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Food Processors - jump from home to commercial

gfron1

By gfron1
in Kitchen Consumer

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gfron1

gfron1

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I've been using a Cuisinart 7-cup for 7 years and its finally dying. There have been occasions where I wish my bowl was a little bigger. And regularly liquid comes out from the center post if I fill it too high. Minor inconveniences. In the industry people swear by Robot Coupe but that's $1K plus. I'm fine making the leap in price if its worth it. I use my processor 90% for grinding things down - not slicing vegetables. The reason I'm posting this is that with my restaurant closing soon, its tempting to just buy another Cuisinart and leave it with the next owner. OR, I can buy a better machine and take it with me. I'm cheap, but I appreciate value in lasting equipment. Thoughts on the current crop of food processors?

Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

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paulraphael

paulraphael

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I'm intrigued by the commercial machines, but have never found a task that my 11-cup cuisinart couldn't handle easily. These are simple machines ... a blade at the end of a motor shaft. They don't have the myriad complexities and points of failure of a stand mixer. 

 

My only nitpick with the Cuisinart is the safety mechanism that forces you to have the tamper stuck into the chute before it will turn on. I've disabled this by cramming a piece of foam in there, and now the thing is convenient to use. So no Robot Coupe-envy. If it died I'd probably get another cuisinart in a similar size.

 

Mine has lasted since the mid-90s. Light use ... pastry dough, mostly, and also thinly slicing vegetables for stock. I used to use it for more kinds of purees, and making oat flour but those tasks go to the vitamix now.

 

 

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Notes from the underbelly

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Alex

Alex

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CI on food processors

 

CI on the Robot Coupe

 

CR top rated (by far) the 16-cup Breville (not the 12-cup reviewed by CI), $280 at BB&B after the 20% discount

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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gfron1

gfron1

Posted
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Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, Alex said:

CR top rated (by far) the 16-cup Breville (not the 12-cup reviewed by CI), $280 at BB&B after the 20% discount

Where is the 20% discount coming from?  Nevermind - just found it. Sign up for their newsletter...

Edited by gfron1 (log)

Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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Darienne

Darienne

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Posted

I have a brand new Cuisinart and it's not a commercial one.  It's SOO heavy and SOOO complicated with SOOO many extra pieces of this and that and it won't fit into my cupboard as the old one did in just one space.  This one takes three spaces.  Yeah...I'm just ranting because it seems like a good chance to do to.

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Alex

Alex

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26 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

Where is the 20% discount coming from?  Nevermind - just found it. Sign up for their newsletter...

 

You'll also now start getting those coupons regularly via email, if you stay on the list. Some are for the store, some are online only. I also occasionally get them (or one for $5 off a $15 purchase) in the USPS-delivered advertising flyers. The ones in the flyer, but not the emailed ones, usually are accepted past their expiration date. I hang on to them, just in case I want to buy more than one item at the store.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

Where is the 20% discount coming from?  Nevermind - just found it. Sign up for their newsletter...

 

Oops. I just read their latest coupon -- it's not valid for Breville. Foo.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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paulraphael

paulraphael

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If the newer cuisinarts are truly crappy (no personal experience there) maybe a used robot coupe would be an alternative. I see a bunch on ebay for somewhere between the cuisinart price and the new r.c. price.  Maybe budget for a new blade ... I'd think these machines would be a pretty safe bet used.

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Notes from the underbelly

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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I'm using a Kitchenaid processor and stand mixer that are both well beyond the "got my money's worth" point. I think the mixer is about 17 years old and the processor is about 14 years old. In addition to a pretty hefty amount of home use, they both saw heavy duty for a 6 year stretch when I was doing a lot of catering. They both work as good as new so I can't think of a good reason to "update" to something newer. But if I had to, based on what I got out of the home stuff, I don't think I could convince myself to spring for commercial. The exception being, if I actually needed the size and power of some of the commercial units... but I don't.

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It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

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I feel ya.  I have a 7 cup Cuisinart and its really tiny, so when I use the restaurant's robot coupe it is like a double-batch dream world.  I too look for excuses to justify buying my own $1k+ robot coupe.  But the voices of reason here are probably right.  A $200 larger processor will most likely suffice, and now you've freed up $800 for other new toys!

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rotuts

rotuts

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Im very happy with my older 11 cup cuisinart.  for me it gets 'light' use.  these are still sold new at BB&B.  at least the last time Ive checked.

 

Ive sharpened the blade several times.  indeed I have two blades, one from an older machine and this machine which is about 10 years old.

 

My BB&B takes those 20 % coupons for everything. even Breville.  all the stuff in fine print on the coupon that says not valid for ....

 

Ive just offered the coupon to that cashier and its been taken.   mail order Ive never done.

 

the newer ones are way too large and heavy.  I think Cuisinart made an error thinking larger with more stuff to fiddle with was attractive.

Edited by rotuts (log)
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JeanneCake

JeanneCake

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Years ago, when I needed to replace my ancient Cuisinart (someone lost the pin that made it work, and it was a good excuse to buy another, bigger one)  I went to Williams Sonoma and got a double bonus. There was a sale, and I have a chef discount.  So I couldn't beat the price and it - the 16 cup model - lasted  four years with very heavy use.  The plastic feed tube cracked, rendering it unusable, (I think because people just let it sit in the sanitizer for way too long) and I just haven't gotten a replacement yet.  We got a temporary cheap model for the short term a week ago (we can't live without a FP) and I hate the small size. So if you can, check out the chef discount at WS and see if it helps.

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paulraphael

paulraphael

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A few people have said the newer ones are way too big, but I've looked on Amazon and see several models, including one that looks basically unchanged from my 20+ year-old model. 

 

This guy breaks down the history and the various models in his review. I can't vouch for the info but he seems to know what he's talking about. I'd just get this model if mine broke.

Notes from the underbelly

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rotuts

rotuts

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its very hard for me to keep track of the cuisinart models by their numbering system

 

this one is huge and to me a mistake :

 

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/cuisinart-reg-elite-collection-14-cup-die-cast-food-processor/1044822071?Keyword=cuisinart+food+processor

 

this is the one i have, and I guess indeed its been discontinued :

 

https://www.cuisinart.com/discontinued/food_processors/dlc-2011.html

 

there is an 11 cup elite, but I don't know anything about it.

 

the one thing I use mine for almost every day come spring and summer is with two blades you have to buy as add-ons :

 

the match-stick blade      I get summer squash, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, fresh and make match sticks out of them at the last moment

 

for a 'match-stick salad'  raw, with various dressings.  fantastic when the veg are fresh

 

I use the add-on thin blade for potatoes for casseroles etc.

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rotuts

rotuts

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that would be the one id get if mine conked out.

 

it doesn't seem to have the steel  dough blade.  wonder if thats no longer made.   I used to use that blade a lot  in the 11 cup +

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Lisa Shock

Lisa Shock

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Just chiming in with a minority opinion...

I have never owned a food processor. I have used them at work, mostly for grinding things because, well, knife skills. That said, I make a lot of things with my immersion blender: hummus, large amounts of pesto (I make small amounts on my cutting board), wet spice blends, puree of raw potato to thicken chile, etc. And, I have a good conventional blender which I use for raw cranberry relish among other things.

 

If I made modelling chocolate on a regular basis, I would consider getting one, but, as is, I am happy. So, I suggest asking yourself if you really need it at all.

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Have you read eGullet's Kitchen Scale manifesto?

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gfron1

gfron1

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That's an easy answer. Daily I grind 5-10# of acorns into powder or meal. Could I do that with a knife. Sure. But I can do it in less than a minute with my processor. As I said at the opening I don't use it to process veg. Its all about grind to me.

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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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paulraphael

paulraphael

Posted
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9 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

Just chiming in with a minority opinion...

I have never owned a food processor. I have used them at work, mostly for grinding things because, well, knife skills. That said, I make a lot of things with my immersion blender: hummus, large amounts of pesto (I make small amounts on my cutting board), wet spice blends, puree of raw potato to thicken chile, etc. And, I have a good conventional blender which I use for raw cranberry relish among other things.

 

If I made modelling chocolate on a regular basis, I would consider getting one, but, as is, I am happy. So, I suggest asking yourself if you really need it at all.

 

I'd agree that a food processor is a pretty low-priority machine, especially if you have a powerful blender for purees and flours. And things that can be done by both a processor and a mixer are generally better done by a mixer.

 

I think the food processor does pastry dough better than anything else. The standard blade cuts fat into flour very efficiently, and does it so fast that nothing has a chance to get warm. And the slicing blade is great for aromatics when you're making stock. It makes short work of slicing a pile of vegetables, in an application where presentation doesn't matter.

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Notes from the underbelly

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paulraphael

paulraphael

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2 hours ago, gfron1 said:

That's an easy answer. Daily I grind 5-10# of acorns into powder or meal. Could I do that with a knife. Sure. But I can do it in less than a minute with my processor. As I said at the opening I don't use it to process veg. Its all about grind to me.

 

Have you tried this in a high-powered blender?

Notes from the underbelly

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