Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I love the features of this food processor. I was replacing a Black and Decker unit I picked up at Walmart that was about ten years old, so the step up to this model was more of a leap. The two bowls (the big one is huge, while the little one is perfect for tiny jobs), the giant chute, and the slicing blade that changes the width of a slice with a simple twist, are all favorite features of mine. I also like the storage case, the look of the machine(the base is easy to keep clean), and the way the large bowl has no hole through which contents can spill. BUT, there are drawbacks, and a few of these would be enough to have me looking at alternative models were I to shop for a processor in the future. First, and most troublesome (even dangerous), is that the metal spindle at the top of the blade attachments gets HOT. I mean burn-your-hand when you acccidentally touch it, hot. And you can't help but touch it. If you run the unit for more than a couple of minutes, the powerful machine will create enough heat to sizzle any flesh that touches that little metal part. When you take any blades out (which, inevitably you will) after processing your food, you can't really help but touch that part. It stays hot for quite a while, too. I shouldn't have to use a hot pad when removing blades after processing. I understand that this part is durable because it is metal, and I am all for durability, but seriously, this is horrible engineering. On the top of the lid, there's also a metal part that makes contact with that spindle, and it gets very hot as well. Both have burned my hand. My second complaint is the whine the machine makes sometimes. It was so loud, my husband ran to the kitchen to turn the unit off because he was worried that it was self-destructing. I was processing a liquid, so it shouldn't have been working too hard. I still don't know why it makes that sound on occasion. Yesterday it did it while I was making pesto in the small bowl. My third complaint has to do with the shredding feature. One of the reasons I bought this machine to replace my old cheapy one is for grating cheese. We are particular about the type of cheese we eat, and it doesn't come commercially grated, so I have to grate all of our cheese. The old machine I used would leave behind a sizable hunk of cheese that didn't come into contact with the grating blade because of a gap between the lid and the blade. This unit also leaves a hunk (it's a smaller piece than the Black and Decker left behind), but when the last chunk does finally fall past the chute, a tremendous cracking sound is made as the power of the machine shoves the piece of cheese around instead of holding it still as the last bit is shredded. I suppose it would be difficult to make the gap between the lid and the top of the shredding blade much smaller, but it would help prevent that whacking sound (which I fear is going to destroy a plastic piece sooner rather than later) from happening, while also solving the problem of the un-shredded cheese hunk problem. Fourth, the pusher piece (the large chute one) is not dishwasher safe. If you put it in your dishwasher by mistake (as helpful husbands are prone to do), it will emerge with water trapped inside. Shaking that water out by hand to prevent a mildew problem is a wonderful upper body workout. Hand-washing is not a big deal if you've just shredded carrots, but it would be nice to be able to put it through the dishwasher after something oily has been processed. Also, there is a small area on the small-bowl blade that seems to be rusting. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to see that. It's a small spot, but I noticed it after only my third or fourth use of the machine. It is a beautiful unit. It looks lovely on my counter, and I use it several times a week to slice veggies, mix muffin batter, and chop nuts. But frying my hand tonight prompted me to write a review I had no intentions of writing so others looking at this very expensive processor would have all of the information they might want to make an informed decision.