we have the ice cream maker. It is capable of making Ice Cream as good as anything you’ll buy in the grocery store. I’ll warn you though be careful following the directions in the recipe book (if it’s included in this one) they use too much heavy cream and whole milk. If you follow the recipe you’ll get mousse not ice cream. I use 1 part half and half and 1 part 2% milk and it works great 
I just got the cookware in the other day. It’s a little smaller than I thought it was going to be, but it works well so far. Just be warned that if you need a large stockpot, you’ll need to buy it separately.
The Cuisinart mini food processors are awesome. I bought one years ago (on sale with a coupon) at Bed Bath and Beyond for slightly more than listed here. I couldn’t afford a “real” food processor." Days later, my mother gifted me the exact same one and I kept both.
I love them, and haven’t found the need to buy a large processor.
They can be used for all sorts of food prep–chopping, grating, grinding. Go lightly on the pulsing to coarsely chop. These little things are powerful!
In this little gem, I’ve made countless pie crusts, sauces, pestos, nut butters, fruit purees, breadcrumbs, even frozen yogurt.
Be warned–you can only fit so much in the container. When making pie crust for instance, I pulse half my butter with flour and salt, then dump into a bowl and repeat with the other half. Stir in water by hand for tender results.
Cleanup is also a bonus. I rinse off the blade and container and stick them in the dishwasher. I’ve been doing it this way for a few years now and everything’s holding up beautifully.
These little guys do NOT crush ice, fyi. Don’t even try to make a smoothie.
I’ve owned several of these. I have opinions about them. Mine, mine, mine. Ok… here you can have some:
Cuisinart Coffee Grinder
STRONG BUY – This is a 2-part grinder with a removable bowl+blade. It works great and has about 2x the bean capacity than typical household bean grinders. I often see lousy reviews for this because it’s more complicated, and owners overtighten the bowl and break off the retaining pins. Don’t abuse it, and it’ll last forever. This updated model adds cord storage, but it looks nice enough that mine lives on the counter. I like it enough that I bought a backup in case mine dies.
Cuisinart 5.5qt stand mixer
STRONG BUY – It’s compact, strong, and reliable. Easy to clean. Fewer accessories available than the KitchenAid ones, but far less expensive for the basic mixer and accessories.
Cuisinart 3-pc chef’s classic cookware set (with nonstick pan)
BUY – Pretty nice stuff for an ok price. The handles are very strong with little flex. The pan bottom does not flex when heated, making it ok to use on glasstop ranges. I have several.
Cuisinart 11 & 12-pc cookware set
STRONG BUY – I love these pots, and the pans are better than average too. I have a few of the nonstick pans and they hold up pretty well, but the uncoated pans are pretty easy to clean even with tough foods. The handles are top-notch and don’t conduct much heat. The pot/pan bottoms do not flex when heated, making it ok to use on glasstop ranges. I have several, will buy again. Great price.
Cuisiniart 12-cup coffemaker (brushed alum/black)
MAYBE – Does what it says on the tin. But fiddy bucks seems kinda high for a refrobbished coffee maker. I received one as a gift, but a french press was easier at home so I didn’t use the Cuisinart pot much. I donated it to the middle school teachers’ lounge, and they seemed to like it.
Cuisinart Gourmet Griddler
PASS – I really wanted to like this griddle, but the heat controls are fiddly. It seems to go from ineffective-lukewarm to melt-your-own-knobs-off in about 1/8-turn of the knob. Two refrobs in a row behaved the same way. Donated them to Goodwill.
Cuisinart 4-cup coffeemaker
PASS – Fiddly. Plastic. And in 'Merica size, it only makes about 2 cups. Too small for the office (where filters are nice because people don’t know how to clean anything). At home, just use a standard 1qt french press and skip the hassle and filters.
Does the SS-700 Single Serve Brewing System include the My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter that is in the box of the new one?
I work in a pudding factory (not a joke) and we have this stand mixer for our quality tests. The thing runs near constantly for 16 hours a day. We used to have a kitchenaid but we went through two of them in 2 years. We have had the Cuisinart for a little over a year now and it’s still going strong. The auto shut-off timer function is especially useful for us as it allows my auditors to perform other tasks instead of babysitting the mixer.
Now I’m curious. What kind of tests do you perform on pudding and what are you looking for in these tests? And why do you need to run it for 16 hours.
We make instant pudding, so we are mixing powder with milk. We look for texture, flavor, pH, set. Nothing fancy. The reason we run it so much is we test multiple batches. It’s not like we mix one packet of pudding for 16 hours straight.
If the food processor wasn’t blue, I would buy it in a second.
Do you know if the 12 piece set has one of those thick ‘tri-ply’ bottoms? It’s impossible to tell in the pictures.
Does anyone know if the CLCS-12 Classic Stainless Steel cookware set also contains aluminum? I can’t find this exact set anywhere online to obtain details of material content. Also, is anyone familiar with how this cookware compares to other high-end cookware from a safety standpoint? For example, what grade of stainless is used, and how safe is it compared to that of competing products?