Advice From The Chefs - Cuisinart FP12DCSE Instructions Manual

5. ADVICE FROM THE CHEFS:

• The extra-large food opening lets you create different cuts by
letting you safely place food over the length of the opening and
horizontally.
• With the pusher, you can feed the processor in various ways.
Either by the small tube for small solid foods or liquids, or by the
pusher itself for liquids (preparing breads or soups). This allows
for better distribution of the liquid.
• Cut large pieces of food into 3 cm pieces before chopping them,
you'll achieve a better result. The bigger the pieces, the more
time required to prepare.
• To slice whole peppers perfectly, remove the stem and seeds
from the top. Don't cut the other end of the pepper so that it
remains rigid.
• Use the button to chop. This will allow the food to fall to
the bottom of the bowl after each pulse, and the food will thus
be perfectly chopped. Check the texture frequently so as not to
over process. This principle also applies for crushed ice. To chop
herbs, the bowls and the blades must be dry. The greater the
quantity of herbs the finer they will be chopped. They can be
frozen in a sealed container.
• To purée potatoes, use the shredding disc (4mm). The purée will
be a perfect consistency.
• The shredding disc can also be used for ice. It creates very finely
crushed ice for cocktails.
• The emulsion disc can be used to create lighter preparations.
• To make mayonnaise, use the chopping blade. It's much faster
and the result is perfect.
• For a thick preparation like 'butter cream' , soften the butter to
prevent it from clotting.
• Use cold water to make bread doughs. The dough will have a
better texture and the result will be of high quality. The bread
dough is ready when it forms a ball and does not stick to the sides
of the work bowl. The amount of water may vary depending on
the quality of the flour.
• A savoury bread dough should be kneaded correctly, it should
be pliable, easily folded and slightly sticky. There should be no
residue left inside the work bowl when you remove the dough.
• Once the dough has formed a ball that leaves no residue in the
bowl, knead the dough for 30 seconds. Stop the appliance and
check the dough to make sure it has been kneaded properly.
If the dough is hard, crumbly or not mixed evenly, continue to
knead until it is pliable and folds easily. Before starting to knead
the dough again, make sure the appliance is correctly assembled.
For a more elaborate dough, you can add ingredients like cheese,
hazelnuts or raisins in the last five minutes of kneading.
• A sweet dough (containing a higher proportion of sugar, butter
and/or eggs) requires less kneading time.
• For small quantities of dough (when using less than 500g of
flour), use the chopping blade rather than the dough blade. The
dough blade does not extend far enough into the bowl and thus
cannot mix in all the flour in the bowl when you're processing
smaller quantities.
• Before kneading the dough, let the yeast proof (follow the
manufacturer's instructions).
• To knead larger quantities of dough that exceed the
recommended amounts (see section 4D), divide the dough and
process in equal batches.
• Not all cheeses can be sliced. Generally, soft cheeses cannot
be sliced and very hard cheeses may damage the disc or the
appliance. It is possible to grate most cheeses except soft
cheeses. The only exception to this rule is mozzarella which can
be grated if it is placed in the freezer until it is hard, then the
result is perfect. Hard cheeses like Parmesan can only be grated
at room temperature.
• Liquids must be added through the opening of the small feed
tube while the machine is running. Add liquids in a slow steady
stream, only as fast as dry ingredients absorb it. If liquid spills
over the bowl or splashes up the sides, stop pouring but don't
stop the machine. Wait until the ingredients are mixed and then
slowly add the rest of the liquid. Always add liquids to the dough
through the feed tube, never pour it directly into the bowl.
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