Tag: Cuisinart food processor

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: THE HEALTHY SLOW COOKER

Books, Documentaries, Reviews:  December 18, 2014

THE HEALTHY SLOW COOKER

Daughter-in-law Corinne has cooked several meals for me now out of Judith Finlayson’s book, THE HEALTHY SLOW COOKER.

Each meal has been delicious.

So, I ordered this book when I got home from Charleston, SC, after Thanksgiving.

IMG_0510

 

Now, I do not have a slow cooker at present.  My last one cooked way too hot–a familiar critique if you start reading the “reviews” of slow cookers.  I threw it out after it seemed to burn the bone broths I was trying to make using a slow cooker.  Bryan and Corinne have a large-size Faberware that was given to them for their wedding, ten years ago now.  Faberware seems to have disappeared.  And, it also seems that all of our appliances have taken such down turns in quality that even if I could find a Faberware one now, there would be no guarantee that it bore any resemblance to a product made ten years ago now.

I can’t find a slow cooker I’m willing to buy.  I did find a 10-quart one with a crockery insert, but at least one reviewer surfaced the fact that slow-cooker crockery inserts contain lead.  Apparently there is a web site that can reveal how much lead, etc., but…

Cuisinart is ranked currently as the “best” slow cooker of the moment, but I’m never buying another Cuisinart product after having their expensive toaster fail and being grossly disappointed in their food processor, which is an expensive piece of junk.  This week, the shaft that the grating disc sits atop bent while grating carrots:

IMG_0496

Look at the metal curling out of the stem.  Anyone with half a brain can tell you that this piece of equipment is not going to stand up to grating carrots, turnips, potatoes, etc.  I ordered a new shaft, and the motor seems ok, but…   A PIECE OF JUNK and SHAME ON CUISINART.

Some slow cookers have aluminum inserts.  Aluminum is toxic and should not be used around food.  (Substitute parchment paper for aluminum if you need to top something in the oven.)

Some slow cookers have teflon lining, which is also toxic.

So, I am going to cook the slow cooker recipes in my Creuset pot with a lid–in the oven.  The whole thing will cook faster anyway.

I tried the black bean and squash chili (with hamburger) this week, and it is DELICIOUS.  (I’m allergic to hot peppers of any sort, so substituted cumin, tumeric, coriander, and a bit of cinnamon for the hot peppers.)  I covered the whole thing with a layer of grated cheese at the last minute and let it melt.  Delicious.

 

 

Interesting Information: My Cuisinart Rant

Interesting Information:  august 20, 2011

My Cuisinart Rant

Last summer, in the middle of making food processor ice cream–you just dump in heavy cream, frozen fruit, some arrowroot, and a bit of maple syrup or local UNHEATED honey–my Cuisinart food processor died.

My Cuisinart food processor was probably 30 years old.  It was heavy as lead, as solid as stacked bricks.  The motor didn’t go.  The plastic safety feature that slid into place to form the electrical connection broke.  There were no replacement parts to be found, which several internet searches showed.  And, John, who can miraculously fix things, could not figure out how to make the electrical connection work.

I use my food processor A LOT.  So, I ordered a new one, and I paid $252.73 for it.  I didn’t really think twice since I figured that the last one had lasted over 30 years, so I’d gotten my money’s worth.

The new one came.  It’s all bright and shiny black and chrome.  It only has two blades though.  My old one had more.  And, it’s got multiple-sized bowls, but I never use the little ones.  I cook BIG when I’m using the Cuisinart.  It has a retractable cord.

It’s a total piece of junk!  It’s got “bells and whistles,” but it has no power at all.

It lifts up like a feather as there’s no weight to it at all.

What my old one could do in seconds, this one can’t do at all.  Ever.  And something simple like the ice cream takes forever and there are always large pieces of frozen fruit left in the mix.

I’m writing this because I’m old enough to have had a really good food processor.   Many of you are a generation younger than me, and you don’t know what’s happened to too many American products.  Manufacturers have dumbed them down, but by bit, saving pennies and half-pennies along the way until what we have are expensive pieces of junk.  Like this Cuisinart food processor.

What has occurred is entirely logical.  It’s the inexorable process of Capitalism when it isn’t controlled by values and ethics.  Or, when a generation has passed, and people have forgotten how an appliance is supposed to work, so they buy what the market offers.

I still have my wedding-present (1966) hand-held mixer.  My daughter-in-law Tami’s melted down in less than 10 years.  It wasn’t an appliance she used often, so the usage time is even shorter actually.  My current GE refrigerator is also big and shiny and a total piece of junk.  It isn’t ten years old, but pieces of plastic inside of it are breaking off in chunks.

This process of degradation is present in many industries today.  Many of you don’t know what a real strawberry should taste like.  Or, a peach.  Or real food that isn’t so highly processed that it’s, now, totally fake.  Many of you don’t remember what it was like to go to a doctor who was actually interested in your health, had time for you, KNEW WHO YOU WERE,and didn’t just attempt to push a lot of drugs and invasive tests on you–drugs meant to deal with the fact that your food is no longer nourishing your health.

All of this degradation has just crept up on us until what we have now is a total mess.  The only thing I know to do is to try to create local community once more where you know where your food comes from.  And, maybe, to try to find appliances from Europe, where they apparently still make quality products that last.  Meanwhile, I’m stuck with the Cuisinart as I can’t justify spending any more $$$ on a food processor.

DON’T BUY THIS STUFF.  DON’T BY A CUISINART FOOD PROCESSOR.  DON’T BUY FAKE FOOD IN THE GROCERY STORE.

PS:  My Cuisinart toaster–bought recently–is also a piece of junk.