I have owned a Braun UK11 Multipractic food processor for nearly ten years now. Certainly, some parts have been replaced: I have cracked the beaker twice trying to grate solid blocks of cheese or by dropping it on a cement floor, but the motor has held up fine (even after I accidentally submerged it a few times) and the blades work just fine.

I do a lot of cooking at my own and other people's houses, and so I've put up with some Cuisinarts in my time, and have even bought the frustratingly solid yet poorly designed Kitchenaid blender. The UK11, however, is a trusty, inexpensive workhorse that seems to do everything well, and more easily than most Cuisinarts I've used, at about half the cost. The Cuisinart requires a lot of maneuvering of the bowl to make the safety interlock mechanism work. The Braun has a single piece safety-interlock that seems much more elegantly designed and is considerably less of a hassle.

Too bad it's discontinued. You can still find these around at garage sales by people who don't know what they're getting rid of. There are also newer versions available (the Multisystem and Combimax) that I've no experience with. I hope and trust they come with the semi-translated German cookbooks that illustrate how to cream the christmas out of just about any foodstuff with alacrity.

The Braun does have a certain, well, German mercilessness to it when it comes to food. When I make baba ganoush or hummus, no eggplant part or garbanzo bean is spared. You have to be careful to pulse the blade or it will liquify about anything. This is better than some brand X (or Brand C) food processors which sometimes can't seem to puree those last few bits. I am past the stage where I cheer the machine on in a Teutonic accent, but am still glad for its efficiency and effectiveness.

For the cost, this thing came with all the discs I could have hoped for -- chopper, three grater discs, and the main blade. And it comes with a very effective egg white beater too. A previous reviewer was mystified about this last tool, but she is probably not familiar with the secret of making excellent waffles (separate the eggs and beat the whites). Or perhaps she has a thing against merengue.

On the negative side, the main blade has some crannies that can be tough to clean outside of a good dishwasher, even with the supplied cleaning spatula; perhaps this has been rectified in a later version. Also, in a fault shared with other maker's devices, if you overfill this thing with liquid you can expect it to leak through the center hole onto the base of the motor unit. Thirdly, the plastic rubberized legs have cracked and started to go their separate ways over the years. But that's over nearly ten years, so I'm not too put out, and the device still works fine. I also no longer use it to make pureed butternut squash soup, now that I have the Braun Multiquick blending wand.

I just hope that if this thing ever gives up the ghost, I can get ahold of another one.




Recommended: Yes