Cuisinart DLC-8S Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor Review

Update: The model number of this unit has changed, and it no longer includes the dough blade. (For a large capacity model that includes a dough blade see the Breville Sous Chef.)

New model number for this Cuisinart is DLC-8SBCY (brushed chrome).

It’s no surprise that the Cuisinart DLC-8S Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor is one of the top 10 bestsellers online. This is a fairly large capacity food processor (11 cups) that has a large feed chute and includes enough extra discs to make it very versatile. It even comes with a compact flat lid that you can use when chopping or mixing, so you don’t have to wash the larger lid assembly and feed chute if you don’t need it.

While it isn’t the most powerful of the larger sized food processors, the majority of owners find it quite capable of handling all their needs.

This review covers all the pros and cons to help you decide whether this model is your top pick.

Features

• 11 Cup Work Bowl
• Large Feed Chute
• Compact Flat Work Bowl Cover
• Chopping/Mixing Blade
• Dough Blade Now sold as separate accessory
• Stainless Steel Shredding Disc
• 2 Stainless Steel Slicing Discs (2mm and 4mm thickness)
• Spatula and Instruction/Recipe Booklet
• 5 Year Limited Warranty Motor, 3 Year Limited Warranty Unit

If you’ve shopped around, one thing you may want to be aware of about this model is that it does not come with a smaller work bowl, nor is there one available that will fit this machine. This is only a problem when you want to process a very small amount of food, such as chopping a few pods of garlic or mincing a handful of herbs. For those types of tasks, a small mini chopper will work much better.

One other point to note is that the manufacturer does not state the wattage for this model. It is listed as 120V, 60HZ, Max 5.2 Amps. Owners express overall satisfaction with the power level for common tasks. The only limitation I found is noted below, about bread dough.

Size & Capacity

Size

For both counter space and cabinet storage, this is a medium sized unit. It weighs 17 pounds and measures 7 x 11.25 x 14.50 inches.

Capacity

There is only one work bowl made for this model, and it has an 11 cup capacity. Remember that with any food processor, total capacity is only available when slicing or shredding. That is, you can shred or slice foods until the bowl is completely full before having to empty it.

For any other food, your total usable capacity can be considerably less. For good results when chopping things like nuts or vegetables, you are often limited to about half of the total bowl capacity, and sometimes less depending on the food. If you try to process too much at once, the ingredients at the bottom will be pulverized before that on top is chopped much at all. For liquids, as a rule the limit usually ranges from about a third up to half of the total work bowl capacity.

Cuisinart provides a pretty good user manual that gives detailed information on how to get the best results, including the amounts of various foods that can be processed at once. For example, a lot of people complain because food processors can only handle a very small amount of liquids without leaking. Cuisinart suggests that when you want to make pureéd soups, add only the cooked vegetables to the work bowl. They will process faster and more smoothly that way. When finished you can then add just a little liquid to make it easier to pour your pureéd mixture back into the rest of your soup liquid.

Note About Bread Dough

Another limitation noted in the manual regards bread dough. This processor will knead dough, but one batch can contain no more than 5 cups of all purpose flour, and no more than 3 cups of whole grain flour.

The most important question to ask yourself is, what will you process most often and in what quantities? While this is the perfect size for a great many people, avid bread bakers or anyone who makes a lot of large batches of soups and salsa may want to consider a larger capacity model.

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What’s Included with the Cuisinart DLC-8S?

• 11 Cup Work Bowl
• Large Feed Chute
• Compact Flat Bowl Cover (with small hole in top)
• Chopping/Mixing Blade
• Dough Blade Now sold as separate accessory
• Stainless Steel Shredding Disc
• 1 medium Stainless Steel Slicing Disc
• 1 thin Stainless Steel Slicing Disc
• Spatula, Instruction/Recipe Booklet

Optional Food Processor Accessories

If you’re making price comparisons, be sure to consider any “extras” that you may need. The cost of additional blades, discs, and storage boxes varies from model to model, but some can get rather pricey. Think about exactly what kind of jobs you will want to do, and add up the cost of any food processor accessories you will need to buy. In some cases, a higher priced unit can prove to be the best bargain because it includes accessories that you won’t have to purchase separately.

All of the following are available directly from the manufacturer, but they almost always cost more there. You can click any item to see Amazon’s current price.

Also now sold as separate accessory: Cuisinart Dough Blade

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Customer Reviews

Consumers love this model for chopping all kinds of fruits, vegetables and nuts, grating cheese and making slaw, mincing parsley and other herbs, making bread crumbs, pizza crust, pesto and baby food, and slicing veggies for cooking, salads, or to put in the dehydrator. If you follow directions, it will also chop or pureé meats, seafood and poultry, and slice cheddar and other semi-hard cheeses.

Satisfied users feel it is nicely powered to handle the tasks it was designed for. In fact, quite a few commented on how well it works for bread dough, as long as you don’t try to overload the machine. (Don’t you hate it when you actually have to read instructions?!)

Owners also love the compact cover for chopping or mixing because that way when you don’t need the feed chute assembly, you have fewer parts to wash.

The majority of very poor online ratings (1 or 2 stars) are at least two years old. Some go back as far as 2001, and some are complaining about a completely different model. In those ratings the major issues mentioned were about overall quality. Some of those reviewers had also owned much older Cuisinart models, and they are of the opinion that the newer models are lighter, have flimsier work bowls, and that the general quality just isn’t quite as high as it used to be.

Of those who are pleased with their purchase, they did mention two concerns. One is that cleaning the feed chute assembly can be difficult because it doesn’t come apart. The large pusher is permanently attached to the sleeve. However, plenty of other folks claim that cleaning is easy, so it may depend on the user. For one thing, a quick rinse after you’re finished processing will prevent dried on foods that are so hard to clean.

The other concern relates to the fact that the lid assembly is a little tricky. You may need to read instructions to get the hang of it. Snapping the larger lid (with the feed chute) in place also requires a little strength in your hands. Besides that, the design of the safety features makes it more time consuming to use the large feed chute and pusher assembly. But then, that’s exactly what protects your hands from accidents, so everyone doesn’t consider this a drawback, not by a long shot.

Overall, a large majority of consumers are glad they bought this model. All the extra discs that are included make it very versatile and a good value for a well known name brand.

Average Customer Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4.6

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Pros

• Good power and runs fast
• Very sharp blades
• Versatile (lots of extras included)
• Large feed chute
• Quiet (that’s relatively speaking – no food processor is actually “quiet”)

Cons

• Lid assembly tricky to operate
• Safety features slow down the work process
• Feed chute assembly can be difficult to clean

Cuisinart DLC-8S Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor Review: Summary

Compared to other large capacity food processors, this model ranks about “medium” on weight, and the dimensions of its base give it a slightly smaller footprint. It’s heavy enough to remain stable on the counter, but the base also has suction cups to help in that regard. While it might not qualify as a “workhorse”, it’s a good machine for moderate use and performs very well on all kinds of processing jobs. You might say that this capacity is best suited to singles, couples, or small families, but of course that depends on factors such as how you like to cook or how often you entertain big crowds.

In my opinion the DLC-8S (now DLC-8SBCY) offers very good value, and at a lower price than some of its competitors, including some of the other Cuisinart food processor models. It’s versatile right out of the box, with two slicing discs to give you a choice of thicknesses. (If you want the dough blade, that is no longer included, so you’ll need to count on an extra cost for that, usually under $20.) The compact flat lid is also very nice to have because it saves you clean up time. Overall, this is a good choice for anyone who wants to save lots of food prep time doing a wide variety of cooking tasks.

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