The Story of the Melted Food Processor

Magimix food processor stem damageIf you can love an inanimate object, then I love my Magimix food processor. Intensely. It’s a useful, durable, well-designed machine.  As Norene Gilletz wrote in her classic book, The Pleasures of Your Food Processor, the virtue of a quality processor is its ability to stop when it gets overheated.  On lower-quality machines, the motor will burn out when meeting a challenge.

In the past, the processor would slow down and stop when making challah or pasta dough. I would finish the dough by hand, and after the motor cooled off it would work fine. A few months ago, my daughter used the Magimix to make pasta dough. The machine, clearly working hard to get through the sticky dough, started to slow down. But when my daughter turned off the machine, she was unable to remove the “S” blade from the stem of the processor. This kept the bowl stuck in place too. From what we could see of the top of the stem, it looked crumbly on the top and possibly melted. I took it to the store, paid for them to cut off the blade and replace the stem, and ordered a new blade.

I have used several Cuisinart and Magimix food processors over the last 3 decades without any melted parts.

The next time my daughter made pasta dough, she turned off the machine as soon as it started to slow down. We were able to pry off the blade and salvage it. But as you can see from the picture, the top stem had already started to disintegrate.   Admittedly, this stem is not the original and seems to be of a cheaper material. But the original stem had disintegrated even further.

Now I have to decide whether to replace the stem once more and be extra cautious about using the processor for dough, or try to get a higher quality machine. If it exists.

Have you ever had such a problem with your food processor?

How to Spot Insect Infestation in Dried Beans with Pictures

whole soaked bean with insect hole

A few days ago, I wrote about the reasons that beans may not get hard after cooking. Today I’ll address a different issue that also relates to beans that may have not been stored carefully: infestation. To avoid problems of infestation of grains and legumes, first follow the suggestions in my earlier post on how [...]

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Why Are My Beans Still Hard after Cooking?

Have you ever soaked and cooked a batch of beans, only to find that they never really got soft? The main reason for beans that are still hard after cooking is the quality of the beans. Drying beans preserves them for a long time, but not forever.  Even if you just got them, they may [...]

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Unstuffed Rutabaga or Turnip Casserole

raw turnips in open air market

Reader Ms. Krieger was experimenting with rutabaga, and developed this recipe for Passover. She thought it would work equally well with turnips, and suggested I add it to my links for turnip recipes. Recipe: Unstuffed Rutabaga or Turnip Casserole Ingredients 3 large turnips (or 2 large rutabagas) 1 lb. (1/2 kg.) ground beef 1 cup [...]

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Jerusalem Artichoke Adventures

Jerusalem artichoke with olive oil and garlic

Jerusalem artichokes actually originate in North America, although they grow well in any hot climate. They contain inulin, a dietary fiber that may help diabetics. Inulin can also cause gassiness. “Jerusalem” is probably a corruption of girasole, which means “facing the sun.” Sunchoke, the official name for the tuber, probably led to the artichoke misnomer. [...]

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Cook Your Favorite Recipes Faster

marinara

Most of us have our favorite recipes. And each time we make them, we do the same tasks again and again. Next time you make that dish, think how you might prepare some of the ingredients in larger quantities. This can cut the amount of time you spend preparing or cooking your food. Let’s say [...]

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Get My New Book on Wise Use of Appliances

I’m excited to let you know about the publication of my first e-book. It’s called Cook Smart! Learn the Secrets of Your Kitchen Appliances and is currently available through Amazon Kindle. If you don’t have a Kindle, Amazon has a free program that will allow you to read the book on your computer. Cook Smart [...]

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Cabbage-Carrot Casserole with Cheese Sauce

cabbage heads

When I see butter and hard cheese in a recipe, I usually skip it. But the recipe asks only for small quantities, and blogger Jenny described how her kids fought over the last piece. My pickier eaters did not appreciate it, but the rest of us loved it. Next time I’m invited to a pot-luck [...]

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Quick Cooking Tips for Busy Parents

squash casserole

Getting a hot, healthy meal on the table at the end of each day is a challenge for all parents, but especially for parents who are out of the house all day. I polled readers at the Cooking Manager Facebook page for their best tips, and here they are: Make-Ahead Casseroles. Make casseroles and freeze [...]

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Apple-Oat Muffins

apples

I recently met a young woman named Allyson, who just moved to my neighborhood with her husband and 11-month-old son. When she started making healthy apple muffins for her son, her husband found they made a good breakfast to eat on the way to work. They contain no added sugar. I added some variations at [...]

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