Magimix CS 4200XL review

Weighing in at a hefty 10.8kg, the Magimix CS 4200 XL is a serious food processor, but it has several advantages over smaller, lighter models. The base is rock steady, barely moving while the machine is in action, and it helps to eliminate vibrations and keep it firmly in place on a kitchen counter. The induction motor is heavier than a traditional electric one, but uses electromagnets rather than brushes to get up to speed, which creates less noise.

At 425mm high, including its extra-large feed tube, the 4200XL is just short enough to fit between most kitchen worktops and wall-mounted cabinets above, so you should be able to store it easily when it’s not being used. The brushed metal silver finish is particularly eye-catching, so I wouldn’t hesitate to leave it showing rather than store it in a cupboard, and there are multiple colour choices to help match your kitchen décor as well.

Magimix has a proprietary three bowl system, with the mini and midi bowls stacking inside the main bowl for storage and for preparing various meal sizes. The main bowl has a generous three litre capacity, while the midi has 2.6 litres and the mini 1.2 litres. Together, that’s easily enough for a family of four, and it’s also capable of coping with larger dinner parties as well. If you want to use the smaller bowls, the larger ones must be fitted first, Russian doll-style.

Magimix supplies a generous selection of accessories as standard, including a plastic dough blade, metal knife blade, fine/coarse slicing and shredding discs, a chipping disc and a useful storage box for keeping everything in. There’s also a plastic whisk attachment and hand spatula, and you can expand the selection of parts with a whole host of optional accessories, including a 6mm thick slicing disc, Julienne disc, citrus press, purée kit, rasping disc, smoothie making kit and dough bowl.

There’s no jug blender attachment, which can make juices a little tricky, and the plastic whisk isn’t going to be as effective at whipping air into cream as a food processor equipped with beaters. However, everything is dishwasher-safe, which makes clean-up a breeze, and a damp cloth is all that’s required to clean the outside of the mixer. Starting with the Mini bowl, then moving up to the midi and main bowls as required also helps reduce the amount of cleaning. Removing blades is simple, too, with enough room to grip them comfortably.

With only three buttons on the front of the unit (Auto, Pulse and Stop), the 4200XL is decidedly simple to use, given its flexible accessory system. Auto processes in a continuous mode, for even textures, fine chopping, mixing and blending, while Pulse triggers intermittent processing, switching off when you release the button for finer control over coarse chopping or mixing. Naturally, the Stop button brings the motor to a complete halt.

To get the motor going, the bowl and lid must be locked in place, and the feed tube pusher must be below the MAX line. Surprisingly, there’s no indication if you have the main bowl on the right way round, and it simply won’t start until you orient it correctly. This might catch you out the first time but afterwards it becomes second nature. The twist lock mechanism is also firm, yet easy enough to remove without significant force, and an overheat sensor detects the amount of ingredients being mixed at any time. If you’ve overloaded the mixer, it will automatically shut it down in order to protect the motor.

The hardback user guide has around 100 recipe suggestions that make use of the various attachments, with preparation times and colour-coded icons representing specific accessories. There’s also a chef’s hat scale, with one hat indicating a very easy recipe, two a moderately easy one, and three indicating a more sophisticated method. I tried a variety, starting with a mayonnaise before moving up to a simple coleslaw.

In the latter’s case, the CS 4200XL chopped and grated everything very quickly, but I was left with quite a few large chunks of onion and lettuce as the cutting blades don’t sit flush to the feed tube exit. The XL in this review model stands for Extra Large Feed Lid, but I still felt it had a rather compact feed chute, so you’ll probably still need to chop larger vegetables into smaller sections before you’ll be able to push them in. That said, it only took five minutes to make in total, and left me with just two or three dirty bowls and blades to wash up.

Whether you do a lot of baking, or simply want to speed up the Sunday roast, food processors like the Magimix CS 4200XL get the job done quickly. The CS 4200XL isn’t obnoxiously loud, it’s big enough to handle dinner for a family of four, and has a clever stacking mechanism that keeps all three bowls in one place rather than forcing you to find room for them in a cupboard. The attachment case is a great inclusion, too, as it means you can have everything you need within arm’s reach.

There are a few downsides, though, such as the optional accessories you’ll have to buy to make things like juices or smoothies, and when the base unit already costs £300, it all starts to become rather expensive, especially when there are competing models that include built-in scales and variable speeds. However, it’s built like a tank and will likely outlast most of the other culinary gadgets in your kitchen – whether it only comes out on a Sunday afternoon or if it’s in daily use thanks to its 30-year motor guarantee.