Cuisinart 8 or 11 Cup Elemental
My mother has every kitchen appliance ever made. If there is a kitchen gadget to be had, she has it. That doesn’t mean that she uses them very often, though. Why, you ask? Well, for the most part, she’s only cooking for herself and my dad now, and there’s not a lot of food to be made there. So instead of using one of the two big fancy food processors she has, she usually works with this little countertop-sized, portable one which handles a small amount of food in a small bowl for small batches.
Pint Sized For A Pint Of Stuff
Okay, so it’s actually a pint and a half. In this case, we’re talking about the Cuisinart DLC-2ABC Mini-Prep Plus Food Processor in brushed chrome, which holds 3 cups of whatever you want to process. That’s a lot less than most of the incredibly popular machines out there, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t do the job.
Don’t Bend
My mom started using her tabletop food processor more often when it started getting more difficult for her to bend down and get one of her big machines out of the bottom cupboard. Since she doesn’t cook for an army anymore, she also doesn’t really need a big machine most of the time. The Mini-Prep can stay on the counter all the time, or it can go into a cabinet without being so heavy to move. That’s a big plus for a lot of people.
Bright Appearance
The Mini-Prep proves an important point: kitchen appliances don’t have to be boring. In fact, they can be all kinds of bright and fun. It doesn’t change how they function, but it does give an extra amount of pizazz — especially if it’s going to be kept on the counter. This little puppy comes in almost 15 different colors, from regular stainless steel to the brightest of pinks. There are muted options and totally bright colors, so you can get one to fit your style, no matter what it is.
Motoring Around A Little Less
The Mini-Prep has a 250 watt motor, which is smaller than most regular sized machines, but a small machine doesn’t need a huge lumbering engine. It actually does a pretty good job of tearing things up with the smaller motor, and you can’t be upset with what it gives you.
Wash It. Forget It.
If you’re not in the mood for handwashing everything, you’ll love that you can toss the parts right in the dishwasher to be sanitized. You don’t have to worry about losing any integrity or cracking the bowl, and you can skip the scouring for another day.
Hums, Doesn’t Yell
Food processors in general are pretty noisy, but this one manages to be less so than a lot of other options. It’s not silent, but the small size means it makes less noise than a full-sized machine. That’s a pretty good rule of thumb to remember for a lot of things – except children. Small children have a seemingly huge, out of proportion capacity for making noise. Weird. But anyway, back to the topic at hand.
Not Entirely Consistent
When you set the speed on a mini-food processor, or any processor for that matter, you expect it to operate at the same speed and power the whole time. This one can, occasionally, have bursts of power followed by slow downs, so you get inconsistently sized pieces. That’s not usually a big deal, but if you’re going for uniformity, this one can miss the mark at times.
Water Tight?
Sometimes, when you’re trying to chop things up finely or you want to make a paste, you have to add liquid to get the right consistency. That’s fairly common. The Mini-Prep seems to be able to hold its liquid pretty well, but using it as a blender would be a step too far. If you frequently make things like baby food, pesto, puree or other things that require some liquid, this little processor is the bomb. Use it for things like kiwi smoothies or artichoke soup, and you can expect to do some serious countertop cleaning.
Small Body. Small Problems.
I don’t expect to be able to change the world with a unit of this size. In fact, I hardly expected to be able to chop up some cheese. So I am rather surprised it actually does a pretty good job of handling whatever you put inside it, within reason. It doesn’t have the motor to support heavy duty work, but it’s not bad at all for an occasional-use tool that can fill in when you don’t need the size and power of a full-sized food processor.
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