Our trusty old food processor recently went to its grave. To be honest, we rarely used it because it didn't work well and was loud beyond the point of obnoxiousness to being downright painful. The plastic was discolored from too many trips through our dish-washer and the bearings were also shot.
Mr. Recipe Junkie and I spent a lot of time looking at food processor reviews on other blogs and on Youtube. It became clear that if we wanted something that worked well and would last, we would need to spend some money. We came across different food processors ranging from your typical $40 models sold at the big box stores to high-end professional models. Several reviewers gave the Cuisinart Custom-14 high marks so we bit the bullet and ordered one online. Two days later our new machine arrived (Thanks Amazon Prime!).
Parts and Build Quality
This thing is a tank! The base alone weighs over 12.5 lbs. It measures out at 12.6 x 16.6 x 9.3 in. The official model number is DFP-14BCN. Our Custom-14 came with a chopping blade, a slicer, and a shredding attachment. The bowl will hold 14 cups of veggies or 3 cups of liquid. Sadly, our unit did not come with any storage options for the discs, stem, or chopping blade. Cuisinart does sell a Blade and Disc Holder which I guess is going on the Wish list.
As I mentioned, this machine is heavy. It feels like a solidly put together hunk of machinery. The base has 4 suction cup feet that grip down the counter very well and really help keep the processor in place.
There are only two buttons on this whole processor. There is an "On" button that clicks down and keeps the machine running. The other is "Off-Pulse" which will kick the On button back up. Holding down the Off-Pulse button does exactly what you would think it does. The buttons are easy to press and have a firm, mechanical feel to them. They feel solid and give great tactile feedback when you use them and have a pleasant
"thunk" when you use them.
The bowl, lid, and pusher are a clear plastic that have a slight gray smoke tint to them. Again, all the parts feel very solid. None of them flex or make creaking sounds when putting parts together.
How blades and attachments actually connect on the Custom-14 is the biggest area that Cuisinart has diverged from the cheaper food processors. Our old processor had a small bronze bearing in the bowl cover, and the blades had a little metal pin that would ride in that bearing. There was also a plastic covered drive shaft that would clip into the bottom of the bowl. When you attached the bowl to the base, that plastic part out connect the motor in the base to the bade. This was my least favorite part of the old machine. That plastic drive shaft part would get lodged into the food bowl and you had to twist with all your might to get it to pop loose. It had little plastic bits that started breaking off.
The Cuisinart is a whole different animal. There are no bearings that attach to the bowl or the blade.A drive shaft sticks up from the base through the food bowl. The blades slip onto this drive shaft. This setup is a lot simpler with less moving parts. That also means less to go wrong!
The chopper blade is the attachment that we use the most. We wanted a chopper that would do a couple things really well. We wanted a blade that would sit close to the bottom of the food bowl. This would mean less unprocessed food at the bottom of the bowl under the blade. We also wanted the tips of the blades to be very close to the sides of the bowl, also to minimize the amount of unprocessed food was left. The Custom-14 hits it out of the park in both of these areas. The chopper blade leaves no food behind! The blades are also angled enough to really get stuff moving around in the bowl.
WARNING: There are two types of blade that came out for the Custom-14. They have issued a recall for the original blade style as there is a weak point where the blade can come apart. Please check the Cuisinart website to ensure you have the newer style blade.
Our machine came with two food processing disks in addition to the chopper blade. One disk is a 4mm slicer and the other is a medium shredder. Both these discs connect to a plastic shaft called a "Stem" that in turn connects to the shaft that comes up from the base into the food bowl. The discs themselves have little metal weights on the bottom that help balance them as they spin. Just like the chopper blade, these discs are super sharp and care should be used when handling and washing them. For the slicer discs, Cuisinart makes a variety of thicknesses including 2mm Thin, 6mm Thick, and 8mm Extra Thick. There are also other discs including a Fine Grater, Fine Shredder, and a French Fry Cutter.
When mounted to the stem, these disks ride very close to the food bowl cover. This means when you feed veggies in to chop or shred, not very much is left bouncing around unprocessed in the top of the machine.
Veggies and ingredients can be fed into the food bowl through an opening in the food bowl cover. This opening has a two-piece "Pusher"which also acts like a safety mechanism. The Pusher has a metal rod that sticks off the side which allows the machine to turn on when inserted into the food bowl cover. The food processor will not turn on unless that rod is inserted. Removing the pusher to feed veggies in will turn off the processor. This is where the two-piece design comes in. Remove the rod-shaped center of the Pusher which is twist locked in and it allows you to feed veggies in while keeping the Pusher in place. Genius!
Ease of Cleanup
Cleaning the Custom-14 is pretty straight-forward. The design team obviously put a lot of effort and thought into ease of cleaning. They minimized areas that normally catch food bits like the inside of the food bowl lid where the opening is.
The chopping blade is ridiculously sharp! Please use caution when handling these blades. Cleaning the blade the first time was a learning experience for Mr. Recipe Junkie. We quickly learned to use a bristled brush to clean the blade as a washcloth catches on the fine serrations of the blade and pulls threads out.
I recommend spraying all the parts down in the kitchen sink immediately after each use. This makes cleanup much easier when you do go through and wash up your dishes. All the parts except the base are listed as dishwasher safe. We haven't tested that though, as our dishwasher leaves spots and film all over everything and we keep this guy on the counter where everyone can see.
Pro's And Con's
Pro's
- Excellent build quality
- Huge food bowl
- Clever design features
- Satisfying button clicks
- Easy cleanup
Con's
- Expensive!
- Did I mention how sharp it is?
- Did not come with attachment storage
Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend the Cuisinart Custom-14 if you are in the market for a new food processor. This is a kitchen appliance that you will buy once and should last a very long time. While it is expensive initially, in the long run it will be cheaper as you wont have to replace it every few years like cheaper models.
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