Top pick
This simple, sturdy food processor comes with everything you need and nothing you don’t. And it dices, slices, and kneads consistently and efficiently.
The Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor has been our top pick since 2013 because it does everything a great food processor should do, without any unnecessary extras. With one blade, one grating disk, and one slicing disk, this processor excelled at nearly every chopping and shredding task we attempted. And it worked as well as or better than costly machines with more attachments.
Unlike the bases of some other models we tested, the Custom 14-Cup’s base remained stable on the counter—even while the machine was processing double batches of dough. This model is easy to clean, and the attachments store neatly inside the bowl, preventing clutter.
In our tests, the Custom 14-Cup chopped, shredded, and emulsified everything effectively. It handled juicy tomatoes with ease, and the grating disk shredded soft mozzarella cheese without getting gummed up. We also made a firmer, more stable mayonnaise in the Custom 14-Cup than in any other full-size model we tested.
It has a strong motor and a heavy base. At roughly 18 pounds with the bowl on, the Custom 14-Cup remains stable during use. Though its 750-watt motor is less powerful than the motors of some other models we tested—including the 1,450-watt Breville Sous Chef 16 (our upgrade pick)—that didn’t negatively affect the Custom 14-Cup’s performance. Making pizza dough was our most motor-intensive test, and the Custom 14-Cup kneaded it effortlessly, without wiggling across the counter, as some other processors we tried did.
Though powerful, the motor is reasonably quiet. While it was running, this food processor emitted a deep, low rumble measured at 75 decibels (a bit above the range of normal conversation, and a good 15 to 25 decibels below our other picks). This was just a baseline volume—some ingredients, like almonds, are louder to chop than others.
We also appreciate the large, 14-cup work bowl. It offers lots of room for grating cheese or shredding big batches of coleslaw ingredients.
We continue to be won over by the machine’s simplicity. At first the Custom 14-Cup seemed kind of puny next to other models, which boasted nesting bowls, taller bases, and big boxes of attachments. But after years of using it in our test kitchen and our homes, we consistently appreciate this machine’s less-is-more design.
We love that it has just one bowl and two operating buttons: pulse and on. This model also comes with only the most useful attachments: a stainless steel chopping blade and two disks (one for shredding and one for slicing).
Earlier versions of the Custom 14-Cup included a dough blade, and you can still purchase one through the Cuisinart website. But we find dough blades to be unnecessary, and we’ve successfully prepared dough using regular chopping blades for years.
The work bowl was one of the easiest to clean. Throughout testing, we cleaned each bowl after every ingredient we processed—so we were achingly familiar with the gunk that can get trapped in more-complicated lids. And we found that the Custom 14-Cup’s bowl was easier to clean than those of most of the other models we tested.
We also appreciate the bowl’s hollow handle, which doesn’t trap food particles and moisture as much as the Breville Sous Chef 16 bowl’s enclosed handle.
With some careful layering, you can store all of the blades and disks in the work bowl. This saves you a bit of storage space, and it will keep you from gouging your hand on a loose blade kept in a drawer. By contrast, the Breville 16-Cup Sous Chef comes with a plethora of disks and accessories, which require more storage space.
The machine is relatively compact and kind of cute. At only 15 inches tall, the Custom 14-Cup should fit under most cupboards. We like its slightly retro, sleek design, and the base also comes in several colors (each of which has a different model number).
The three-year warranty is pretty good, though not the longest we’ve seen. And Cuisinart’s food processors have a solid reputation for overall durability—anecdotally, we know of some that have lasted for decades. You can also buy various replacement parts on Cuisinart’s website.
How the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor has held up
We’ve been long-term testing the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup since 2013, and it remains a workhorse in the kitchen. Year after year, we’ve chopped slaws and nuts, grated cheese, blended dips, and kneaded pizza dough in it—and it continues to work well. The bowl doesn’t leak, and the machine’s controls are exactly what you need. The bowl has scratched a bit, since we’ve stored the sharp blades inside it, but otherwise it looks like new. We’ve found that cleaning under the on/off buttons is slightly annoying, but the task is easier if you use a damp sponge or paper towel.
One Wirecutter staffer—who was initially skeptical of this machine’s large, 14-cup bowl capacity—has said that so far their Cuisinart 14-Cup hasn’t been too small or too large for any preparations. Another staffer—who admitted to being a little rough on her machine—replaced her Cuisinart 14-Cup with a new one after 11 years of use. Meanwhile, kitchen team senior editor Marguerite Preston still uses a decades-old Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup that she inherited from her parents.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It dices delicate ingredients less consistently. It took the Custom 14-Cup longer than our upgrade pick to get a fine parsley dice, and a few large pieces of parsley remained. And rather than shredding soft mozzarella, which our upgrade pick managed to do, the Custom 14-Cup ground it up. This machine does work fine on harder cheeses, though, and even with soft mozzarella, the blades didn’t get gummed up.
The lid locks with the feed tube in the back. We read a few reviews by people who disliked this quirk (on most models, the feed tube is located in the front, where it’s easier to reach). But we actually think it’s easier to see the ingredients in the bowl when the feed tube is positioned in the back of the lid.
The slicing disk isn’t adjustable. The Cuisinart Core Custom 13-Cup’s and the Breville Sous Chef 16’s slicing disks have multiple settings, similar to a mandoline. However, if you want additional slicing disks for the Custom 14-Cup, you can buy them through the Cuisinart website. The included slicing disk makes approximately 5-millimeter slices, which is fine for most tasks. But to make potato chips, you’ll probably want the 2-millimeter slicing disk.
It doesn’t include a storage case for its attachments. If you don’t want to store the attachments in the bowl, and you have extra room in your kitchen, you may want to purchase a separate storage case.
