Blender Reviews

I had bought this blender for my wife's birthday on 07/03.

Pros: It looks nice on the counter. It has a crush feature, that can crush frozen fruit and ice cubes (our last blender turned the ice cubes into hard, smooth ovals).

Cons: When the blender runs, it can consume just about anything. However, it creates an air pocket around the blade and one has to open the lid and poke the contents to reset them around the blade. This must be done numerous times. I found the best way is to pick the blender container up and shake it each time. While this was annoying we quickly got over it as the blender was much better than our last. But a few days ago on 11/03, she was crushing frozen fruit and a piece near the base of the plastic container punched through. So now we have a crude 1"x1" hole in the lower section of the plastic container. I don't know if I'll be able to find a replacement container for the blender.

Moral of the story: a good base isn't good unless you have an equally good container.

Forget the higher priced blenders and don't be alarmed that this one is almost all plastic ... this bar blender is FAR superior to other, more expensive blenders. This one chops up whole, full-sized ice cubes without having to crush them up first. This blender makes a great frozen margarita. (And the choice of only three speeds makes it easier to use after that FIRST and SECOND margarita :-)

I've used several blenders over the years, all in the (dollar amount) range, and was always frustrated with their power and durability. This one is different. I've been using it regularly for about six months, and it still chops ice like nobody's business. A great product for a great price.

This looks like a blender I would like to use,but it was damaged in shipping and I have yet to receive a return label.DB

The quality of the Hamilton Beach 56406 BlendSmart 18-Speed Blender is excellent. This is a POWERFUL blender. It comes with 550 watts of power. The glass jar is thick and has a very wide bottom. The jar locks into place when used so you don't need to worry about the jar shaking off the base. The base of the unit allows you to wrap the cord around it to neatly put away the cord or to shorten the cord so that you don't have a cord dangling around your countertop. This is a nice feature that is not present on most blenders. Another nice feature present on this blender is the speed dial. This is far more convenient to use than a bunch of separate speed buttons. The unit also comes with a special ice crushing blade. The big question is: can this blender crush ice well? With most other blenders, in order to crush ice, you have to baby-sit the blender, manually pressing the pulse button several times, stopping once in a while to shake the jar or stir the ingredients with a spoon to loosen up the ice that's stuck in the bottom on the jar. With this blender all you have to do is press the BlendSmart button! The BlendSmart feature starts out by automatically pulsing the motor to crush the ice for you, and then it starts blending at a low speed, slowly increasing in speed until it completes the process, and then it shuts itself off. This means you can press the BlendSmart button, leave, come back in less than a minute and it's done. You don't need to baby-sit this blender. To test the blender I made a very thick banana smoothie with a dozen large ice cubes and very little milk, by simply pressing the BlendSmart button once. The smoothie came out perfect. I was amazed at how well the ice was crushed, and very pleased that I didn't have to baby-sit the blender to make the smoothie. Being a 550 watt blender, the noise level is not as high as you might expect. At lower speeds the noise is less than most other blenders. This is by far the best blender I have ever used. I highly recommend this blender. It's a quality machine.

I love this blender, super action and easily used to mix everything with ice, etc. I have recommended it to friends and family.

I've been using this blender for a few weeks now. It is a solid and steady performer. It is a large blender, which I like because I like to make smoothies for my family without having to go through the process twice. The design is great - no twist lock - just lift the jar once you are done blending. The base is heavy and stable and the controls are very easy to use - no pondering over a multitude of options that really aren't very different from each other. The chrome looks great in the kitchen too. The only thing I wish this blender had is a retractable cord but it DOES have a unique design for the plug (I'm always hesitant to pull plugs out of sockets for some reason). I'm very satisfied with this blender. Good product for the price!

I tried the same thing with other blenders and water and ice does about the same thing. Ice gets pushed up and forms a solid mass and doesn't come down and the blades wind up spinning in water.

Just opened. Added Ice and water, in proportions one would use to make a margaretta. Here's what it does. It tosses the ice upward and the blades spin in the water. This is unbelievable but even after stopping and knocking the ice down MANY MANY MANY times here is what you get.
Layer #1: by the blades: Water (increasing each time)
Layer #2: above the blades: A 1-2 inch gap of AIR!!!
Layer #3: Ice, and after 10 minutes of stopping and knocking the ice back down, it is mostly complete ice cubes.

These were ice cubes from a automatic ice maker--nothing substantial--those half-moon units.

Add more water? Sorry, after 10 minutes it was half water/half ice--no dice. The more water the more it was inclined to eject the ice into that solid layer that NEVER CAME DOWN unless you knocked it down.

Again, any blender I've tried with just some water and ice, does the same thing. I have no real judgement about this blender.

I should deduct 1 star since I paid 99.00 for mine but I like
this blender.
Easy to clean. Easy to use.
It is so powerful it will toss food all over your kitchen
even with the main lid on. It creates a vacuum. The blades
are supoer sharp.
I make a lot of smoothies. This blender does it very well.
I tried unpeeled apples and pears and voila!....you can't tell
the peels are in the smoothie.
I also used it for making super fine suger using regular
granulated sugar. If we did not turn it off it would have made
confection sugar. I also used it for grinding grahmam crackers
for a crust....it did it too well....I ended up with graham
cracker flour.
It gets all the nooks a cranies and leaves nothing behind. My
oster blender always needed some help.

At 79.99 this is a good deal and a great blender....I paid more
and I recommend it!

I bought this without researching it, I bought the mixer original for my 2 year daughter.... So she could help in the kitchen. Needless to say the mixer is large, uncomfortable to hold, and about the length of my arm.... It works great whipping eggs, but it is diffcult to use. I am in the process of buying another hand mixer, which will be a bit more ptetit. Since I need something I can use, without feeling like I am doing strength training.... The thing is huge, I have not trained the onion attachment, since I already have a wonderful food processor that does my onion chopping for me.... Did I mention how huge this mixer is :-D

I love everything about this blender. I've used every attachment more times than I care to count, and I'm thinking about buying a second one just for the extra attachments - because I use them so often they always seem to be dirty! I make lotions and soaps, and a hand blender is indispensable. There are tons of hand blenders out there, but very few have a detachable blender attachment and even fewer are stainless steel. These are both very important features to me - I need to be able to run them through the dishwasher and to sterilize them. I also like that the attachments themselves come apart in more than one way - for instance the plastic part of the blender pulls apart from the stainless part - which makes them even easier to get clean. It is also quite powerful. I admit I've never even attempted to use it any higher than speed 2 (it has 4) and that speed is quite fast. I would imagine that the higher speeds should only be used for short bursts - prolonged use would likely burn out even the stoutest motor. I highly and thoroughly recommend this product to anyone. As a "power user" of it I have put it through heck, and it performs like a champ.

I needed a hand blender to mix powdered drink mixes. After looking online and at stores, this one is the most bang for the buck! It comes with a "beaker" with metric and standard markings and a snap-on cover, a chopper, and a whisk. The chopper has a nonskid base so it won't slide around on the counter. Cleanup is easy, and it also comes with a plastic wall mount bracket.

The only minuses are that it's heavy, but that's due to the heavy-duty motor. Also, the switch is a bit tricky to press, but that is probably a safety feature.

As the owner of Cuisinart food processor for more than 20 years, when it came time to upgrade it was a no-brainer...another Cuisinart. I had received excellent customer service in the past when a part developed cracks.

Now, under new ownership, it's a whole new story. I had my new model for less than a month when it developed numerous cracks in the pusher assembly. I called customer service (by the way, the number in the manual was not a working number) and I was told they would send me a new part only after I sent them the defective one, and there would be a delay of about two weeks, not counting shipping (plan on another two weeks). This was their unbendable rule. I told them this was not acceptable, that I did not want to be without the use of the equipment for a month, especially with the holidays coming up. Sorry, that's the rule, is what I was told.
Then I wrote to the President of Conair (the parent company) and the VP/GM of the Cuisinart division, and asked them to contact me for assistance in resolving this issue. A month has passed as I write this, and I have not heard from either of them.

I took the equipment back to the store where I purchased it, and exchanged it for a KitchenAid food processor, which was less expensive, and works beautifully. I did my research this time, and they have a reputation for excellent customer service should I need it.

The Cuisinarts are good, solid appliances, but if you ever need customer service, it's an uphill battle. If you decide to buy a Cuisinart, be sure to buy at a store that will stand behind the products they sell.

When I saw this processor turn a loaf of bread into perfect crumbs before I had time to blink, I knew I had met my dream machine. My affection only deepened when I introduced the slicing disk to a pound of mushrooms. With the touch of a button, the bowl was filled with garnish-quality slices. This machine has the power and the size to tackle most any chore. Making dinner is a delight now that the Cuisinart does my slicing and chopping for me. I am much more likely to use fresh ingredients as a result. In fact, I often find myself planning meals around fun new uses for the food processor. I believe that anyone who cooks often would benefit from this product.

I got this on my birthday from my bf, and it's such a great and useful gift! With this beautiful brushed chrome, and easy to clean up (toss parts in dishwasher)I have made so far:
Artisan bread, and i will never buy bread form a plastic bag again, pizza sauces, pizza dough( i dont think i ever want to order another pizza again, this one was that good) shredded veggires cheeses, meats, bread crumbs, salsas, and guacamole. I even make cake batter in it that is smooth and silky.

This is an amazing product. It saves money and a lot of time. No need to chop or buy prepared foods again.

I got this blender y'day, i tested and it started leaking, a huge disappointment, Amazon is giving a replacement, but it was not expected from a brand like cuisinart.

OK gang, listen up. Need a really good blender at a very resonable price? Well, this one is a real winner. I am an exercise enthusiast and, over many years, have made a lot of special shakes, consisting of whey protein powder, frozen strawberries, flax seed oil, ice, & cold water. And, thus, I really do need and appreciate a really good blender that is robust, easy to use, and very easy to clean.

While recently trying to decide on a new blender, I read the Amazon reviews on this particular model. Everything sounded just right, so I decided to purchase it. And, thankfully, this Cuisinart model is just terrific. Whoever designed this thing definitely deserves a bonus and/or a promotion, because they simply GOT IT RIGHT. If you apprecieate the fact that a powerful tool, that is also simple and easy to use, takes a lot of good design work, then you'll really enjoy this blender. It has all that you need and nothing more for almost all blender-related tasks. Here's why I like it so much :

- Very solid, robust design. Nothing wimpy about this little guy.
- Heavy, wide-mouth glass container (MUCH better than plastic!) It holds 48 oz. of liquid, and the extra wide diameter is definitely superior to the more narrow, tapered containers.
- The top is thicker and much more robust than those I've tried on several other models. It also includes a plastic knob that you can easily remove whenever you want to add more incredients without removing the top.
- The base is the best designed I've ever used. The blade & gasket sit within a wide plastic base, and then the whole thing screws into the container. This is really nice, because when you remove the container, this wide base stays attached and you can sit the whole thing down on a counter or table with no risk of it accidently tipping over. This is GREAT when you want to surf the Web on your computer and drink your protein shake at the same time!
- The 500 Watt, easy to use motor is very powerful and takes care of ice with very little effort. I like the controls on this model much better than blenders that have one or more rows of buttons. Fewer buttons means easier use and less tendency for some of the buttons to stop working (a problem with my old Oster blender).

So, there you have it. I am very thankful to the other folks who posted their reviews on this blender, because this really helped me to decide on which model I wanted to examine and purchase. You'll note that this particular model is more highly ranked than others which are more than twice as expensive. If you'll looking for a very robust blender that is simple & easy to both use and clean, I think you'll find that this one is simply terrific. Hats off to the folks at Cuisinart; this is one design that really WORKS.

I saw a similar Cuisinart blender in the store that was [more money]. The motor was only 350W; this one is 500W. This has a dial (which I prefer); the other had a touch pad. Everything else is the same. I called Cuisinart and she confirmed that both blenders are basically the same but this one is [less expensive] even though it has a larger motor.
I bought it specifically to make smoothies and it's great. I don't pre-crush the ice--just add it with the other ingredients. It is extremely easy to assemble and disassemble. On the Waring this replaced, it was almost impossible to screw the bottom on straight. It is noisy, but aren't they all! I love it.

Our daughter loves fruit smoothies more than anything, so we ordered the Waring Drink Mixer for her for Christmas. When we opened it up to set it up on Christmas Eve, there was no mixing cup in the box. It may be a good product, but poor customer service ruined her Christmas morning...

I read the reviews about how great this thing looks in ebony, and decided to check it out for myself (buying one from Amazon). The electrical cord is WHITE, sticking out the bottom SIDE of this BLACK mixer. What an eyesore. If you happen to have a white countertop ... no big deal. If not, be prepared to struggle to get the oversized cord redirected out under the bottom back of this thing. Kudos to the design engineer at Waring that approved this debacle.

I got a deal on this one (clearance) but it's worth the full purchase price. The main thing that sold me was the fact that the whipping blade (agitator) is metal. All the other drink mixers I've seen have a cheap plastic agitator and I've heard stories about them chipping/breaking off which made me very hesitant, even though I've wanted one for a long time. This [one] will not chip or shatter...in fact it did a good job of nicking up my favorite 18/10 stainless steel spoon I was using to stir my first milkshake while it was mixing! It's a solid, well-built addition to your kitchen whether you use it once a month or 10 times a day. (It also looks great next to my KitchenAid mixer.)

I pulled it out the box and thought it felt to much like a toy, so back in the box it went. Wife hated the plastic jar ( my fault ).

I have had this blender for about a week and use it mainly for
blending flaxseed oil and cottage cheese with fruit on a daily
basis. Also made breadcrumbs tonight in a few minutes. It is
light and easy to handle. Just be warned that the container is
PLASTIC and YOU CAN'T PUT IT IN THE DISHWASHER...but I find it
pretty painless to soak it in soapy water. It dries quickly.
I like it very much and it works beautifully.

So I'm reviewing a blender, and as a previous reviewer noted, one should refrain from too much excitement. That said, if you're going to buy a high-quality blender, don't want to spend much, and want one that will look on the kitchen counter, this is it. For under $... this is a bargain. I've had no problems crushing ice or doing anything you'd normally want your blender to do. And it does it FAST. It doesn't labor much and before you know it, you're done. It's an easy decision to drop this baby into your shopping cart.

After burning up our last blender while making a strawberry smoothie, I decided I'd had enough with low powered el cheapo blenders and so got this one.

Most blenders just don't have the horsepower to grind up a jar full of frozen fruit - using our last blender required adding water and continuously shaking and stirring the fruit and slowly working up the blender in speed. Otherwise the clutch mechanism in the blender would disengage and the rotor wouldn't turn at all. It took a lot of work to make a thick smoothie.

Not so with this blender. It grinds through everything rapidly. You still have to add a small amount of water, and stir a little bit from the top of the jar in the beginning, otherwise the chopped up frozen fruit will congeal and form an ice cave around the rotor blades so that they end up just grinding air. But, with a bit of water and stirring, once the whole mix gets going, you can get continuous blending action inside the jar even with some very thick smoothies

The smoothies come out super smooth, even with the lower speed setting. The high speed setting will churn out a very smooth puree-like smoothie.

The only problem is the loud noise of this blender especially at the beginning of the blending process. I attribute this noise to chunks of frozen fruit banging against the polycarbonate jar. The motor and rotor mechanisms are fairly quiet. The polycarbonate jar is a good idea for durability but it is thinner and less dense than glass, and I think this contributes to the noise of the blending. If they made the polycarbonate thicker, this would decrease the noise.

The word which best describes this beast is Power. The noise is annoying but, happily it doesn't last long. My unit hasn't yet developed the leaks others complain about, but then mine is quite new.

Madeleine Miller in the Editorial Review states that the blender comes with a "replacement drive coupling and instructions.."
Mine arrived with neither. When I complained in an email, the vendor phoned me and informed me that I had bought a "refurbished" unit, something I never saw in the item description, and that no spare drive coupling was included.
He did, however, offer to send me the instructions.

What an great machine! This is definately a commercial product. The polycarbonite jar is large, and does not have any means to secure to the base. But any blender that comes with laboratory and industrial cleaning instructions rates as cool in my book!

It is a bit loud, and does require liquid to prevent the 'ice cave' described by gp, but it will pulverize 2 pounds of ice in about ten seconds. Believe it or not there are more expensive blenders out there (for juicers: Ktec, Vitamix, etc) but for most of this is more than enough!

This is a solid peice of hardware and I would recommend it to anyone who is hooked on smoothies or frozen drinks.

This blender is outstanding, and truly lives up to the reputation Kitchenaid has for producing a quality product. I own a Kitchenaid stand mixer as well as several of their major appliances, and never been disappointed. This blender appealed to me because of the Kitchenaid name, its poweful motor, capacity and stainless steel pitcher. The pitcher is more light wieght and durable than glass (the glass pitcher on the Kitchaid blenders appears especially heavy even when empty), and unlike plastic containers it will not stain, show scratches, crack, or absorb odors. The controls are easy to clean, and the step start (feature that starts the blender at lower speed and then increases power) is a nice touch. I was shocked by some of the negative feedback about this product by other consumers. This is a blender and not a food processor, and therefore would not typically be used for making a puree or cream soup, even though people who manufacture blenders (including Kitchenaid) tell consumers that it can be used effectively for that purpose. I have made smoothies, milk shakes, protein drinks, etc. with this product, and have always been pleased. I do admit that it may be necessary to scrape the sides of the pitcher when making smoothies for example, however, that is the case with most blenders. Most people do use at least some ice when making a smoothie and this blender does not leave any grainy texture in the mixture. My previous blenders have all always left at least small chunks of ice but, this blender has by far yielded the best results. This blender does represent a considerable investment but, it is not likely you will have to replace it for some time.

Let me start out by praising Amazon. They have a great site, it's a great way to shop, one of the best.

This blender works!! I mix heavy shakes with this. I mean thick shakes with oatmeal in them. It doesn't labor, the motor doesn't have a burning smell like other blenders I have had. I broke the glass on my old blender and they wanted $50.00 for a new jar. I saw this one and bought it right away. I don't blend fruit in it so I can't speak for the job it does with that. I do blend ice cubes and it works great on blending the ice for a great shake. The best is the stainless steel jar, you can toss this around without worrying about breaking it. Get it, don't settle for less. If you don't get it, you will have two blenders some day. This one and the other one you don't use.

This Blender worked great for awhile, almost a year, and then the coupler fell apart, the plastic gear mechanism that connects the motor to the blade, became damaged. I called KitchenAid, was on hold for under 30 seconds and after I gave them the serial number, and model number they said another product was on the way. Two days later, it was at my door step. I was blown away by the efficiency of KitchenAid's customer service. As blenders go, it's just great. It works really well and is a breeze to clean up.