Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011: It Pays to Upgrade

I thought I didn't need a food processor. The Cuisinart Prep Plus DLC-2011 has shown me I can make good use of one as a time-saver. At the very least it has shown me that it's a worthwhile extravagance when the price is right.


Food Processors Past and Present

I used to have a Cuisinart "dinosaur" model food processor ... the T-Rex of culinary devices, as it had a heavy footprint and sharp "teeth" that made lots and lots of noise as it ripped through cabbage and cheese and pulverized small food items in its path. And, it was ugly in comparison to the sleek models found today. I rarely used this old model, as it took a long time to assemble for each use and sometimes I felt I had to wrench (or use a wrench) to get the bowl off the base. Each time I used that old model I felt aggravated and distracted. Not good things when using sharp parts!

The old model (11 cup capacity and lever power system, still on the market today) sat unused for several years before I trundled it to the basement, then to the garage and into someone's arms in a garage sale. The buyer was thrilled. So was I. I felt that a burden had been lifted. About 20 pounds' worth.

Then, a few years later I spied the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 on display at a department store. What a difference a few years make in the design of an old standard! Smoother, sleeker and no large levers to push, pulse or hold. Touch pad technology and cord storage underneath, too. Marvelous! But, I didn't need a food processor, so I was just window shopping, admiring and investigating.

And I kept at it for several months.

You'll never guess what. One of those Cuisinart Prep 11 Pluses came home with me.

I didn't even need it.



Run Whatcha Brung

The Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 comes with basic food processing equipment. Nothing fancy, nothing frivolous, just beginner stuff. They let you pay more for other gadgets later, if you wish, not that paying more for extras is a perk.

In the box you get:

• One (1) 11-cup Lexan (fancy word for plastic) work bowl
• Metal dough blade
• Extra-large feed tube that should allow for addition of whole fruits and vegetables, depending on what "whole" means to you -- and this feed tube is in one piece, a definite improvement over the dinosaur.
•Small feed tube inside the large one that allows for ingredients to be added (small ones) while the motor runs
• Stainless steel medium (4 mm) slicing disc
• Stainless steel shredding disc (medium shred)
• Stainless steel chopping blade
• Disc stem for use with slicing/shredding discs
• Hard plastic spatula

You'll also find an instruction manual complete with some recipes to use with your new-found friend. I found it a little ironic that the instruction manual is under a few layers of product when you open the box ... and that within the instruction manual are step-by-step directions on how to open the box and remove the contents -- including the removal of the instruction manual.

There's a how-to video which I've never watched. I will one day, but for now I get little viewing time between Playhouse Disney, Nickelodeon and Noggin, and then there's Food Network to vie for a slot. I'm sure there are good tips and odds and ends for me in the video and I should make time to watch it. Mainly, I figure things out as I go and this practice allows me to remember better what I discover.

You also receive an explicitly stated 10-year warranty on the processor motor as well as a 3-year limited warranty (manufacturer defects -- not user defects if you, the user, have any) on the entire unit.

The touchpads you'll come to know are "Off", "On" (with LED), "Pulse" and "Dough" (with LED). They wipe off easily with a damp cloth. No levers to pick at with toothpick and edge of a washcloth.

The cord, about 4 feet in length, wraps around under the unit allowing you to use only as much as you need. It's not a perfect system if you move the processor around much, but if it's a stationary interactive exhibit on your counter top you're good to go.



You Don't Always Get What You Want, but Sometimes, You Get What You Need

Okay, I eyed that 14-cup model and kinda/sorta/woulda liked to pick it up instead, but I also got an eyeful of it's $300 price tag. Ugh. Need? Nope. I'm happy, happy, happy with my 11-cupper.

It took about 12 seconds after I had washed and dried the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 and set it up for a trial spin to discover just how wonderful the new and improved Cuisinart really is.

As with any Cuisinart food processor, from mini to 14-cup, it's imperative that all systems (work bowl, lid and feed tubes, if any) are positioned properly and locked in place, otherwise "On" isn't all it's supposed to be. Improper set-up means no power. You'll think you broke something, or that you didn't plug the darn thing in, but look again. Lock it! It's a built-in safety, and with good reason. The flying blades are sharp, and the foods you process would make interesting shrapnel. Without locking mechanisms on this baby ... well ... I wouldn't want to be the clean-up detail afterward nor be in the path of one of the airborne parts.

Using the chopping blade entails locking the work bowl in place and properly seating the blade on the spindle, then either adding foods before locking on the lid or feeding them through the tube. Either way, the lid must be locked and a metal lever inside the feed tube must be pressed in order to allow the machine to function. In other words, if the large pusher isn't in place your food is going nowhere.

Choose "On" to chop continuously, or "Pulse" to control the chopping a bit more. "Off" is pretty much self-explanatory. You can change from On to Pulse by just pressing one or the other, but it's a good idea to let the blade stop before changing tactics in processing. There's less wear and tear on the motor this way.

The chopping blade is fantastic for bread or cracker crumbs, homemade mayonnaise, sauces, dressings and for pulverizing vegetables so the picky eaters in your household won't be able to pick them out in a dish. Imagine that kind of power. No blender will give that to you without lots of noise and more of your time. The Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 will have you stuffing your small-fry with pureed produce in seconds and with time to clean up afterward.

Using the shredding or slicing discs requires the use of the plastic disc stem that is pesky enough to insist that you to lock the chosen disk into place with a twisting motion and then place the stem on the spindle and proceed to lock down the lid. Evidently, the Cuisinart people don't want the "Flying Discus of Death" whizzing around your kitchen. Another safety precaution that works and one that hasn't changed one iota since the "dinosaur" days.

The feed tube is required usage for processing with the discs as there is no other way to successfully grate or shred without it. The feed tube is much larger on the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 than my old model, and there's less "prep" involved, but still, some fruits and vegetables won't fit in whole, no matter what. Let's take cabbage, for instance. It just won't go in whole.

That's taking an extreme, I know, but don't get excited if the zucchini you want to slice doesn't fit into the tube. If it's more than 4 inches long you need to cut it in order for the pusher to engage the motor. If it's more than 3 inches wide you have to cut it again in order to fit it into the tube at all. No prize-winning crops will go into the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 uncut, but the deal is much better than it used to be.

In looking back, I had to do much more tailoring of foods to use my old processor than I do this one, but there is still some prep to be done. Don't let the user manual mislead you and then find disappointment in reality. This processor does the job. No fooling.

Using the stainless dough blade is certainly new for me. My old model proffered plastic parts for pounding dough and no separate setting. Bread crumbs and bread dough got the same rough treatment back then. The stainless "blade" (it's not sharp) is much easier to clean and gets the job done more swiftly, I believe. I'm not one for making dough in the food processor, but on occasion, I do. The dough blade coupled with the "Dough" setting on the keypad make short work out of kneading and have you merrily on your way to homemade bread or pizza quicker than by hand, and definitely faster than in my old standard KitchenAid Mixer. Plus, with the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011, there's much less mess than with other methods as the dustings of flour are contained within the unit. I can dust a kitchen with flour like no one else, but the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 won't let me, 'cause I can't get power from it unless all locks are engaged and the feed tube is in place. Ha! Less mess!

See? You sometimes do get what you need.


Need Dough?

More needs to be said on the dough function, so here goes.

The motor speed is a bit less for making dough, which is good for the end product. Too much bashing around of batch of dough will yield a tough baked loaf. Too little working of it will make nice bricks. The Cuisinart people have done pretty well in the speed of this function. I haven't had a complaint here, unless it's, "Isn't there any more bread?"

The 11-cup work bowl will allow for a recipe that makes 1 large or 2 small loaves of bread. Figuring that many recipes I have require at least 8 cups of flour plus liquids, I'd be pushing my luck to make them in the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011, so I don't. I don't want to make a $200 mistake. I either halve the recipe or make a single-loaf recipe just to stay on the safe side.


Cheese No Longer Grates on My Nerves

The Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 didn't touch a block of cheese for quite some time because I had other toys to play with for grating. I love the fine, soft shreds I can attain with my Microplane Course Grater and the fine ribbons I get with the Medium Ribbon Grater, but when shredding cheese for a crowd or to freeze larger amounts divided into smaller servings, nothing beats the Cuisinart.

Just this afternoon I put 3 pounds of cheddar and 3 pounds of Monterey Jack through the large feed tube (8-oz blocks broken in half because they won't allow the feed tube to engage the motor if put in whole).

Unwrapping them took longer than grating them. It's so easy you will wish you had more cheese to grate, or to watch be grated by the powerful processor you've made your own.

Cole slaw? Have at it. Cut a few wedges from a cabbage and put it through the feed tube with the grating attachment. If you have dressing ready and waiting you can have cole slaw in about 30 seconds, after cutting the wedges.


Slicing -- Not to Be Ignored

The slicing attachment is there. That's about all I can say about it being that I don't use it. I have not had a need for 1/4" sliced tomato or cucumber or whatever the food enough to put the processor together and wash it afterward. I'm sorry I can't offer a true confession of slicing bliss.

I'm going to venture a guess that the slicing is equally as good as the shredding and chopping. In its own way, of course. The slicing blade is sharp and a sticker on it (removable) even says so. Please use care with this piece, just as you would with the chopping blade.

The whole, they say, is only as good as the sum of its parts. The rest of the parts speak volumes for the quality of Cuisinart and I don't think I'm going out on a limb to suggest that the slicing blade doesn't reduce that quality 1/4 inch.


Cleaning the Kitchen Wizard

All of the parts of the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 are dishwasher safe (top rack) except for the base, which is pretty obvious.

The base needs only a wipe-down with a damp cloth. Simple.

The remaining parts may be washed by hand if you don't have a dishwasher, if your dishwasher is already at its limit, or if you're just really and truly against using a dishwasher.

Cuisinart does recommend dishwasher cleaning, however, I imagine partly as a safety precaution and to really get the parts as clean as possible.

The handle of the work bowl is really the only oddity in the cleaning process, as droplets of water and a light fog remain inside it for some time after cleaning, no matter what the method. When you put the machine back together for storage the locking mechanism opens this area to allow for air to flow through and it has not presented a problem for me. No "blech" reactions from anything growing in there. I'm not sure if the same holds true should you opt to store the pieces separately.


Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Yes, there are more goodies to be had for the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 aficionado. More goodies for more money.

Optional slicing or grating discs in a larger and a smaller size are available from Cuisinart (or other fine vendors) as are extra blades, work bowls, lids, pushers (large and small) and probably other items I've forgotten since my last Internet window-shopping tour. You can pretty much build your own Cuisinart food processor from the parts list at a much pricier outcome.

It's reassuring to know the parts are there, and, for those with dinosaur models, the blades and discs are interchangeable from the new units to the old and vice versa.


Kitchen Prep Duty: More Fun Than Chore

Gentlemen may find the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011 the power tool of the kitchen. Husband of Mine does. It's quick, efficient, and there's no need to measure twice.

He can pulverize bread for crumbs and the touch of a button. He will grate as much cheese as we need for a dish and look for more to do to keep on hand.

He'll even clean up afterward.

It's not enough to persuade him to become a dependable asset to our kitchen, but it's an enticement. Sometimes you get what you need ... sometimes you do a little finagling to get it.