Buy Adam

After many many years of getting by on a Cuisinart Little Pro Plus, which I heartily recommend as an introductory model or if you have small food processing needs, it became time to upgrade to a full size model.

I looked at the current Cuisinart offerings, but was uninspired. Even the new front-loading models look like they still have the same deficiencies - hard to clean, not enough attachments, and, most importantly, no citrus juicer. The default for most food processors seems to be no juicer, and I can’t imagine why. I don’t use it very often, but who (in the class of people that’s already decided to spend money on a food processor) doesn’t want to make fresh orange juice or lemonade at least sometimes? I feel like not having a juicer on a food processor is overlooking a major use of the very powerful motor you’ve got on your counter. The Little Pro Plus comes with one - why not any of the “real” models? Not all of the Kitchenaid models do, but this one does.

Setting aside the juicer for a moment, this Kitchenaid model has a few other nifty features:

1. The 12-cup capacity seems perfect. It’s surprisingly powerful, and also quiet.
2. Two mini bowls that nest inside the main bowl, a 4 cup with a multi-blade for small chopping tasks, and a 10-cup for use with the slicing and shredding discs. This seems very useful for isolating small jobs that need to be done before the main mixing, without having a lot of extra stuff to store separately.
3. An egg whip attachment. I haven’t tried this out yet, so I don’t know if it’s any good, but it intrigued me. I suspect (and hope) that this may substantially cut down on the mixing time for making marshmallows, which normally take 20 minutes or so of beating in the stand mixer.
4. It has a lot of attachments, and all but the juicer fit in a case that they include.
5. The pieces fit together very smoothly, with very little catching.

I also have to take a moment to talk about Kitchenaid support. Their customer support is legendary. They have a history of fully standing behind their products. In contrast, Cuisinart support seems to have lagged in conjunction with being absorbed into a series of larger companies.

Still testing, so no final rating yet, but I’m very happy so far.

Buy the Kitchenaid 12-cup Food Processor from Amazon.

I must admit, I bought the Foodsaver after seeing a late-night infomercial for it. It turned out to be great - I use it frequently for sealing bulk meats for freezing, and for keeping grains and leftovers fresh. This model is more than powerful enough, and includes a storage space for a roll of bag material (for making custom-sized bags). The Foodsaver can seal with bags (Tilia makes special bags, in rolls and precut - either’s fine), canisters (make sure you get the plain brown ones - the “designer” line models do not seal well, in my experience), or in mason jars. This last is extremely convenient, as mason jars are dirt cheap, but note that this is not the same as sterlized jarring, and all sealed foods need to be kept in the same way as unsealed (refrigerated or frozen) - they just last a lot longer.

Buy the Foodsaver Professional II from Amazon.

Wusthof makes pretty good knives, although they’re not my personal choice. On the Friday sale, $50 is a very good price for a forged Santoku.

This knife should be a great general chef’s knife, for chopping, slicing, and other prep tasks. It has kullens in the side of the blade to reduce sticking. In my experience, this only makes a difference if you’re slicing very thin slices, but there’s no drawback, and it does make the knife somewhat lighter, which I prefer.

I’m not a huge fan of Calphalon anodized aluminum. I find it to be an unpleasant cooking surface for general cooking - everytime I’ve used it, things have stuck to it, and it’s dark so you can’t really see what you’re doing.

On the other hand, aluminum is a great, very even conductor, and Calphalon uses decent-quality nonstick finishes. I don’t use non-stick pans for most things. I like the browning that I get with steel (or Cybernox - more on that later), but I have a few non-stick pans around, because they’re perfect for omelets. Add to that that they periodically appear for FAR less than their advertised price ($15-$30 - this one’s $15 on the Friday sale), and you’ve got a great deal on your hands. This pan is a traditional crepe shape, so I suppose it’d be okay if you want to make those too.