When Food Processors Die

My reasonably beefy Oster cacked on me last weekend right when I was doing something with it that I couldn't have done any other way. I had thought that it was pretty decent, although it bugged me that if you filled the bowl a little too high, it would run out down the shaft and make a mess.

Time to get a really decent one. Most friends swear by old Cuisinart with 800 -1000 watt ratings or the similar KitchenAid. Anyone have any specific recommendations for these brands or others? I like to hang onto things for a long time. I want something dead reliable that will puree a 2x4. Anyone?

[Jenise]

As mentioned the other night at dinner, you can't beat the old Cuisinarts. Mine, the original design, is over 30 years old and I have no intention of replacing it. Awhile back I got to thinking that it was so old I should update it, and I needed a blender, so I bought a Cuisinart blender/FP combo. What a piece of crap! Underpowered, ineffectual, and all cheap plastic. The motor made an unbearable racket but in blender mode it couldn't break an ice cube. Shortly thereafter I came across an old Cuisinart of the same as mine, and I bought it for spare parts. Just $20 second hand, and maybe the last FP I'll ever need. I also separately bought a Kitchen Aid blender. It was interesting to compare the KA to the new Cuisinart. The KA outweighs the new Cuisinart by about 4X. One's all brass, the other's all plastic--even the motor. There might be other levels of quality in Cuisinart in other models where there's a semblance of the old Cuisinart or new Kitchen Aid blender quality, but the fact that Cuisinart makes anything as cheap-shit as the thing I bought does not speak well for the brand. I donated the new Cuisinart away.

All of which speaks to the fact that recent reports suggest that the brand Cuisinart isn't the Lexus of appliances that it used to be. I'd probably trust KA more. Don't know what else is out there, though; the Breville brand is getting a lot of traction. They're more stylish, that's for sure. Isn't your new panini thing a Breville?

I can't speak to the reliability or performance of the current Cuisinart models, but I love to tell this story:

We purchased a Cuisinart FP circa 1980 (maybe earlier) and NJ abused the heck out of it for about 20 years, although I don't think any lumber was involved. Regardless, sometime around 2000 the Cuisinart FP shut down and emitted a burning electrical smell that signaled certain death. She put it away in a cupboard and when I returned from a trip, she sadly told me of its' demise. We still had the original lifetime warranty (we never throw anything away!), so I called the telephone number and surprisingly a customer service rep answered.
I relayed what had happened and the rep said in a haughty voice that "That is simply not possible, sir".
Huh?
I was annoyed that he was apparently questioning my veracity. He asked me to get the machine out of the cupboard and plug it in and see if it worked. It sure did, and continues to work to this day.
Apparently there is a switch/gizmo that shut the motor down just before it reaches meltdown .
Guess they don't make 'em like they used to.

I've been very happy with my KA, very solid, although now over ten years old, so I'm sure my model has long been superseded. FWIW, I just shuffled through my pile of Cook's Illustrateds and found the last time they rated FPs, last Nov/Dec. "Highly recommended" was a KA model, 12-cup KFP750 at $170. #2 and "recommended" is a Viking 12-cup, VFP12BR for $335. A Cuisinart 14-cup model (DFP-14BCN, $199) is #3 and also "recommended".

I grated a six pound zucchini into our Hamilton Beach this morning without making a mess. Made four loves of zucchini bread and have grated squash leftover to make two more! The HB has served us well. How did we end up with a six pound zucchini? Just missed the blasted thing!

We had a Cuisinart for maybe 25 years before it died - should have taken it in for rebuilding.

Then bought the Oster. 4 years later, junk. Called them today. They told me that the motors were 'sealed' and if they dide they couldn't do anything. I asked thenm what their service department WAS capable of, and it turns out they play with the switches before ronouncing them dead. Just one more example of the $55 DVD player syndrome where everything is cheap and you toss it out when it breaks instead of fixing it.

Did some fast research (and read the comments here). Decided against the Kitchen Aid - complaints about them not sealing at the top and leaking etc.

Bought a Cuisinart 12 cup model with a soft silicone sealing gasket at the top, large feed tune and 1000 watts of throbbing power. On sale. Now I have to go find that 2x4 to test it...... Thanks for the advice. Hope this one lasts half as long as the first one we owned.

The only thing I've ever replaced on my 30 something Cuisinart is a replacement bowl, which I probably wouldn't have had to do if I hand washed rather than dishwasher washed. Takes a whoppin' and keeps on choppin'!!!

Drew

[Jenise]

Bought a Cuisinart 12 cup model with a soft silicone sealing gasket at the top, large feed tune and 1000 watts of throbbing power. On sale. Now I have to go find that 2x4 to test it...... Thanks for the advice. Hope this one lasts half as long as the first one we owned.

Good luck, will look forward to hearing your first report.

[Jenise]

So, have you processed anything yet?

And since when do we shop for appliances at London Drugs??????

Yeah, have you put that 2 x 4 through yet? Actually, an offensive neighbor makes an even better test than a 2 x 4.....

[Jenise]

Yeah, have you put that 2 x 4 through yet? Actually, an offensive neighbor makes an even better test than a 2 x 4.....

Oh yes! Bill, the guy with the radio!

...He asked me to get the machine out of the cupboard and plug it in and see if it worked. It sure did, and continues to work to this day.
Apparently there is a switch/gizmo that shut the motor down just before it reaches meltdown.
Guess they don't make 'em like they used to.

Apparently, such shut-off devices can be in lots of electrical devices. When the motor overheats, a sensor will shut off the power until it cools off. I've had it kick in on hair dryers, a hot-air corn popper that I was abusing by roasting coffee beans in it and my 10-inch Craftsman radial arm saw when a board became wedged against the guide, causing the blade to bind up and stop turning. In all instances, the device started up again after 5-10 minutes (sometimes you can hear a "click").

[Apparently, such shut-off devices can be in lots of electrical devices. When the motor overheats, a sensor will shut off the power until it cools off. I've had it kick in on hair dryers, a hot-air corn popper that I was abusing by roasting coffee beans in it and my 10-inch Craftsman radial arm saw when a board became wedged against the guide, causing the blade to bind up and stop turning. In all instances, the device started up again after 5-10 minutes (sometimes you can hear a "click").

Our propane driven generator does the same thing. When it runs out of oil (it is a motor) it shuts off rather than getting ruined. That happened to us once and after adding oil, it started right back up again. After that we checked the oil regularly and ended up accidentally over oiling it. The technition told us just to wait until it stopped again; with a can of oil in standby.