Blender Reviews

This blender has got to be the worst blender on the market. We have had nothing but problems with it since we got it. The sad part is we only use it to make milk shakes and the stupid thing can't even handle that. First the blade assembly on the bottom of the jar broke. We tried to get the replacement part only to find out it was discontinued so we had to end up buying the whole jar assembly which isn't by any means cheap. Than as if that wasn't enough the rubber coupler that spins the blades lost all the little teeth now the blades won't spin at all. I am about ready to throw this damn thing out the window!!! You need special tools to fix the stupid blender that kitchen aid doesnt have and half the parts are discontinued. I would strongly suggest to anyone who is even thinking about buying this blender to do yourself a favor and buy something else it truly is a piece of [...]!

Just bought today - put 38 oz in to make a slush drink (well under the top of the jar). Turned on and it foam out the top like crazy. Second item by Kitchenaid that has been a disaster for me (juicer also). Love my Kitchenaid mixer but I will now stop giving them a chance. And the joke is that on the box it stated "built with pride....".

High quality. Chops ICE like a monster... Bought it because my sister has one and loved using hers. Nice wide glass container good for soups and sauses. Best blender I have ever owned,

I purchased this blender off of Amazon because of the good reviews it received, which I can usually rely on, but not so much this time.

I bought it mainly to make baby food, but also wanted it for smoothies and iced coffee drinks as well. I've only made baby food in it as of today. I had to add a LOT of water for the blender to "puree" the apple pieces. ("Puree" is in quotes because it didn't exactly puree the apples, just chopped them up finely) Because of all the water I had to add to get the blender to work, I then had to strain the excess off, which isn't a HUGE problem, but I'm a work at home mom, I don't have lots of free time. ALSO, when the blender was running, it smelt like burnt plastic. Which is why I haven't tried making anything in it with ice yet. I mean, if it smells like burnt plastic when it's "puree"-ing something soft, like apples, how is it supposed to crush ice??

I gave this blender 3 stars, because it works ok for softer things, but the smell of burning plastic makes me a bit apprehensive about it's quality and how long it'll last. In heindsight, I wish I had bought a different brand.

Of all the Hamilton Beach products I have ever owned, this has been the best one. It's very sturdy, it doesn't leak, not too noisy and it's really quick to clean. The price was the best part. It was one of the cheaper blenders at the store but it works so well. Nothing is worse when you're blending up a drink and it leaks out the bottom. I have nothing but positive things to say about this blender.

It's surely hot in Texas but thanks to this super blender I can have some tall cool ones ready in a jif - from smoothies to more potent libations. I very much like the plastic shell rather than a heavy glass that is real work to move around. Plus, the price is right.

The blender has also served us well in chopping for summer salads. It's always on our kitchen counter, and usually in use. We're happy with Hamilton Beach!

- Gail Cooke

This is the biggest piece of junk I've seen in my life..
It makes me angry to think that I wasted good money on this.
I thought Cuisenart was a good brand, but like everyone else
they just slap their name on a piece of Chineese manufactured junk. Don't even think about buying this piece of junk. I wish I could use a stronger word than "junk".. junk is too kind.

I bought the reconditioned version of this product. (For $... The price has dropped by half since then. That figures.) It arrived cosmetically and functionally near-new. It's easy to use and to clean. And like one earlier reviewer claimed, it crushes ice just fine. Unfortunately, that's the end of the positive comments.

Negative: The pulse button stopped working after a week. The blender jar is on the small side. The food processor is small and very noisy.

But worse, the little toy motor on this blender just doesn't have the oomph to do a serious job. It was unable to puree a batch of hummus, for instance. And when I tried to make a very soft pate, the motor overheated and produced a lot of smoke, and small plastic pieces fell out of the bottom. We are not impressed.

I would have thought that the electronic control would provide burnout protection, but apparently not. My kitchen still smells like burning motor. I guess I'll have to give up and get a Vitamix.

This appliance is fine for mixing drinks, slicing carrots, and grating cheese. Just don't expect it to do any serious kitchen work.

I brought the unit with low expectations. Results are not too bad.

General
1. Very nice appearance.
2. Very sturdy with non-skid feet.

Blender
1. Above average power
2. Glass jar is a nice touch.
3. Slight smell of ozone after 10 seconds of operation.
4. Blender noise did not bother me.
5. Easy to take apart to clean and put back together
6. Makes great milk shake.

Food processor
1. Average power
2. Plastic safety locks may break easily. Don't apply excessive force locking / unlocking the processor attachment from the base.
3. Good for 1 or 2 people.

This is not a professional grade gadget. Treat it with a kid glove and it works charms.

We used this blender probably a total of 5 times before the metal base FUSED to the motor!!!! It literally became FUSED!! Now, we thought all we had to do was order the base part from the Waring company. No, they don't sell that part. I was told by the Waring customer service people that I would have to take the blender to be serviced. Ha! Like I'm going to spend $45 to repair a BLENDER! We are buying a new one....needless to say it won't be a Waring blender.

The Waring Professional Bar Blender is all the blender I will ever need. Smoothies are now easy to whip up and a snap to clean up. To top it off, the stainless steel model I purchased looks great on the countertop. The motor (390 watts) has plenty of power for crushing ice and making frothy drinks. Waring blenders exude high quality.

Certainly there are more powerful blenders. Vita-Mix and Waring's Mega Pro are two such examples. Nevertheless, one would be hard pressed to justify the added expense of either machines for the average home. Kitchen Aid puts out a slightly more powerful blender (500 watts). But I have used both and for my money, Waring produces more consistent results for a wide variety of blending applications.

The cloverleaf glass jar is sturdy and easy to clean. I had some reservations about buying glass with a stainless steel version available but to my surprise, I actually prefer it. It is often necessary to have the contents visable(not possible with the steel jar) while blending to ensure a consistently smooth texture or to prevent overblending.

I recommend this product highly.

Quick 5 day delivery, good customer service, quality product, would buy again...Tks

This boat motor does the job, but takes forever to get it done. Its limited power of 200 watts is a severe hindrance. Merely pureeing carrots in chix stock (quart total volume) left quite a few chunks after nearly 30 seconds of blending. It is however, easy to clean and quieter than your average blender or food processor. Do yourself a favor and get the Braun 430, with 50% more power and only a minor price difference.

I bought this product in order to prepare my special butternut squash soup this Thanksgiving. In the past, I've had to transfer the soup to a blender in order to liquify it to the proper consistency. This year preparation was SO much easier thanks to this Braun handheld blender. It works like a charm on smoothies, too. The best part is the easy cleanup--you just pull the attachment off the end and throw it in the dishwasher. It stores easily, too...as one who has grown weary of numerous large appliances taking up cabinet space, I appreciate that.

I'm new to stick blenders so maybe I don't appreciate a "good thing" when I see it but I'm just not overly impressed with this item and am taking mine back to the store. I like the extendable shaft idea (although mine didn't lock into place as they said it should) and the chopper worked well. But I'm pretty under-impressed with the blender/whipper. I tried whipping some egg whites and ended up pulling out my regular blender to do the job right.

I also found that trying to control the power with my thumb was extremely uncomfortable and unnatural.

I'm going to try the Braun. Not sure if I'll like it better or not.

PS - I got the Braun MR5550MBC-HC and love it. It costs more but it does more and works much better and is easier to hold.

Chopping, blending and grinding are a natural a part of good cooking. I am not a world class chef who can do everything as quick and neat with a sharp knife as the guys on television shows. I can use this tool from Cuisinart to prepare dishes like those chefs. I just take it out of the drawer and presto, I am finished with it quick as a snap. A quick clean up and it is ready to use again. Every kitchen should have one. It isn't bad for mixing drinks either!

I purchased this blender to replace an older Oster model that we had for many years. I had expected the quality to be the same...It isn't. My children wanted it to make smoothies and shakes. It performs very poorly. It blends only at the bottom of the container . We constanty have to stick a spoon down into the glass bowl to assist with the blending. Using it is a frustrating experience. It's a worthless piece of trash...and that's exactly where it's going. I will never purchase another Oster product again. Funny...I seem to remember them being a good brand.

Before this one, I owned another Oster blender that had a plastic jar. It accidentally fell off the countertop and it cracked. The plastic jars also scratch easily and just aren't very durable!

So be sure you get the glass jar. Also, having the extra-powerful motor is good too. I only use a couple of different speeds, so I don't think more speeds are important, however.

This blender works well, however you do sometimes have to stick something in there to get the top of your concoction well-mixed in with the rest of it. But that's probably the case with most blenders.

I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because though the jar is dishwasher safe, you're still supposed to handwash the other parts. Blenders are great, but they're a pain to clean!

Alright, so this isn't the *best* blender in the world. Not even close. But it's cheap, it's rugged, and it works perfectly well at most tasks. It chops, blends, and mixes just fine (and says it can also "grate", "puree", "shred", "cream", "chop", "grind", "whip", and "liquefy"). I've never had any problems crushing ice or making frozen drinks with mine -- although I'll admit that it will get jammed on big chunks of ice (more of a problem with the pitcher than the blender, I think... it just can't chop them effectively if they're too big to fit between the blades and the edge of the pitcher, or if they get stuck there). It's also (as the first reviewer noticed) not great at making milkshakes, since it just thrashes the bottom of it like crazy instead of mixing it -- but I'll bet it works a lot better if you replace the blade with the "Milkshake Blade" accessory that it talks about in the owner's manual. Mine has easily survived several years of use and abuse, including having a metal utensil left in it when it was turned on (punched a hole in the pitcher, but the motor was fine). If you're looking for a cheap, reliable entry-level blender, this is it.

I got this blender as a Bridal shower gift, and it was wonderful for a while. The blender itself works fine most of the time, but I did find that it made odd noises. After a while the plastic on the base cracked, just a bit, but then it cracked more and more to the point that there's only a tiny space now that isn't cracked. this creates quite a problem since it causes the entire blender to tip, meaning that the pieces that need to connect in order for the blade to turn cannot connect. Hence, I have a broken blender all because of cheap plastic. My advice is to spend a little more money and get something that isn't so cheaply made.

This is great for anyone, because it works well, but I'll get to that in a minute.

This is the best value for anyone with a small apartment/condo without much kitchen space. The more appliances you have, the less space you have. This is the perfect solution. One blender base that can swap tops for a blender or a food processor.

The blender has a good, strong motor, and chops through about anything I've thrown at it, and the food processor seems to work great (though I don't use it too often.) It also has a little extra safety attched. There is a "safety button" under the lid that will not allow the processor to operate if the lid is not on tightly.

That said, I might use the food processor more often if it actually had multiple blade attachments. There is only one, so you can puree or make things like salsa or guacamole(my favorite) but you can't slice your apples or tomatoes, because there is no slicing attachment.

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Final thoughts:

This is a great buy for anyone looking for a blender AND a food processor, especially if you have a small kitchen. BUT if you need a robust food processor, buy a cheaper blender and get a separate food processor that has more attachments.

I have just purchased this model.. Its the newer model from Hamilton Beach, (as opposed to the 52204).. It has been improved.. and is wonderful.. I made a Frappachino today.(saved myself - mega bucks, at Starbucks.. LOL).. But seriously, the machine is great.. Chops ice, holds ALOT.. and I also tried the food processor attachment, I used it with some crackers, that I made into fresh bread crumbs. and they came out great.. I would highly recommend this product.

Got this thinking it was a great deal when it was on sale at Amazon. Immediate burning smell from the motor. Continued for the next 3 days as I thought giving it time to get rid of factory lubricants etc may help - no such luck!

Given the number of people that have had a similar experience, I think Waring needs to recall this entire line and/or Amazon needs to stop selling these in the interests of safety.

Plus it's loud - why deal with all this when you can get better designed and manufactured blenders?

I just got this blender! It is the best! There was a letter include with mine that addresses some of the problems some of the other reviewers stated. (1)Try to avoid using hard frozen fruits. (2)To blend a better beverage always start off on high speed to help it develop the proper torque to do the job. Then use either speed. (3) Ideal for blending ice drinks. A hint is to keep the blades in the container covered with liquid, turn the motor on, remove the lid insert on top of the jar & feed in ice cubes slowly. (4) Always put in liquid in first. (5) BIG ONE -- always hold container lid with one hand when blending!! I think some reviewers aren't used to high speed blenders and walk away from it while blending and wonder why the top flies off. Buy it in any color and you will love it! Read the directions and all you need is two speeds. I love it's retro look which is one of simplicity! Buy it!!!

Update 5/2/2003 -- I still love it! It makes the best frozen Margaritas! And no problems at all. BUY ONE!!!

After reading tons of blender reviews on this site, we decided to add this Waring model to our wedding registry list, and after trying it out for the first time, we're glad we did! The blender did an AMAZING job making drinks from a frozen mix--within seconds, all the ingredients were combined and completely smooth, with no chunks of ice remaining (like we used to get with our old blender). There are only two speeds, high and low, but really, nothing more is necessary; I just used high for 5-10 seconds and then finished with a few seconds of low for good measure. The blender is loud, but no louder than other models we have used in the past, and since it works so quickly, you won't even have time to be bothered by the noise! The glass pitcher was sturdy, and the soft rubber lid was much easier to use than the lids of any blenders I've used in the past. There was absolutely no leaking despite frequent use over a time frame of just a few hours, and the blade parts were simple to remove and clean. We are very satisfied with this blender, and I would recommend it highly.

I've bought two. One, as a gift, several months ago, and (so far) it's still working. I needed a new blender, and ordered this. Plugged it in, turned it on, nothing. Not even smoke. Fortunately, Amazon is great on returns like this. I'd be curious about how many they've had shipped back. Gotta cost 'em.

In the 5 months I have been using the Black and Decker BL600B Pro-Blend, I have not had any problems at all with it. I use it quite often, mainly for smoothies and shakes,(and occassionaly for cooking) and following the manufacturer's instructions(e.g. how much ice to use at one time), it has worked perfectly.

This is a 12 speed blender, and of the speeds I have used, it seems to work just as described. Stir, Blend, Chop, Liquefy,and Whip are a few of the tasks it performs, and also included are an Ice Crush feature(works great), and a "Fast Clean" option which is a real time saver. Hi/Lo speeds are used in conjunction with task speeds, and the instructions will give some good tips and techniques on blending.(One good example would be how to change speeds while using) The jar is glass, and a litttle heavy but very sturdy.The cap fits snugly and also doubles as a 2oz liquid measuring cup. It is a nice looking unit as well.

Assembly was fairly simple. The instructions are easy to follow(also in Spanish and French),include a few recipes, an 800 number to call for questions or repairs and has a one year warranty. They also clearly spell out certain uses that may damage the blender.(This may be very helpful to those who may be new to using one).

With so many 'mixed'(excuse the pun) reviews here, I waited until I really gave it a good work out before writing this review. Based on it's features and capabilities,ease of use and instructions,cleaning,price, and quality I have no reservations about recommending this product for yourself or as a gift.

Even if you are just getting started, you will feel like a pro with this "ProBlend" by Black and Decker.If you are looking for some nice smoothie recipes I would also recommend "The Best 50 Smoothies" by Joanna White. It's a small and inexpensive book full of delicious and nutritious ideas.

Thanks and enjoy...Laurie

A few months ago, I started looking for a blender. It seemed like there were hundreds of them. Price wasn't the main concern, as I would gladly pay a premium price for a premium product. My main issues were that it would perform all the standard blending tasks with ease, make a great milkshake, blend eggs to make a light "Waffle House" style omlette, and most importantly (for my friends who crave Margaritas), kill ice cubes with a vengeance. When I happened upon this Black and Decker model, I was taken by the positive reviews, yet skeptical of it's ... price. Never the less, I figured that if the reviewers were making an honest effort, I couldn't justify spending three or more times as much on a machine that would do no better. I bought one. When it arrived, I saw that B&D was so proud of it that they offered a 30 day no questions asked refund if you don't think it's the best blender/ice crusher ever. It's a big blender. It has a large capacity thick glass jar, a unique knife arrangement, lots of power, a soft shatterproof top that seals tightly (with a measuring cap built in), plenty of speeds to select, and it does the job as advertised. If you need a killer blender, buy this one. Pack it with ice, and be amazed.