Magimix or other?

[mgaretz]

I have a fairly recent 11 cup Cuisinart, which worked OK, but about 18 months ago, armed with WS gift cards from the wedding, bought the 16 Cup "Elite" model (exclusive at WS). I like a few things about it: The blades lock to the bowl and I love the adjustable slicing disc and storage box for the accessories. But it just doesn't perform that well. Thinking of taking it back to WS and getting something different, or just going back to the 11 cup.

They only carry two brands, Cuisinart and Magimix by Robot Coupe. I know that in professional kitchens, Robot Coupe is the standard and highly regarded, but what do folks here think of the Magimix? They claim the motor adjusts automatically to the task at hand, which seems kinda suspect to me. How would it know what I am doing?

[mgaretz]

Nobody?

[rotuts]

maybe no one here has the Coupe. but you have to take it back as you aren't satisfied. I have the 11 C Cuisinart and I love it.

i sharpen the standard blade often and carefully. I get a tremendous amount of use on two 'add on' blades that did not come with it:

the thinest slicer and the julienne blade.

good luck let us know what you eventually get

[andiesenji]

My Cuisinarts are old - I have the 14 cup and the big 20 cup "commercial" ones - I had an 11 cup but gave it to my neighbor when hers died.

I considered getting the Magimix Cuisine system 5150last spring when Napa style was offering it with a couple of extras for less than $500. - since then the price has increased.

As the basic unit comes with three different bowls, 16 cup, 9 cup and 6 cup, I figured I could get rid of my old Cuisinarts, including the mini prep and have everything in one.

I forgot about for a while and when I had just about talked myself into it, I saw the price had increased.

You can still get the basic model with the three bowls for around $450.00 but not the extras.

I know two people who got them when Napa style had that special and they are both very happy with them. One has a very large family (7 kids) and uses it daily and is very happy with it after having a Kitchenaid die after just a few months of heavy use.

I can say positively that if my 20 cup Cuis dies, I will get the Magimix.

Edited November 18, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[mgaretz]

Well I ended up taking back the Cuisinart 16 cup Elite and "getting" the Magimix 4200XL. I put "getting" in quotes because the store didn't have it in stock, but they are transferring it in from another store.

I was browsing the WS website last night and noticed the 14 and 16 cup versions (4200 and 5200) were no longer listed (but the 12 cup 3200 still was). I called them and they are being discontinued and had no other info. So now I am a bit concerned. Does anyone know why WS is discontining them? Not selling well or are they being replaced with a newer model?

[Snadra]

I'm sorry I didn't notice this thread before. I've been lusting after a Magimix 4200XL for sometime. As you can imagine they are quite pricey here but I hear nothing but good about them. The multiple bowl system, the XL feed tube and the accessory storage system all blow my 12 year old wobbly and lightweight moulinex off the counter. The 4200 is able to handle pretty large weights of dough and they are a sturdy and week-built machine.

I just went on Amazon and it looks like they're selling a 5150 but the others are still listed on the Magimix website. Maybe they just weren't welling well at WS? They are a pretty high end item and maybe not as well known in the US as, say, Cuisinart.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you find it (when you get it!).

[ianinfrance]

I've used Magimix for 40 years. 2 machines. I only changed the first one because the automatic on/off switch would have cost me a bundle to replace, and for a machine that was already >20 years old, it seemed like a risky expense. The motor power DOES adjust to differing loads.

I'd not consider moving down to a lesser machine.

[andiesenji]

W-S often discontinues appliances when they no longer have an "exclusive" on sales or if other vendors begin selling them at a significant discount.

Other "high end" vendors, such as Sur La Table do the same. As soon as an appliance "goes public" so to speak, they drop it.

They have done that with some "exclusive" colors of KA mixers, as well as other appliances.

Now I am really bummed that I didn't get the Magimix Michael Chiarello special from Napa Style last spring when it was $495.00 including the extras. Having the three different bowls plus the bread bowl would be a great replacement for my remaining Cuisinarts.

Missed the boat there...

[mgaretz]

W-S often discontinues appliances when they no longer have an "exclusive" on sales or if other vendors begin selling them at a significant discount.

Other "high end" vendors, such as Sur La Table do the same. As soon as an appliance "goes public" so to speak, they drop it.

They have done that with some "exclusive" colors of KA mixers, as well as other appliances.

Now I am really bummed that I didn't get the Magimix Michael Chiarello special from Napa Style last spring when it was $495.00 including the extras. Having the three different bowls plus the bread bowl would be a great replacement for my remaining Cuisinarts.

Missed the boat there...

WS stores still have stock - you could get the 4200XL and the bread bowl for less than $495, or the 5200XL and bowl for a bit more.

[mgaretz]

Someone from Magimix saw this post and contacted me through my blog (since she's not a member here) to let me know that there was a glitch on the WS site and the Magimix food procesors are not discontinued at WS. I checked the site this morning and they are indeed back on the site.

[lstrelau]

I tried the Cuisinart 16 Cup Elite for all of 15 minutes. Initially it seemed like the 3 bowls were a great idea but since you can only use the middle or small one INSIDE the main bowl it isn't as convenient as one might think. Plus, when I did puree something in the small bowl it dripped into the middle and large bowls which meant I had to wash all three. Maybe I was doing something wrong but it sure didn't make sense to me. The locking blade and better lid was nicer than my old machine.

But, what I did, in the end was buy a Thermomix - not a foodprocessor in the sense that it doesn't slice or shred but the rest of its atributes have made my old food processor obsolete. Never really used it for slicing or shredding anyway - I like my knives and microplanes. Of course, the price of a Thermomix would buy 3 of the Magimix units but the latter doesn't cook!

The Magimix with the three bowls does look good though. Are the 3 bowls used individually or do they need to nest for use? It seems to have useful and well built accessories as well. You should really enjoy using this unit.

Llyn

[andiesenji]

Here is what one reviewer had to say and I especially like that the central tubes are taller so there is less leakage.

[mgaretz]

Well the Magimix 4200xl is here! So far I've made pie crust dough and sliced and grated some carrots. Their instructions say to use the dough blade for pie crust, all the Cuisinarts I've owned have you use the metal chopping blade. Well i thought I'd give their way a try. It made the dough in short order, but we'll see how it bakes up this weekend.

The carrots came out nice, especially the grated ones. Hardly any liquid was produced. Waste, the pieces on the top of the disc that don't get shredded, was minimal - much lower than with the Cuisinart elite.

I'm also impressed with the ease with which it cleans up.

The manual could be much better. It needs more generic instructions/recommendations for different kinds of ingredients and procedures. It has some pictures and a few words, then goes straight into recipes. There are lots of recipes - a quick flip through didn't reveal much that floated my boat. To give you an example, the first recipe is for unsalted garlic butter for snails. Ok, it is made in France.

I was hoping the DVD would be better. It's a joke. No narration. The recipes are a quick shot of the ingredients and pieces of the food processor you'll be using. Then a closer shot of the ingredients with text overlays showing some, but not all of the ingredients. Then a few motion shots of the process that leave out about half the steps and hope you can figure what they put in the bowl when. And some of the ingredients are unidentifiable. Pretty worthless!

I'll report back when we eat the pie and I've used it more.

[johnmc]

I am still using at home a Magimix 5000 which is one of 2 I bought 20 years ago for a previous food business. The other machine is, to my knowledge, still in use.

They were used for grinding Thai curry pastes in the early days which meant that they had to handle very full loads of onions, lemon grass, spices etc, almost continuously for 4 to 6 hours a day. When they inevitably became overheated we would put motor/ base units into the freezer until the thermal overload switches reset.Then back into service until the next overheat.

Except for the overheat thing they never missed a beat. The main thing to watch for is a fully loaded bowl is fairly heavy and if a person wasn't careful ( i.e. use two hands )when replacing it it was possible to crack the bottom of the bowl by hitting the drive spindle.

Magimix always said that the sky would fall in if you tried to sharpen the blades but we always did so with no problems.

They were only replaced ( but still used for small batches )by a 40 quart Robot Coupe when they weren't big enough for the volume we were doing.

Highly recommended.

John

Edited December 4, 2011 by johnmc (log)

[mgaretz]

Yesterday I baked the pie and made coleslaw.

The pie crust was perfect. The cabbage and carrots were shredded easily and fairly uniformly. As I mentioned in my earlier post about the waste, I am still very impressed with the lack of waste when shredding carrots - just a few chunks over three big carrots. The Cuisnart Elite would have left almost half a carrot (after shredding three) and been a bitch to clean. In fact the ratio of carrots to cabbage was higher than I wanted because of it. Still good slaw though!

[mgaretz]

Today I splurged and bought the Juice Etxractor and mash/purée attachments. I haven't tried the juice extractor (and it didn't receive a warm reaction from my wife and daughter when I brought it home) but tonight I made mashed potatoes with the mash attachment. Very nice!

This attachment is basically a food mill designed for a food processor. It sits in the big bowl and comes with a specialized drive shaft to gear down the food processor's high speed, but it still spins pretty fast. It made quick work of two pounds of potatoes. Much faster a less hassle than my Roslé food mill. I thought the down side would be that clean-up would be more tedious. In fact, it cleans up easier than the food mill.

So far, I am very happy with my Magimix.

[Gary Tanigawa]

FYI, Chefs Catalog has a sale on the Magimix 5150 for $300. There is also a coupon code on the interweb that will give you another $25 off the purchase.

[Ed P]

FYI, Chefs Catalog has a sale on the Magimix 5150 for $300. There is also a coupon code on the interweb that will give you another $25 off the purchase.

Once again, eGullet has cost me money I wasn't planning on spending