Lady Florida. Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 My Oster blender has a food processor bowl but I find it doesn't do everything I would like it to, and am considering buying a separate food processor. I don't want top of the line (read: highest priced) but I want a decent one. If you have a mid-level food processor that you would recommend, I'd love to know which one it is. ETA; I've seen recipes for dough using a food processor. Bonus points if the one you have can do that. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 We have an older Cuisinart one. It was a gift. I can do dough in it but I tend to use my stand mixer for dough instead. The model we have isn't the most expensive one they sell. I think it's the second largest bowl that they market to home cooks. It's a workhorse. It gets the job done. Truthfully, it's mainly used for salsa and pesto these days but we have used it for lots of different things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjffkj Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Nope. I got rid of mine when I decluttered my kitchen. I found I could chop veggies faster by hand wheni factored in the time it took to wash it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I have this Braun. I have one of the longer reviews on Amazon, from February of this year, if you want to read more. I first replaced my old food processor with a top-of-the-line KitchenAid. It was awful. I threw it away after a couple of months; I would not even donate it. The pieces were so finicky, there were about a jillion of them (it took half of my dishwasher to wash the thing) and it was heavy. The KA top, alone, had three pieces to it, all of which had to be in perfect alignment for the thing to work. It also took a huge space to store. This Braun gets the job done just fine. I don't like to knead dough in the food processor because the bowl isn't really big enough unless I have a mammoth model, which I don't want. I use my stand mixer for dough all of the time, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I don't knead in my food processor. I use it for chopping, shredding, blending soups, slicing and grating. I have a pretty old medium sized Cuisineart, and I've used it quite a bit over the years. Once I got a stick blender, I stopped using it so much. I don't find the parts hard to clean--I just wash them in the top rack of my dishwasher and they come out fine. About 5 years ago Williams Sonoma and Cuisineart collaborated to design a new food processor that has three different bowl sizes. My husband bought it for me for Christmas one year when we were 'flush'. He thought I was going to get rid of my old one at that point, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. A few years later we bought a cabin, and I took the new one up there--perfect! It's tremendously convenient to have the three bowls so you get just the right size. Plus although this is higher capacity and power than my old one, it takes up a lot less room thanks to redesign of the cutting disks (three in one now) and to a clever self-storage drawer for all the attachments, plus a retracting power cord. It is awesome. I love my Kitchen Aide mixer, but have been disappointed with the attachments beyond the basic ones for it, so I never was tempted to get the food processor attachment. If I were into serious juicing I'd have to invest in a Vitamix, but that's really more of a blender than a food processor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 We have an older Cuisinart one. It was a gift. I can do dough in it but I tend to use my stand mixer for dough instead. The model we have isn't the most expensive one they sell. I think it's the second largest bowl that they market to home cooks. It's a workhorse. It gets the job done. Truthfully, it's mainly used for salsa and pesto these days but we have used it for lots of different things. We have the 14-cup Cuisinart, also, and it gets a LOT of use in many different tasks. We also don't kneed bread in it, but it is used to grate cheese, which is a rather difficult task (for it and by hand). After many years of use and trips through the dishwasher, the bowl finally broke. But we liked it so well that we found another one just like it (entire unit with blades, etc.) on eBay in almost-new condition (for about $70 versus about $400 new with all the optional stuff!). Now we have lots of spare parts! Simply put: it's a very well-designed piece of equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 We have the 14-cup Cuisinart, also, and it gets a LOT of use in many different tasks. We also don't kneed bread in it, but it is used to grate cheese, which is a rather difficult task (for it and by hand). After many years of use and trips through the dishwasher, the bowl finally broke. But we liked it so well that we found another one just like it (entire unit with blades, etc.) on eBay in almost-new condition (for about $70 versus about $400 new with all the optional stuff!). Now we have lots of spare parts! Simply put: it's a very well-designed piece of equipment. Oh, yes, we get a lot of use out of the grating blade. I use that a lot for grating potatoes and zucchini for pancakes and breads and also for quickly grating a lot of cheese for pizza night. Summertime though it is definitely a Salsa-o-matic. We eat it almost everyday and the food processor makes that so much faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I have this Braun. I have one of the longer reviews on Amazon, from February of this year, if you want to read more. I first replaced my old food processor with a top-of-the-line KitchenAid. It was awful. I threw it away after a couple of months; I would not even donate it. The pieces were so finicky, there were about a jillion of them (it took half of my dishwasher to wash the thing) and it was heavy. The KA top, alone, had three pieces to it, all of which had to be in perfect alignment for the thing to work. It also took a huge space to store. This Braun gets the job done just fine. I don't like to knead dough in the food processor because the bowl isn't really big enough unless I have a mammoth model, which I don't want. I use my stand mixer for dough all of the time, though. I have this one too. I love that it is simple to put together, and it isn't very loud. We've had it for around 5 years with no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 My cuisinart is at least 25 years old and has turned yellow with age. I also have a smaller cuisinart that I really like. Then I have a 3rd cuisinart I think I paid about $10 at Goodwilll for. It looks brand new. I didn't need it but I couldn't resist. I figure my oringal one will stop working at some point, or maybe not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Nope. I got rid of mine when I decluttered my kitchen. I found I could chop veggies faster by hand wheni factored in the time it took to wash it. This is *exactly* my experience. I kept mine but use it only for pesto or for when we cook for the homeless and I have to chop 50 onions and then 20 pounds of carrots and then shred 20 pounds of potatoes and so on. THEN my food processor is faster. :0) ETA: I would totally go with a used one on eBay or whatever. I don't think a food processor is worth $400, but it is worth $50 or whatever, if you have the room to keep it. We got ours 30 years ago, and use it about 6 times a year.....just often enough to not remember how to put it all together. :0) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I have a kitchen aid food processor I love. I have had it over 10 years, can't remember for sure. It has a couple different size bowls. I use it a lot for grating cheese and last week made black bean burgers in it. I go through phases where I use it more or less. It has a lot of attachments like a juicer or a kneaded that I have used a couple of times but not recently. I love that I can put it in the dishwasher and have had no problems cleaning it. I dont use it as much as I could, but that is because I need to cook more I think. I am glad I have it but if it broke I would have to think hard about replacing it, just because I don't think I am getting my money's worth from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 My Oster blender has a food processor bowl but I find it doesn't do everything I would like it to, and am considering buying a separate food processor. I don't want top of the line (read: highest priced) but I want a decent one. If you have a mid-level food processor that you would recommend, I'd love to know which one it is. ETA; I've seen recipes for dough using a food processor. Bonus points if the one you have can do that. :) I had never owned one and bought my first this year after Christmas. I got it specifically for the dough feature you mentioned. :) I got the Cuisinart DLC-8SBC 11 cup Pro Custom It works beautifully! I have only used it for pizza dough and shredding large blocks of cheese. Oh, and turning cooked beans into 'refried' texture. This is the one recommended by America's Test Kitchen. I like it because in one batch you can make 2 lbs of dough, enough for 3 12-in pizzas. That's enough for us, so I don't have to do multiple batches. I found mine for the best price at macys.com (which is weird because I never shop at Macy's!) It costs about $110 on sale, plus you can get the stainless steel one. I think Amazon just has white, and it's about $135. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I have a mid-sized quisinart. It has served me faithfully for 17 years. It was a gift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 Thanks for the responses. I don't have to make dough in it but thought it might be fun to try. I usually use my bread maker on the dough cycle or my KA stand mixer. I had a food processor (can't recall the brand) but gave it away almost 10 years ago. Lately I've been sorry I got rid of it. I also think I want a mini one as well. I didn't think of Goodwill, so thanks for that idea gingersmom. I'll check our local thrift shops and Craigslist. Patty Joanna, I agree with your price considerations. It's not something I''m willing to spend hundreds for because I won't use it that much. Oh, and we're not into juicing at all, so it would be used as a food processor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 This is *exactly* my experience. I kept mine but use it only for pesto or for when we cook for the homeless and I have to chop 50 onions and then 20 pounds of carrots and then shred 20 pounds of potatoes and so on. THEN my food processor is faster. :0) ETA: I would totally go with a used one on eBay or whatever. I don't think a food processor is worth $400, but it is worth $50 or whatever, if you have the room to keep it. We got ours 30 years ago, and use it about 6 times a year.....just often enough to not remember how to put it all together. :0) I generally don't use it to chop things I could do about the same by hand but for some things, I just wouldn't make them without a food processor. Like salsa and pesto. Mine lives in the shelf in our utility closet (I have a shelf over my W/D) with the other bulky kitchen appliances and it comes down at least 1x a week, if not several. I'm not sure if I can fully describe how salsa and pesto dependent my diet is, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I have a Cuisinart (Classic 7 cup white base) that I've used extensively since 1998. I would have to look up the specs to be sure (I can; I kept the manual). This thing has been indestructible . I have never had a problem with it: easy to use, easy to clean, reliable, lasts. It has three blades: the "S" blade, the shredding blade and the slicing blade. I use it weekly for salsa, hummus and "refried" beans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I hadn't considered salsa. I just made pesto yesterday and I agree that there IS no substitute for a food processor for that. :0) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratford Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 I have a cuisinart that's about 12 years old.....still works great. I bought it at Costco and it came with a second bowl and a whole bunch of blades, which is nice. I love having two bowls to work with. My parents had a Cuisinart for nearly 30 years before it died. They last nearly forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenvneck Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 I have a Cuisinart (Classic 7 cup white base) that I've used extensively since 1998. I would have to look up the specs to be sure (I can; I kept the manual). This thing has been indestructible . I have never had a problem with it: easy to use, easy to clean, reliable, lasts. It has three blades: the "S" blade, the shredding blade and the slicing blade. I use it weekly for salsa, hummus and "refried" beans. Same here. I think mine has a larger capacity, though I'm not sure exactly how much. I have used it 3-4x a week for at least 15 years and it is still going strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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