Which Food Processor to buy?

[Veg4Life]

I am slowly but surely getting my kitchen vamped for a great raw lifestyle. I have the excalibur 9 tray, just ordered my Vitamix 5200...all I need is a really good food processor. What fp do you all own and would you recommend a certain brand/model? I have read some you have Cuisinart brands. Is there a specific model that works best for nut butters and raw recipes? There is a Cuisinart at my Costco right now for $220 and I'm trying to decide if that is a good one. It looks like it has a lot of parts :confused: - I'm not very gadget-oriented. Any advice would be MUCH appreciated!

[RawHeaven]

Hello there. I'm partial to cuisinart. I've always used their products and think they're top notch. I'm sure there are other good brands as well. I think black n' decker offers a great food processor.

I purchased a 7 cup cuisinart food processor on ebay for 40 bucks including shipping. The previous owner hardly used it and it has worked out very well for me. I'm loving it.

It sounds like you might be looking at the 12 cup or larger? Unless you're feeding a large raw family or plan to cater raw food events later, I think the 7cup is sufficient for every day use. In case money matters, I think you can also find it in bed, bath & beyond and use your 20% coupon. Perhaps Costco comes out about the same.

Enjoy your other appliances...sounds like you're ready to do this! :D

Best wishes,
Crystal

[rawererin]

pretty much any Cuisinart kicks butt, but I would definitely get one that is on the larger side, 11-14 cups, you'd be suprised how often you fill it up, I never thought I would get that much use out of 11 cup, but I find myself scooping out batter to make more room for ingredients!

[carolg]

Cuisinart, 11 cup I own for two of us.

Bought at Costco. Save receipt if problems a year, two, three, etc. down the road.

$220 sounds very high for Costco. I think I bought mine for about $180. How many blades does it have? I don't think you need to buy additional blades and probably 7 cups may do it for you. I just think large here.

carolg

[aliciamatheson]

i have to say that i use a cheapo Black and Decker from Target (29.99) and it works great. it comes with a grating wheel to make shredded carrots, etc..

i will say that none of the food processors will make anything like a smooth nut buttter. you need a juicer with an homogenizer for that.

but the food processor will do everything else.

[Veg4Life]

Thanks for the all the great feedback- I LOVE this forum! The fp at Costco is a Cuisinart 11 cup and I was mistaken, it is $160 online (plus shipping I'm assuming), but I thought it was a little more in the store. Anyway, it looks like just what I need, so I will shop around. :)

[raweater]

I have and recommend the Cuisinart MP-14:
http://www.cuisinart.com/catalog/product.php?product_id=301&item_id=406&cat_id=7

It is the only one, as far as I know, with a 20 YEAR warranty on the motor, it is also a 14 cup and has many included accessories like a whisk attachment, although this is rarely used with raw food.

[DawnW]

Your number threw me off a bit. I thought I had seen it in Costco for $159. I am seriously considering getting that one, although the Kitchen Aid looks awefully nice!

Dawn


Thanks for the all the great feedback- I LOVE this forum! The fp at Costco is a Cuisinart 11 cup and I was mistaken, it is $160 online (plus shipping I'm assuming), but I thought it was a little more in the store. Anyway, it looks like just what I need, so I will shop around. :)

[MarciRoundtheWorld]

Dawn, I'm not thrilled with my Kitchen Aid fp. It was great at first but it now won't make raw brownies or work right at all if I have something thick like that in it. I had to stop making brownies. I'd go with the Cuisinart if you can swing the price.

[DawnW]

Great to know....thanks. I think I can swing it.

Dawn


Dawn, I'm not thrilled with my Kitchen Aid fp. It was great at first but it now won't make raw brownies or work right at all if I have something thick like that in it. I had to stop making brownies. I'd go with the Cuisinart if you can swing the price.

[Veganforlife]

I just got a new one - after two years of processing, my Hamilton Beach pooped out on me. Well, it still works, but the bowl is chipping, so I figured I'd treat myself. I got a Cuisinart. Love it!!!! It's like the Mercedes of food processors, compared to the Dodge I was using - LOL!!!

[DawnW]

Oh my! $349. I think I can swing the $159 at Costco for 3 fewer cup capacity....but I can't do the $349 and then get a Vitamix.

Dawn


I have and recommend the Cuisinart MP-14:
http://www.cuisinart.com/catalog/product.php?product_id=301&item_id=406&cat_id=7

It is the only one, as far as I know, with a 20 YEAR warranty on the motor, it is also a 14 cup and has many included accessories like a whisk attachment, although this is rarely used with raw food.

[raweater]

I know it's expensive, but I figured it's something I may still have in 20 years, so it was a good investment. You could always use a cheap blender in the meantime to allow you to afford the MP-14 if you want. I've been about 90% raw for 3 years and still don't have a Vitamix and don't really see a need for one yet, but I do have a very good $200 Breville blender, it's no vitamix, but it does everything I want including very thick blends as it's container is wide and relatively short, similar to a food processor. It also has a sensor analyzing the RPM speed of the blades constantly and in thick mixes that slow the blades down it automatically adjusts power to maintain the set speed, you can actually hear the motor adjust it's speed as it senses and regulates the power to the motor. It also has a great smoothie mode that automatically pulses and blends for you.

If it were me I'd get the best and a cheap solution for the blender in the meantime, that way you could end up with two quality appliances. You'll have these for a long time. That's just what I prefered to do.

[Veg4Life]

DawnW-

I was just at Costco today and in the store the 11 cup Cuisinart is $140...so, I was WAY off- very gratefully so! I just got my Vitamix, so I wont' be rushing out to buy anything else just yet (my husband is still recovering from my Vitamix purchase!), but I have to say that if I had a choice between a really good fp and a Vitamix, I'd definitely get the Vitamix. I had a pretty decent blender before...or at least I thought, until I made smoothies in this new Vitamix. It is incredible! I used to have to add 4-5 bananas to get my kids to drink my green smoothies. Today I put a bunch of spinach, some frozen pineapple (not a lot), water and ONE banana in my Vitamix. In less than a minute it was completely smooth and perfect and the first words out of my four year old's mouth was-"Wow, Mom. This is a good banana shake!" Anyway, I'm kind of on a Vitamix high right now. Sometimes you really don't know what you're missing! My fp now is cheesy and leaks, but I've found that I can do a lot of stuff in my Vitamix that I used to have to do in my fp (nut butters, dry and wet chopping for nuts, pico de gallo, raw veggies, make raw ice cream etc. etc.). Good luck to you!

[DawnW]

Ok, I just got back from Costco. The 11 cup was $149 and comes with a 10 year warrantee. Not shabby at all.

So, I bought it!

They said June 4 is the Vitamix's first day of demonstration......and I plan to get that too.

I will then be fully equipped! We had a juicer (Green Star) and I bought a dehydrator a month ago.

Dawn

[Veg4Life]

Ok, I just got back from Costco. The 11 cup was $149 and comes with a 10 year warrantee. Not shabby at all.

So, I bought it!

They said June 4 is the Vitamix's first day of demonstration......and I plan to get that too.

I will then be fully equipped! We had a juicer (Green Star) and I bought a dehydrator a month ago.

Dawn


Awesome! You should be totally set. Good for you!