CuisinartCH-4DC Elite Collection 4-Cup Chopper/Grinder, Die Cast

Very powerful and lots of options to choose from to accomplish your tasks.

True 4 cup mini prep, blade extremely sharp

This is the same machine I saw on a PBS cooking show. It has the two baskets, both large and the small basket inside the large one. I have now used both baskets and that is why I waited to review the product. I read the directions before I used it to make sure I was using it machine correctly. It works extremely well whether you are using the small basket or the large one. If you are looking for a food processor, even if you are not looking for a dual purpose one, this is a great option to have in your kitchen. There are two brands I love to have in my kitchen one is Cuisinart and the other is Kitchen Aid.After reading some of the other reviews I have decided to edit mine to add a bit more information. While I don't use this processor every day and to the to the intensity of some of the other reviews do, at this time. I am disabled and awaiting both back surgery and hip replacement surgeries for both of my hips. First, the intensity of how much I cook and bake is, yes, much less than what I used to, at this time, but I purchased this machine to last for the rest of our ( my husband and my) lives. We selected this one because I have other Cuisinart products in my kitchen that have never let me down. For example, I have a Cuisinart blender that I have owned now for more than 25 years and has only needed one small $30.00 part to correct and issue we have had with it. I too don't like it when product manufacturing is moved to China. I am an an American, a veteran and have been, until I retired, and a successful business women. I like things made here or in other developed nations where manufacturing is historically high quality. I am also from the Motor City area.So, we chose this machine because of the die cast base, which makes it heavy. Does anyone out there know what die cast is? I do, I ran the human resources for a aluminum and magnesium die cast company here in Michigan. While the Chinese don't have it down like we do here in the US, they do a very good job, I have to admit it. Plus manufacturing quality is always run by the OEM. So if you have a problem with the machine it is on Cuisinart. So, I like it because It does not move when you use it. While I used to bake and cook more than I do now. I use it two to three times a week and it gets a workout. I pick it up and carry it myself, so does my husband, who also needs back and knee sergury.I have not had problems with water collecting in the handle of the large basket. I have washed it both by hand and in the dishwasher, so for now this is a moot point with me.I have used the top basket for cookie crust and the bottom for pie crust and other items. I have not used it for slicing vegetables because I typically do that by hand so I have fewer items to wash, however, I think I will use it next time I make vegetables to cook, eat raw for for salad slicing next time. I usually use my Ktichen Aid mixer for bread, I would not use my processor for that, because I rise it and and kneed it in the bowl. You can't beat a Kitchen Aid for making bread.So, overall, even though, it is made in China, I love this machine. Every time I go to use it I have a ready and steady machine. If I ever have a problem with it, you will be the first to know. From the motor city girl.

As I write this review this item has about 25% one star reviews, very high for a product.After reading other reviews on other sites that rated it more highly, I ordered this not sure if I too would receive a machine that didn't turn on right out of the box. Mine was ordered and delivered at the end of January 2019 and I just wanted to say it didn't have any issues. If that changes, I'll update this review.Obviously Cuisinart's manufacturer has some quality control issues to address, and perhaps they have by now.Aside from that, right out of the box this seems more capable than the previous Cuisinart Mini food processor I owned. That one worked for nearly 15 years and I was happy with it. This one seems somewhat more powerful.It's also got a larger work bowl and slightly larger base, but it's still what I wanted, a small machine for chopping nuts for desserts without having to use my large food processor (then fill up the dishwasher with its pieces), or for making a quick salad dressing.Again, if it turns out I have issues, I'll update this review. Otherwise, my good review holds and I've been happy with the product.UPDATE:I usually use the small size Cusinart food processors pretty much only for chopping nuts for dessert recipes and making vinaigrette or sometimes mayonnaise. Today I made Cuisinart's own recipe for "Hummus for Mini Chopper" that you can find online at their site. Note the FOR MINI CHOPPER in that title.The first step is to chop parsley leaves. This machine does this extremely poorly, less well than Cuisinart's smaller, less expensive versions (Mini Prep Plus, for instance). By the time I scraped the bowl a few times I may as well have just chopped it myself (I never had to scrape the bowl with the smaller versions, and with this one I never did get an acceptable chop on the parsley leaves).It's pretty troubling to see how the Cuisinart name (and reliability) is being destroyed by the corporate greed of its parent company, and how sloppy even their own recipes are now.The recipe for "Hummus for Mini Chopper" says, "...With machine running, drop garlic through feed tube." There's just one problem with that. There is no feed tube on the mini food processors.The recipe continues on with "With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady stream and process until the mixture is smooth and creamy." Again, you can't do that with this machine. There's no place to pour through the lid while the machine is running. (It worked just fine to add the olive oil to the mix in the bowl and then chop to combine, and for the record, real hummus recipes don't have olive oil in the mix, just drizzled over the top after it's made.)The machine DOES chop garlic cloves very nicely, easily, and quickly.For this recipe which was obviously just downsized in ingredients and not actually written for this type of machine as the title suggests, putting everything together inside the bowl made an acceptable and tasty hummus, but it's nowhere near as smooth and creamy as I can make in my Vitamix or my full-sized Cuisinart food processor. Further, this machine simply didn't have the power to do it smoothly. It made me wonder how long it would last running it for two minutes at a time as the recipe calls for on a regular basis before I burned out the machine (or developed cracks in the blade as others have reported here). Instead of running smoothly it was somewhat jerky for the entire two minutes called for in the recipe.I'm going to stick to chopping nuts for dessert recipes, vinaigrettes, and mayonnaise only with this machine, which is what I bought it for, but knowing what I know now, I would have bought the Cuisinart Mini Prep instead. Having now owned both, I think the Mini Prep is the better machine for these small tasks when I don't want to have to fill up the dishwasher with the full-sized Cusinart food processor's parts.I also tried to make almond flour in this machine and that wasn't very successful either. I had to stop before I made almond butter instead, but it was just for a Bundt cake so it worked either way. I wouldn't buy this for that purpose or try that again, though. The Vitamix can do it without any problem.