Appliance Reviews

At a friend's suggestion I recently bought the Braun Multiquick Professional Hand Blender. I wasn't sure about spending so much on a piece of kitchen equipment I had always lived without... but I finally decided to take the leap of faith. I couldn't be happier with the product! It's easy to use and easy to clean. It makes fantastic creamed soups. Because of the metal blending shaft, you can use this hand blender right in the pot of whatever you're cooking (thus saving you from the chore of cleaning another container!). I recently made a very inexpensive and delicious soup with onions, zucchini, eggplant, water, Thai curry paste and a can of coconut milk. I blended it with my hand blender and created a very rich-tasting, filling soup for pennies! Now that Autumn has arrived, I'm looking forward to making pumpkin soup with my hand blender! If you're considering the purchase, just go for it! I don't think you will be disappointed.

I simply cannot live without it.

I am thrilled with the purchase of my Braun Multiquick. I bought it specifically to make homemade baby food and now use it nearly daily. It's excellet for blending soups right in the pot and with it's 400 watt motor it makes the BEST smoothie you'll ever have. I am thrilled to have a hand held blender that also has dishwasher safe attachments. This way I can use it to shred beef for Mexican food and not worry about cross contamination. It is an excellent product and I HIGHLY recommend it!

If you are looking for a decent hand blender at a good price, then this unit's for you. This product's hits are its powerful 400 Watt motor and a sturdy design that makes light work of most chopping, grinding, mixing, and puree'ing chores. I think the only thing it won't do is turn small stones into sand. Also, you gotta love the variable speed and the no-splash head.

However, no good review would be complete without highlighting how this unique product could have been made even better:

1. A longer, stainless steel shaft would have been preferable over the plastic one. Firstly, the stainless steel would have given it the LOOK of a heavy-duty, professional mixer, and second it would make clean-up good deal easier.

2. The business end of the device is WAY TOO LARGE and you will be hard pressed to find any glasses or cups in your cupboards that this device will fit inside of. What this means is an extra bowl (or supplied cup) to wash anytime you want to mix up some salad dressing, juice or a milkshake.

3. The unit only comes with one blade. Many other manufacturers provide for switchable blades/attachments that can crush ice, froth milk, whip cream, and aerate your sauces and cake/pancake mixes. Braun offers no products with this features. For shame.

Apparently, Braun does make another model (MR 5000??) that boasts 500 watts of variable-speed power with a stainless steel shaft, a head small enough to fit in most ordinary mugs and glasses, and a set of accessories to die for, but for some reason they do not market this model in North America. BIG MISTAKE.

Overall, this unit is a good buy and if you can overlook the above unfortunate and obvious oversights by Braun, I'd recommend this product for anyone looking for a hand blender or mixer.

If you've never used a stick blender, you don't know what you're missing! Sara Moulton on FoodTV once admitted to being intimidated by those things, because it's a blender without the protective encasing. But once you try it, you'll see that it's actually quite safe, with a little basic precautions -- make sure you stick the probe all the way to the bottom (don't worry, the blades will pull all the food down to be thoroughly blended), and make sure you have about 2 inches of food in the bottom. This tool is indespensable for making soups and sauses, like spaghetti sauce (I like to add a couple cooked carrots and puree it with the sauce). This particular model works great! The puree comes out even and smooth every time. Customer service is great too! I used it the first week I got it to puree cream cheese, and singed the motor. The guy at customer service told me that cream cheese is a real tough thing to puree even for large sized food-processors, but they sent me a brand new hand-blender with all the attachments anyway, no hassle! I've used another stick blender, and it didn't work nearly as well and conked out in about a year.

oh by the way, I never use the attachments other than the stick blender!

I just purchased the Braun 5550 hand blender and I am ecstatic with it! I could just absolutely kick myself for waiting sooooo long to make the move. I have always used a volcanic rock mortar and pestle to make my salsa, but having used my Braun, I will never use it again. It chopped my ingredients exactly like I wanted them. Also chopped my strawberries for shortcake to perfection. Made my egg salad a dream come true. The only thing you have to be careful about is overloading the chopper bowl as I did with the first set of salsa ingredients. The only thing I've found to be a negative is mashing potatoes, as they came out rather like thick paste. Changes the texture as opposed to my hand mixer. I had never purchased a food processor as I always make small amounts due to there just being my husband and myself, so this little jewel is just perfect for our needs. Clean-up is very easy. I just can't wait to use it for all the other things I have planned for it. I have had it a week today and I have used it EVERYDAY since it came and sometimes twice a day. Oh, I must not forget how fantastic the milkshakes are, the beaker included makes it so easy. My next big test I'm looking forward to trying is beating the egg whites for my lemon meringue pie. The MOST WONDERFUL thing about this product is that it can be used in any cookware or glassware due to the guard around the mixing blades. Fantastic product!!

I purchased this hand blender a few weeks ago, and have been quite happy with it. The chopper attachment is perfect for small dicing jobs, like an onion or a few cloves of garlic, but it doesn't work as well as many food processors for thoroughness and evenness of chopping. The whisk is brilliant, and can turn regular milk into a lo-cal dessert topping. The variable speed is very handy, and necessary for a handblender with 280 watts of power, or everything would fly everywhere. (Most handblenders have a maximum of 200 watts of power by comparison.) I used the regular blender attachment to puree a butternut squash soup in the pot, and was generally pleased with the results, although the soup was not as smooth (it was slightly gritty) as with a regular blender. The stainless steel shaft is the first I've been comfortable using in a steaming pot, but make sure you watch out for splashes! All in all, certainly best of class, and the chopper and whisk attachments are well worth the extra cost of this item. Recommended for small and "in the pot" jobs.

This has become one of my favorite kitchen appliances. It saves alot of time because now you can mix/blend whatever you want, wherever the food is, whether it's in a cup, pan or bowl. It doesn't matter! The variable speed knob gives you the freedom to blend how you please. Cleaning this couldn't be easier. You just snap off the bottom section and rinse it. It also comes with a chopper attachment to chop practically anything. The attachment wire wisk comes in very handy as well to mix things. When I used to make shakes just for myself, it was such a hassle using a regular blender and CLEAN IT! Now all I do is blend in the cup I will be drinking from, snap off the bottom part and rinse. Highly recommended!

I bought this hand blender to replace our old Braun 4166 hand blender which is 13 years old (still working fine, although the blades have dulled). The biggest advantage of this unit is cleanup. The plastic shaft on our old unit has gotten somewhat yellow from blending curried soups. The MR550MCA has a stainless steel shaft that is, well, stainless. Better yet, it easily detaches and pops into the dishwasher for painless cleanup! The motor is also more powerful and less noisy. There's every reason to believe that this unit will also last 13+ years. I haven't tested the chopper and wisk attachements -- that's not why I bought it. The chopper looks pretty good, though. This makes a great gift. (I gave it to my wife for Mother's day.)

If you don't already own a hand blender, you don't know what you're missing. We use ours almost daily to make smoothies. It's especially good for pureed soups. No need to transfer the soup to a blender, just pop the hand blender into the cooking pot! Hand blenders may not replace regular blenders all blending jobs, but for many tasks they're easier to use and reduce cleanup.

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.

Wow!

I bought this blender based on all the other 5-star ratings on Amazon and I'm glad I did!

I was looking at blenders closer to $100 and ran across this one with it's 100% 5-star reviews. Only problem was that Amazon showed it as 'discontinued'. Fortunately a 'refurb' was available through an Amazon seller so I snagged it. The 'refurb' turned out to be a factory-new unit.

All we've made in it is drinks - daquiris and smoothies - and from the first daquiri I knew it was exceptional. No stray chunks of ice - couldn't get any smoother - and blended the monster jug (mostly full of ice) in like 4 seconds.

I love the power and capacity and would recommend it to anyone. I was a little wary about having a $40-ish plastic jug blender out on my counter, but I'm already showing it off to friends - so not big on style, but the performance more than makes up for it.

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 :-)

Noisy first of all!
The first machine worked for a while and then went dead.
They sent us a new one and it had problems too.
The part that turns the turns the paddle slips on the motor shaft making a loud popping noise every few seconds.

Weare sending it back for a refund and getting something else.

I've had my breadman plus for exactly one year. This machine has seen a lot of use! The bread is very good and the jam is even better. We've treated ourselves to breakfasts of fresh-made bread, using the timer device, with delicious homemade blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and strawberry jams also made in the breadmaker. We also enjoy making our own pizza by making the dough in the breadman, then baking it with toppings, on a pizza stone in our oven.

The only downside to this machine is the noise the paddle makes. I may have to move it to the basement for those early morning loaves!

I've had one of these makers for 3 years and I love it. It's worked incredibly consistently for me at least once a week making bread, dough, jam. I do have a few warnings for potential owners:

1. If the dough ball is too dry, the motor can't turn properly and makes a popping sound. This is probably the noise that all the other reviews are talking about; otherwise the noise is no worse than any other breadmaker I've been around. If this happens, add water a bit at a time until the dough is of a better consistency.

2. This machine causes bread to rise like crazy. I've had to reduce the yeast in all the recipes I use by at least half, and a 1.5-lb loaf fills the pan. I didn't need to do this with my old machine--breadmaker cookbook recipes always worked great as-is.

3. Like any other breadmaker, none of the parts can go in the dishwasher, and you have to be really careful of the nonstick surface. The manual says these things, though.

4. Sometimes a small amount of flour gets stuck in the corners if the dough was pretty dry to start out with. If I'm around when it's mixing, I push the flour out of the corners with a spatula. If not, I brush the flour off the completed loaf.

5. When making jam, I reduce the pectin required by the recipe by about half and the jam is still sets up almost hard.

This machine consistently produces evenly-baked, nicely risen bread with a good texture. The crust control is a great feature. The horizontal loaves look like loaves baked in a traditional oven in a regular loaf pan.

There are two mixing paddles in the bottom of the pan, which insures even mixing of the dough. Sometimes they get stuck in the loaf when you remove it from the pan, but they are easy to remove from the baked loaf.

The bread machine comes with a recipe book which includes some new twists on older bread machine recipes, including one for Brioche bread which is out of this world!

I like the 2 1/2 pound size because these loaves disappear so fast in my family.

Bread machine or hand-made?? It's my secret!

The Breadman Plus TR810 is a real nice step up from the popular TR800 model, as it features a large 9-1/2 by 5 inch horizontal cast aluminum non-stick baking pan, with a 2-1/2 pound loaf capacity, and a pair of non-stick kneading blades.

The twin kneading blades do a great job mixing ingredients and punching dough. Pizza dough is a snap, and it easily produces enough dough for a pair of 14 inch pizzas. The wide cast aluminum pan is sturdy and distributes the heat well. No tiny bread bucket here. It works just fine for 1-1/2 and 2 pound loaves, which are longer and more similar in size to premium commerical loaves of the same weight. There's plenty of extra headroom, for a mix that rises more than expected, and to make a larger than normal 2-1/2 pound loaf.

You could not ask for a better way to produce great loaves of bread. The crust control is accurate and easy to use, as are the other LCD based controls, including the timer. Despite its 2-1/2 pound capacity, the well designed unit does not hog counter space. It is easy to clean and a delight to use, which means it will get used, again and again.

I saw several comments on parts. I have a Breadman Ultimate and needed a new pan. Took about 5 mins calling the 800 number and the new pan was on it's way for about half what the Zo machine's pan was priced at.

I'm debating getting another machine and it's the 810 or the Zojirushi V-20. Our Breadman ultimate is 3 years old and chugging along so I thought I might get another Breadman. We have had some inexplicable failed loaves(cold yeast?) but for Raisin Bread at four bucks a loaf the machine has paid for itself ten times over easily(we eat it 2-3 times a week, kids). We have made every bread under the sun and our Kitchenaid mixer longs for attention :) I can truly say that after 500+ loaves it's worth the money.

The deal was if I spend the money we better never buy another loaf of bread. Except for some french bread we needed in a hurry we haven't.

Why 2 machines? We need white for school sandwiches and raisin for breakfast!! The Ultimate's loaves are too big or too small for sandwich bread.

:)

I have chosen this breadmaker because it can make up to 3lb loaf, based on the information in this web site. Unfortunately after I got it, the product can only make up to 2 lb loaf. I am so disappointed. But it's not easy to return it. What a spam! The money I spent is not worth it.

I purchased a Breadman for my wife for Christmas because our 12 year old other brand finally gave out. It had worked perfectly up to the end. The first loaf out of the breadman was great. Then 4 out of 5 loafs would not rise, regardless of recipe or factory setting. We exchanged this machine for another, and the same thing, the first loaf rose perfectly, the next three rose only about one third of the way. We tried White, Wheat, and French recipies, with the same failure rate. Calling the factory customer service was of no help.

Very easy to use and the bread comes out so good! I definately recommend this machine to anyone.

One tooth of the blade gear broke the first time I used the blender with some frozen fruit in it, all the other teeth broke off the second time. I called the 800 number for a new part, but it looks almost exactly like the other one, and the plastic teeth feel just as flimsy. I'm afraid to use the blender for anything that isn't soft.
Only difference is the nut has markings and the blades are at a different angle. Plastic seems identical.

Please post/review your experiences with the replacement blade.

My girlfriend is thinking of making a metal cast of the plastic gear, assuming I don't actually use it and break it.

I bought this blender because of the review it got in Consumers Reports Magazine, an unbiased point of view. We use it everyday to make smoothies and baby food and couldn't be happier with the product. I received the product without the lid when I ordered from Amazon so I contacted Braun as Amazon suggested and the lid was delivered that week.

I know there are others out there like me: when I want to buy something, I want to buy the best. Naturally, I go for the top of the line. That usually means paying more for better quality. My reasoning is to spend a little more and I won't have to buy another one for years to come.

I'd been meaning to buy a blender for sometime now. After some hunting through the most well-known "consumer reporting" magazine, I discovered that this $50 blender, mixed, chopped and crushed ice better than models that were EIGHT times as much. This model is the best I've ever used.

Ice crushing was the key factor in the purchase. This baby crushes it in a few quick pulses. Frozen drinks are ready in less than 30 seconds. I use mine for protein shakes and it's a snap to clean. The key is cleaning it immediately.

I must stress that you can't find a better value for your money. This blender is amazing!