After spending an hour trying to remove the food pusher which was packed with plastic and impossible to remove we called Cuisinart. Wrong ! The guy, Adam, was a moron.... Enough said.Solution: I placed the styrofoam packing piece that the Pusher Assy (#4) came in on a solid surface. I then turned the Pusher Assy upside down and placed it in the styrofoam piece cut out. (perfect fit) I placed a used roll of electrical tape on top of the small pusher (about the same diameter)for protection and then placed a putty knife on top of the tape to create a solid surface. Two not so hard hits with a hammer and the small pusher fell out into the styrofoam packing.No oil or hot water etc...........Hope this helps you.... :o)PS: No serial #... What's up with that Amazon ?