I am looking to buy a food processor to use mainly for making baby food and for other cooking needs. The one I was going to buy is the Cuisinart. Does anyone own this and/or what are your opinions? Do I buy the 9, 11, or 14 cup model? Is the 14 really necessary or is the 9 too small? Is there another brand that you find better or recommend? Any input is appreciated since I'm buying online vs. in person. Thank you!
I have a 6 mo old and bought the williams sonoma beaba food processor/heater.. It is awesome and perfect size for babies.. Love it.
When I made my son's food, I used a combination of a food grinder (Kidco's, which you can get at Babies R Us) and Oster's handblender (like a Magic Bullet). Worked great, and I was still able to make enough food for several servings, depending on the recipes.
I have made homemade babyfood in many different ways, including a small cuisinart. My favorites are actually two you did not mention. A magic bullet works fabulously, as does a stick blender. The stick blender worked great for medium to larger quantites and the magic bullet is best for small. Good luck!
I have a small Cuisinart that I use occasionally (should use it more). I really like it, but sometimes wish it was bigger. I use the cheese slicer, make salsa, pesto, etc.
Looks like a lot of magic bullet users - maybe that with the larger cuisinart would be a good combination.
I bought a $10 Chefmate 1.5 cup "mini chopper" [basically a mini food processor, and it does still make the food super smooth] from Target and it was perfect for the time my son was eating the pureed stuff [which was only 4 or 5 months tops]. I used a blender a couple of times because I figured I would freeze a bunch in ice cube trays, but found it was actually much easier to make it fresh. Since the mini choppers are so small, I was actually able to pack it right in the diaper bag when we went to visit someone.
By the way, if you are committed to making your own baby food, beware of canned foods. You know the big scare over BPA in baby bottles? Well BPA is used in almost 60% of all canned foods, including pop cans and infant formula cans. Here is a link if you want to read more:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola
Canned foods and plastics relate to pretty much everyone, and I bet in 100 more years we will find out that BPA and other chemicals used in food containers and plastics are the reason so many people are dying of cancer. There is no way to avoid it completely unless you eat all fresh, all of the time...and maybe it doesn't matter anyway, because we are all going to die of something some day... but it's good to know exactly what is going into your body. Sorry for the rant! Good luck
I like the Magic Bullet, as you can make small servings and the clean up is really easy, all dishwasher safe. I also used a stick mixer for making larger portions to freeze. I would not cook in the Magic Bullet, because I am not sure it is BPA safe. I won't cook anything in plastic.
I love my cuisinart food processor. I had it many years before having a baby and I consider it an indispensible kitchen tool. If you're just making baby food (but I bet you'll find many other uses for it!), the small model is more than enough. Otherwise, I go with a mid-size model.
I just got a version of the magic bullet. It comes in different sizes of cups to process the food. It comes with lids too.
Hope that helps!
We actually got one of those Magic Bullets (the one from the infomercials) for a birthday present, and I have to say I love the thing especially for making baby food. Very handy you can steam vegetables and then grind them up right in the same container. It is only for smaller quantities, although there are bigger versions of the Magic bullet, cant remember what that one is called.
I've had the 11 cup Cuisinart for about 10 years and love love love it! We cooked a lot with it before we had kids and use it even more now. I make baby food and freeze it in ice cube trays for later. I think 11 cup is a great size. I also bought a blender when our 3-year-old was a baby, but it just didn't work as well as the food processor so it sits collecting dust.
We also use a hand food mill for creating fresh and on-the-spot meals for our 10-month-old. That comes in really handy when we are traveling or eating dinner and know he can eat what we're eating (he doesn't have any teeth yet!).
I second the magic bullet. It is so easy and the clean-up is so much easier than with a food processor. You make smaller quantities, but they eat so little of it in the beginning, it works out really well.
