A kitchen essential we've loved for eight years

Michael Hession

Nick Guy

When my wife and I were planning our wedding registry, there were a few classic (and new classic) kitchen gadgets we threw on the list: a KitchenAid stand mixer, an Instant Pot, and a Cuisinart Custom 14 Cup Food Processor. All of these items get regular use, but it’s the food processor that has impressed us the most. And we’re not the only ones! This simple, reliable piece of gear has been Wirecutter’s top pick since 2013 because of its excellent performance and longevity.

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Josh Scherer is the chef for the popular YouTube channels Good Mythical Morning and Mythical Kitchen, and he’s a fan of the Cuisinart. “It’s just this indestructible, simple machine,” he said. “All it is is a motor and the blade.”

When asked about the wildest thing he’s ever blended in his Cuisinart, he was quick to answer: “We literally once burned out the motor of our Vitamix trying to make a bull penis pesto. The Cuisinart food processor was able to handle the strength of a bull penis to make a bull penis pesto. And it turned out pretty good.”

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Bull penises—also known as pizzles—can be consumed but are commonly dried to make dog-chew toys. So, yeah, they’re, um, difficult to blend. But not for the Cuisinart!

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A food processor is simple in concept—a blade attached to a motor that chops, slices, or grates faster and more uniformly than a human can. Cuisinart added only minimal controls to that setup, with just two buttons. One turns on the motor, which runs until you hit the other button to turn it off. You can also repeatedly hold and release the second button for a pulsing action.

The 14-cup bowl—yep, that’s where the name comes from—is large enough to handle most home kitchen jobs, whether you’re whipping up a salsa, mixing a pizza dough, or shredding a big block of cheese. There’s also enough room in the bowl to store the blade attachments when you’re not prepping ingredients—you don’t want any of the super-sharp blades sitting loose in a drawer!

Though the Cuisinart Custom 14 isn’t particularly inexpensive, its value comes from not having to replace it every few years. Consider the Cuisinart an investment—one that will likely last you decades.

Referring to the food processor’s history, Cuisinart’s Mary Rodgers said, “This style of product was done in several other model numbers with the same look and functionality” since 1995. The current version we recommend has been around since 2003. No matter how you slice it, that’s a proven track record measured in decades.

According to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, food processors took off in America in the 1960s, at least partly thanks to Julia Child, after she got her hands on an early French model. The museum quotes her as saying, “When I first started out, everything was done by hand. I think it’s very important for the home cook—that’s what I’m interested in—to have things like the food processor … to make fish mousse in a few seconds.” Though fish mousse may not be the main use for food processors anymore, the appliance is still just as handy as when Child raved about it more than 50 years ago.

After testing more than 20 food processors over the past eight years, we’ve found that the Cuisinart Custom 14 is the best, for several reasons.

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• It has been a Wirecutter pick since 2013.

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• A number of Wirecutter staffers have been using their Cuisinart Custom 14 for 10 years or longer without having to replace the motor or the blades.

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• More-expensive food processors come with more attachments or stronger motors, but we think these are unnecessary compared with Cuisinart’s other features.

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• The motor is warrantied for five years; this isn’t as long as those of some competitors, but it’s still a respectable amount of time.

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Read more in our guide to the best food processors.

We used to see deals on the Cuisinart Custom 14 pretty regularly during the holiday season, but we haven’t seen a notable drop in price since 2019. Previously we saw the best deal prices during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

When it comes to keeping your Cuisinart food processor in good working order, there’s not much you need to worry about, other than cleaning it. The pieces are all dishwasher-safe. But if you don’t have a dishwasher, or you need to do a quick wash, try blending some hot water and dish soap. Cuisinart also sells replacement parts, if you damage any of the components.