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SaraP Forum All-Star
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Posted: Dec 03 2008 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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My 40-year-old-inherited-from-a-friend's-great-aunt Oster has really and truly bit the dust.
Is there a modern version other than the Cuisinart which got some crummy reviews ("anemic plastic" sticks in my head)? Or does anyone have a Cuisinart and find that it's not really all that anemic?
__________________ Mama to six on earth, two in heaven and two waiting in Russia. Foxberry Farm Almanac
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CrunchyMom Forum Moderator
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Posted: Dec 03 2008 at 11:28am | IP Logged
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I have Kitchen Aid Appliances I love, but if I had it to do over again, I would look at the Bosch multipurpose unit. I hear its great!
__________________ Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Mackfam Board Moderator
Non Nobis
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Posted: Dec 03 2008 at 1:57pm | IP Logged
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I use my Vitamix for pretty much all food processing and blending. It's a workhorse!
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Milehimama Forum Pro
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Posted: Dec 03 2008 at 2:27pm | IP Logged
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I have a Vitamix and it is awesome. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a big enough jar for 9 people, LOL!
I don't think it could really be used as a food processor if you are looking for grating and chopping features, though. It does grind rice and oatmeal into batters.
__________________ Milehimama in Houston
Mother of 11 - 8 Church Militant and 3 Church Triumphant
Mama Says
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mimmyof5 Forum Pro
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Posted: Dec 03 2008 at 6:45pm | IP Logged
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I use my Vitamix for almost everything. My one complaint is that it's hard to scrape everything out of the bottom because the blade doesn't come out. I was pureeing pumpkin and had the hardest trying to get all the pumpkin out of the bottom. I finally ended up getting out my old Cuisinart and used that. If I want something chopped, I usually just do it the old fashioned way with a knife.
Other than that, I LOVE my vitamix. It is one tough machine.
Janet
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SaraP Forum All-Star
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Posted: Dec 04 2008 at 11:28am | IP Logged
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Have any of you used the Vitamix to grind meat?
That feature gave out first on my Oster and I miss it (my DH and neighbors hunt on our property adn we get a lot of venison that is a lot more useful ground), but I'm a little skeptical about a blender-looking thing being tough enough to do the job.
__________________ Mama to six on earth, two in heaven and two waiting in Russia. Foxberry Farm Almanac
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hereinantwerp Forum Pro
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Posted: Dec 05 2008 at 1:36pm | IP Logged
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I have the Cuisenart one and it works ok. For making things like pesto or "grinding" types of things I sometimes have to add more liquid than I want. But then I got it at a yardsale for 5 bucks!
I do rather drool over the Bosch one, but I have a kitchen aid mixer already so could not justify it!!
I think the main thing is looking for a good all-metal motor with plenty of power. The cheaper ones just don't have the juice. The container/holder doesn't matter as much (ours always seem to get dropped eventually anyway, plastic or glass )
__________________ Angela Nelson
Mother to Simon (13), Calvin (9), and Lyddie Rose (3)
my blog: live and learn
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stefoodie Forum Moderator
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Posted: Dec 05 2008 at 3:01pm | IP Logged
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If you can find a vintage Cuisinart, back when they were being made in France by Robot Coupe -- these are the strongest Cuisinarts ever. The plastic and parts are NOT anemic at all. I got mine 10+ years ago at a garage sale for $10. I was thinking of upgrading to a "modern" one and asked Cuisinart -- and they actually offered to pay for my machine and send me a new one for $50 or some ridiculous low price. After asking around some cooking forums, I was advised to hold on to my old machine, and it's still going strong and doesn't show any signs of weakening. I'd suggest going on eBay to find older Cuisinarts.
(Last year I was asked to write an article on the history of Cuisinart, and in doing the research I talked to someone at Robot Coupe in France who walked me through the history -- but I ended up not writing the article... though I still have my notes somewhere.... something about the heads of the company wanting to go one direction and other people wanting to go another direction, so they split up -- and so now you've got the industrial strength machines and the weaker ones. Probably TMI but there you go...)
My ideal set up would be vintage Cuisinart/Robot Coupe FP, a Vitamix for blending, but I'd still keep my DLX mixer for breadmaking, etc.
__________________ stef
mom to five
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stefoodie Forum Moderator
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Posted: Dec 05 2008 at 3:17pm | IP Logged
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Just wanted to add that IF my vintage Cuisinart ever keels over and dies, I'd probably go for Magimix.
__________________ stef
mom to five
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Mackfam Board Moderator
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Posted: Dec 05 2008 at 9:22pm | IP Logged
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SaraP wrote:
Have any of you used the Vitamix to grind meat? |
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No, but my Kitchen Aid will. I've never used that feature though.
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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SaraP Forum All-Star
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Posted: Dec 06 2008 at 9:58am | IP Logged
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Quote:
but if I had it to do over again, I would look at the Bosch multipurpose unit |
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Is this the Bosch you mean?
It's looks like it does everything I want, I like that I can get an all-metal meat grinder attachment and it costs quite a bit less than the comparable Cuisinart and Kitchen Aid versions . . . seems too good to be true.
__________________ Mama to six on earth, two in heaven and two waiting in Russia. Foxberry Farm Almanac
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JodieLyn Forum Moderator
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Posted: Dec 06 2008 at 10:21am | IP Logged
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This is the one I've heard good things about.
Bosch Universal
And the kitchenaid products seem to be going the direction of everything else these days.. 20 yr old models still working great.. but since I got mine 7 yrs ago they have replaced it 3 times. Now their customer service is great and I paid nothing for those 3 times. And the last one I got.. the Pro-600 lift.. has worked the longest so far.. so perhaps it was just the model that this one replaced that had the problems and this one is good.
But like the bosch (which I would look real hard at if I ever have to pay to replace my KA) you do have to buy the various attachments seperately.
The thing is you need to really look at how much power it has for what you want to be doing. While a weaker machine could do the same things (such as grind meat) if you're looking at keeping it going for long at any one point, you really need a stronger machine.
__________________ Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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