el_guapo's Full Review: Cuisinart DLC-2011 PowerPrep Plus 11 Cups Food Pro...
Cuisinart DLC-2011N Premier Series 11-Cup Food Processor
A few years ago, someone gave me my first food processor. It was utilitarian, but not a joy to use. When it broke, I decided I could live without one. However, the time came again when I really need to process a large quantity of food and started looking around for a new one. I had my heart set on a Kitchen Aid, but when we came across the Cuisinart DLC-2011N 11 cup food processor at a bargain price, I decided to take a chance on it.
As I was unpacking the food processor, I was impressed with the quality and construction. The wide mouth feed tube was very large, something my previous food processor lacked. The touchpad eliminates gunk building up along the buttons and button holes--a pet peeve of mine. The stainless steel 4mm slicing disk, shredding disk, chopping blade, and metal dough blade are solid and very sharp. Cuisinart was even nice enough to include a spatula.
THE DVD
Wanting to get the most of my product, I watched the included DVD. I didn't know Cuisinart invented the food processor. The DVD brags about the DLC-2011N having an induction motor. While this sounds impressive, the truth is that most home appliances--including clothes dryers, dishwashers, fans, juicers, refrigerators, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners--have induction motors.
The recipes and examples of showing how to use the food processor are interesting and good for beginners, but people who have used food processors before might want to skip it.
The Assembly
Assembly of the bowl and cover is a breeze. You have to be very careful when handling the blades or you could cut yourself. The safety feature, which will be covered in more detail in the next section, is a little confusing. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to put the shredding and slicing disk on the stem.
Taking it for a Spin
This Cuisinart has a strange safety feature. The cover that fits over the work bowl has a slot in the back and the pusher assembly has a metal rod that fits into the slot. The motor will not engage unless the rod is in the slot. This is no issue when using the chopping or dough blade since the entire pusher is already nestled in the cover. However, this does get confusing when using the large pusher for slicing or shredding.
The slicing and shredding disks sit on shaft so the blades are near the feed tube. You lock the work bowl into place, put the shaft and disk into place, and place the cover (which has the safety slot) over the bowl. At this point, the motor will not start because the rod in the large pusher assembly is not in the slot. You then put in the food to be shredded or sliced into the wide mouth feed tube, put the large pusher on the cover, and when the metal rod in the large pusher makes enough contact with the slot, the motor will start.
This safety feature is not an issue when using the small feed tube. The small feed tube is an opening in the large feed tube. Since the large feed tube is already on the cover when using the small feed tube, the motor will start immediately when you turn on the machine.
Large foods, like an onion, must be a least quartered before chopping. If you fail to do this, you will have pureed onions instead of diced by the time the larger pieces are processed.
I LOVE the large mouth feed tube and quiet motor. Feeding large items through it, like whole potatoes or apples, is a breeze.
Making Dough
I use a stand mixer when making bread, so I am basing my opinion on the bread making feature on conjecture.
The bowl does not seem large enough for a good size batch of dough and other reviews have commented that the motor is too underpowered to handle the advertised dough capacity. If I wanted to make anything bigger than a batch of biscuit or a pie crust with a food processor, I'd move up to the 14 cup model.
Clean Up
Clean up is a breeze, but you still have to cautious when handling the sharp blades. But no matter how easy it is to clean up, a knife or grater is still more convenient for small amounts of food.
Conclusion
I am pleasantly surprised and pleased with the Cuisinart DLC-2011N Premier Series 11-Cup Food Processor. Since I plan to use it more often than my last one, I went to the Cuisinart website to look at accessories and was surprised at how expensive they were. $41.50 for a french fry disk? At that price, I expect a personal lesson on making french fries from Chef Hubert Keller (famous chef of the Burger Bar in Las Vegas) to be included!
PROS
Works Great
Great Price
Clean Touch Pad
Looks Good
Quite
CONS
Confusing Safety Feature
Could use a couple of more blades or disks
Expensive Accessories (Chef Huber Keller not included)
Bowl Seems too Small for Breadl
PRODUCT FEATURES
*11-cup Lexan® work bowl
*Touchpad dough control with PowerPrep® metal dough blade
*One-piece Supreme® wide mouth feed tube holds whole fruits and vegetables
*Touchpad fingertip controls
*Stainless steel medium slicing disc (4 mm)
*Stainless steel shredding disc
*Chopping/mixing blade
*Metal dough blade
*Small and large pushers
*Detachable disc stem
*Spatula
*How-to DVD
*Instruction/Recipe book
*Full 10-year motor warranty
*Limited 3-year warranty on entire unit
Available Accessories and Replacement Parts
*2mm Thin Slicing Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-842TX-1) $30.50
*3mm Medium Slicing Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-843TX-1) $30.50
*3x3mm Medium Square Julienne Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-833TX-1) $33.00
*4mm Standard Slicing Disc (DLC-844TX-1) $30.50
*6mm Thick Slicing Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-846TX-1) $30.50
*6x6mm French Fry-Cut Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-836TX-1) $41.50
*Blade and Disc Holder - Holds Stainless Steel Blade, Dough Blade, Detachable Stem and 3 Discs (BDH-2) $29.95
*Detachable Stem for 11-cup models (DLC-839ATX-1) $13.50
*Disc Holder (white) (DLC-DH) $19.95
*Disc Set-3 Piece Specialty for 11 & 7-cup models (3x3 Julienne, 6mm Slicing, Fine Grater Discs) (DLC-893) $69.95
*Disc Set-3 Piece Standard for 11 & 7-cup models (3mm Slicing, Fine Shredding, French Fry Discs) (DLC-873) $64.95
*Fine Grater Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-835TX-1) $36.00
*Fine Shredding Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-834TX-1) $26.00
*Fine Shredding Disc for 14-cup models (DLC-034-1) $27.50
*How To Video - For DLC-2014 / DLC-2011Series Food Processor (HTV-2014) $15.00
*How-to DVD for DLC-2011 & DLC-2014 (DVD-1114) $8.00
*Large Pusher (DLC-2011P-1) $19.95
*Medium Shredding Disc for 11 & 7-cup models (DLC-837TX-1) $23.00
*Metal Dough Blade (DLC-2011MDB) $32.00
*Small Pusher (DLC-2014SP-1) $7.00
*Stainless Steel Blade (DLC-861TX) $33.00
*Work Bowl Cover with Large Feed Tube (DLC-2011WBC-1) $30.00
*Work Bowl with Black Handle (DLC-2011BKWB) $38.00
*Work Bowl with Clear Handle (DLC-2011WB-1) $38.00
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
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