Food Processors. What to Consider

[Bighorn Dave]

I thought the spousal unit was going to have a melt down last evening while dealing with her older than dirt food processor. I knew right then and there a new one was in our future. Just wanted to reach out here to get a sense of what others may want to recommend and why. As far as budget I would like to keep it under $300 but willing to consider paying more if the product is justified. TIA

[Medusa]

Hi Bighorn Dave!

I recently got a MagixMix Compact 3200XL through Willams-Sonoma. Made in France I believe. We had a $99 KitchenAid that was I used semi-broken (handle, lid cracking) for over 2 years before it died. So I periodically did over 2 years of research before I settled on this one. Some of the recent 1-star reviews of the "popular, best-rated" food processors are horrifying. I can't tell you how many times I've said to my wife, "Linda, found one", and then 15 minutes later "forget it!". Everything in the picture comes standard, including the black ring when making soups and an egg whipper. The XL has XLarge feed chute. There are 3 bowls, small, medium, large. Small enough to fit under cabinet, so I don't have to lug it around from place to place when I want to use it. May not be large enough if you are cooking for big crowds - there is only 2 of us in this household. It is over $300.00, but well worth it. Also easy to clean up. Read some reviews on the Cuisinart and see what people say about cleaning that one.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

--Ed

[Skip]

We have a Cuisinart that's been here for 30+ years. It works great but sometimes I wish it had a larger bowl for Kenji's pizza dough. IMO buy a quality unit and you're set for long time.

[Medusa]

30+ years. Nothing is built the way it used to be... Awesome!

[Bkhuna]

I have a 33 year old Cuisinart. Although I've had to replace the bowl, I think the base will last beyond my years. They were made of superior materials back then.

[JCBBQ]

100%! I have no idea what’s out there bc I’ve got my same cuisinart that I’ve had for o er 20 years.

[pkadare]

I recently did some extensive research on this as I had a crappy old one that among other things would fling liquids all over the kitchen. I wound up narrowing my choices down to 2 models:

• Cuisinart DFP-14BCNY 14-Cup Food Processor
• Breville BFP660SIL Sous Chef 16 Cup Food Processor

In the end I went with the Breville as I'm a huge fan of Breville appliances, I wanted the larger capacity, and I have the room in my kitchen cabinets to store it. I couldn't be happier with it.

As far as what you should look for, Reviews.com test criteria is a pretty good guide - https://www.reviews.com/food-processor/#Search

Good luck, let us know what you land on.

[mountainsmoker]

I am a solid Cuisinart devotee. Get their top of the of line and it will do any thing for you. Depending on what year you look at the Cuisinart and Breville flip top spots on the ratings charts. Both are outstanding food processors. Consumer Reports is a great rating source.

[HouseHomey]

I bought a KA in ??? 2003 and still have it. Robocoup works as well.

[fzxdoc]

Love my Breville Sous Chef 16 food processor. That thing is a beast and can handle anything. Well worth the investment.

Kathryn

[Bighorn Dave]

Just to satisfy our curiosity we made the trek to Costco to see what they had to offer. The Vitamix #320 for $280.00 and the Cuisinart 13 cup with several attachments for $150.00. Substantial difference in cost but the Vitamix is IMHO a better quality product while boasting a 7 year warranty, while the Cuisinart has a 2 year warranty that is limited. Since we are not running a busy kitchen I suspect the Cuisinart would do nicely and could be around for years to come. All that being said we decided to do some research on each before making a decision. Heck we may vary well find something elsewhere. Costco is not what it used to be and my level of trust on their pricing policy has declined a lot over the past few years.
We want to look at the Breville line also before purchase.

[mgaretz]

I second the MagiMix recommendation. I have one and it’s been great. MagiMix is the consumer division of Robot Coupe which originated the food processor and made the original Cuisinarts. I tried the die cast expensive Cuisinart and hated it.

[Murdy]

Quality counts. If you use them a lot, food processors live pretty hard lives compared to most appliances.

[mgaretz]

Just to satisfy our curiosity we made the trek to Costco to see what they had to offer. The Vitamix #320 for $280.00 and the Cuisinart 13 cup with several attachments for $150.00. Substantial difference in cost but the Vitamix is IMHO a better quality product while boasting a 7 year warranty, while the Cuisinart has a 2 year warranty that is limited. Since we are not running a busy kitchen I suspect the Cuisinart would do nicely and could be around for years to come. All that being said we decided to do some research on each before making a decision. Heck we may vary well find something elsewhere. Costco is not what it used to be and my level of trust on their pricing policy has declined a lot over the past few years.
We want to look at the Breville line also before purchase.

A Vitamix is a blender, not a food processor (unless they have some new product that's not on their website or anywhere) and they do vastly different things.

If you are really looking at a blender, check out BlendTec. Love ours, especially with the twister jar.

[Bighorn Dave]

I agree, it is a blender but my wife wants one of those as well for smoothies. My take is why not get a processor and have both? She now agrees. Looking at the vitamix had me wondering what it really was good for, thus my hesitation and wanting to research. Thanks for confirming what I thought.

[Bighorn Dave]

We swung by Williams Sonoma yesterday to check out what they had. By the time we headed for home we had ordered a Breville Sous Chef 12 food processor. They had a sale going on plus a promotion for an additional 20% off. Total was just short of $280.00 after tax. It should arrive next week on Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks to all for your suggestions and recommendations.

[fzxdoc]

You're going to love that choice, Bighorn Dave . I did the same thing, purchasing my Breville Sous Chef 16 from Williams Sonoma. It's a solid beast and you'll be surprised how fast that big motor gets the job done. Quite a difference from the lightweight 8 cup Kitchen Aid one that I replaced it with. I especially love the slicing blade that allows you to set the desired thickness for the slice. It pretty much made my mandoline redundant.

Kathryn

[Medusa]

mandoline... works well for fingers and knuckles.

[fzxdoc]

I'd give you a thumb's up on that, Medusa, except that I sliced my thumb tip off on the mandoline. Just kidding.

But you're right, those things need to be treated with great respect. One distraction and you've just made human tartar. That's why I love that variable thickness slicing blade on my Breville.

Kathryn

[pkadare]

Great choice Bighorn Dave! I love my Breville. I have the larger brother of the one you picked up and love everything about it, same as fzxdoc! Be careful of the blades, they are very sharp (voice of experience here. I now wear a cut proof glove, same as when I use my mandolin, when handling them).

[fzxdoc]

Good idea. I use a cutproof glove for my mandoline, but should probably put it on when inserting, removing, or washing those Breville blades. It's poor form to bleed on the food.

Kathryn

[Bighorn Dave]

Thanks and I'll pass this information along to my spousal unit when I hand her a new cut proof glove. Great tip.

[Medusa]

Knock 'em dead with the new processor Bighorn Dave . Buying stuff now can be such an journey because of the work we all do looking at review, after review, after review....

[Bighorn Dave]

AMEN to that LOL.