The Cuisinart Custom and Elemental series are both popular kitchen appliances, but they serve fundamentally different purposes: the Custom is a line of versatile food processors, while the Elemental series primarily features high-performance blenders. The Custom excels at prep work like chopping, slicing, and kneading dough, whereas the Elemental is designed for liquefying ingredients for smoothies, soups, and sauces.
Here’s a look at these two product lines to help you decide which appliance your kitchen actually needs.
Cuisinart Custom Food Processor
The Cuisinart Custom line is a series of powerful and versatile food processors designed to be a workhorse for kitchen prep tasks. Known for its robust motor and multiple attachments, the Custom series can handle everything from finely chopping herbs and shredding cheese to kneading stiff dough, saving home cooks a significant amount of time and effort.
- What it is: A multi-functional food processor designed for chopping, slicing, dicing, shredding, pureeing, and mixing solid ingredients.
- Key features: Comes with multiple stainless steel blades and discs (slicing, shredding), a BPA-free work bowl, a wide feed tube, and controls for continuous operation and pulsing.
- Price: Typically ranges from $150 to $250.
- Dimensions: Models come with work bowls from 7 to 14 cups, with a countertop footprint of roughly 9-12 inches wide and deep.
- Materials/Construction: Features a sturdy die-cast metal body, sharp stainless steel blades, and durable, BPA-free plastic work bowls.
- Style: A classic, professional kitchen aesthetic with sleek metallic finishes like brushed stainless steel that coordinates with other high-end appliances.
- Pros: Extremely versatile for food preparation. Powerful motor handles tough tasks like kneading bread. Saves significant manual prep time. Multiple attachments included for different types of cuts.
- Cons: Not as effective for liquefying ingredients for smooth drinks. A larger footprint than many blenders. Can be loud during operation.
This food processor is ideal for serious home cooks who do a lot of prep work and want a single appliance to handle chopping, shredding, and mixing.
Shop this product: cuisinart.com/shopping/food-processors/
Cuisinart Elemental Blender
The Cuisinart Elemental series consists of high-performance blenders built for creating smooth liquids from solids. With powerful motors and durable jars, they are optimized for making smoothies, pureeing hot soups, creating sauces, and crushing ice for frozen drinks, delivering consistently smooth results that a food processor can't match.
- What it is: A high-power blender designed for liquefying solids, emulsifying sauces, and crushing ice.
- Key features: Powerful motors (500-1000 watts), multiple speed settings, pulse functions, large-capacity shatterproof jars, and a metal drive system for durability.
- Price: Generally priced between $100 and $200.
- Dimensions: Features large blending jars from 48 to 64 ounces with a taller, slimmer profile (approx. 15-18 inches high and 7-8 inches wide).
- Materials/Construction: Built with a powerful motor, shatterproof glass or BPA-free plastic jars, and robust metal components that can withstand high speeds and heat.
- Style: Sleek and contemporary aesthetic with a streamlined footprint, smooth lines, and simple, intuitive controls that fit well in modern kitchens.
- Pros: Excellent for smoothies, protein shakes, and other drinks. Can handle hot liquids for creating creamy soups directly in the jar. Efficiently crushes ice. Easier to clean for liquid-based recipes.
- Cons: Not suitable for precise chopping, slicing, or shredding. Can easily over-process solid foods into undesirable mush. Lacks the dough-kneading capabilities of a food processor.
The Elemental blender is perfect for anyone prioritizing smoothies, shakes, puréed soups, and other liquid creations for their family or health routine.
Shop this product: cuisinart.com/shopping/blenders/elemental/
Cuisinart Custom vs. Elemental Comparison
Functionality & Use Case
The most important difference lies in their primary function. The Cuisinart Custom is a food prep tool. Its flat, sharp blades are designed to chop vegetables, prepare pastry dough, shred cheese, and slice potatoes evenly using interchangeable discs. Its purpose is to prepare ingredients for cooking.
The Cuisinart Elemental, on the other hand, is a liquefying tool. Its duller, high-speed blades and vortex-creating jar are designed to pulverize ingredients and create smooth textures for things you drink or pour, like smoothies, soups, and marinades. Trying to chop an onion in an Elemental blender will result in watery pulp, not a diced vegetable.
Dimensions & Scale
Food processors like the Custom series are typically shorter and wider to accommodate the work bowl and its spinning discs. They have a larger footprint on the counter, often around 9-12 inches wide. Their size is measured in cups (7-14 cups), referring to dry ingredient capacity.
Blenders like the Elemental series are taller and slimmer, designed for vertical blending in a pitcher-style jar. Their size is measured in ounces (48-64 oz), referring to liquid capacity. They usually take up less counter space but may be too tall to fit under some cabinets.
Materials & Construction
Both product lines are built to the high standards expected from Cuisinart. The Custom food processor often features a die-cast metal housing, giving it weight and stability to prevent it from moving during intensive tasks like kneading dough. Its components are engineered for precision cuts and mixing.
The Elemental blender is built for speed and durability, with a powerful motor, a rugged metal drive system, and shatterproof jars that can handle thermal shock from blending hot soups. Construction is focused on containing a high-speed vortex efficiently and safely.
Price & Value
The Custom food processor series carries a slightly higher price tag, generally ranging from $150 to $250. This price reflects its versatility and the value of its multiple included attachments (slicing blades, shredding discs, etc.), which replaces several individual kitchen tools. Its value is in the time saved on manual food preparation.
The Elemental blender series is more affordably priced, usually between $100 and $200. Its value comes from its sheer power and ability to produce professional-quality smooth textures that are difficult to achieve otherwise. For someone who makes smoothies daily, this value is realized very quickly.
Which One Should You Choose?
Both appliances are excellent, but they are designed for completely different jobs in the kitchen.
Choose the Cuisinart Custom Food Processor if:
- You spend a lot of time chopping, slicing, and shredding vegetables for your recipes.
- You enjoy making your own dough for pizzas, breads, or pies.
- You need to make large batches of things like salsa, pâté, or homemade nut butters.
- Your goal is to reduce the manual labor and time involved in meal prep.
Choose the Cuisinart Elemental Blender if:
- You make smoothies, protein shakes, or frozen drinks frequently.
- You love creating creamy, puréed soups and sauces.
- You need an appliance that can effectively crush ice for cocktails or slushies.
- Your priority is creating smooth liquid textures, not preparing solid ingredients.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the main difference between the Cuisinart Custom and Elemental?
The main difference is their function. The Custom is a food processor for preparing solid ingredients (chopping, slicing, kneading). The Elemental is a blender for liquefying ingredients (making smoothies, puréeing soups).
Can the Cuisinart Custom food processor make smoothies?
It can create a chunky, textured smoothie, but it lacks the vortex action needed to pulverize fibrous ingredients like kale or frozen fruit skins into a truly smooth drink. For daily smoothie makers, a blender is a much better choice.
Can the Cuisinart Elemental blender chop vegetables?
No, not effectively. A blender will aggressively pulverize vegetables rather than chop them. Attempting to dice an onion will turn it into watery mush. For precise cuts, you need a food processor.
Which is better for making soup?
Both can be useful. The Custom food processor is ideal for chopping the onions, carrots, and celery at the start. The Elemental blender is perfect at the end for puréeing the cooked ingredients into a smooth, creamy soup.
Do I need both a food processor and a blender?
For a fully equipped kitchen, yes. They perform distinct tasks that don't overlap well. However, if you can only choose one, pick the appliance that best matches the tasks you perform most often in your daily cooking routine.
Which of these is more versatile?
The Custom food processor is more versatile in terms of the number of different prep tasks it can perform, thanks to its swappable blades and discs for slicing, shredding, and mixing.
Which one is bigger on the counter?
The Custom food processor generally has a wider, bulkier base, taking up more square inches of counter space. The Elemental blender has a smaller base but is significantly taller.
Are the jars and bowls a similar size?
No, they are measured differently. The Elemental blender's jar is measured in liquid ounces (ex: 64 oz) for pouring, while the Custom food processor’s bowl is measured in dry cups (ex: 14 cups) to reflect its capacity for solid food.
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