Help! Mini-prep broke; better product out there?

[LulusMom]

Hi,

I had a cuisinart miniprep for many years and loved it. After 10 years it finally broke and I bought the newer model. Yuck, it is horrible, and after less than a year it has broken. Is there some other product out there (does Kitchenaid or someone like that make one?) that stands up weekly usage better? Breaks my heart because my original one was a real workhorse, but I definitely want to go with a different brand this time around. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[jeffreyem]

If you can find one I have a Waring professional grade processor that is the size of a mini-prep. Found it when Chefs Catalog store front was going out of business. try here

http://www.waringproducts.com/com/cat...

[LulusMom]

Thanks so much. the smallest I'm seeing is 2.5 qt. which seems pretty large. But maybe I need to try cooks wares or some other catalogue like that.

[al b. darned]

The Waring Pro Prep® Chopper Grinder (WCG75) is .75 qt. Available from KTom http://www.katom.com/141-WCG75.html

[cityhopper]

How would you rate the performance of this unit?

You can also find the WP Prop Prep on Sierra Trading Post for under $100; you can use PayPal or Google Check out too. You can also buy additional chopper and grinder bowls at EverthingsKitchen at $45 and $50 a piece.

[LulusMom]

One thing is that i want to keep whatever I find small, and I'd *like* to keep it inexpensive too. I'm hoping the hand mixer is going to do the trick for most things, but found I had to pull out the big cuisinart to make bread crumbs yesterday.

[fauchon]

I love my (old) miniprep & feel your pain. Would a stick blender be a good replacement? Would depend on what you used the mini for....

[LulusMom]

I love my stick blender a lot, but somehow feel like it wouldn't really do the same things I used my mini-prep for. But maybe I need to look into that little plastic container like attachment. Thanks for the idea.

[cyberroo]

My stick blender has the mini-prep attachment, and I've been really happy with it for the small tasks that I've used it for - mostly small pastry jobs or chopping nuts. I don't use it a lot, but it's easier than the small insert in my full-size food processor, and most of the pieces drop right into the dishwasher, which is a huge advantage! Might be worth checking out.

[LulusMom]

I"m definitely going to see if I can find that part. I've had the stick blender for about 10 years now, and moved 3 times since then, but I might just still have it. Fingers crossed.

[LulusMom]

I finally pulled out the stick blender and looked at it (this all caused by my husband deciding we were going to have cucumber gimlets before dinner tonight and I was in charge of prepping the cucumbers). Lo and behold, it *does* have the mini prep type attachment and it worked beautifully. I'm thrilled. Thanks so much for suggesting this. I wouldn't have thought of it.

[debbypo]

I use the stick/mini prep a lot. It's great for a dozen cloves of garlic and things like nuts. I don't really like how it does hard grating cheeses... to pelletesque.

[legourmettv]

I have a miniprep that's probably 10 or more years old as well; the plastic is cracked and just about done.
When it was time to buy our last full size food processor I ended up with a KA that has a smaller insert bowl, for all the operations that I used the miniprep for. Wasn't sure that I would like it... but turns out that I do. One of the great things is that the KA is very quiet.

G.

[LulusMom]

I really appreciate your response. We already have a large size cuisinart, so I sort of hate having to double up; but the fact is that I used the old mini-prep a LOT more than the big thing. But the quality on these new ones is just horrible (my old one was so so loved).

I have to say, we have a KA dishwasher, and it is also very quiet. Sometimes I have to go check that I actually put it on.