We’ve decided to get a Cuisinart but having trouble deciding what size. I think a 7 cup would be too small. 14 cup costs way too much. Price on the 9 cup seems right ($129 on amazon plus free shipping) and I’m leaning that way, but I just want to make sure that isn’t too small too. What would I need an 11 cup for that a 9 cup couldn’t do? Any thoughts?

Indysusan - 06 February 2011 03:49 PM

We’ve decided to get a Cuisinart but having trouble deciding what size. I think a 7 cup would be too small. 14 cup costs way too much. Price on the 9 cup seems right ($129 on amazon plus free shipping) and I’m leaning that way, but I just want to make sure that isn’t too small too. What would I need an 11 cup for that a 9 cup couldn’t do? Any thoughts?

Mix bread dough.

Also, too, the cup size controls how much liquid you can process.  It will be far less than the cup will actually hold because it overflows the central tube where the blade attaches.

or larger / double batches of ganache.

Buy the largest you can afford.

Especially for pastry one needs a large processor. Medium size will usually only handle one crust. It is such a waste of time being limited to a single crust.

Remember the processors look big but you can only fill them one third with liquid before it overflows down the centre.

I bought a mid-size (the motor was the sweet spot in the range) and really regret not having the largest. Also if you are planning at using it for chopping make sure it has a wide mouth. Then you don’t have to halve everything first.

A stand mixer in my view is more efficient for mixing cakes and bread dough. Processors are superb for chopping, grating etc.

Get the biggest one they have. If you have to save up a bit more, wait. The biggest allows you to make Rose’s Burger bun recipe in a snap. You can make a big loaf of bread too.

I think I’ve decided on the Cuisinart Elite Collection 12 cup. It’s not the monster 14 cup but should be big enough for anything I can imagine, and also comes with a 4 cup bowl. Really, my only concern is that I can’t imagine everything I will do with it (although in another thread many of you listed several things you do with yours). Perhaps I will start making more things (particularly in the evenings) that I never do, such as scalloped potatoes. On Amazon it’s gotten really good reviews although there are some not so great but that’s true with all the models. So I think I’ll take the plunge!