News

Perfect Coffee - Shame About the Fingerprints
Great review in Britain's The Observer newspaper for the Cuisinart Grind and Brew:

The Cuisinart Grind and Brew guarantees perfect results every time. The only coffee machine on the market that can grind fresh coffee beans and is fully automatic.

...If you're after a continuous filter machine, then this could be good. It is simple to use and makes that perfect, American-style coffee. This grinds beans, which is a really good feature, since it means you won't lose flavour and the beans will stay fresh.

It is very sturdy but style-wise, the brushed stainless-steel finish would raise maintenance issues - it positively attracts filth and fingerprints.
January 24th, 2007

Is This Piece That Says Lock Supposed to Come Off?
Fun article in the New York Times about one lady's attempts to find replacement parts for her 18-year-old Cuisinart food processor:

The halcyon era ended abruptly one night last week after a Hanukkah party, as my husband washed dishes.

“Is this piece that says lock supposed to come off?” he asked, waving a plastic tab.

For 18 years, the tab had been attached to another battle-scarred plastic component of the food processor, a part we never before had identified more precisely than “that piece of the lid that fits into the other piece of the lid.”

Soon, I would come to know both parts more intimately, as “large pusher and sleeve assembly for DLC-10P.” But now, as I examined the lock tab and the broken shard of plastic that clung to it, all I could think about was how new and shiny the food processor had looked when we got it and how young we once were.
December 30th, 2006

Hot Trend - the Streamlined Can Opener
The Hartford Courant reports from the International Home & Housewares Show on the hottest trends in homeware:

Can do: Cuisinart takes the monolithic approach in its simple, streamlined can opener made of stainless steel. The freestanding opener, which can sit on the countertop like a design object, features one-touch operation and can open any standard-size can.
November 18th, 2006

Crazy and Stupid People Dig Cuisinart
The Lone Star Times reports on the famous "runaway bride" case, with the bride now suing her ex-fiancé for a share of his assets:

Clearly, the woman was, and maybe still is, a complete headcase. But I’d like to focus on her fiancé for a minute.

This guy is dumber than a box of hair.

...If you’re lucky enough to escape a crazy ex-con with your life and a lucrative book deal, DO NOT BUY A HOUSE WITH HER.

BONUS WEIRDNESS: The couple’s wedding registry is still on the Macy’s site. Apparently, crazy and stupid people dig Cuisinart.
October 12th, 2006

Paean of Praise for a Processor
A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist goes into raptures about her Cuisinart processor that has lasted for 25 years:

Nothing lasts 25 years.

We're all about the disposable. People don't want houses entering adolescence or vehicles once they've lost that new-car smell. Many relationships fail to cross the five-month mark, let alone 25 years, especially those involving seven-cup Lexan mixing bowls, Lexan being highfalutin for Plexiglass-like.

Even stuff we love gets replaced. I've easily bought six copies of Emma, but this Cuisinart is the only one I've ever known - unless you count my mother's, with which she regularly and gruesomely sparred, especially during moments of emotional stress.

The food processor has traveled with me everywhere, occupying every apartment and home and, so far, it has outlasted all relationships with non-Lexan bipeds.

...In appliance years, the thing is 306.
September 28th, 2006

Not Your Dream Date
Quote from South Mississippi's SunHerald:

Power, sophistication and beauty. No, it's not your dream date, it's Cuisinart's premier 600-watt blender.
August 28th, 2006

Top Toaster
The Cincinnati Post reports:

A new magazine, ShopSmart, from Consumer Reports had shrewd staffers compare 18 new toasters. The fall issue of ShopSmart, $4.99, gives six smart product picks:

Top-rated toaster is the Cuisinart CPT-60, $60, because it has easy-to-use-and-clean touchpad controls.
July 27th, 2006

Very Smooth
WJACTV advises on how to make the best smoothie:

If you don’t mind paying a little more, Good Housekeeping recommends this sharp looking and powerful Cuisinart Smooth Operator blender.

“Keep in mind they can do every job that a blender can do. Each one comes with a plug and you just unscrew the dispenser valve and put the plug in its place,” says Cubisino.

And Good Housekeeping says the Cuisinart smoothie maker gave the best performance as a traditional blender. So this may be the machine you want if you need a blender and a smoothie maker.
July 19th, 2006

Spiffy, For Those With Larger Hands
The Baltimore Sun likes Cuisinart's vegetable peeler:

This spiffy red model worked well on everything except tomatoes, requiring little pressure and yielding long strips of skin. It's got a longer handle than most, which may make it a good choice for those with larger hands.
July 14th, 2006

We All Scream for Ice Cream
It's summer, and the newspapers keep writing about ice cream.

In the Bangor Daily News Cheryl Wixson says: "My latest love, a Cuisinart Supreme ICE-50BC, allows me to make 11/2 quarts of outrageously delicious flavors whenever the whim strikes."

And she provides recipes for what strike me as some outrageously delicious ice creams - peppermint stick ice cream, orange creamsicle frozen yoghurt, chocolate fudge chunk ice cream, espresso health bar ice cream and more.
July 13th, 2006

Ice Cream Advice
It must be summer. Here's another report on ice cream makers, this time from the Washington Post. Part One consists of an interview with food critic Bill Addison.

What should you look for when shopping for an ice cream maker?
In a word: simplicity. You could solve a Rubik's cube in less time than it takes to assemble and figure out how to operate some of these machines.

...There are dozens of machines out there. Know how much you're willing to spend, then go to a kitchen store that you trust and ask a retailer for their advice. Most ice cream recipes in cookbooks make 1 to 1.5 quarts of ice cream, so look for machines that have canisters around that capacity.

I'd also stick with brands that have solid reputations. Ice cream machine parts can get lost or broken fairly easily - it'll be less frustrating to find replacement parts if the brand company is easy to contact.

Are those fancy double/triple kinds, allowing you to make three flavors at once, worth the trouble? Not in my book. On how many occasions do most of us need to be making three flavors of ice cream simultaneously?

...And, as with combo DVD/VCR gizmos, the more components a machine has, the more likely something is going to break.

Favorite brand you'd recommend?
I'd go with Cuisinart. I used the Cuisinart ICE-20 - Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream, & Sorbet Maker that retails for around $50 with an organized friend (read: organized cook) recently, and the ice cream (it was Meyer lemon ice cream) came out fluffy and smooth.

I have an antiquated ice cream maker from the early 90s that keeps on keeping on. If it died tomorrow, I'd invest in Cuisinart's ICE-50 self-refrigerating machine for $250.
June 17th, 2006

A Creamy Smooth Dessert That Tasted Better Than Store-Bought Treats
The Daily News in Longview, Washington, reviews the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt-Sorbet & Ice Cream Maker:

The scoop: The hardest part of using this sleek stainless-steel model was finding room in our freezer for the two-quart freezing bowl. Otherwise, we just stirred up our recipe (cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, whole milk and whipping cream -- with no cooking involved!), switched on the machine and dumped our blend into the mixer. Voila!

Chill factor: This maker gave us pretty soft results (think milkshake, not cone), but after freezing for a few hours, we had a creamy smooth dessert that tasted better than store-bought treats.

Tip: Make sure the core is completely frozen before making your ice cream.
May 18th, 2006

Solving the Dribble-Glass Carafe Problem
Bloggers weigh in on the great coffee maker debate, launched by Professor Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit. Top blogger James Lileks writes:

Perhaps you want the Cuisinart DCC-2000:

It solves the dribble-glass carafe problem - by eliminating the carafe. Voila!

I’ve had one for almost a year, after going through three machines in 12 months (including that stylish Mr. Coffee, which lost its will to live after six months.) The DCC-2k makes two fine pots per day, and I am satisfied. I also expect it to break within the year, but that has less to do with the Cuisinart brand than the general end of the era of immortal appliances.
May 6th, 2006

Coffee Maker Complaints
Instapundit (Professor Glenn Reynolds) writes:

The beach house we had last year had this Cuisinart and it was good except that I seem to recall it beeping annoyingly when the coffee is done. (Message to appliance makers -- if it beeps, provide a switch to make it not beep. I could post an extended rant on that topic, but not at the moment.) My brother went through a whole bunch of coffeemakers that sucked before finding a Bunn that he likes, except that it's hard to make the coffee really strong because it pours the water through so fast.

I want a coffeemaker that (1) doesn't leak, and doesn't dribble -- as my new Braun does and my old Krups did -- when you pour from the carafe; (2) makes strong coffee; (3) keeps it hot enough; (4) doesn't beep; and (5) has a timer. Is that so much to ask? Any suggestions will be welcomed.
May 2nd, 2006

Cuisinart Parts
New York's Times Herald-Record newspaper discovers a store with a treasure trove of Cuisinart parts:

When disaster strikes and you break a part off your blender, who ya gonna call?

How about Culinary Parts Unlimited. The California company stocks more than 100,000 replacement parts for more than 40 brands, including Cuisinart, Krups and KitchenAid.

The parts are genuine, too. No knockoffs.

You can also find parts for older and more obscure appliances.
April 17th, 2006

Greatest Discoveries
"For me, the two greatest discoveries of the 20th century were the Cuisinart and the..."

Well, this is intended to be a family website, so I shan't include any more. You can complete the sentence at Sally Johnson's Sally Sez column in the Edmonton Sun.
April 10th, 2006

Buy Cuisinart (The Shares, That Is)
The Standard & Poor's analyst is bullish on Lifetime Brands, owner of the Cuisinart brand. According to a report in Business Week:

We look for Lifetime Brands...to out-perform its peers in the near to medium term on the back of strong sales growth. We see acquisitions, expansion into new categories and new product launches as the main drivers. Over time, we believe Lifetime Brands can improve margins and cash flow.

S&P forecasts a share price of $32 by April 2007, up from $27.75 now.
April 5th, 2006

High-Definition DVD Update, Photo Printer Update, Portable DVD Players