Kitchen Blenders

Hauser :

I purchased this product in 2005, and I didn’t use it that often, maybe once a month average? I had to replace the blender blade around 2007 because the bottom plastic part under the blade that gets locked into the motor (don’t know what you call it) broke. It wasn’t too expensive to replace and it works fine after that, but then I don’t use it that often so that’s not really saying much. I noticed recently (2009) that the food processor makes this really loud ultra-sonic noise when I use it, and it wasn’t that loud in the beginning. I think something’s wrong with the food processor base that locks into the motor (the black part - it’s called the gear box collar) and I will likely replace that too for 20 dollars plus shipping. All in all, you’re not getting a quality product if your buy this, because the plastic parts are too weak to handle all the grinding and crushing. If I had to go back I would invest a little bit more to buy a higher quality product.

Vecchio :

Blender is terrible, returned it without ever using processor.

Why bother paying for half a machine? I was so dissapointed by the lack of job the blender did I returned it without ever using the processor part.

Blender jar is to wide, then goes in real narrow like small bowl around bottom of blades (but you can’t see that in picture because of big thick bulky plastic bottom that screws on heavy glass jar/unit), it would be more of a ‘chipper’ flinging stuff about on the top parts of the blades without ever really getting down to business.

Terrible.

Ethridge :

My first call to Cuisinart was in regard to the ear-piercing volume of the food processor. They listened to it and said it was normal. Sooo, make sure you throw in a pair of ear-plugs with your purchase. And please note that babies’ ears are very sensitive and they should NOT be in the room when this food processor is in use.
My second call to Cuisinart was at the 6 month mark when the drive shaft exploded. They quickly sent me a new one in the mail and I was very pleased!
My third call to Cuisinart was at the 9 month mark when I was trying to grate cheese (not even a hard parmigiana mind you, but a soft cheddar/jack!) This time they were unhelpful and told me I would have to mail them back the entire unit for inspection and include return postage! So now I have the burden of wondering if it’s worth spending the postage and waiting in line for a hunk of junk that’s probably going to break again in a few months.

Neuwirth :

I loved this combination food processor-blender. It did all the work I needed, it was easy to switch out the different parts of the unit, and easy to wash and clean.

I bought the unit in late 2004, and used it until late 2008, so it lasted for 4 years.

Unfortunately, the warranty is only for 3 years and the motor burned appears to have burnt out. I would expect a blender that costs this much to last much longer especially given that I did not use it all that frequently.

For the first couple years, it performed very well, then it started to have trouble crushing frozen fruit, let alone ice. Then one day it stopped working altogether.

I may try to take it to a local repair shop, but I’m hesitant to spend the time and money to ship it off to the cuisinart repair when they are unable to give me a quote for the cost of the repair.

Rebich :

Before I purchased I read the other reviews and I do agree with them. It’s a powerful machine, a bit noisy because of the power but not too much, and the pour spout is terrible. The food processor attachment seems a little wobbly, but works fine. Overall I am very happy with it. I needed something powerful and the problems it has are small inconveniences. I would recommend it.

DeSoto :

I’ve owned this product for 6 years and it was my introduction to food processing. First, the blender is awesome. Great. Wonderful. Very effective and fast. Great quality. Sturdy.

The food processor is where the quality tends to drop. I haven’t had problems with anything breaking. It’s just that the chopping isn’t very consistent. It tends to either leave lots of over sized chunks, or to change everything into an absolute puree. There’s no in between. For the longest time I thought I was using it incorrectly, but after purchasing a larger food processor that also includes a prep bowl that works perfectly and with precision, I think it’s just this product. I did successfully use this small food processor to make biscuit dough, and it did a nice job.

The shredding disc works fine. The only limitation of course is the size of the bowl. As long as you don’t mind doing your shredding for potato pancakes or cheese for lasgana in batches, it’s not a problem.

It is decently easy to clean, though I find that my larger food processor is actually easier with less stuff getting caught in corners.

The final blow against this product is the food processor noise. It’s incredibly loud, to the point where I’ve pondered ear plugs if you’re processing anything for more than a couple of pulses.

While trying to pick out my new food processor, a cuisinart sales person tried to explain away these faults that this is simply part of the product being small, and that the craftsmanship as compared to the larger cuisinarts cannot is inferior. So if you’re doing light cooking in very small quantities, this is probably an ok purchase for you. If you do more intermediate to serious cooking, I would definitely not recommend this.