Weekly Menu Planning - January 2023

My 1988-vintage one is only 4 C and just barely manages making pie crust dough. Last year, just before CH closure, I asked for recommendations and researched larger ones. Still haven’t bought it but the finalist for me is the moderate-cost $130 cuisinart dlc-10 (a 7 C capacity unit). Here’s the Amazon link.

Others raved about their Magimix CS5200 XL, but I’m not spending $500 on a food processor.

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I finally had to replace my old one, and went with a Cuisinart (again). I’m very happy with its performance, and for the two of us who cook and bake frequently, it’s just the right size. It’s not light, but not so heavy that I can’t carry it back and forth from the pantry (I’m in my mid-sixties with a bad back).

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I had a similar issue with my 15-plus-year-old KA processor a few years ago; in my case, it was the bowl and lid that were irrevocably chipped and no longer replaceable due to design changes. Ultimately, I did end up spending more than the >$200 much-recommended Cuisinart DLC Pro 11-cup in part because I find the bowl/lid assembly on the Cuisinarts can be stiff and difficult for me to manipulate. I got the Breville 12-cup and am super happy with it. It might be a bit heavier than the KA, but it’s not a crazy weight, and it has several design elements that are superior to the KA and Cuisinart machines I’ve used. The bowl has a closed bottom, which means you put the steel blade in and load it up before you lift it onto the base (super handy, especially when you’re weighing ingredients, but also in general), and it’s also less likely to leak in use. The bowl and lid also lack all the the little crannies that make them hard to get clean. I like that, instead of just a couple of thickness options for slicing, the slicing blade is completely adjustable like a mandoline. It’s plenty powerful, easy to use, and easy to clean. 10/10 would personally make the investment again.

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Thanks MTT, that cuisinart one looks a Lot like the (now broken) one. I’m not spending $500 on something I don’t know if I’ll love either!

That’s a beauty, but not sure I need a 14 cup model. Do you mainly need that size for baking?

You make a strong case. I’ve heard such good things about Breville, but have been leery about change (sigh - as always). It looks really good too.

I’m fairly strong, I just don’t want something that is silly-heavy.

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Per the Amazon listing, the Breville Sous Chef 12 is 16 pounds. I will say that they recommend against putting the parts in the dishwasher, but as I said, it’s easy to clean. I have a couple other Breville appliances (countertop convection/toaster oven that’s used almost daily and stand mixer), that I’ve also been happy with.

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Actually, often for baking, but more often for processing large-ish batches of stuff: tomato puree, grated potatoes, hummus, to name a few.

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I never wash my FP stuff in the d/w, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

And MunchkinR, I don’t tend to do large batch things. But as I type that, I think “maybe I will start doing things like that if I have a larger FP” - so much to think about. Grateful for your responses!

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That’s genius. I hate when the blade moves out of place when locking into the base and it’s hard to rearrange ingredients. I don’t always think to assemble then fill.

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Breville often has major sales around Mother’s Day and other holidays. Got $150 off my espresso machine.

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If you see an option for an extended warranty though, get it. My $200 Breville toaster died on the third year and I was SOL.

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It’s really helpful to be able to move the bowl on and off the base without the blade moving out of place. I also love being able to set the whole bowl with the blade in place on my kitchen scale, tare, and load up ingredients, or take it off the base and plop it on the scale to add something rather than dirtying another bowl just to weigh or prep ingredients before adding it. And it’s just so much easier to get clean than any other processor I’ve used, without extra crevices.

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My 3 year old $600ish dollar Breville microwave with convection’s timer dial lost its threading so it wasn’t working the last 2 weeks. I had to spin it 10 times to get to 2 minutes. Would have been a $129 house call, then the return visit , parts and labour, so probably putting $300ish into a 3 yo microwave that still works didn’t make sense when a new Panasonic is $350.

So, I’m donating the otherwise good Breville to charity this week.

The new Panasonic is louder but has no dial.

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I had a really old 7-cup cuisinart from the late 80s and about 10 discs. When that cuisinart broke (at about 20 years old), I bought an 11 cup version which used the same size discs. That one lasted only about 10 years before multiple pieces of plastic broke. I replaced it with basically the same model (Pro Custom 11). The cost of the 3 parts was more than the cost of a new food processor.

Cuisinart has basically discontinued it, but I see various retailers have it. Wayfair has the 7 cup classic version for $129 and the 11 cup for $163. The quality of cuisinart is definitely a lot lower than they used to be, but I stuck with the model I was familiar with because I have all the discs and it was pretty cheap compared to some of the better food processors.

Here is 7 cup

and 11 cup

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I have a Cuisinart Prep 9 (which is, duh, 9 C capacity) but sadly it appears to be discontinued. The size is perfect for our family of 3, though I admit that since I bought a KA stand mixer some years ago, I don’t use the food processor for dough any more - it was only so-so for that. But it excels at chopping and shredding and slicing!

This appears to be its successor: https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/food_processors/fp-110/

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Oh no, don’t tell me this.

I couldn’t remember if I bought the extended warranty. I usually don’t. It’s a reminder to keep better track of my receipts and warranties moving forward. Our first microwave, the Panasonic that the Breville replaced, lasted from around 1988-2019.

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Same. Same Model. Bought a second bowl and am super happy with.
It has no new or surprising issues.

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We have a Sharp countertop microwave circa 1991. It’s still working, except the digital displays are out of commission. Hoping it lasts, since it fits in a specific space in our kitchen and we have no room for expansion.

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