by Nick Taylor

Barbara and I have used a Cuisinart food processor since forever. So when she turned on the NBC Nightly News the other night while she chopped onions, we took notice of a report explaining that Cuisinart metal blades might fracture leaving sharp shards in your food.

The story said the affected blades were affixed by rivets to the plastic central shaft. We looked at our Cuisinart blade and sure enough, it had rivets. And a closer look revealed a hairline crack at one of the rivets, just as the broadcast had described.

We cook at home a lot and hardly a day passes when we don’t employ the Cuisinart in all its pulsing, chopping, pureeing versatility. So, what to do?

Cuisinart voluntarily issued the recall and alerted the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The company news release says, “Conair and Cuisinart take the safety of its customers very seriously.”

We learned Cuisinart recalled 8 million of the potentially dangerous blades, but that only certain models were involved. Later stories said that nervous users had deluged the company’s phone lines with questions, and that the Cuisinart recall website was overwhelmed as well.

I didn’t have a problem. I went online to the recall website two days after the Cusinart announced the recall, and found things laid out very clearly. There’s a photograph of the blade type that’s being recalled, and a list of recalled model numbers. The site also tells you what blades are not recalled.

You can easily find the model number on your blade and machine. Ours was DSC-8, and it was clearly embossed on the top of the blade shaft. If not there, it appears along with other product information on the bottom of the Cuisinart itself. It takes sharp eyes to find it, but it’s there.

There’s a simple form at the top of the page that lets you register for the recall if your food processor is one of those involved.

What’s not there is any indication of when your new blade might arrive. And as The New York Times pointed out in a story, with the holidays just around the corner, home cooks are pulsing and chopping with their Cuisinarts more than they might normally. They don’t want to lose a labor-saving kitchen tool. So how long can they expect to wait?

We asked this questions in an email to Cuisinart’s media relations department and will let you know when they respond.

Meanwhile, to learn if the recall affects your blade call Cuisinart Customer Service at 1-877-339-2534, or go online at https://recall.cuisinart.com/.