This is the third hand blender I have owned, and is by far the most solid, smoothest running and easiest to clean. The brushed chrome construction looks great and is also easier to clean than plastic versions. Handy features like detachable base, included mixing cup and extra long mixer are thoughtful and useful. The motor is smooth and powerful - it is the Audi V8 of the hand blender world. For the quality, brand and power, $30 is an absolute steal. Cuisinart CSB-76PK SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, Pink
Well ok, maybe I am not all shook up so much as BLENDED up. I purchased this immersion blender after my older no name brand unit purchased at Wally World died in the middle of blending a pot of hot soup. I like that you can wash the blenders blade assembly in the dishwasher and the stainless steel shaft is not stained like so many of the ALL PLASTIC models. Another thing I love is the power of the unit and the sharpness of the blades; they will reduce a pot of cream of broccoli soup to a smooth consistency in nothing flat.
Oh and when I say broccoli soup folks, I MEAN broccoli soup. I put nearly two bunches of steamed broccoli in my soup and I only chunk it prior to blending with the immersion blender. This blender will puree` the soup to a perfect creamy texture in nothing flat. (Reserve a few pieces of the chunked broccoli to add back to the soup for texture purposes) I have also used it on my potato and asparagus soups with equally great results.
If you are looking for an immersion blender with lots of power and a "NO STAIN" Stainless Steel shaft then IMO, you cannot go wrong with this model from Cusinart.
Happy Blending!
Ciao!
Holy guacamole! I was a disbeliever, but now that I have this Cuisinart immersion blender, I am a True Believer. It is substantial yet quiet, and it works really, really well. It is easy to clean as the blender piece pops right off. I love that I can just place it into the pot and puree my soup right there! Awesome! Carrot soup, cauliflower soup, sweet potato soup have all fallen under my spell with this magic wand. Recommended.
I know it's my fault, but I didn't read the fine print of the product description, I just saw that it was described as "brushed chrome." The top part is actually ABS plastic painted in the color "brushed chrome," with the bottom part of the wand being stainless steel. It would be more appropriate to describe this blender as gray than the deceiving name they've chosen. The top part has a somewhat flimsy feel to it when you consider how powerful it is.
I was not at all expecting this blender to be as enormously powerful as it is; it works amazingly well. One thing that I didn't like so much was that when I put it in a stock pot to blend a soup, the wand was so powerful that it sucked itself down to the bottom of the pot, making it difficult to move to other areas of the pot while on. It was nearly impossible to keep the wand off the bottom of the pot with a soup that was about 5-6 inches deep, and I'm a big, athletic guy. Variable speed would be a nice feature, and it's available on other immersion blenders. Depending on the particle size of the things you are blending, they may not get pulled through the blade guard (see picture) and blended if the wand is stuck on the bottom of the pot. It works great though; it'll blend an entire pot of soup in about 20 seconds
I wish I could put the blender in a nalgene bottle, but the blender is just a tad too wide.
The bottom part detaches and cleans easily either in the sink or in the dishwasher; no complaints there at all.
This device is well-made. It's biggest advantage is the total ease of cleaning after use - a real pleasure just rinsing under the faucet.
It's very powerful and can digest things such as ice cubes easily if they'll fit within the cage.
It's elegant to the eye and fairly comfortable in the hand.
The biggest downside is that you must keep a firm grip on the mixing vessel, or if the machine hits something big it can twist the vessel right out of your hand - spewing the contents all over the kitchen countertop, cabinets, and floor. Don't ask.
Another problem is that anything large and hard - like the frozen strawberries I get at Trader Joes - don't fit into the machine's jaws and thus elude the blades. Of course, my first reaction to this problem was to compensate in my typical way, by pressing down harder, and now the machine has slightly bent blades - and a slight wobble.
That slight wobble means that the machine now feeds more unevenly into the mix. So tonight I was chopping two ice cubes into milk, and when an ice cube caught the blade the milk splashed out despite my firm grip on the tumbler. When using this device there is no protective top as with a blender.
As I said, there's plenty of power. But the downside to that is the cord snaking over your countertop, collecting food.
They give you a nice plastic mixing cup; very high quality. But it's way too small to be of any real use.
In short, when using this machine have a large open area to work in. Don't expect to grind big hard things. Don't force the machine too much. It requires more time and more attention than a blender.
Biggest advantage over a blender: easy to clean. I wish it were near as easy to use.
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Follow up: about three weeks into this thing I've straightened out the bent blades, eliminating the wobble, but I've reverted back to my 30 year old cheap blender anyway. The SmartStick is a well-made tool, but it's useful only if what you want to chop will readily fit within the blades' protective cage. If that's not the case, you're going to spend a lot of time and effort trying to get large chunks fed into the blades.
My almost exclusive use for the device was to make protein smoothies, which entailed blending full-sized ice cubes and sometimes large frozen strawberries. For that use, SmartStick just wasn't worth the hassle, especially considering that if you rinse out the full size blender right away, cleaning the larger machine isn't so bad.
I questioned the SmartStick's feed opening being so small. But I suppose if it were larger the tool would feed too aggressively, and it would jump out of hand when hitting something large and hard, which would be dangerous and messy. So I think the present design must be a necessary but unfortunate compromise.
Bottom line: the SmartStick is a great tool for some uses, and not for others. - Easy - Hand Blender - Blender - Java Juice'
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