The Cuisinart FP-13DGM Elemental 13 Cup Food Processor and Dicing Kit didn’t chop as evenly as our picks. Our testers were impressed with the dicing kit, which chopped firm vegetables like potatoes and carrots into even cubes. However, since this was the only task this model excelled at, we don’t think it’s best for most people.
It would only take but 5-10 seconds to break the food down to the consistancy I wanted. As my little one got older the food, we started introducing texture into her diet. Obviously it took less time amd I had complete control over how thick or thin I wanted it to be. After she turned 10 months their was no longer a need cuisinart toa60 to puree food, she was onto solids. So glad that I got this product, I emd up using it way more than I had though. The only complaint I have about it, iz that when your pouring the contents out, the blade is not locked in place so you have to take ot out before hand, and then its kind of a pain to put back in.
Ideally we’d like to test a working model in the future, but we feel we can dismiss The Complete Chef for now due to its size, weight, hefty price, limited recipe database, and lack of customer support. After testing models with storage boxes, we found that such boxes are convenient for keeping attachments organized, and they’re worth investing in if your model doesn’t come with one. You can also organize blades and disks in a designated Tupperware-style container, basket, or other receptacle. We store the Cuisinart Custom 14’s extra blades and disks inside the processor’s work bowl, but be advised that this can scratch the bowl. The Cuisinart’s three-year warranty on parts and five-year warranty on the motor aren’t the best among the models we tested, but they’re still pretty good.
Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). The Cuisinart FP-12DCN Elite Collection Food Processor performed well in our tests, but it came with a gasket on the lid that frequently trapped flour and sticky ingredients. Our testers also preferred the Cuisinart Custom 14’s 14-cup capacity over the Elite’s 12-cup capacity.
The Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab experts test all kinds of products for prepping food. When we test food processors, we look for models that chop evenly, have intuitive controls and are easy to clean. Food processors are versatile appliances every home cook should have in their kitchen. While standard food processors have between 8 and 14 cups of capacity, mini food processors offer 2 to 5 cups for small jobs, such as preparing homemade dressings and dips. Though they don’t have grating or slicing attachments, they can chop an onion or whip up a batch of salad dressing in seconds. Plus, they save you the headache of cleaning a large machine without sacrificing too much power.
They make light work of heavy meal prep jobs, and they’re user friendly and easy to clean. Next, we tasked each food chopper with chopping up a half-cup of almonds. The Cuisinart did alright, but it definitely took significantly more force to chop the nuts than the motorized models did. This also meant that a handful of almonds got stuck after the first two pulses, so we did have to pull apart the chopper to free them before continuing.
For our final assessment, the Cuisinart again delivered a disappointing performance. It has by far the hardest to clean blades out of the entire bunch and is almost impossible to get a sponge into all the little nooks and crannies to adequately clean the chopper. It is a bit of a balancing act to hold the plunger down and keep the blades out all while avoiding being cut when trying to force the sponge in between them to clean them. Needless to say, we weren’t fans of cleaning it and even though it is listed as dishwasher-safe for the top rack, even then we don’t think this chopper gets particularly clean. Food gets lodged way up in the chopper and it ends up being almost impossible to clean.
The size of the feed tubes in the lid (used to insert potatoes, carrots, or other hunks of food to be sliced or shredded) also makes a difference. Most full-size processors come with a wide feed tube that’s fitted with a food presser, which has a narrower feed tube (with its own presser) in the center. The larger tube should be big enough to easily fit a block of cheese or a potato, so you don’t have to spend time cutting food into pieces that are small enough to fit. But the smaller tube needs to be narrow enough to keep carrots and other thin items upright during slicing. Michael Sullivan is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter and has covered food processors since 2016.
The Mini Prep Pro chops, mixes, blends and purées, perfect for everday chopping and for making your own dips and sauces. Appliances play a crucial role in our daily lives, making household tasks more convenient and efficient. With the rise of online marketplaces, shopping for appliances has become more accessible and convenient for consumers.
Weight of chopper rounded to the nearest pound, includes the base, bowl, lid, and chopping blade. We judged each model’s proficiency at chopping onions, and almonds. But, as Cuisinart told us, if you’re using the blade “more aggressively or more frequently than the average consumer it can become dull.” If that happens, both Cuisinart and Breville sell replacement blades. The only task the Cuisinart Custom 14 didn’t excel at was chopping nuts. Most were evenly chopped, but there were a handful of nuts that remained in large pieces. Since the Cuisinart mastered every other task, we don’t think this is a dealbreaker.