Kitchen Giants: Cuisinart
There are very few jobs that a good food processor can’t handle. Back in the day there was a certain amount of hands-on prep work that was required to use a food processor, the food chutes were so narrow that everything that went into one of those machines had to be prepped first. Nowadays food processors have wide chutes, strong motors and blades, and the ability to handle nearly any product you care to send their direction. The granddaddy of all food processors is of course Cuisinart. We’ve talked before about kitchen giants and the Elite Collection 14-Cup Food Processor is no exception. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to only talk about such a well known kitchen standard as it isn’t really obscure, so we also have the CleanWater Countertop Filtration System, which is also Cuisinart. It would seem that Cuisinart has a presence in nearly all things kitchen, and we’re just fine with that.
Apparently they say that no matter how good your water is you should get a water purification system, because of the chlorination system, among other things. Not only does this purification system remove over 97% of the chlorine in your water, it also removes a large percentage of lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, tetrachlorethylene and toulene. So putting our periodic table aside for a moment, let’s focus on the things that are really important, like the ability to have hot water for tea on demand. (Yes, our priorities are in order, why do you ask?) The CleanWater filtration system holds 2 gallons of water, and has blue and red lights to indicate when the hot water and the cold water are ready. Room temperature water is always good to go, of course. We have the old standby office hot water heater, and this one performed just as consistently as our go-to machine. The water temperature was true, it was always within a few degrees of 194 degrees, and the chilled water 44 degrees Farenheit. Properly filtered water makes for the best coffee and tea, and really for the best tasting drinking water as well. This makes for a very cost-effective alternative to buying bottled water, and the convenience of hot and cold water on demand is quite enjoyable. We heartily recommend you give it a try.
Food processors! How about three in one? This 14 cup processor has nesting bowls which is always a good idea for space-saving, and ultimately means you have three different processors in one. Not only do you have the 14-cup bowl there’s also an 11-cup bowl and a 4.5-cup bowl, as well as an adjustable 6-position slicing disc and reversible shredding disc. It’s the small things that make us happiest in the kitchen, so the fact that the bowls have pour spouts and measurement markings nearly trumped the 1000-watt motor. We love everything about this food processor and it’s ability to make whole pieces of food into whatever size, texture and shape we need it to be. There is some debate in the Truly Obscure kitchen over whether dough should be done in a food processor or if something like a stand mixer is better suited. We found that while there is a dough blade with this processor it’s not always the most consistent way to do dough. For those of us who prefer a stand mixer for such tasks this one thing wasn’t a big deal, but it’s worth noting that you may have some difficulty bringing a ball of dough together. Often the dough gets pushed out to the sides of the bowl, instead of getting pulled in to form a ball.
Both of these appliances come with a limited 3-year warranty, and the food processor also has a 20 year warranty on the motor. The water filtration system is only available in a die-cast finish, the food processor is available in die-cast, black and white. The removable parts on the food processor are all dishwasher safe, making clean-up fairly painless. You can find both of these appliances in most major department stores, or online directly from Cuisinart or retailers like Amazon. The CleanWater Filtration System is available for $150, and the Elite Collection 14-Cup Food Processor for $299.
