Good Question: Should I Buy a New Cuisinart?

Sara Kate Gillingham
Sara Kate Gillingham
Sara Kate is the founding editor of The Kitchn. She co-founded the site in 2005 and has since written three cookbooks. She is most recently the co-author of The Kitchn Cookbook, published in October 2014 by Clarkson Potter.
updated Jun 4, 2019
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Dear Kitchen,

I have a 7-cup classic Cuisinart, which is 7 years old and whose work bowl is slowly cracking. The plastic shaft on the grating disc also just broke. A new disc is $26, a new workbowl is $30. I also read that the dough blade should be replaced every few years, and that’s another $30.

Should i just get a completely new food processor?

Thanks!
Jill in Boston

(To All Good Questions)

Dear Jill,

The one thing that Cuisinart food processors are known for are their great motors. If your motor still works well, don’t toss it! We have one of the original models; it must be 25 years old. We’ve replaced the bowl and the disc once, and it is as good as new. As for the dough blade, we hardly ever use it, so it’s never been replaced.

These days, so many appliances are made to be cheap, with parts that are not replaceable. Toaster broken? Toss it out and buy a new one. That is the kind of thinking the manufacturers want you to follow.

We’d rather not add more junk to the landfills – that’s why we always advise to buy appliances that are the best quality you can afford, and to keep them tuned up. That means replacing broken parts.

Secondly, I’m not sure where you’re getting your prices, but the Cuisinart parts website sells the workbowl for $29.50, the grating disc (they call it a shredding disc) for $19, and the dough blade for $12.

Good luck!

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