space between the disk and the pusher so that the last bit of food is left behind, spinning around aimlessly on top of the disk.

Tips:

*  When using the food pusher assembly with the slicing or shredding disks, you will need to work on getting accustomed to how to precut certain food items.  This may take a bit of practice.  Cutting it to big will cause it to get stuck in the pusher.  Also, cutting it too big will sometimes cause the outer assembly to not be able to come down far enough to trigger the machine to start.  Cut the food too small and it may not slice or shred properly.

*  Also, when using the food pusher assembly, hold down the outer portion of the assembly as it will ride up and leave some food behind, especially with tougher or denser foods.

*  Be very, very careful when washing the sharp blades.  They truly are sharp.

*  If you purchase extra disks, spring for the storage container.  It's worth it.

Overall, the Cuisinart 11-cup Food Processor has been a wonderful addition to my kitchen.  My favorite ever, actually.  The downsides have been minor and, in my opinion, easily overcome.