Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro Review
A powerful cordless food processor
Verdict
A very small, battery-powered food processor, the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro is easy to store and ready for action whenever you need it. It lacks the versatility of a full-sized food processor with accessories, but the fixed blades here can chop or grind, and I found that this mini-marvel was enough to cope with the majority of my blending tasks, from preparing stuffing to marinades.
Pros
- Small and powerful
- Easy to store
- Dishwasher safe
Cons
- Can leak if you don’t stay within limits
Availability
- UKRRP: £99.99
Key Features
- AccessoriesThis cordless blender has a dual-blade assembly – sharp on one side for cutting, and blunt on the other for grinding
- Battery lifeYou get up to 15 minutes of run-time from a charge, which is enough to cut around 60 onions
Introduction
It’s all well and good having all of the latest kitchen gadgets and accessories, but storing them and cleaning them is so often a chore that I end up doing things manually, particularly when I’ve only got a single task. The Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro offers something different: this mini food processor is cordless for convenience, easy to store, and is ideal for small jobs.
It works brilliantly, and the battery lasts for a long time, making this an essential tool in my kitchen.
Design and Features
- Like a food processor, only smaller
- Buttons for grind and chop
- Dishwasher-safe
From the pictures, the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro looks like any other food processor. What you can’t see so easily is that it’s much smaller than a regular model, offering just a 900ml capacity. In fact, it’s sufficiently diminutive to stand up inside my pan drawers, under the hob. It’s a little smaller than the KitchenAid Cordless Food Chopper but its size makes the Cordless Mini Prep Pro easier to store.
There’s also the older Cuisinart CH4BCU Mini Food Processor, which is very similar, although that plug-in model isn’t anywhere near as convenient to use.
In the average kitchen, the Cordless Mini Prep Pro can be stowed easily, yet kept within easy reach for those times you need it. Since this model is cordless, you’re not limited in terms of placement for use: just stick it anywhere on the counter and get going.
When the battery runs out, there’s a micro-USB port on the rear for charging. Cuisinart provides a USB charger in the box, but you can use any charger or cable you have.
As a simple processor, the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro has a single blade inside. Pressing the Chop button will engage the sharp side of the blade for cutting and blending, while the Grind button engages the dull side of the blade for grinding ingredients.
Each button works like a pulse button on a traditional food processor: you have to continue to hold it down to make it work.
The controls only work with the lid on the processor. Once the lid has been removed, you can remove the jug from the base for pouring out its contents, and also for washing.
You can remove the blade unit, but you’ll need a bit of force to lift it off; since it clicks into place. It may not feel like it’s removable, but it is. Everything bar the motor base can go into the dishwasher, so cleaning up is very easy.
Performance
- Powerful enough for most small jobs
- Good battery life
There’s a powerful-enough motor inside the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro (wattage is not quoted). It’s a step down from the motor sizes you’d find on a full-sized food processor, but with the smaller bowl and the type of tasks for which you’ll be using it, you’re unlikely to require any more power.
I started by preparing some stuffing for a roast dinner. Making breadcrumbs with fresh slices of bread was easy, although I did have to do the job in batches because of the small capacity. Next, I put in a quartered onion.
Using the Chop setting, the onion was finely chopped, with no big chunks left behind. The results here are just as good as if I’d used a full-sized processor.
I finished off by adding parsley, running the chopper one last time to mix everything together; it just needed one scrape down to move all the bits that had stuck to the sides of the bowl down into the bottom of the bowl.
Next, I made a chicken tinga marinade, using a combination of spices, tomato puree, water, two cloves of garlic and vinegar. I was very happy with the result: a finely blended, yet thick mixture. The Cordless Mini Prep Pro is perfect for this kind of food prep; a full-sized blender or food processor would feel like overkill for this kind of marinade.
I found that you have to keep within the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro’s capacity. Put too much liquid into it, and you can get a few minor leaks from the top of the lid.
Battery life is rated at 15 minutes – which is enough to chop 60 onions, apparently. What I can say is that I made the stuffing, the marinade and, over the next few weeks, additional marinades for Mexican food and I’m yet to have to charge the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro.
In terms of noise, the food processor measured in at a maximum of 82dB – that’s certainly loud enough to hear, but not unpleasantly so, particularly since you’ll only run the blades for short bursts.
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Should you buy it?
If you often blitz smaller amounts of food items for marinades and the like, this is a handy tool that you’ll find yourself going back to time and time again.
If you have space for only one kitchen gadget, and require some versatility, a proper food processor would make a better choice.
Final Thoughts
The Cuisinart Cordless Mini Prep Pro is a little expensive, considering you can pick up a full-sized food processor for less. It also come with fewer accessories than with the rival KitchenAid. Yet, for me, its usefulness is proven by the number of times I used this particular kitchen gadget.
In fact, the Mini Prep Pro has become my go-to food processor for all of those little jobs around the kitchen: big enough to tackle most jobs, yet small enough that it will fit in the drawer and isn’t such a pain to clean. Those who chop and blend small quantities will love Cuisinart’s latest model. If you’re after a regular food processor with more accessories, check out my guide to the best food processors.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every food processor we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main food processor for the review period
We chop common items, which inlude (depending on the processor type), herbs, onions and ice.
We mix a marinade to see how well the food processor can deal with finer ingredients and liquids.
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FAQs
A full charge delivers 15 minutes of continuous operation, which is enough to chop around 60 onions.
It has a dual blade that can chop or grind.
Yes, everything bar the base can be cleaned on the top shelf of a dishwasher.
Full specs
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
