Hi All,
I am planing to buy Cuisinart food processor.
I wanted to know if it can knead dough for bread, cake batter etc..
or do i need buy another stand mixer do this job along with my food
processor.

Thanks,
Vinod

"vinod" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> Hi All,
> I am planing to buy Cuisinart food processor.
> I wanted to know if it can knead dough for bread, cake batter etc..
> or do i need buy another stand mixer do this job along with my food
> processor.

It is fine for bread, but you will only be able to make a single loaf at a
time. However, it is so quick to make dough in the FP that you can make
several loaves in succession in just minutes. A FP isn't the best choice
for making cakes. It can be done if you are careful, but it is very easy to
over-mix in a FP, making a tough cake. The key to making cakes in the FP is
to only pulse a few times once the flour is added. Once you have mixed
liquids with flour, the more you mix the more gluten is produced and the
tougher the cake becomes.

Therefore, if you are going to make lots of cakes, large cakes, or large
batches of bread, cookies, etc., the stand mixer is a good choice. If you
are going to make a few cakes, normal sized cakes, or a single batch of
dough, the FP is great, provided that you follow the instructions for mixing
each type of baked good. I have both and I use my FP nearly every day. The
stand mixer is reserved for large jobs.

"Vox Humana" > wrote in message
...
>
> "vinod" > wrote in message
> ps.com...
>> Hi All,
>> I am planing to buy Cuisinart food processor.
>> I wanted to know if it can knead dough for bread, cake batter etc..
>> or do i need buy another stand mixer do this job along with my food
>> processor.
>
> It is fine for bread, but you will only be able to make a single loaf at a
> time. However, it is so quick to make dough in the FP that you can make
> several loaves in succession in just minutes. A FP isn't the best choice
> for making cakes. It can be done if you are careful, but it is very easy
> to
> over-mix in a FP, making a tough cake. The key to making cakes in the FP
> is
> to only pulse a few times once the flour is added. Once you have mixed
> liquids with flour, the more you mix the more gluten is produced and the
> tougher the cake becomes.
>
> Therefore, if you are going to make lots of cakes, large cakes, or large
> batches of bread, cookies, etc., the stand mixer is a good choice. If
> you
> are going to make a few cakes, normal sized cakes, or a single batch of
> dough, the FP is great, provided that you follow the instructions for
> mixing
> each type of baked good. I have both and I use my FP nearly every day.
> The
> stand mixer is reserved for large jobs.
>
>

One can overmix with a Kitchenaid mixer, though! LOL! I have done it.
Now, I don't pay attention to the times in my recipes and pay more attention
to how the batter looks in the bowl. I had one tough cake. It wasn't
pretty. Then I learned to do it differently. That said, my Kitchenaid does
an awesome job with cake batter, but stop mixing as soon as it looks like
everything is incorporated.

Dawn

"DawnK" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> One can overmix with a Kitchenaid mixer, though! LOL! I have done it.
> Now, I don't pay attention to the times in my recipes and pay more
attention
> to how the batter looks in the bowl. I had one tough cake. It wasn't
> pretty. Then I learned to do it differently. That said, my Kitchenaid
does
> an awesome job with cake batter, but stop mixing as soon as it looks like
> everything is incorporated.

I think you have to use some common sense and have some experience to make
satisfactory baked goods. Times and speeds in recipes are usually given for
light-weight hand mixers. If you follow them rigidly and use a stand mixer,
you will over-mix. It also depends on the mixing method. If you are using
the creaming method, it is harder (but still possible) to over do it in the
stand mixer or food processor.

The recommendation to buy one appliance over the other is difficult to make.
It depends a lot on what you bake, and how much you make. It depends on how
much space you have and how much general cooking you do. Right now, if I
had to choose only one, I would get a large food processor. A few years ago
when I was making larger batches of cookies and baking wedding cakes, the
stand mixer was a better choice. For people with little experience baking or
cooking, it might be better to do it all by hand at first.

I gave in to the temptation, followed advice and bought the food processor,
so far am not thrilled with it... My bread machine makes much better bread
dough, it's easier to use and easier to clean. All the baloney about The
food processor making dough in so many minutes... humbug, dough needs to
rise and it needs a place to rise the bread machine fits the bill.

So far the only thing We've used the food processor for that we are happy
with is ham salad and hummus... how much of that stuff do you need.

I tried using the FP for cutting up veggies for soup... what a mess, all
sorts of size slices and bits of carrots as they slipped to the side... then
of course I had to clean the stupid thing! I'm much neater with my chefs
knife. I didn't like the look of my soups and stews with food processor
prepared veggies, they looked like I bought a bag of pre cut veggies at the
grocery store... I tried cookie dough, it was torture... I have the 11 cup
size food processor and it just isn't big enough to mix cookie dough, my KA
mixer does the job perfectly.

I tried hard to learn to use the food processor, I even bought "the food
Processor Bible" for ideas but I've finally admitted that I probably wasted
my money, I'm not getting much use out of it, it's not making my cooking
chores any easier, its just taken up another square foot of counter top
space.

My choice would be a mixer and a good set of knives over a food processor.

Rina




"Vox Humana" > wrote in message
...

>
> The recommendation to buy one appliance over the other is difficult to
> make.
> It depends a lot on what you bake, and how much you make. It depends on
> how
> much space you have and how much general cooking you do. Right now, if I
> had to choose only one, I would get a large food processor. A few years
> ago
> when I was making larger batches of cookies and baking wedding cakes, the
> stand mixer was a better choice. For people with little experience baking
> or
> cooking, it might be better to do it all by hand at first.
>
>

I've had my Cuisinart DLC-8 for over 20 years and I use it almost every
day.

If you are good at knifework, you may well find that the processor
doesn't do what you do when you chop and slice. I, however, am bad at
knifework, and I am more than happy to let the machine grate my carrots,
slice my yellow peppers, cut shortening into flour for pie crust, whisk
mayonnaise...

As for cleaning, it goes in the dishwasher. No big deal. I have the
chopping blade, 3 slicing blades, and a grater. I never got interested
in the whole raft of oddball accessories.

It is _not_ good at incorporating air into mixtures, so I use the mixer
for egg whites and batters and mousses. I never tried mixing cookie
dough in the FP - I think that with a denser ingredient, its motion is
more chopping than mixing. On the other hand, I have often mixed yeast
dough in it, which was fine.

My partner uses a blender for many tasks where I would use the FP.
Different strokes.

Like any tool, if it does what you want, go for it. If not, try
something else.