Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor Review
Chops, shreds, and purees in seconds—the workhorse that earns its counter space.
Coleslaw for a crowd in 20 seconds, pie dough that comes together before the butter warms up. This is the food processor that handles the boring prep so you don't have to.
What the Cuisinart 14-Cup actually is
This is the big, plastic-bowled food processor you've seen on a thousand kitchen counters, usually model DFP-14BCNY. The 14-cup bowl is the family size, with a roughly 720-watt motor, an S-blade for chopping and pureeing, and reversible discs for slicing and shredding. It runs about $170 to $230 on Amazon depending on color and whatever sale is happening.
Cuisinart basically invented the home food processor in the 1970s, and the 14-cup is the direct descendant of that idea. It's not fancy. There's an on, an off, and a pulse button. That's the whole interface, and honestly that's part of why people keep it for fifteen years.
How it performs day to day
The jobs it's built for, it crushes. Shredding a block of cheese, slicing a bag of potatoes for gratin, chopping mirepoix, making hummus or pesto, pulsing pie or biscuit dough. Owners consistently report it powering through tough loads like carrots and nut butters without stalling. The wide feed tube means you're not pre-cutting everything into matchsticks just to fit.
The 14-cup capacity is the real selling point. You can shred a pound and a half of cheese or process a double batch of dough without emptying the bowl halfway. For anyone cooking for four or more, or who batch-preps on Sundays, that headroom matters.
It's loud, and the motor base is heavy, which is the trade for that durability. Cleanup is the usual food processor reality. The bowl, lid, and discs are dishwasher safe, but you'll be hand-rinsing the blade and fishing food out of the lid's nooks. Nobody enjoys that part.
The good and the annoying
Pros: serious processing power, a genuinely useful 14-cup bowl, dead-simple controls, BPA-free parts, and a reputation for lasting a decade or more. Cuisinart backs it with a limited warranty, and replacement parts are easy to find, which is more than you can say for a lot of kitchen gear.
Annoying bits: the locking mechanism on older versions of this line was famously fussy, and the lid still wants to be seated just right before the motor engages. Storing the discs and blades is a minor headache since they don't all nest neatly. And the smaller pusher inside the feed tube can leak liquid if you overfill. None of these are dealbreakers. They're the quirks you learn in week one.
Who should buy it, and who should skip it
Buy it if you cook for a household, prep in batches, or have wanted a real processor and are tired of burning out cheap mini choppers. It's the safe, boring, correct answer for most kitchens. If you make dough, slaw, dips, or shredded anything more than a couple times a month, it pays for itself in saved knife time.
Skip it if you live alone or in a small kitchen. The 14-cup is big, and a 7-cup or 8-cup model (Cuisinart makes those too) does the same work at a fraction of the footprint. Skip it also if you only ever chop an onion or two. A $30 mini chopper or a good knife is the smarter spend there. And if you want one machine that also blends smoothies and crushes ice, look at a high-power blender instead. This isn't that.
The verdict
The Cuisinart 14-Cup is the food processor we'd recommend to most people who actually need a full-size one. It's powerful, it lasts, the controls don't get in your way, and parts are replaceable. It's not quiet and it's not clever. It just works for years, which is the whole point of buying one.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the 14-cup Cuisinart too big for everyday use?
- For one or two people, probably. The 14-cup is sized for families and batch cooking. If you mostly chop small amounts, a 7-cup or 8-cup model takes up less space and does the same jobs.
- Can it knead bread dough?
- It handles pie crust, biscuit, and pizza dough well using short pulses. It can do small batches of bread dough, but it's not a stand mixer replacement for heavy, repeated kneading. Watch the bowl capacity and don't overload it.
- Are the parts dishwasher safe?
- Yes, the bowl, lid, and discs are top-rack dishwasher safe and BPA-free. Most people still hand-wash the sharp S-blade and rinse the lid, since food gets stuck in the crevices.
Daniel covers home, kitchen, and everyday-carry gear. He's a stickler for durability and value, and has no patience for overpriced hype.
