If you are reading this article, we assume that you have bought or intend to buy a Cuisinart 14 cup food processor. You sure do need to know how to make the most out of this kitchen appliance.
This brand of the food processor is the next best innovation for the modern kitchen.
Cuisinart is a brand that is synonymous with kitchen appliances. The company is known to produce top-quality products and the Cuisinart 14 cup food processor is not any different.
If you are a serious chef with ample space for this appliance, this product is best for you.
It has a motor of 720 watts; a very large feeding tube; and very sharp blades that are made of stainless steel. If you are coking for a large number of people, you will find this appliance handy.
It is perfect for chopping vegetables and whole fruits; kneading of doughs; shredding of cheese; and much more.
Modern food processors have been upgraded to do a lot of things. These include grinding of bread to get breadcrumbs, fruits pureeing, grinding meat, and great tasting milkshakes.
Also, if you have a recipe that requires chopped nuts, you can pulverize the nuts in your food processor.
We know that your kitchen may already look overcrowded. However, the food processor will replace the functions of multiple utensils. These include a whisk, knives, garlic press, grater, and pastry cutter.
By using the food processor more often, you will save time spent on chopping and shredding food manually.
Let’s discuss how we can use the Cuisinart 14 cup food processor.
Chopping and Pureeing
Chopping of Raw Veggies and Fruits
- Cut the vegetables or fruits into one-inch pieces. To have a food that is evenly chopped, the pieces should be of the same size.
- Put about 3 cups of the chopped food in the bowl of the food processor.
- Replace the cover. Ensure it is well placed and locked.
- Press the pulse or off button at a rate of one second on and one second off. Do this until the fruits and vegetables have been chopped coarsely.
- After that, hold the down the button and allow the food processor to run until the fruits and vegetables are finely chopped.
- To prevent over-processing the food, check it frequently.
- Using the spatula, scrape down the pieces sticking to the food bowl’s sides.
Puréeing of Fruits and Blanched Vegetables
- Cut the fruits and blanched vegetables into one-inch sizes. You will have a very smooth puree faster when the size of each piece is equal.
- Add 3 cups of the fruits and vegetables
- Ensure that the cover is locked and well placed.
- Pulse the machine to chop the food coarsely.
- Press down the “on” button and continue processing until the fruits and vegetables are puréed.
This procedure excludes cooked potatoes. They usually have some worth of gluey texture after being processed using the stainless steel blade of the processor.
If you intend to make soup, you need to cook the vegetables in the liquid. Avoid adding the liquid into the bowl of the processor. All you need to do is strain the liquid and puree only the cooked vegetables.
You can also use a slotted spatula or spoon to remove them. This way, the vegetables will purée smoother and faster. Afterward, you can pour enough liquid that will make the puréed vegetable pourable. Pour it back into the soup. Keep stirring to allow it to mix properly.
Sometimes, pieces of the fruits and vegetables may get stuck between the bowl and the blade. When this occurs, unplug the food processor. Remove the cover, carefully remove the sharp blade, and take out the piece that was wedged.
Subsequently, remove the contents of the bowl and fix back the blade. Put the cover in place and ensure that it is locked.
Press down the “on” button. While the processor is running, drop the pieces of food through the feeding tube. Continue adding until you have exhausted one cup.
After that, you can add the rest of them into the processor’s bowl. Process them using the normal method.
Chopping of Solid Foods Like Hard Cheese and Garlic
Bring out the processor’s small pusher and press down the “on” button. While the processor is running, drop pieces of the food into the processor’s small feeding tube.
You can drop smaller foods such as garlic, in the whole form. Large food such as hard cheese is to be cut. Each piece should be half or one inch in size.
You can use this processing method to mince garlic, onions, and shallots. Coconut and hard cheese will have a texture that is the same as when you hand grate them.
It is important to note that if the cheese is too hard that a knife cannot cut it, do not place it in the food processor. If you do so, you may end up spoiling the blades of the processor.
Chopping of Fresh Herbs and Parsley
Clean the herbs, bowl, and blades thoroughly. After that, pat them dry with a paper towel.
Remove the stems of the herbs. Put the leaves into the food processor’s bowl. Process them till they are finely chopped or to your preferred texture. When you chop more herbs at once, they come out finer.
If the herbs were very dry before being chopped, they can be stored for about a minimum of 10 days. Keep them in a storage container or bag that is airtight. Store away in your refrigerator and keep frozen for several months.
Chopping of Citrus Fruit Peels and Sticky Fruits Like Raisin or Date
For citrus fruits, use your vegetable peeler to take off the peels. Leave out the albedo or white pith. The pith is that spongy white part that is between the zest and the main fruit. It is actually tasteless, but people think that it is bitter.
Cut the peels to lengths of about 1 to 2 inches. Place them in the bowl of the food processor and add half a cup of finely ground sugar. Process till they are finely chopped. It can take up to two minutes or more.
For sticky fruits like date, raisin, candied fruit, and prune, freeze them for 10 minutes or more. Depending on the recipe you are trying out, add a little flour from the one you will be using, on the fruit. Do not use more than one cup of that flour for half a cup of dried fruit.
Chopping of Poultry and Seafood
- Ensure that the food is not frozen, but very cold. Cut them into pieces of one-inch size to enable them to process evenly.
- Add two and a quarter pounds of the pieces into the food processor.
- Press the pulse or off button three or four until you get your desired consistency. Do this at the rate of one second on and one second off.
- The texture should be checked often to prevent over-processing. Using a spoon or spatula, scrape food pieces from the bowl’s sides if necessary.
For Kneading Yeast Dough
Kneading Bread Dough
If the dough is very stiff and cannot knead comfortably with the hands, do not put it in the processor. Doing so will strain the appliance.
When the dough clears the sides of your processor’s bowl and takes the form of a ball, let it process for about 1 minute.
After that, turn off the appliance and check if the dough was properly kneaded. Usually, bread dough has a soft and pliable texture. It also feels slightly sticky.
To test if your dough was properly kneaded, stretch it with both hands. If you feel it is hard, uneven or lumpy, keep processing it. Continue until it gets a uniformly pliable and soft texture. Ensure the blade is firmly fixed after taking out the dough for testing its texture.
Kneading Dough for Brioche, Coffeecakes, and Batter Bread
Process the dough for about 30 seconds. This should be done when all ingredients have been incorporated. Unlike bread dough, this type may not clean the sides of your processor’s bowl. Use a spatula to scrape inside your processor’s bowl if necessary and continue to process for about 5 seconds or more.
Proofing
Place the dough in a big plastic bag. The inside should be lightly floured. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal the open-end using wire twist. Remember to make provision for when the dough will rise.
On the other hand, you can put the dough into a spacious bowl. Coat the inside of the bowl with vegetable oil or soft butter. Roll the dough around the bowl, to coat the entire surface.
Cover the bowl using a plastic wrap that has been oiled or any clean, damp towel.
Allow the dough to rise. Make sure to keep it in a place that is warm, having a temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The dough takes about one and a half hours to rise. However, depending on the flour you used and the humidity, it can take about 45 minutes or more.
Stick one finger into the dough to check if it has risen to your desired level. If it is not okay, you can allow it to rise some more before checking again. When it has risen to your desired level, punch it down.
If you are facing any challenge when trying to knead the dough with your Cuisinart 14 cup food processor, refer to the user manual.
For Slicing and Shredding
Small, Round Fruits and Vegetables
Before processing large berries, mushrooms, and radishes, trim both ends flat using a knife. Put them through the feeding tube. Each piece should stand on its flat end.
Fill up the tube to about one inch to the top. The down layer will give you the perfect slices if you want some for garnishing. But if you need perfect slices, you can process them layer by layer.
Long Fruits and Vegetables
Foods like zucchini, bananas, and celery should be trimmed. You can do this by cutting into smaller pieces. Both ends should be cut flat.
Put the pieces into the feed tube. They should be standing vertically. Add many pieces such that the fruits and vegetables will be tightly packed and can’t move sideways when you start processing.
French-Cut Green Beans
Trim both ends of freshly cut green beans. Blanch for 1 minute in boiling salted water. After that, quickly place them in cold water. When they feel cold enough, drain the water and dry them.
Arrange them neatly in the feeding tube. They should be kept horizontally and should fill up the tube to around one inch from the opening. Use the processor’s slicing disc for this activity.
Ensure that the processor’s small pusher is locked. Apply little pressure to the processor’s small pusher. After that, press the pulse or off button. Do this till the beans are properly sliced.
You can use this same method for long and horizontal slices of carrots or raw zucchini.
Cooked Meat and Poultry
For slicing cooked meat and poultry, ensure that it is very cold. Process a size that is big enough to pass through the feeding tube.
If you need julienne strips of ham, luncheon meat, or bologna, make sure you slice and stack them. After that, fold or roll them in a double form and allow them to stand vertically in the feeding tube.
Stack as many folds as possible. This method works best when the meat is rolled into a square or rectangular form, unlike the round ones.
Uncooked Meat and Poultry
Cut the meat into pieces such that they can pass through the feeding tube. Boned chicken breasts will pass through if you cut them crosswise, in half.
Use a plastic wrap to wrap the meat and place it in your freezer. You can slice them when they can be pierced easily with the knife’s tip; they may be almost frozen and hard.
Allow them to stand in the feeding tube. Cut them side down and slice. Use firm pressure on the processor’s pusher.
You can also lay them flat in the feeding tube. Place as many as can fit in and slice with firm pressure.
VIDEO: Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor Review.
This video explains everything you need to know about the Cuisinart 14-cup food processor.