A nice, heavy-duty blender!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Heavy duty, looks nice, holds up well, blends well, powerful.

Cons: Pricey, loud.

The Bottom Line: 
I have never encountered a better blender, and that's why I bought two!

Author's Review
I've actually bought this blender twice because I think it's a superior blender to the other cheaper brands. It may not be the best out there (I haven't tried KitchenAid or anything), but it does a pretty good job. Years ago I bought the chrome-colored one for around $80-90, but it has lasted me years. The chrome color was actually $10 more expensive than the other colors (because of the stainless steel). I had bought that color because it seems to go with everything and I get tired of "white". For several years (probably around 12+) it helped me to make purees, soups, blend up baby food and vegetables, make smoothies and you name it. The blade eventually wore out and the rubber strip got old and that's when I decided to invest in a second blender (this same one but in red).

When mine needed new pieces to the blender, I searched online for new blender parts on the Cuisinart website, and yes, I could find the replacement parts for around $30. But, for a refurbished version of this along with an added food processor attachment, I could get it for around $45-50 off Overstock.com, so I went with that in a different color (the red). Overall, it was a good purchase, but the refurbished one is a bit loud compared to the original base that I also own. Basically, I have TWO bases (in chrome from several years ago) and the newer red base. I can put the food processor attachment (from Cuisinart) on each blender and the bases are both the same. Cuisinart made it so the blender can also be used as a food processor, which is a cool thing (rather than buying a separate food processor and therefore using up more counter space). This has 7 different speeds, from ice crush (you have to hold your finger on that one), pulse, puree, liquefy, mix, chop and stir. There's also an on and off button and it's pretty self explanatory. It really wipes up well and there is minimal splashing when I use this.

The parts that come with it is the heavy, glass pitcher that screws onto a bottom piece that attaches to the blender bottom (that is black), there is a rubber band that goes under the blade piece (so 4 pieces that screw together) and you twist onto the base (blender). It comes with a lid and all pieces are dishwasher safe. All the pieces hold up well for years, I didn't have to replace anything for several years with weekly use. You can take out a center plastic piece in the lid (by twisting) and that allows you to be able to pour in items while you are blending (without any splashing). It leaves a little hold in the top of the lid and is easy to twist on or off during blending. We all know what can happen if you don't have a lid on a blender and you're making a smoothie (a mess!). So this piece that twists off, allows me to drop in frozen strawberries and pour in milk with ease and no mess.

This blender blends and makes smoothies very well. Sometimes it takes awhile to get the frozen strawberries blended (to get out all the lumps) and will take a minute or two. Sometimes I need to turn it off and stir or add more liquid (but this is how all blenders work). I will say, though, out of any blender I've tried, this is the most sturdy and powerful and that's why I like it so much. I don't think cheaper blenders would stand up to large, frozen strawberries without smoking and breaking a blade. I love the ice crush feature because not many blenders out there can actually crush ice well (and this does!).

The jar is heavy duty and has never broke or chipped for me. It holds 40-ounces of food or liquid. I can leave my blender on my counter, or I can easily store it in a cupboard as it doesn't take up a massive amount of space (especially when you take the pitcher off the base). The going rate for a new one (at Surlatable.com) is $79.99. It's a bit pricey, but Cuisinart is a good brand and known for lasting and durability. It will come with instructions that dons a few recipes. If you ever lose or break parts (or even instructions), you can search for them on the Cuisinart website and print them out (or order them quite easily). They have had this item for sale for several years and so I was very surprised to see the same exact version still being sold! That made it easy for me to make the decision to buy another one of these when I needed to, and I'm glad I did!