by Nick Taylor

Surprise! Our new Cuisinart blade arrived by FedEx on Saturday, two days after I filled out the online form for a replacement. Somebody at Conair, the company that owns Cuisinart, figured out how to do this right. 

This all happened quickly. We learned about the recall on December 13 and we reported that Cuisinart recalled 8 million potentially dangerous metal blades used by the popular food processor. We cook a lot and with the holidays coming up, I wondered how long it would take to get the new blade so that we could use the machine. 

Like a lot of other home cooks, Barbara plotted alternative strategies, none of them as good as the Cuisinart. The new blade’s quick arrival solved that problem.

The rivetless blade came in a small, sturdy cardboard box. It’s not that easy to fish out the new blade, but that’s intentional. Cuisinart users know how sharp those blades are, so its important that edges and fingers don’t come into contact.

Once you get the blade out, the box is designed as a disposal package for the old one. The stiff cardboard not only protects your fingers, but also keeps the blade’s sharp edges from harming sanitation workers who will be picking up your trash.

Even that’s a challenge here in New York City, where we recycle almost everything and paper and cardboard (the package) go in different bags from metal and plastic (the blade). But I think it’s a good guess to sacrifice the cardboard in favor of the workers’ fingers and put the whole package in with your metal and plastic recycling.

And finally, congratulations to Conair and Cuisinart for their quick turnaround on the replacement blades. 

To replace your blade go to: https://recall.cuisinart.com/ or call 1-877-339-2534.  They staff the line on Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST and during the week from 7:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. EST.