Conference turris::cooks

    Mine is an Oscar by Sunbeam (I think).  It's a great little machine
    that doesn't take up too much space.  I use it mostly for things
    that need to be chopped, sliced, or otherwise mulched.  Things that
    need to be grated need to be relativly hard, soft cheese doesn't
    work to well no matter how cold it is.  
    
    Oscar only holds about 1 cup of stuff, but nine times out of 10
    I don't need more capacity than that.  And every washable part can
    go into the dishwasher.  Easy to take apart and put together.  And
    simple to use.
    
    Hope this was useful..
    
    
    marianne

    I've got the attachment pack for my Kitchen Aid mixer - it makes
    the mixer into a multi-purpose center.  (they also have other
    attachments, from a grain mill to a can opener).  I've been very
    pleased with it.  The attachments include
    1) a slicer/grater attachment with 4 cones - 2 thicknesses of slicing
    and 2 sizes of grating.
    2) a strainer attachment with 1 "cone" (I haven't used this yet,
    but will use it on next year's tomatoes)
    3) a grinder with a few discs for different grinds.
    
    The whole set is made of stainless steel and plastic, and seems
    very sturdy (as is the mixer).  The only drawbacks are 1) price
    - the mixer is not cheap, the attachment pac itself ran $100, and
    2) it's not something that sits on the counter, all put together,
    usually.  You have to attach the attachment (takes a minute) -
    if it's just a few carrots I usually cut them up by hand.  So,
    if you're going to use your processor for frequent small jobs,
    this is not the one to get.  For big jobs, it's worth it.
    
    Conclusion:  Get this if you have a lot of mixing/chopping/straining
    /grinding to do, or if your occasional tasks tend to be heavy
    duty (like bread or sausage making - there's a sausage attachment...)
    Also, this mixer will last you a lifetime, and you'll leave it to
    your kids most likely.  So, it's a good one to get if you only
    want to buy one mixer in your life.
    
    --Louise

I agree with .-1, the kitchen aid will do it all, if you can afford it.  It's 
the best mixer made.  I don't own one for a couple of reasons: I don't have 
the space to keep the thing on my counter (even without the attachments, and 
storing it off counter needs lots of room and a strong back); also, when I was 
looking for a food processor, I already had a cheap kitchen aid substitute 
(some day, I'll build an addition, and but a kitchen aid for it).

The result:  I bought a Cuisinart 7 Pro for the following reasons:

	at the time, it was the only food processor that had the removeable 
	stem on the disks, which means you can store the disks easily

	it had a large feed tube, which save lots of time in preparing the 
	ingredients for processing

	and it had a large work bowl, allowing me to make lots of stuff all
	at once.

It does depend a lot on what you are looking for.  My Cuis' is not good for 
chopping under a cup.  It'll do it, but it takes about 10 minutes to clean the 
machine.  And speaking of cleanup time, there is something deceiving about 
cleaning a food processor.  Lots of people say the machines take too long to 
clean.  However, if it takes an hour to slice LOTS of veggies by hand, and 
1 minute to clean the chopping board and knife, it can take the machine 10 
minutes to do the same amount of chopping, and 10 minutes to clean it.  Sure 
it took 10 times as long to clean up, but there is still a time savings.

						     
							- JP

        We have a Braun food processor at home and we like it a lot.
    My mother has a Braun for my parent's mountain home, and a Cuisinart
    down in the bay area.  She prefers the Braun, except for its smaller
    feed tube.
    
        The Braun comes with 4 or 5 discs, a whipping attachment and
    bowl insert for the whipping.  It was on sale at the local Macy's
    here for $64 when we got it.  Lately I've seen them for $80 on sale.
    The regular price is $100 here.
    
        The Braun is the best bargin, but it isn't as expandable as
    the Cuisinart, or the Kitchen Aid.

    I have a Cuisinart that I've had for six years.  (It will have another
    birthday on Christmas, as a matter of fact.)
    
    Anyway, I'm very happy with it.  I use it a lot to make cookies
    and the like.  You just can't kill the motor.  I haven't had any
    trouble with it at all.  I will admit to being lazy about cleaning
    it when I only have a few veggies.
    
    By the way, .1, if you put soft cheeses like motzarella in the freezer
    for ten minutes or so, you might be able to use your food processor.
    I always do that when I'm making lasagna.

    The newer Cuisinarts have larger feed tubes and bowls.  Sometimes
    that would be nice.  But I can't justify the expense.
    
    Happy shopping...
    

	re .5

	Give Cuisinarts a call (in Greenwich Ct.) they may just have a 
	large feed tube for your model.

	By the way...my PRO's motor died once it was plugged in when the 
	utilities pole in front of the house was hit by lightning!  I sent
	it off to the home office, and they fixed it for free, and upgraded
	my dough blade and knife to prevent "lift off".  Nice folks.

						     
							- JP

    I have a Kitchen Aid Mixer and a Kitchen Aid Food Processor.  Bothe
    were purchased after being recomended by the gentleman who had done
    repair work on my 30yr old Hamilton Beach Mixer.  He told me that
    the only brand better than what I had was Kitchen Aid.  I asked
    him about Food Processors, he felt Cousinart was over priced and
    over rated and recomended Kitchen Aid. I got mine in Lechmere for
    less than $90. It doesn't have the large feeding tube, but I don't
    have a problem with that.  I don't have a lot of counter space,
    but those two appliances get priority on what space there is.  I
    prefer not to use a lot of attachments. Alot of times when I am
    doing food preparation I need both appliances , so having attachments
    could be cumbersome. 
    If it's possible to love inanimate objects, I love my mixer and
    food processor.

    Remember a few years ago, Cuisinart made a special offer to upgrade
    machines if you sent in your old one... I thought it sounded like
    a great deal!
    
    

    
    	Here's another vote for Cuisinart.  I've had mine for about
    4 years and I could never part with it.  I don't remeber what the
    model number is, but it's the next-to-the-biggest one.  It's super 
    when you want to make chinese food - cuts the veggies and meat in 
    minutes!  I also use it to make bread, ground beef (who can eat store 
    bought hamburger after that) and a multitude of other things.  The large
    feed tube is especially handy and it has lots of neat blades and
    attachments.
    
    	Conni
    
                  
    

I have a Sunbeam 7-speed heavy duty processor with large feed tube.
I got slicer and shredder blades and the dough hook as well as the
standard blade with the purchase price...under $100.00...

I LOVE this machine...I can make one 9 by 5 inch loaf of bread at
a time, which considering how fast it is, is more than adequate
even if I need to make several loaves of bread.  I looked at
cuisinart and the price was just too much...this one works really
well.

    We have the DLC-7 Cuisinart.  The capacity is big enough and the
    motor is sufficiently powerful that I can use it to knead a double
    batch of bread dough.
    
    The Cuisinarts have a lifetime guaruntee, I think, and they probably
    don't have to pay off very often because of the strength and design
    of the motor.  It also has some sort of thermocouple sensor that
    shuts of the motor if it approches overheating due to strain.
    
    

    Check off another satisfied Cuisinart owner.  Its main attraction
    is the powerful motor necessary for pulsing.  It is also heavy so
    it won't walk of the counter.  We have a DLC-8 and think it's great.

    When I decided to buy a food processor, I would've loved to buy
    a Cuisinart, but I couldn't justify the expense.  So, I went to
    my local discount store, and bought the cheapest food processor
    I could find -- a Hamilton Beach.  I have used it for everything
    from grating cheese, to chopping vegetables, to making pie crusts,
    and I've never had a problem with it.  I've had it for 3 years.
    
    I am sure my food processor won't last as long as a Cuisinart, and
    it doesn't have the versatility of the more expensive model, but
    it's been great for me, and I thought you might like to know that
    some of the cheap machines are quit functional.
    
    Susie

    I second what Susie says -- quite by coincidence, we have exactly
    the same model machine.  I did manage to shatter a drive gear on
    my machine (they're plastic) but I was able to replace it easily
    and cheaply ($2.50 and 15 minutes of my own labor).
    
    It's not the best in the world, but since it completely fulfills
    my requirements, it's perfect.

    					andrew

    I have a Robot Coup (and it's probably not spelled that way) and
    I love it.  I have one of the low end models (didn't feel I needed
    the double chamber, pasta attachments, ...)  I've got a chopping
    blade, a plastic mixing blade, a slicer, two shredders, and a
    juicer.  I use all attachments often, except for the juicer because
    it tickles your hand when your press the fruit into it.
    
    Robot Coup has a great motor.  They're the company that used to
    make the Cuisinart.  Robot Coup made industrial and professional
    food processors and marketed them under the Robot Coup name.  They
    made home-use food processors and had an agreement with a marketing
    company and marketed them under the name Cuisinart.  Somehow Robot
    Coup broke off with this marketing company.  The other company got
    control of the original design and the name Cuisinart.  They started
    making Cuisinarts in the United States (and Korea I think) and Robot
    Coup came out with a new line of home-use food processors.
    
    When I bought my food processor the Cuisinarts had just started
    being manufactured in the United States.  Due to may lack of faith
    in American motor-making, I bought the Robot Coup.
    
    I've also tried the Oscar.  It's too small for my needs but it was
    pretty good.  I didn't have alot of faith in the motor but with
    such a small bowl, maybe you don't need it.
    
    I just bought a friend the Black and Decker Oscar-clone.  It's got
    a good motor and I think that it's easier to use than the Oscar
    (it's designed just like a 'regular' food processor.)
    
    -Eileen McCrory
    

    I, too, own a Robot-Coupe, and am very happy with it. It's a real
    workhorse and can take abuse, it's the processor most widely used
    in professional kitchens. It's also the original food processor
    (developed in France). Next time you see one of the many cooking
    shows on PBS (like Julia Child, or 'Great Chefs of' series), notice
    what processor they use (hint, Robot-Coupe).
    
    Ken....

    
    If anybody has any info on the new compact food processors please let
    me know, I'm sure I want a small one because of VERY limited counter
    space and degree of usage.
      
    Thnx,
    JR

    You should check out the CONSUMER conference.  It's located at
    BEING::CONSUMER.
    
    -Bonnie

    The note in this conference is a copy of one I put in consumer.
    But thank you anyway.

    We had an Oscar (Oskar?) for a while, and enjoyed it, but found it too
    small for many of the things we wanted to make. It's easy to use and
    very easy to clean, but when you have to split a batch of something
    into three or four portions, and can't blend them all at once, it can
    be a drag. We've since parted with Oscar, but I noticed that a larger
    sized Oscar is available, so I may pick up one of those. 
    
    We didn't get too enthusiastic over the slicing capability of the
    machine - we had to go to so much work preparing the veggies for
    slicing that we might as well just keep chopping with the knife. (The
    slices tended to be irregular, too, though that may have been lack
    of practice on our parts.)
    
    For chopping, grinding, or pureeing, though, a food processor is
    great, and even a little one can handle making bread crumbs, chopping
    nuts, and so forth. 

    From watching the television chefs at work, I'd say that if you
    do a lot of cooking, go ahead and get a larger sized model and make
    room for it. If you don't cook often, or if you don't need to puree
    large quantities at once, then a smaller processor ought to do just
    fine.

    -b

    ROBOT-COUP IS THE ORIGINAL CUISINART BUT ONE OF THE DESIGNERS OF
    THE CUISINART LEFT THE COMPANY AND STARTED CUISINART. THE MOST 
    IMPORTANT THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A FOOD PROCESSOR IS WHAT
    YOU NEED IT FOR-SMALL THINGS LIKE AN ONION OR LARGE THINGS LIKE
    BAKING-, DIRECT DRIVE-DO NOT BUY ONE WITH A BELT. IN A COUPLE YEARS
    THE BELT WEARS OUT AND SLIPS. SUNBEAM DID MAKE AN EXCELLENT MACHINE
    AND FOR LESS MONEY BUT THEY DIDN'T MAKE MUCH MONEY ON IT SO THEY
    STOPPED MAKING IT. 
    
    I OWN A CUISINART AND WOULDN'T OWN ANYTHING ELSE. IT SATISFIES ALL
    MY NEEDS, IS DISHWASHER SAFE, AND NEVER GIVES ME ANY PROBLEMS. THEY
    HAVE A TOLL FREE NUMBER FOR QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS AND KEEP STOCK
    FOR OLD PARTS FOR DECADES AFTER A MODEL IS DISCONTINUED. 
    
    BY THE WAY, THE WARRANTY ON THE CUISINARTS IS 30 YEARS FOR THE MOTOR
    AND 1-3 YEARS FOR ALL OTHER PARTS. 
    
    JUDY

    I've had a G.E. food processor for lo these many years, and have been
    quite happy with it.  But last week, while making a double recipe of
    pesto, it breathed its last breath and went off to food processor
    heaven.  It could probably have been repaired, but I seized the
    opportunity to get a new one (I know, shades of Yuppiness!).
    
    So Saturday I dialed into this conference, read everything in this
    note, then went out and bought a Cuisinart Custom-11.  I've only used
    it once, but both my husband and I were *impressed*.  It's sooooo
    quiet, and there seems to be almost no vibration, just the smooth hum
    of the motor.  There's no doubt that there's LOTS more power in there
    than my old one had.
    
    Anyway, the reason I'm writing this reply is that I have a question. 
    The little booklet they publish talking about all the available
    accessories describes an (apparently) new disc, the fine grating disc. 
    Some of the literature said it's in very short supply and only
    available direct from Cuisinart.  Has anyone tried one?  Is it worth
    buying?  What have you used it for?  Etc. Etc. Etc.
    
    							Pat

    I just got and tried the fine grating disc. WOW!!!!!!!!!! It's the most
    amazing thing I have ever seen. If you were impressed the first time
    you saw a food processor do 1mm slices, wait until you see this.

    I used it on a pound of Parmesan and Romano cheese. I cut the
    cheese into 1 inch pieces. The disc made the fluffiest grated cheese
    I've ever seen. It is almost as fine as the stuff you find on gourmet
    popcorn. I was flabbergasted. It was fun! It was amazing! It was
    colossal! I wanted to do it some more, but was out of cheese.

    I am going to see how it works on frozen nuts next. If the nuts are
    really hard, I would almost expect nut flour.

    It was the most fun I've had for $26 in a long, long time. Buy the fine
    grating disc. Really. (In case you didn't notice, I liked it. ;-)

    Tamzen

    Tamzen, I'm sorry you're so ambivalent about the fine grating disc.  I
    was hoping someone would reply with a very strong opinion.  (^:
    
    I just called the 800 number and ordered one.  You convinced me!
    
    One question:  when you grated the Parmesan and Romano, were they at
    room temperature or cold?
    
    							Pat
    
    P.S. I made a salad last night in *record* time.  Chopped up fresh dill
    with the blade, then sliced the veggies in one fell swoop with the 3mm
    disc.  This is fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    
    I grated the cheese right out of the refrigerator. I would bet that as
    long as the cheeses were really hard, they would do okay.

    Yeah!  I've got the various grating/grinding/sieving attachments
    for my Kitchenaid Mixer, and it's WONDERFUL.  Instant tomato sauce
    straight from the garden, with NO SEEDS.  Instant chopped carrots.
    Instant ground nuts or parmesan cheese - and after taking half
    an hour to do a wedge of Parmasan on a hand grater, grinding my
    fingers too, it's lovely to just pop the cheese in the hopper
    and press it through.  And I never would have had the patience
    to grind all those nuts to make a nut torte without using the
    Kitchenaid.  I've used the meat grinder several times to make 
    low-fat ground round out of round roast when roasts were on sale.
    I found out that you NEED to add in some fat if you want the meat 
    to stick together to form patties.

    I grated the cheese at whatever temp it was when I unpacked it
    from the grocery bag.  Softer cheese (cheddar) grates up better
    right from the fridge - of course, cheddar is grated with a much
    coarser cone (disk, in your case).
    
    Enjoy!
    
    --Louise

    	I need help.  With the dates on the earlier entries, I don't
    	know if technology has caught up yet or not.
    
    	I *think* I'm in the market for a food processor and I'm of
    	the school of thought that you get what you pay for, so can
    	I hear from the community:
    
    		a) what's the best buy (latest one mentioned is the 
    		   Cusinart Custom-11)
    
    		b) how much $$
    
    		c) being rather processor dumb, what do you do with
    		   it (I'm not trying to be silly, but all we have is
    		   a 10 year old blender which Deb uses to make bread
    		   crumbs and soups - everything else we do is by
    		   hand (I saw a lot of things about doing bread in a
    		   food processor in #1721 - really possible?  doesn't
    		   this wear the motor out?  I mean I look at the ones
    		   at Lechemere for $39.95 and you can do bread dough
    		   on those?))
    
    	Please help and save me this Xmas season!  Thanks for any/all
    	replies!
    
    					Pete
    

    I do bread in my Cuisinart but it's about $150.  I don't know about the
    $39.95's.
    
    ed

Pat and I researched food processors a few months ago, including reading what
this conference and the CONSUMER conference had to say.  Pat had an old GE food
processor that had served her well for lo these many years, and it died a quick
painless death while making a batch of pesto.  The GE was one of those $39.95
models (or close).  It did an adequate job, and Pat never really had any
complaints.  However, now that we've gotten a Cuisinart (Custom-11), we have
seen the difference between the two.  The biggest thing is the power of the 
motor.  The Cuisinart is far more powerful.  It zips through things that the Ge
would have struggled with.  Also, the Cuisinart has a much larger choice of
blades etc.  It has the option, for example, of a grating blade that grates
Parmesan cheese so fine it's the consistency of talcum powder, or a blade that
slices close to 1/2 inch thick.  The GE wouldn't handle either of those
extremes.  Seems to me we paid something on the order of $150 - $160 for the
Custom-11, but that only included the basic blades.  We also bought the set of
blades, and I don't remember what we paid for those.  I do remember we got on
the telephone and found a wide variety of prices for the same thing, so do shop
around before you buy.

What do you do with them?  Well, the list is practically endless!  Yes, you can
make bread dough, easily and quickly.  You can mix up pasta dough in a flash --
it's such a stiff dough that doing it by hand would be *very* difficult.  Pat's
been making Christmas cookies lately, and chopping nuts and candied fruit in
the processor -- candied fruit is another job that's not very easy to do by
hand.  Pesto is one of our favorites; we grow basil inthe summer and freeze
pesto for winter.  Other than the food processor, the only way I know of to
make pesto is with a mortar and pestle, and I don't believe I'd want to tackle
large quantities of it that way.  Grating cheese, slicing vegetables or
potatoes, ... the list goes on and on.  Once you buy one you'll wonder how you
lived without it.

Hope this helps...

							Steve

I've read all the replies in here so far. Most of them say things like,
"I can shred tires in 12 seconds with my FuBar processor."

I even printed all the replies; Nancy and I went over them at home (will
the Notes Cops get me for that?).

Anyway, would you please share some more specific application info? Like,
I went shopping over the weekend. There are 12-speed food processors, and
yet Cuisinart (Custom 10C?) seems to have _one_ speed. Why? The $28
machines almost all have 3 speeds.

Do you *really* need different speeds? We have a 12-speed blender and
only use the highest speed.  Nancy's 12 or 14-speed Sunbeam mixer seems
to be used on three speeds 99% of the time. Our Amana microwave has ten
different power settings; we use 100% power 99.9% of the time.

Do you consistently use high speed for veggies, but low speed for dough?
Vice versa? We don't have dough hooks for the mixer, so we've never done
dough in a power thingy. I guess Nancy does it by hand. Will she be
shocked by a startling revelation the first time she mixes dough in the
food processor?

The Cuisinart that I looked at had a spring-loaded latching mechanism
between the top section and the bottom section. If we throw the assembly
in the dishwasher, will that spring rust after a couple of years?

That same machine had two blades: plastic, for dough, and metal, for
(apparently) everything else. Do the blades get dull? Do you replace
them? Do you need ten different blades, depending on whether you're
chopping cucumbers, beef, peanuts...? 

How do you control the thickness of things you're slicing? Different
blades?

Does anyone have multiple top chambers, so you can use the food processor
for different parts of the meal preparation without having to completely
wash the thing between steps? (Okay, I just finely ground some beef; now
I want to chop onions and celery - do I stop everything, fill the sink
with soapy water, wash & dry the parts then return from dishwasher-person
to cook-person?) This could get tiresome when I'm preparing a Chinese
dish with eight ingredients.

Do you need/use a timed on-off, or do you mostly pulse it?

Thanks,

Art

    and Camaro drivers only use one speed, too ... :-)
    
    I have a Cuisinart, model <whatever>10<whatever>.  It is used in
    either ON or PULSE, usually pulse since, for example, chopping an
    onion in ON can result in onion juice so you hit pulse a few times
    so you can check the granularity of the chop a few times.  I can't
    remember using the ON for more than 30 seconds.
    
    The metal blade is sharp serrated edge which "never goes dull." I
    imagine you could kill it if you tried but you would have to try
    something like minced brake drums.
    
    the spinning disk attachments of the Cuisinart are really useful
    and they also "never get dull." Slicing a carrot is still nothing more
    than "ON for 3 seconds" so you may as well PULSE.  If you slice a long
    celery,4 that might take 4 seconds but then you are not following the
    instructions (supposed to cut into 3 inch pieces and use the pusher).
    
    The one speed works well enough for making dough though I wouldn't be
    surprised if there's a slip mechanism so that it does not turn at the
    same speed as the metal blade.
    
    I never had a rust problem with the springs.
    
    You control the thickness of the slices by using different slicer
    blades.  If you use the metal blade for chopping you control the
    size of the pieces by using PULSE.  Also you have to open the top
    frequently to scrape the bowl otherwise parts stick to it and don't get
    chopped as well as the ones that don't stick.
    
    Don't bother washing everything between things, scraping the bowl is
    good enough unless there's some really delicate flavors that must
    not mix.  If some things are going to be cooked together, chop
    or slice them together and dump the bowl when you're done.
    
    I wouldn't chop beef with a food processor.  I think soft stuff is
    a problem anyway, soft cheeses should be hardened, etc.  Perhaps
    freezing beef would make it chop better, it's in the directions.
    
    ed

    We have a food processor in our house.  It was my hubbie's before we
    married.  I think it's a Cuisinart.  It's a mondo thing.  Big and
    heavy-- I keep it under the cupboard.  To be honest with you, I hardly
    ever use it because it is so heavy and akward to pull out, use, clean,
    and put back.  
    
    I get more use out of my L'il Oscar.  I'd be lost without that little
    toy.  I think I use it actually every day.  It's a mini food processor
    that's great for chopping onions, celery- etc., etc...  I love that
    accessory!

    You only need one speed... fast.  The more powerful the better.  A fast
    balde will slice nicely, a slow one will tear and crush.  The pulse is
    nice to get things minced nicely.  You will rarely pulse when you slice
    things, just when using the knife blade.  
    
    Thickness control is acheived by using different discs.
    
    I have never had problems with the springs in the bowl, but repeated
    dishwasherings of the bowl and top have rendered them "rough" and they
    no longer twist and lock as easily as they used to.  I believe its the
    same thing that causes my old drinking glasses to get foggy after many
    dishwashings.  Kind of like being etched.  It may be the water in
    combination with the dishwashing liquid, but other friends have had the
    problem with their glasses, too.

    
    I have a one-speed, one-blade, one-container Braun. I chop meat (for
    pate), knead bread, mix pastry dough and chop all sorts of vegetables. 
    It does everything I need it to do and it cost less than $50. The
    machine it replaced did the same things and cost less than $30.  (This
    was an off-brand cheapie, which worked fine.  I set the work bowl on a
    burner and that was the end.) 
    
    I haven't found a brand that comes with (or sells) extra work bowls. 
    If it exists, I'd buy it--I'm always inadvertently setting things on
    hot burners. I'd also use it more if I didn't have to wash bowls
    between,  say,  grating cheese and making pie dough.
    
    I think food processors are something like microwave ovens: If you've
    never used one, you can't imagine _needing_ one; if you've ever used
    one, you can't imagine living without. 
    
    If I were doing it again, I would buy the cheapest one I could find and
    try it awhile--if it turns out you need more features or more power or
    more whatever else it is that the expensive models have, you're only
    out a few bucks. But you'll probably find that the cheap one processes
    foods very well.
    
    Mike
    
     
    
       

    Most manufactuurers make replacement bowls for their food processors.
    With Cuisinart, you used to be able to order them by phone. At worst,
    you have to call and get a catalog, or the specific ordering info.

I had a pleasant surprise when I wrote to cuisinart to get a price list for 
replacement parts.  i explained in my letter that a portion of the bowl had
cracked off and I wanted to buy a replacement.

Three days letter, express delivery was my replacement bowl.....NO CHARGE!

They have a lifetime guarantee on that appliance for the breakable parts.

Food processor blades do get dull.  I bought a Cuisinart when it first 
became available in the US.  After 11 years of lots of use, the blade got 
pretty pretty dull.  It still did the job, but the cut was not as clean.  
I was about to purchase a new blade, but decided to upgrade to a model with 
a bigger bowl.  I've been sorry ever since.  The top is much harder to get 
on and off, and I miss the stability of the metal base on my old one.  
Plastic just isn't heavy enough to support it.  My old one is on indefinite 
loan to someone and someday I'll probably take it back.

I, too, had the occasion to replace the top to the container free of charge 
by Cuisinart.  The funny thing was that I sent both the bottom and the 
top to them, thinking they'd replace both.  No such luck -- since only the 
top was broken I got a new top, but they sent back the old bottom!  
Now that Cuisinart has gone belly up, I don't know if anyone honors the 
lifetime warranty.  Anyone know?

    
    I'd be interested in knowing as well....  I bought a ten-year old
    Cuisinart off of a friend, and trashed the slicing blade last month. 
    Any idea if they warrantee the blades as well?
    
    Sarah
    

    I didn't know that Cuisinart went belly up! I just noticed that my
    work bowl cracked. I was happy to read the past few notes, thinking
    I would get a new bowl for free. Now what do I do? Buy another brand
    food processor since I cannot live without one!
    
    I used my sister-in-laws cheap brand of food processor and didn't like
    it at all. We were making pizza and grinding pepperoni. You could only
    put one piece of pepperoni, about 1/2 inch long in the bowl at a time
    or it just wouln't work. With my cuisinart, I can put a 1/2 stick of
    pepperoni cut into 1 inch long pieces and it grinds like a charm.
    
    Linda
    

    I also thought they had gone out of business, but it appears they have
    only filed for creditor protection.  Their products are still in many
    stores, and I had heard about their financial woes quite a while ago,
    so I doubt the stores are just selling off their stock.  Give them a
    call.

    I wonder how their "creditor protection" applies to honoring the
    guarantee.  It seems to me there should be a relationship.
    
    ed

    Even if they don't give you a free bowl, buying a new bowl has got to
    be better than buying a new processor...

    I don't think the Cuisinart bowl is covered by the lifetime guarantee
    anyhow, only the motor.  My bowl broke a couple of years ago, and I
    called their 800 number (after several flase starts - the number got
    changed when they declared chapter 11 or whatever exactly happened). 
    They sent a new work bwol the next day, putting the charge on my credit
    card.  I don't know what I'd do without the machine, either - it's
    great!  It gets used several times a week.
    
    /Charlotte

    Has any rust spot appeared on your Cuisinart chopping blade?  I see
    some brown spots developing on the one we just bought.  Jordan Marsh is
    out of stock on Cuisinart classic otherwise we would have exchanged it.
    
    Blade must be made up of some other metal than stainless steel as
    stainelss steel does hold its edge well.  I am wondering if the plating
    on our blade is weak in spots.
    
    - Vikas

    The blades won't rust. If you see spots that look like rust, they could
    be coming from two places. First, there could be something else that
    you put in the dishwasher that is rusting and some of the rust is
    landing on the blades. Do you put things like cheap potato pealers in
    the dishwasher?
    
    Second, it might not be rust at all but mineral deposits from the
    water. I have this problem and run tang through the dishwasher
    occasionally.
    
    Linda
    
    

    Yeah.  My water is so high in iron that it causes rust spots to appear
    on stainless steel.  They wash off with a bit of scrubbing, though. 
    Somehow the steel causes the rust reaction in the iron in the water,
    and the result settles onto the metal.  We don't get these stains on
    plastics or aluminum, just stainless, and, of course, iron and steel.

    We handwash the blade, all the time.  We live in Merrimack which has
    high mineral/iron water.  We have to run Tang thru dishwasher quite
    often.  I will put the blade in the dishwasher at out next Tang run and
    see if the spots disappear. The spots are near the edge and I feel
    uncofortable in scrubbing that portion.
    
    - Vikas

    Does anyone here know the bowl capacity of the Cuisinart DLC-10?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Sue

    RE: .45   Huh?  I don't get it...
    
    Well, I called Cuisinart's customer number this morning and found out
    that the capacity of the DLC-10 is 7 cups (1-3/4 quarts).  I was
    thinking about buying one, but that bowl size seems small.  I wonder
    if a batch of cookies would even fit...
    
    Sue

By the way,  my favorite color is red...no blue...ARGGGGHHHHH!!

    Carrying a coconut?  Sorry, back to our regularly scheduled note...

    
    Hello,
    
    I am in the market for a food processor, and I want to know what the
    best quality food processor is. Also, does that best quality processor
    have any good attachments. I heard that Cuisinart is the best.
    
    Steve K.
    
    p.s. I want to pay less that $99 bucks...

    
    In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a Cuisinart. If you're only 
    going to be doing small tasks, then you might want to consider one of
    the small food processors such as the OSKAR (sp?).  I now have a 
    Cuisinart, and it's great.  I think the differences between the cheaper
    models vs expensive lies in the quality/power of the motor. My older 
    GE would have a difficult time with things like grating hard cheeses,
    or processing bread doughs, but the Cuisinart whips through them with
    no difficulty.  A good quality food processor will last a lot longer
    than a cheap one also.
    
    Lv

    What do you want to do with the food processor?  I have a Little Oskar
    type that does just fine.  All I use it for is cutting and shredding. 
    I do need a new blade as it doesn't mince herbs as well as it used to. 
    I use my mixer for doughs, and my blender for big batches of stuff, so
    the full size processor might have been overkill.  The little ones are
    well under $99.

This month's Consumer Report has a pretty good review of food processors.  I'm
partial to the Cuisinart, myself, but if you are looking for one under $99,
you might as well forget Cuisinart all together.  According to CR, the mini
that Cuisinart makes (the only one they make under $99) is as good as the Black
and Decker mini, but the B&D mini is about 1/2 the price.

I would pick up CR, figure out what you really want to use the food processor 
for, and look at the models they reviewed for the price.  You may find that you
have incompatible requirements (that is, if you want a unit that can do multiple
loaf batches of bread dough, you will pay lots more than $99).


				-JP

    I have a small Cuisinart.  It's called the "Little Pro"  It's really
    nice and when I bought it, it was under $99.00.  It came with 2 disks
    (a shredder and slicer), the blade, spatula, the side shooter bowl and
    I think that was about it.  When I bought it I thought that I would be
    able to get additional blades.  WRONG!!!!  They only make those two
    blades for it.  It does the job, but if I were to do it all over again,
    I would have gotten one of the larger models so that I could have
    gotten the additional disks and larger capacity.
    
    Christine

    I wouldn't touch a Cuisinart.   In fact, you can have mine, it only
    takes up space.   Of course, I think it's wired backwards, because it
    stays off when the book says it should be on, and vice versa, which is
    VERY dangerous.
    
    Joan Kastendick
    Seattle
    

    
    re: .55
    
     If that's the case, why didn't you bring it back for another when you
    purchased it, or have it repaired ?  
    
    My Cuisinart works as the manual describes and performs excellently.
    
    I'd buy another without any qualms at all.
    
    Larry
    

    
    
    Hello again,
    
    Well, I went and bought the Cuisinart Little Pro Plus at Lechmere. It
    was on sale, so I couldn't find it anywhere cheaper (PVM, Service Mer.,
    ect...). I read the Consumer Reports Aug '92 issue, and out of all of
    the compact models (wanted for storage purposes), the one that I bought
    was at the top of the list. I felt that I did my homework well ;^). The
    only task that it didn't do the best was for making soup (B&D Shortcut
    CFP 10 did a little better on that one). It was a little more money
    that the others, but I think it was worth it (style, feel, name ect.).
    
    Steve_who_is_happy_that_he_is_part_of_the_cuisinart_family...
    

    You don't necessarily have to pay big bucks to get a Cuisinart.  
    
    I put an ad in a local paper, asking to buy "a used Cuisinart in
    excellent condition."  I got a 1/2 dozen calls from folks who bought
    them but never used them, and were willing to part with them for a
    pittance.   I ended up buying a DLC-10 with 4 blades plus mixing paddle
    for $25.  Last time I checked, that model's equilvalent was on sale at
    Lechmere for $169.00.
    
    I'm very happy with my Cuisinart.  I've tried other brands, and they
    just don't compare (im my opinion).
    

	Personally, I think the Braun is a little more user-friendly
	than the Cuisinart.  Not so much weirdness going on with the
	cover.  Plenty powerful too - you can grate cheese like there's no
	tomorrow.  I love it.

	Di

    .59....
    
    I agree about the "weirdness" with the covers on the Cuisinart.  My
    Braun works fine, and I use it mostly for making pizza dough and pie 
    crust.  
    
    It was also considerably cheaper than a Cuisinart.  

    I see that the new model of Braun is now available at Lechmere.  This
    one has variable thickness adjustable cutting disc.  I wonder if it is
    as good as it could be.
    
    - Vikas

    
    I am satisfied with mine
    
    Elizabeth
    

The holder on our Braun (full-size food processor) broke. It's the
helicopter-rotor-like device which actually holds the cutting disks.
Where can we get replacement parts?

We live in Southern New Hampshire.

Thanks,

Art

>>The holder on our Braun (full-size food processor) broke. It's the
>>helicopter-rotor-like device which actually holds the cutting disks.
>>Where can we get replacement parts?


	According to Lechmere, you can order replacement parts directly
	from Braun via phone:

	Lynnfield, MA number (1-617-592-3300)
	toll-free number (1-800-421-8668)

	Hope this helps,
	Di

RE: .64 - Braun (food processor) parts -- turns out that 800 number is
for Black and Decker, but the Massachusetts number was a winner. Braun
shipped the parts to us right away.

>>RE: .64 - Braun (food processor) parts -- turns out that 800 number is
>>for Black and Decker, but the Massachusetts number was a winner. Braun

	Hmmmm.  I'll have to have a word with that Lechmere.  8^)

	Sorry for the mis-information.
	Di

    I'm looking for something, other than a mortar and pestle, that will do
    the following
    
    2 shallots + 3 oz butter + 2 cloves garlic + 1/2 oz parsley = coarse paste
    
    
    I've tried this in my 1.5 pint Kenwood blender/liquidser, but what
    happens is that the blades grip the mixture and flings it to the sides
    of the blender container. Vigorously rocking the blender too and fro
    causes some of the mixture to fall back into the path of the blades.
    After several minutes of this I get a very coarse, not too acceptable
    paste.
    
    With the plethora of food processors on the market, with all sorts of
    attachments both large and small e.g. 1/2 liquidser attachments, I was 
    hoping something might handle the above gooey mixture.
    
    One thought I had was to mince the garlic and dice the shallots, pre
    mix with butter/parsley then feed the whole lot through some meat
    grinder/mincer attachement a couple of times.
    
    NB I would make a larger quantity of the above mixture if a food
    processor could handle it.
    
    NNB Although I live in the UK, just knowing that a food processor or
    attachment is capable of this would spur me to investigate the market
    with a little more vigor. Brand names like Braun, Kenwood, Moulinex,
    Black and Decker, etc are common over here. I might even have seen     
    Cuisinart.
    
    Angus

 Perhaps a blender would yield more acceptable results. Particularly
if you made a larger quantity- it would be less apt to stick to the
sides and avoid the blades.

 The Doctah

My Cuisinart would make the mix go all over the sides, too.  Try using the
machine to mince the garlic, parsley and shallots, then add the butter, or 
mix into the butter by hand.  By the way, in my Cuisinart, as in most food 
processors, the solids will chop to a certain size then cling to the sides 
away from the blades.  A spatula (one came with my machine) can be used to 
clean the sides down.  Personally, I would mix the chopped stuff with soft
butter by hand, unless I was making a MAJOR quantity.

    I got my mother a Christmas gift a few years back that she loves; it's
    a very very mini food processor.  The container holds about 3/4 of a
    cup, and the blade is tiny, the whole thing weighs about a pound.  It's
    primary purpose is exactly what youare talking about - pulverizing
    garlic, herbs, etc.  It works great, and the container is small enough
    that you mostly avoid the "sticking to the sides" syndrome.
    
    I can't remember what the brand is, and I haven't seen any for sale
    this year - this year mini food processor with 2 cup containers seem
    popular, but I don't know if that would work for you.
    
    I got ours at Brookstone, maybe someone here could order one for you
    and ship it to the UK.
    
    Diana

    Diana (et al),
    
    I have the mini food processor called Little Oscar.  It's by far one of
    my favorite (most used) kitchen toys.  I wouldn't give it up for the
    world.
    
    There are several brands and variations of these but Little Oscar seems
    easier to use/clean/store.  My Cuisinart hardly ever comes out of the
    cupboard now (heavy sonovagun).  
    
    I believe L'il Oscar could do the job! BTW:  Spag's, Service
    Merchandise, etc., even discount dept. stores carry these nifty little
    items.
    
    I used mine the other day to grind my apples for my applesauce, and to
    chop my onions, etc., etc.
    
    Rgds,
    marcia

    	-1, ditto.

    	We have a small one too and use it constantly for almost
    	everything. It's easy to clean and just the right size for most
    	jobs. In fact, it's the only thing that makes hummus the right
    	consistency for us...

	-Erik

I use the mini chopper to make flavored butters, etc.  I soften at least half the
butter first to give it some thick liquid consistency, then cool and then hand
mix.

	I've only a one speed Braun hand held blender. I've done similar 
	things with garlic & onions. I find that I have to chop them 
	roughly first & resolve to pureeing the contents of the blender 
	bowl even if the motor does threaten to burn out ;-) It seems 
	easier if you put some the oil that  you're going to cook with 
	( perhaps some of the butter warmed ? ) in aswell; then, when 
	the onions are done, add the rest of the ingredients. I must 
	admit that it hates stiff pastes, but it will cope if pushed. 
	
	Nik.

    I must admit I never thought of doing the shallots/garlic/parsley in
    the blender then mixing with the butter outside of the blender. Though
    I think my blender is still too large for the small quantities of the
    recipe.
    
    I have seen those small capacity blenders, both as stand alone units
    and as attachements. The stand alone units were recently advertised on
    the tele over christmas and were shown cutting up herbs. On the Food
    and Drink programme on tuesday they had a small (2 cupish) attachment
    to a food processor. It was a herb/spice blender specifically designed
    for tough herbs and spices, and certainly made short work of an olive
    oil and sesame seed mixture. I've seen a Braun food processor in our
    local Savacenter with a free herb/spice blender attachement; definitely 
    worth visit.
    
    So it looks like: Pre mince shallots and garlic by hand (which I do any
    way), put in a small capacity blender (maybe with a touch of olive oil
    or melted butter to help things along), blend to desired consistency,
    empty to bowl and mix in butter.
    
    Sounds good to me, thank you,
    Angus

    
    I have the Braun thing with the free herb attachment.  It will take
    care of the garlic and shallots nicely, although I agree that you will
    probably have to mix this stuff into the butter by hand.  
    
    BTW, I would never have bought this gadget, but use it often. It's easy
    to clean, lightweight, and better suited to small quantities than a
    normal food processor. 

    The device I bought my mother is not like the Oscar Jr, which is much
    bigger.  This thing really resembles a Krup's coffee grinder.  In fact,
    maybe a coffee grinder would work?
    
    D!

    we trotted along to our local Savacenter and picked up a Braun UK 130
    Multipractic. It was on sale for #56.50 (that's pounds sterling). The
    unit came with a chopping blade, two slicing blades, a small (half
    or one pint) liquidiser and a light weight whisk. It has two speeds
    (full and half) and a pulse mode. The motor seemed a reasonable 460
    watts, but without seeing the windings I was unable to tell how rhobust
    an engine it was.
    
    Yesterday I put the unit to the test by trying to make my
    shallot/garlic/butter/parsley mixture. I set up the liquidiser, threw in
    the garlic and pulsed the machine. The garlic was coarsely chopped, but
    splattered against the sides of the liquidiser.
    
    OK, I thought, not a good start, so I added the shallots, pulsed a
    couple of times, then ran the unit at half speed for about five
    seconds. The mixture was chopped reasonably finely, but was still
    thrown to the sides of the liquidiser and wouldn't fall back on to the
    blades. Now, I figured that doubling or tripling the amount of
    ingredients might well have helped, but I decided to test the
    boundaries of the machine.
    
    Next I added a tablespoon of olive oil, just to see if a little liquid
    might do the trick. It didn't do much. The oil just settled to the
    bottom of the container and the blades just whizzed over the stuff.
    
    Finally, I cut a 2-3 oz chunk of butter and softened it in the
    microwave. I then added the soft and, in places, runny butter to the
    shallots and garlic, and turned the machine on to full speed. It worked
    an absolute treat! There was sufficient mass of ingredient for the blades
    to catch hold off and the liquidiser was small enough for the mixture
    not to go anywhere but back on to the blades.
    
    As I was on a roll here, I cut up some more butter (straight from the
    fridge) and added it, with two more cloves of garlic and a tables spoon
    of parsley, to the preformed mixture. It was a breeze. Ten seconds at
    full speed and I had a wonderfully smooth paste.
    
    Later that day I had a bash at Lentil soup. The food processor made
    short work of chopping the carrots, onions and celery. Liquidising the
    resulting soup, plus the two rashers of bacon I had added for flavour
    (not part of the recipe, but I had no ham stock only chicken stock) proved
    even more efficient than with my Kenwood blender; anyone want to buy an
    eight year old blender.
    
    I am sold on this machine. Its about the middle of the range for such
    machines and should handle what we want of it. Our next job is to get
    it to produce Pizza and flour tortilla dough. The beast should handle
    up to one and a half pounds of mixture, more than enough for our needs.
    
    BTW. The liquidiser fits inside the food processor bowl. The ones I had
    seen up till then were little attachments that fitted on the top of the
    food procesor. I was a little wary of this arrangement with the Braun,
    but soon warmed to it as I was able to feed stuff into the liquider via
    the processor's feed tube. The motor is fairly quiet. At full speed it
    is much quieter than my Kenwood blender, and has a less grating hum.
    
    Thanks for all your advice and help,
    Angus

    -2

    	Yes, I think a coffee grinder would work too. Last month when
    	making a huge dinner for a birthday and needing to do twenty things
    	all at the same time, I ran out of clean food processors, blenders,
    	and choppers. I needed ground dark chocolate in a flash, when
    	I spied the coffee grinder  - clean - in the corner. In a pinch
    	I decided to use it. It worked out OK, it powdered it nicely. But... 
    	the chucks of spinning chocolate broke the plastic nut covering the 
    	bolt the blade is attached to (chocolate is harder than coffee
    	beans??, not happy with that quality esp. from Krups). And also
    	the chocolate melted under the blades a little due to the heat
    	and friction.

    	But in a pinch it worked fine. Plus I think grinding herbs would 
    	probably work much better than hard, meltable chocolate... 


    	-Erik

    D- There's a L'il Oscar, and then there's Oscar Junior.  "Junior" is
    bigger than "L'il."  L'il is about the size of my coffee grinder.  For
    me, it's perfect.  The bigger jobs get done in the Cuisinart.  
    
    The pieces of the L'il Oscar go right into the dishwasher for cleaning.
    
    I have the hand-held drink mixer - which was given to me as an X-mas
    gift last year.  I probably never would have bought one of those (since
    I own a nice blender), but my family knows I love kitchen toys!  
    
    Rgds,
    marcia
    

    My Mom uses one of those mini food processors to make grated Parmesan
    right before dinner.  She loves this device.
    
    L
    

    I bought a food processor last week - a Braun UK11, which was top-rated
    by Consumer Reports.
    
    So far I'm not impressed...when I slice mushrooms, peppers or cheese, a
    lot of the substance ends up pulverized instead of sliced.  Also, it's
    hard to make onions, peppers or carrots stay lined up correctly so that
    the slices come out the desired shape.
    
    Is this a problem with all food processors or just mine?  I bought the
    Braun because it had a grating disk and two sizes of slicing/shredding
    disks.  The Panasonic Wizard, rated #2, hard only one slice of
    shredding, and no grating disk.  I wonder how much I am going to use
    the two sizes though.  I noticed that the Panasonic went on sale at
    Lechemere this week and I'm considering returning my Braun for a
    Panasonic.  
    
    Any comments?
    
    Thanks,
    Diana

    I have a very old Cuisinart, though to tell you the truth what I mostly
    use it for is to knead bread dough and to pulverize onion-and-spice
    mixtures when making curries.  I don't usually bother with it for
    slicing things because it is too much of a pain to drag it out and wash
    it up afterwards.  You need to be careful how you wedge food to be
    sliced into the feed tube, and cut things into pieces that will fit in
    without being able to tilt over.  Trying to slice up cheese usually
    doesn't work - soft cheese is too soft to slice (unless you freeze it),
    and hard cheese fractures.  Grating cheese works.  It is usually easier
    for me, unless I need a mountain of sliced mushrooms or whatever, to
    just slice them with a knife.  I never use any of the really odd
    slicing blades, like the wave-cut potato blade (we eat almost no
    potatoes in my house anyhow _ I don't much like them).  The very best
    thing the machine does for me is to chop up onions!
    
    /Charlotte

    Is there an advantage, then, to having a bona fide food processor over,
    say, a mini that just chops?
    
    D!

    My cuisinart has 3 slicing blades af varying thickness, a shredder, a
    fine julienne, and a "french fry" blade, as well as the knife and a
    plastic dough blade.  I never use it for small jobs, where the clean up
    would take longer than the slicing.  But for pizza parties, where I
    want a few pounds of sliced mushrooms, and a bunch of peppers,
    pepperoni, etc., it's indispensable.  Also for my dad's marinated
    eggplant relish that requires a BUSHEL of eggplants, julienned
    finely...

    re: Full-sized vs. teeny food processor
    
    I'd probably never, ever use a teeny-weeny one.  I don't have much
    counter space, and it would take more time to haul the thing out of its
    closet, set it up, and wash it afterwards, than to just chop up
    whatever it is, if the processor couldn't handle a big quantity.
    
    /Charlotte

�                   -< if it were tiny, it wouldn't get used >-
    
    I have one which is much smaller than a Cuisinart.  It has a 2 cup
    capacity bowl plus a shredder/slicer head.  I use it all the time.  If
    fits easily in the cupboard (I don't have much counter space either),
    only takes one hand to move it, and cleanup is quick and easy.

    I have one of the tiny choppers (approx. one-cup capacity)--the Black &
    Decker one that costs $15-20. 
    
    I rarely use it. In order for it to work, I have to cut up whatever
    into pieces no larger than 3/4" square, and the small capacity means I
    have to fill it more than once. It bogs down easily due to lack of
    power. 
    
    I don't find it worth the effort.
    
    --Marcia

    RE: .92
    
    I, too, have one of those Black & Decker Handy Choppers.  I stopped
    using it when I realized that I had to cut stuff into small pieces just
    to fit it in the bowl.  It finally ocurred to me that just a few more
    swipes of the knife would accomplish the task just as well, with less
    to clean up.  
    
    About the best thing I can say about the Handy Chopper is that it's
    cute.  :^)  Maybe it would be good for making small quantities of
    homemade baby food--I don't know.  
    
    Sue

    what is nice about a mini-chopper is that it is ideal for grinding
    nuts, mincing onions, and jobs along those lines.
    
    these are jobs that cannot be done effectively with a knife, and
    a large capacity chopper isn't as good because you usually grind
    small amounts, and the blade may not chop as fine.
    

    Interesting.  My L'il Oscar gets used all the time.  It's very light
    weight, easy to pull out and use (quicker and more efficient than the
    cutting board 'n knife), and I throw it into the dishwasher to clean. 
    I used it for chopping onions, green pepper, etc., all the time.
    
    The Cuisinart (ugh, major heaviness) comes out when I need to do large
    quantities of things or for perhaps my avacadoes when making quacamole,
    etc.  
    
    Rgds,
    marcia

My wife has a Braun that she likes. The only problem is, when you use one
of the grater disks, you remove the chopper blade and insert a "carrier"
in its place. The disk then mounts on top of this carrier, which elevates
the disk to a position just below the top of the big cup. We've broken
this plastic carrier twice now, each time when we're grating cheese. 

Nancy called the Braun Customer Service line today; they're sending out a
new carrier, at no charge. That's nice, but if it's the same as the first
two, I'm afraid it will break again. Has anyone else experienced this?

This could be my excuse to buy her the grater accessory kit for her
Kitchenaid mixer; it's all metal.

Art

What are you grating?  I only grate relatively soft cheese, like cheddar, with
the grater disk on my cuisinart.  For the hard stuff, like parmesean and romano,
they recommend you use the steel knife blade, which I do.  Works great, but the
cheese comes out minced, not shredded.  I only use that for large quantities. 
Usually, I grate a couple of portions on the fine shredder side of my box
grater.  I prefer this for topping pasta, etc.

>>For the hard stuff, like parmesean and romano,
>>they recommend you use the steel knife blade, which I do.
>>Works great, but the cheese comes out minced, not shredded.

	Ditto for me, with the Braun.  

Nancy uses it for Monterey Jack cheese, for a Tex-Mex dip. 

When she called the Braun 800 number and explained the problem, the rep
immediately said she'd send out a new carrier free of charge. Nancy said
that's fine, now I want to order a second one "just in case" and pay for
it. The rep said no, if this one breaks, call me immediately.

We use this food processor for loads of other foods, including the thick,
hard stalks of broccoli (for cream of broccoli soup) and it does fine. 

Art

I'm suprised it breaks on something as soft as monterey jack!