I bought this smoothie blender last summer. My youngest son said he thinks he makes smoothies well enough to open a shop. He might be right!
I purchased this blender for roughly $30.00. The pitcher is plastic and has a spigot for easy serving. The top has a removable handle that leaves it open. It also comes with a thick stir stick that fits through the hole in the top of the pitcher. This is great for loosening the ingredients while they are blending. Ice seems to get stuck sometimes and freezes up the blender. This works great for freeing it up without having to take the whole blender apart.
There are three speeds: Mix, Smooth and Pulse. The blades are sharp enough to crush ice but my experience has been that you need enough liquid in it in order to do so. I like the Pulse feature because as the smoothies are blending, they can get very cold and kind of frozen up. The Pulse seems to just loosen it all up in order to complete the blending job.
I like to cut up fresh fruit into chunks and freeze them. Then when we make smoothies, it's just a question of popping the frozen fruit chunks in the top of the blender. This can eliminate the need for too much ice which may water the taste down. Pineapple, bananas and strawberries all freeze well. My son likes to experiment and we've tried putting different things like wheat germ and vitamin drinks. If you go to any smoothie shop, you know they charge a small fortune. I think this blender has paid for itself several times over.
The pitcher and top are both dishwasher safe. The base is easily wiped clean. The only thing I can think of that is wrong with it, is that some liquid has leaked down under the clear plastic on the inside base of the pitcher. This part of the blender can not be taken apart for cleaning. It is discolored but it seems to be trapped there. I wash the pitcher, top and stir stick in the dishwasher.
Smoothies are an excellent way to make healthy and tasty drinks. This is a good blender to do that with. It looks okay on the counter and does not take up too much space. But I have a small kitchen so it goes in the cabinet with all my other kitchen gadgets.
Quick and easy recipe: (freeze ahead of time)
One banana cut into chunks 3-5 strawberries Fresh or canned pineapple Any other fruit such as papaya, mango, peaches. Freeze all ahead of time. Put them in the blender. Add one cup of plain or flavored yogurt. Add apple juice if it's too think. Two ice cubes if not thick enough. Blend for 2 - 5 minutes depending on how chunky you like it. Serve and enjoy.
So, the price was right, the ease of use is good, cleans up well. I would recommend this blender to anybody who likes smoothies and wants to save money by making them at home. (It works great for margaritas too!)
More details
Performance
Good performance
Ease of Use
Easy
Durability
Satisfactory
Value for Money
Good value for money
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does the job better than an ordinary blender and is easy to operate. The 56-ounce jar has measuring marks for adding just enough fruit, yogurt, and protein powder ...
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