Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus DLC-2ABC Food Processor Review

Each job is a short burst of work, and the two-button panel keeps the choice simple.

Chopping soft and fragile foods

Herbs, celery, onion, garlic and most cheeses chop quickly, and the same setting purees cooked vegetables, mayonnaise and salad dressing. The manual's guidance is to pulse two or three times and check: overprocessing turns food to a watery paste.

Grinding with the blunt edge

The blade auto-reverses so the blunt edge crushes rather than cuts. That is the setting for spices, seeds, chocolate, nuts, hard cheese off the block, stale bread into crumbs and dried herbs. It is a change of blade edge, not of speed.

Emulsifying dressings and mayonnaise

Oil goes in through the opening in the lid while the blade runs, so dressings and mayonnaise come together in the bowl instead of in a jar you shake by hand.

Very small batches

The bowl handles quantities down to roughly a quarter cup, which is what makes a single dressing or a small spice grind practical.

Speed and simple controls

A large quartered onion reaches a chunky chop in well under half a minute, and a head of garlic takes a series of one-second pulses. Two push buttons, chop and grind, sit on a wipe-clean panel: no dial, no settings to learn.

Easy to live with and easy to clean

It stands 9 inches tall, 7 inches wide and 5 inches deep, weighs 2.2 pounds, and has hidden cord storage under the base plus four rubber feet. The bowl and lid are dishwasher-safe on the top rack and the base wipes clean; the stainless-steel blade should be hand washed to protect its edges. The box holds the 24-ounce work bowl with handle, the reversible blade, a spatula and an instruction and recipe book. The body is BPA-free and runs on 120 volts.

The reversible blade is the reason one small machine covers both chopping and grinding, and the compact footprint is the reason it earns counter or drawer space where a full-size machine would not.

The sheet lists blend, chop, emulsify and grind as its uses, and nothing beyond them. Knowing where the list stops is what keeps a buyer from being disappointed.

• No slicing and no shredding. There is no slicing or shredding disc in the box and no disc function described, so sliced cucumbers and shredded carrots are out.
• No dough. There is no dough blade, and kneading is not among its recommended uses.
• Not a bean grinder. The sheet states it is not recommended to grind beans as it only chops, which in practice means beans come out uneven rather than ground.
• It minces, it does not dice. A spinning blade cannot produce even cubes.
• Capacity is smaller in use than the number suggests. The bowl is 24 ounces, or 3 cups, but food has to reach the blade to be cut, so a good chop happens in roughly the lower half of the bowl. Bulky, low-density ingredients like leafy herbs take two batches for a jar of pesto.
• You hold the button. Both functions run while the button is pressed, and there is no separate pulse dial.
• It is loud. The runs are short, but it is not a quiet machine.
• Don't run it long. The manual caps continuous running at one minute, so work in short bursts with rests for heavier jobs.
• The lid is not watertight. Liquid goes in through the lid opening, and overfilling a very watery mix can splash.
• Grinding scratches the plastic bowl and lid. The manual calls this cosmetic only.

The 250 watts is enough for the short bursts this machine is built for, and the one-minute run limit in the manual is the real ceiling on any job. The 3-cup figure is bowl volume, not the amount you can chop at once: the working amount is smaller, because food has to reach the blade.

Results depend on how the food goes in. Cut ingredients into even pieces of about half an inch first, as the manual advises, and the chop comes out even.

Onion, garlic and ginger

Quarter a large onion, pulse, and you get a chunky, mostly even chop in well under half a minute. A head of garlic takes a series of one-second pulses, and ginger breaks down into a paste for curry.

Herbs and pesto

Parsley and basil chop fast. For a full batch of pesto, expect two rounds, because leafy herbs pack light and fill the bowl before they reach the blade.

Hard cheese and breadcrumbs

Parmesan off the block grinds to a fine crumb on the grind setting, and stale bread grinds to crumbs the same way.

Dressings, mayonnaise and hummus

Dressings and mayonnaise emulsify in the bowl with the oil drizzled through the lid opening. Cooked chickpeas, tahini, lemon and seasoning blend to a well-incorporated but textured result, not a silky one.

Nut butter and purees

Nut butter is possible in small batches by grinding in short bursts with rests between. It is hard on the motor, so treat it as an occasional job rather than the machine's purpose.

Spices and seeds

Spices and seeds grind well. If you grind often, keep a separate bowl for spices, since grinding scratches the plastic.

Technique that gets the best out of it

• Cut food into even half-inch pieces before it goes in.
• Fill no more than two-thirds of the way up the blade hub.
• Chop in short pulses and check between them.
• Grind by holding the button, pausing every ten seconds to let the food fall back.
• Never run it more than one minute continuously.
• Process dry ingredients before wet ones to skip a wash.
• Add liquid through one lid opening and leave the other open to vent.
• Self-clean with warm water and a drop of dish soap, pulse, then rinse.

At 9 inches tall and 2.2 pounds, the machine fits under a standard cabinet and is light enough to lift out of a drawer one-handed. Hidden cord storage keeps the cord out of the way, and the four rubber feet hold the machine steady; the manual advises keeping one hand on the unit while it runs.

Cleaning takes seconds: bowl and lid on the top rack, blade by hand, base wiped. That short wash is the practical reason a small machine gets used more often than a big one for small jobs. Handle the blade by its hub, since the edges are sharp.

The Mini-Prep Plus comes in two versions that differ only in finish and weight. The DLC-2ABC is the brushed chrome model at 2.2 pounds. The DLC-2A is the white model at 3 pounds. The choice comes down to which finish matches your kitchen.

The limited warranty lasts 18 months, which covers an early failure. Beyond that, the picture is a small appliance with a long tail and a real failure rate.

Buyers on Amazon are divided on durability: the topic draws a mix of praise and complaints, and Amazon's own summary of its customer reviews notes that some buyers say the machine lasts a long time while others report it breaking after two uses. Reviews at other retailers mention blades that dull, plastic bowls that crack and handles that give way. How long a unit lasts depends on how hard it is used and how well the blade, bowl and handle are cared for.

The wear points are the blade, the bowl and the handle. Care that protects them is simple: hand wash the blade to keep its edge, stay inside the one-minute run limit, don't overload past the hub, and don't grind beans. Replacement bowls and blades are available, and buying both approaches the outlay of a new machine, so weigh repair against replacement when something breaks.

On the 2016 and 2017 food-processor recall, the affected units were other model lines with riveted blades; the DLC-2ABC is not among the recalled models.