One Smart Cookie

Christmas morning I opened my present from my husband, I was so excited because I usually get things like diamond rings, earrings and such and he has gone to a lot of trouble to disguise the little boxes, even to the point of buying a very large box and adding a brick to it so I don’t find out what it is.

I ripped all the wrappings off and never paid any attention to the box because I just knew he had disguised my gift. Boy was I wrong; it was exactly the something that was on the outside of the box, a Cuisinart SmartPower Duet Blender/Food Processor

I thought to myself, I don’t need a new blender; my 15-year-old Hamilton Beech is doing just fine. It did sound like a jet cranking up in the kitchen every morning when I used it and took forever to use and the bowl wasn’t large enough for me to make a double slushy or Slim Fast for work but it did get the job done eventually.

I just kept smiling and thanked him profusely and went about my business. It took me two weeks to decide to try this little machine.

The first morning I was making a frozen Slim Fast, set up the blender part, added the milk and the powder and set it to stir, and then I started adding the ice. The blender makes a couple of little grinding sounds and I thought, the stupid ice is hung up and I will have to shut down and try to find it. Never did though so I though I will add more ice because sometimes that dislodges the other ice and it made just a little short grinding sound. I knew deep down inside that this blender wasn’t working as well as the old Hamilton Beech.

I just stopped and poured the mixture in the cup I was going to carry to work because I was tired of messing with the whole process and to my surprise those little short sounds were all it took to make a nice smooth frozen drink in less than half the time of my old blender.

Since that morning I have used this machine nearly everyday for one thing or another. The blender container is glass and not nearly as tall as the older blenders but holds more as it is wider. It’s clear so that makes it nice so you can see exactly what is going on inside.

The base is white with a very nice keypad with a selection of stir, chop, mix, puree, food processor and puree. Up the middle you have ice crush, on and off. The Blender isn’t top heavy and doesn’t rock when you are crushing ice.

The motor base is white and very easy to clean, I just use a soapy cloth and wipe it then a dry towel. The rest of the utensils fit nicely in the dishwasher though I don’t place the little rubber gasket in there because the heat from the dishwasher can dry it out. If you don’t use this part of the blender much I would recommend that you use a little oil on the ring when storing and then wash it before use. It will help keep it from drying out.

To start blending you press the on button, then the red led light will flash indicating that the blender is turned on but no speed is selected. Then you press the desired button. To stop the blending you re-press the speed button, the red light will remain on until you press off.

When using the food processor just remember to add all your liquids first. That will make for and easier and smoother job.

The Food Processor comes with the
Food pusher and oil dispenser,
Bowl cover with feed tube,
Stainless steel chopping blade that can chop raw and cooked food from coarse chop to fine puree.
Stainless steel reversible slicing and shredding disk.
Adapter stem
Clear work bowl
Gearbox collar
The same motor base as the blender

When you want to use the food processor attachment you use the food processor button. You can also use the pulse button for chopping so you can control the coarseness of the food.

Shredding large amounts of cheese just takes a few minutes and you are ready to go. Just make sure you cut everything the size it tells you in the instruction book so you will have success with your very versatile machine.

Just a word of caution, the blades for both the blender and food processor are very sharp and can cut you very easily so use care when handling. Also the shredder disc is sharp too.