Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus Food Processor, 4 Cup, Brushed Stainless (Shiny)

Little processor is a powerhouse! Love it!
This was a wonderful surprise for us because I have arthritis that is becoming worse in my hands and handling the big and heavy glass blender was getting nearly impossible. I like to chop up a variety of veggies for my three dogs to mix into their dinner. Carrots are the most loved and I was very concerned that this cute little Mini-Prep Plus Processor would not be up to the task. It works fast, it works effortlessly, and it leaves not one carrot chunk behind. The finished product is perfectly minced and easily blends into their food. The one thing that worried me at first was that this little tyke makes a good deal of noise while performing its magic. However, not one of the three dogs noticed and the blind cat stayed right where she was when the noise started. The job is started and finished in about three seconds! Actually, now I do not have to yell “Dinner is served!” because the little machine does it for me! Washing up is a breeze as the parts are simple to separate from one another, very small, and go back together in two seconds or less! Plus the parts weigh nearly nothing. It is like working with toy appliances that work like a charm. I love this little wonder and only wish I had purchased it earlier. Plus, it has been serving us non-stop, twice a day, for over a month and it has not skipped a beat!

Nice little food processor
Update 4 years + 1 month later:In the interest of full disclosure: As of a couple of weeks ago, the blade unit is cracked vertically as well as halfway around one of the blades. It’s never been abused – dropped on the floor, banged on anything, exposed to excess heat, etc.. I think either it was cracked initially and I didn’t/couldn’t see the crack, or the corrosive nature of automatic dishwasher detergent has weakened it. It still works, but I’m reluctant to use it because any kind of cracked food utensil can never be guaranteed to be sanitary.Four years is a fairly long life span in these days of built-in obsolescence. Ten dollars per year (averaged) is not a horrendous amount to have spent on a product that served well. The cost to replace the broken blade unit is currently $27 + shipping, so I haven’t decided whether to replace the part or the processor, or purchase a different brand. I did not buy the extended warranty on this item, but, even if I had, the longest coverage available is 4 years, which would have expired last month anyway. (Of course!) If I were to buy this specific processor again, I would add the longest possible warranty I could get, just in case.My original review of my February 02, 2014 purchase:I’ve used my Mini-Prep about 20 times, now, and am very pleased with it. For such things as rough-chopping vegetables for soup, making dip or sandwich fillings, or making cracker or bread crumbs, it is just fine, and that’s all I wanted it for. I have had good and bad results with chopping Cheddar cheese. The cheese must be firm, not soft and sticky. Firm cheese will chop to a fine consistency that can be used instead of shredded cheese. Cheese that is softer and sticky just turns to a kind of cheese dough. Now that I know that, it won’t be a problem. I would probably not try to chop a cheese like Monterrey Jack or Havarti, and certainly not Velveeta (if you can call that “cheese”). Fresh Parmesan can be chopped very finely and stored in the freezer.One thing I like about the reversing blade action is that, if the food gets a bit jammed up around the blades on one setting, you can pulse the other setting a time or 2 and it will change directions, usually breaking up the jam, then you can go back to your original mode. It saves a lot of the business of removing the lid and rearranging the food that you often have with other small choppers or processors.I like the way the blade unit is designed. It’s very easy to get hold of it and remove it, even when the food is something that is heavy and wants to cling to it. The blade, bowl, and lid can all go in the dishwasher.The special spatula that comes with the processor is not impressive. It’s flimsy and the handle is too short. I also wish the base were a bit heavier. Having it very light is nice for moving it around, but it also makes it more difficult to put the bowl on and lock it, or unlock it and remove it, with your one clean hand (assuming your other hand has been handling messy food), because the force (not much, really) needed to remove the lid and bowl will turn the base before it turns the bowl. With a little practice, it’s OK.To those who have complained in their reviews about liquids leaking out, if you are trying to process something that liquid, and that much of it, you should be using a blender. Liquids are not what food processors were designed to do. To those who complained about not being able to fill up the bowl, you should find that almost any food processor is the same in that regard. To work, it needs space above the food so the food can be tossed up and drop down on the blades as it processes. If the bowl is too full, the blades can only keep processing the food that’s around them, and the top food does not drop down. If you want to be able to process 4 cups of food at once, you should get a processor with an 8-cup bowl. If some pieces of what you are chopping are small and some large, you are 1) starting out with pieces that are too large – cut them smaller, and/or 2) filling the bowl too full in the first place. Sometimes less is more.To the person who complained that they thought the base was stainless steel but it’s not, they are right, it’s not. “Brushed Stainless” is the color name. If you must have a food processor with an actual stainless steel base, this isn’t it. Cuisinart makes another model, which is almost identical, that comes in colors.This seems to be a good product overall. I would buy it again.

This is easy to use. Works great. Easy to clean. Simply a great product and pretty too!

Love this for small amounts of mayo/sauces and for chopping nuts, etc. Great kitchen appliance when bringing out the ‘big guns’ would be overkill.

Its good for 2 people family. Because small.