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Who could stand to have that noisy thing operating long enough to cook anything? If they wanted cook and stir, they should have fashioned something like those old fountain drink dispensers in movie theater concession stands that had the triangular stirer in the big round plastic bowl. They were almost silent.

When I was around 4, my father took me to see Disney's Peter Pan. As we walked into the theater, we passed the concession stand with TWO of those in operation. I do not remember any of the movie, but I do remember daddy and me standing in the lobby watching that triangular agitator turning in the juice machines for most of the performance. Weird Aspie kid experience. My poor parents. It's a good thing hospitals didn't have a customer satisfaction/return policy. My parents would have been looking for the window.
 
Too much $.
I have one I never use anymore just occasionally to keep it going. I have a 2nd motor base without the carafe so I'm again waiting for someone to just ebay one of those. There was one a while ago, just the carafe and I bid on it but the bastard pulled the auction before closing probably because he didn't get anymore bids. Then he put it on a 2nd time I believe and did the same stunt.
 
A few too many......

They are nice but I would have to agree with Tom about them being VERY loud. I've noticed if you set it to the stir speed 1 its almost deafening to be near it. Its a cool idea and I've made some good food in mine so I think they are worth keeping around if you happen to find one. I happen to have three that I acquired in month period. Got my first one off craigslist and then not two days later found another on ebay really cheap with the manual so I bought it as a spare and then a week after that my friend who knew I was looking for one showed up with another Ronson for me. Needless to say I don't need three so if you two guys would like I would be willing to "chop" the one up and sell the carafe to one and the motor base to the other. Let me know.
 
The machine sounds like an electric drill in the kitchen-but like how it works.For today-Thermomix sounds like a similar machine-applied to them for their "in home" demo-haven't heard a word from them -been over a month.guess I will have to try to find the Ronson machine.Guess Thermomix isn't so anxious to demo their machines.From seeing them on YouTube-they sounded rather interesting-and quieter than the Ronson.
 
Thermomix cooking sound

We have a TM21 which is pretty silent on the lower "stirring" speeds used for cooking.
Actually you hear 2 motors: The low magnetic hum of the blender motor and some faint rushing of air: The extra cooling fan (similar to a hairdryer on lowest speed).
The hotter the pot gets the faster the fan will go. Likewise the blender motor adapts to the "stiffness" of the ingredients and once the pot is hot and you try to turn it on high speed it refuses to ramp up immediately but goes higher only very slowly until reaching high speed. This is to avoid steaming or boiling stuff getting flung out through the lid hole. On cold it ramps up immediately.

In the end there is a little chime "I'm done!", the heater goes off but the mixer keeps stirring so nothing will burn or bake to the heated metal wall of the pot. When you turn it off completely a magnet will unlock the lid and the handle of the pot.

This video (not mine!) shows it pretty realistically: They go from 4 down to 1.
(Above 4 and up to 12 the machine sounds like any regular blender)

 
I do like what the Thermomixes can do-and how quietly they can work-Interesting about the two motors-one for the blender-mixer function-the other that is for a cooling blower or fan.Maybe someday they will contact me.Wanted to see their demo-a complete meal prepared with the thermomix and no other kitchen tools.(Maybe other than a knife and such).
 
Does anyone remember the weird Farberware cooking thing with the slanted glass barrel that turned while cooking? I don't even remember the name, but I remember seeing the literature for it. It seemed to be a hybrid of crock pot, rotisserie and Cook 'n Stir. I wonder if there are any old magazine ads for it.
 
The Ronson's Noise

I have 2.5 Cook 'N' Stirs and I think they're amazing. I'm also looking for a replacement carafe. These machines are noisy. However, they're not nearly as noisy as my vintage Osterizer or my new Cuisinart blenders. It has a 1/3 hp motor and it's geared like my Kitchenaid mixer so it sounds more substantial but I don't think the decibel level is higher than any other blender. Blenders, as a rule, are noisy. The Ronson's motor and transmission is mounted on rubber bushings. On my HB 2, The motor and transmission are unattached and just float on the bushings. It's actually surprisingly quiet when blending on high.

There are a lot of years and a lot of technology between a Ronson and a Thermomix. Thermomix has a reversing reluctance motor and has been developed over many years by German engineers. There's also about 2 thousand dollars between the Thermomix and the Ronson. The Ronson doesn't have a butterfly attachment so it will not whip egg whites or cream, make meringues, etc. However, it beats the pants of the Cuisinart for pastry dough, works like the Thermomix for pastry cream and custards, makes soup in as little in 15 minutes, toasts and removes the skins from hazelnuts. I tried the Thermomix ice puff pastry recipe. It came out perfectly in the Ronson. For microchip-free 1960s technology, it's phenomenal.
 
Tom:

The weird Farberware cooking thing was the Electronic Ultra Chef, a $450 gadget that claimed to do everything well and did very little of it passably; most things tasted like they came from a Crock-Pot, which was a result you could get for about $430 less from Rival.

I helped with the buying where I worked, and the Farberware rep demoed the Ultra Chef to us. He had convinced himself that this was the next Cuisinart, but he sure as Hell didn't convince us. It was fiddly to put together, fiddly to take apart, obviously needed all kinds of experience to get the most from it, was no fun to clean by hand and the price was Out. Of. The. Question.

Within a couple of years, Farberware's forays into high-end products were being clearanced out everywhere. The company sold out not too long after. I always wondered how much the Ultra Chef had to do with that.
 
I remember when Farber tried to have one of everything with their name on it except a steam iron. Somewhere here, I posted a link to an ad for the thing. I remember they had a food processor on the market when everyone and his brother were cashing in on the Cuisinart craze.
 
Tom:

Actually, Farberware's food processor was one of their better non-cookware products; it performed about as well as a Cuisinart if you weren't doing dough, for a lot less money. It was a belt-drive machine, but Farberware paid attention to tolerances in their blade/workbowl system, so it grated and sliced very well. James Beard liked it a lot.

Most "copycat" food processor manufacturers didn't get the fact that their stems and blades had to be really straight and the tolerances really close to get superior results. GE's idea of a food processor, for instance, was one of the worst on the market, with its flip-over blade system. And the safety interlock on GE's workbowl lid seemed to have been designed by aliens.

Don't even get me started on the American Food Processor, an outright copy of the Cuisinart with a cheap motor and flimsy everything else.
 
My first food processor was a GE, a gift, I think. I remember thinking "What is the point?" Maybe I wasn't using it correctly, but it didn't seem to do anything well. It eventually got donated to a thrift store.

Now we have a Cuisinart "Mini Pro Plus." It works ok, I suppose. Still, I don't use it very often.
 
Doug:

You won't get the full benefit of owning a food processor until you get a full-sized one; the Mini Pro is a nice little chopper.

With only the standard blades, a processor can knead, chop, slice, puree, blend, grate and grind; it makes a lot of recipe steps much easier. It takes a bit of time (and a real interest) to get the most out of one.

Once you do master using one, and you have a good one, it becomes indispensable. You can make a much better piecrust with a processor than most people can make by hand. Pasta dough is a breeze. Need grated Cheddar for your macaroni? A pound takes about fifteen seconds. Four chopped onions take only a few seconds more than that - and no tears. Pesto is easy. Making your own mayonnaise is even easier.

I would not be without one.
 
Everything danemodsandy said!

I use a food processor nearly every time I'm in the kitchen. This morning alone I used one to make streusel for coffee cake; chopped a bag of cole slaw mix (hate those long, stringy pieces); made dough for a loaf of sandwich bread; made a small batch of fresh salsa.

This is an excellent model, especially if you want to make bread dough (which I do). Neither the spendy Breville nor the KitchenAids handle bread dough as well as this Cuisinart. It'll be the best $180 you've ever spent for a kitchen appliance.

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