Food Processors - jump from home to commercial

[Lisa Shock]

I forgot to mention that I own a hand-crank grain mill, and, my Kenwood mixer has a grain mill attachment as well. Both of these are adjustable to give varying degrees of fineness to the flour.

[gfron1]

49 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

 

Have you tried this in a high-powered blender?

I haven't because I don't have one   I've read about similar stuff in Vitamixes, but haven't had the opportunity. A vita is on my list for the next restaurant.

[daveb]

At home I use a Cuisinart hybrid of DLC-7 (back when it was a good one) and 14.  Something happened to the 7 base motor and Cuisinart sold me a refurbished 14.   Bowls, disks, blades are all interchangeable.   At work I use a Robo-coup.  There is a small capacity difference but no discernible functional difference. 

 

Suggest you contact Cuisinart for a compatible refurb to your existing unit.  Or go with a new 14; 

 

If I wanted to grind 5# of acorns into flour(?), I would get out the dry blade container for my VMix and be done. 

[paulraphael]

I'd think a vitamix or equivalent would prove more useful than a food processor for most of the things you've mentioned. They can also do things that nothing else can do. They're not so easy to use if you only want to partially puree something, but a stick blender might be the best of all for that.

 

The biggest disadvantages I've found with the monster blenders are getting the last bits of food out of the jug (I bought a thin silicone spatula just for this, but it can still be a pain), and the noise. When I do anything that needs long blending (nut butters, etc.) I use ear plugs. The cuisinart's mercifully quiet thanks to a much slower motor.

Edited April 2, 2016 by paulraphael (log)

[andiesenji]

I bought two of the big Cuisinart processors when I was still catering.  Used one a lot but only used the other sporadically.  Haven't used it for a few years. 

I think they are 20 cup capacity.  I got them at a discount and it took the best part of 1K in about '88 - '90.

 

DLC-XPlus  1.5 HP direct drive motor.  Bowl is 8" in diameter, 5 1/4" deep.  

 

I never found a task these would not handle and I put the one through a lot of tough stuff.  grated a lot of very hard cheese.  I don't think I ever used the grating blades on the other one.

 

A chef friend showed me how to work around the necessity of having the inner feed tube locked in place but I have forgotten how and anyways, in this unit the feed tube is large enough that I never found it necessary to bypass the safety switch.  

Edited April 2, 2016 by andiesenji (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Even at work, where I had access to a Cuisinart, we'd try to use the stick blender as much as possible because it's so much easier to clean.

[andiesenji]

16 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

Even at work, where I had access to a Cuisinart, we'd try to use the stick blender as much as possible because it's so much easier to clean.

Ah, but when I was working with these, I still had the Hobart dishwasher - 90 second cycle - and it cleaned the nooks and crannies perfectly.

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, andiesenji said:

Ah, but when I was working with these, I still had the Hobart dishwasher - 90 second cycle - and it cleaned the nooks and crannies perfectly.

 

I use a food processor to mix natural peanut butter before using it.  I can't imagine trying to deal with peanut butter in a blender.  I also make hazelnut paste, cheesecake, graham cracker crusts and cookie butter in the FP.  It is the best tool for some things, and not that hard to clean. 

[Lisa Shock]

I make peanut butter with the immersion blender, in a milkshake cup. Same with crumbs.

[paulraphael]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I use a food processor to mix natural peanut butter before using it.  I can't imagine trying to deal with peanut butter in a blender.  I also make hazelnut paste, cheesecake, graham cracker crusts and cookie butter in the FP.  It is the best tool for some things, and not that hard to clean. 

 

I make nut butters in a blender every week. Almond, pecan, walnut, etc... The big blender makes them perfectly smooth, and does up to 2 pounds at a time. But the 90-second hobart dishwasher ... that's the piece of kit that should inspire all the envy.

[andiesenji]

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

 

I make nut butters in a blender every week. Almond, pecan, walnut, etc... The big blender makes them perfectly smooth, and does up to 2 pounds at a time. But the 90-second hobart dishwasher ... that's the piece of kit that should inspire all the envy.

The Hobart sounded like a 747 taking off but it was over so quickly, not very annoying.  It was popular with my neighbors who used to entertain a lot (huge family).  They would use the dishwasher in exchange for taking care of my yard and garden, cleaning the house and teaching me how to make Mexican foods.  

[pastrygirl]

13 hours ago, paulraphael said:

 

I make nut butters in a blender every week. Almond, pecan, walnut, etc... The big blender makes them perfectly smooth, and does up to 2 pounds at a time. 

 

I guess I hate scraping out a blender jar more than I hate scraping out a food processor. To each their own. 

[paulraphael]

9 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I guess I hate scraping out a blender jar more than I hate scraping out a food processor. To each their own. 

 

You're right, the food processor is easier to scrape the food out of. But you'll never get as smooth a paste. If you're going for a rustic texture it doesn't matter. 

The blender isn't so bad to clean out if you've got a thin spatula. And for the final cleaning it cleans itself. Fill halfway with a drop of detergent and blast it on high speed. Rinse and you're done.

[mgaretz]

I bought the 16 cup Cuisinart Elite and hated it.  I exchanged it for the Magimix and it's wonderful. Magimix is the home brand of Robot Coupe.  WS still sells them but only online. 

 

That said, I hardly ever use it.  I use my Blendtec far more often. 

[gfron1]

A follow up. I ended up with the Breville Sous Chef. First, as was said - no 20% discount allowed on it unfortunately. Price was still okay. I'm happy with it but let me roll out my gripes/concerns. First, it has a slightly larger footprint than my previous and so its taking more space on my counter than I like. The bowl is sturdy - but its taking time to get use to aligning the top to make it close and operate. That's partly because it has a rubber gasket, which is a great thing for liquids, but I'm used to a cheaper to that's faster to put on. The smaller bowl insert allows things to fly out the top pretty easily unless there's a part I've missed. That's it on the negatives - most of which aren't negatives at all.

 

On the positives. Great, easy to read markings on the side for volume measurements. Motor feels very sturdy...time will tell. All sorts of parts and attachments that I'll never use.

 

I'm happy. Thanks for the suggestion.

[palo]

Yes the smaller bowl has that weak point but you didn't mention the other positive regarding "all sorts of parts and attachments" - they give you a great box to keep them out of sight. 

 

p

[gfron1]

And I know my nice filter was lowered on my post - I really do like it, just focusing on the criticisms for anyone else looking at it.

 

[OvenJames]

I have a magimix - I think that one. I love it, and am unlikely to consider anything else.

I don't chop onions in it though - because, for me, it is as easy to use a knife. i did puree them in there for bolognaise so DS didn't realise that they were in it, when he was small.

[TdeV]

On 4/2/2016 at 11:31 AM, paulraphael said:

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.

 

Apologies for this late question, Paul, but why slice up a pile of veg for stock? Versus putting in a whole carrot. When I'm doing beans in the Instant Pot, I add whole onion. carrot and celery. When the beans are done, the large vegetable is easy to fish out of the pot and discard. Should I think about this differently?

[TdeV]

About Cuisinart food processors, I have a very old Custom 11 with a number of accessories which I don't use, except for one slicer. The bowl has cracked several times (by trying to chop up hard cheese), and I've replaced it also several times. However, lately, the replacement bowl, not from Cuisinart, doesn't fit the lid.

 

So now I'm not quite sure what to do.

[Kerry Beal]

6 minutes ago, TdeV said:

About Cuisinart food processors, I have a very old Custom 11 with a number of accessories which I don't use, except for one slicer. The bowl has cracked several times (by trying to chop up hard cheese), and I've replaced it also several times. However, lately, the replacement bowl, not from Cuisinart, doesn't fit the lid.

 

So now I'm not quite sure what to do.

Might have to get a new lid too

[teonzo]

14 hours ago, TdeV said:

Apologies for this late question, Paul, but why slice up a pile of veg for stock? Versus putting in a whole carrot.

 

More surface area in contact with water ----> more flavorful stock.

 

 

 

14 hours ago, TdeV said:

When I'm doing beans in the Instant Pot, I add whole onion. carrot and celery. When the beans are done, the large vegetable is easy to fish out of the pot and discard. Should I think about this differently?

 

You should keep them with the beans and eat them...

 

 

 

Teo

 

[rotuts]

@teonzo 

 

excellent plan

 

adding bacon , ep bacon ' ends '

 

diced Ive fount improves the cooked beans too

[paulraphael]

On 3/12/2020 at 9:50 AM, teonzo said:

 

More surface area in contact with water ----> more flavorful stock.

 

Or faster extraction.

[TdeV]

The extraction is at 90 minutes of high pressure.

 

In discussions about making stock, I remember someone (possibly @btbyrd) writing that it's unnecessary to chop carrots and celery (or even chicken bones) as the long cook will take out all the nutrients and flavour.

 

What I don't understand, @paulraphael and @teonzo, is what to do if the cooking process (i.e. the instant pot) turns the vegetables to mush. Stock-making does not leave the vegetables in very good shape.