Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus and the Art Of Food Preparation

The Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus is a wonder that begs to be in every kitchen where food preparation is taken to the next level. In the last 5 years or so, I have found myself being drawn into my wife’s kitchen more and more by all these great gadgets she is famous for buying. Besides that, having the Food Network tuned in exclusively on the kitchen set, I find myself taping all these fabulous recipes and coming back later to prepare them

The kitchen around my house is very much like kitchens all across America; it is a place where we spend a great deal of time just hanging out. And now I have found myself trying out some of my great new recipe finds on friends and family. Invariably the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus takes center stage, easily, 7 out of ten of those culinary adventures.

The Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus is an effective ally in the kitchen. The machine basically comes with everything you may ever need. There are a few accessories available. I did make a point of buying the 6 mm French fry disk, julienne disk and a thin slicing disk. All the disks are made of heavy gauged Stainless Steel. The clerk at the store was kind enough to give us the grating disk so we have a nice complement of disks that we use routinely. The French fry disk is wonderful in that now French fries are all evenly cooked because they are all uniformly cut, a feat not easily done by hand. Drop a potato into the wide mouth chute and it disappears almost instantly turning into perfect French Fries! The thin slice disk gets a work out at breakfast for home fries. The interesting thing about the thin slice blade is you can drop a fresh tomato down the chute and it will slice it cleanly, not crush it like I suspected initially! The blade is that sharp and spins that fast! Have you ever grated Locatelli by hand? Attach the grating disk onto the removable and forget it, this Cuisinart does it instantly with no scraped fingers! Sure you can go to Kitchen Kapers and get a great crank grinder, but to hear the whirring motor and see the mechanics of Cuisinart at work it’s just music to the ears!

If you have a garden and like to puree tomatoes you will love the Culinary Prep 11 Plus. Gone are the days separating the seeds after blanching. Blanch your tomatoes then throw them in with the cutting blade and watch your garden tomatoes puree! It can’t be any easier.

The machine is rather imposing looking, yet attractive appliance. The round molded high-density plastic base has simply 4 electronic touch pad controls on the front: On, Off, Pulse and Dough. The 11cup clear shatterproof Lexan bowl has an ample handle suitable for all users. The Bowl, lid and chute also comprise what is a clever safety feature. The three units interlock and if one component is missing, the machine will not operate. You cannot run this machine without the push tube in place totally eliminating the temptation to put in a spoon or knife or worse yet fingers into an operating unit.
Removing the bowl requires that you:

1. Remove the push tube then
2. Remove the lid.

The bowl is easily removed by turning it clockwise a quarter turn. The lid with the oversized chute is easily removed by a quarter turn clockwise. The chute on the Culinary Prep 11 Plus really makes a great deal of sense, and answers the dream of a larger chute capable of feeding entire vegetables down it with cutting them down first. The oval chute stands 4 ½” and measures 3 inches across and 3 ¾” wide, more than large enough for whole medium sized vegetables including cucumbers, tomatoes and onions.

You must be vigilant, when chopping vegetables with the chopping blade, as it is really easy to end up with liquefied vegetables. The Pulse mode is real handy here. Overloading the Lexan bowl will result in your having to fish after the vegetables with the right consistence. I generally put in one at a time and chop them, keeping an eye on the batch.

The Dough control spins the included dough blade at a speed appropriate for most dough you would prepare, quickly and impressively by cutting, rather than dragging, making for nicely kneaded dough. The remarkable thing here is…there is no mess! The 11-cup bowl can accommodate 2 ½ lbs. of bread dough. Pizza dough has never turned out better!

The Push tube fits snugly into the chute and has an inner chute that locks into the outer tube by spinning into a friction fit. Removing it during operation is handy for adding things like nuts, mushrooms or liquids during operation without making a mess.

The 30” cord is easily maintained out of sight with a handy reel that you wrap the cord around manually placed smartly under the machines base. Four ample rubber feet keep the machine from walking away during operation.

At 14 lbs, the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus is not an easy machine to move around. My wife uses these little cotton doilies (that fit out of sight but allow all 4 feet to rest on) that make it a breeze to slide around a counter. She slips it off during operation to keep it from moving. The Plastic casing is a breeze to clean by simply using a damp cloth. After some use the Lexan bowl will start to look dull and my wife can’t have that, and bought a backup, that she uses for show. The entire unit is covered by a limited 3-year warranty from Cuisinart with a ten-year warranty on the motor! The Cuisinart is available in white, Blue, brushed chrome, and black.

The Cuisinart® Prep 11 Plus™ includes all of the following:
· 11-cup Lexan® work bowl
· Touch pad Dough Control with Power Prep™ metal dough blade
· Extra large feed tube slices whole fruits and vegetables
· New one-piece Cuisinart® Supreme™ feed tube
· Stainless steel medium slicing disc (4 mm)
· Stainless steel shredding disc
· Chopping blade
· Detachable disc stem
· Spatula
· Recipe / Instruction book
· How-to video

The above chart comes from the Cuisinart site www.cuisinart.com which, besides being informative has gift ideas, recipes, parts & accessory information, a how to section and something I have never seen on a manufacturers website, a card sending utility. You can also buy direct from the manufacturer, though you will pay msrp. We bought ours at a local department store during a sale.

I must admit I really am impressed with this Cuisinart. It has become part of my cooking regimen. I would give it my highest recommendation, and would run out and pay the $380.00 suggested price, if I had to, to replace it. Oddly enough, if I really think about it, I have started cooking more dinners since my wife has started buying more “tools” for the kitchen. Food for thought Ladies.

Accessories:
· Blade & disk Holder
· Metal Dough Blade
· Work Bowl w/ Clear Handle
· Work Bowl Cover with Large Feed Tube
· Large Pusher
· Small Pusher
· Julienne Disk
· Shredding Disk
· Grater
· 6 MM square French Fry Cutter
· Medium Shredding Disk
· Detachable Stem
· 2,3,4,6, MM single disks available
· Chopping Blade
· Disk Sets