daisymae76's Full Review: Cuisinart SPB-7 SmartPower 7-Speed Blender
I can see I'm going to be in the minority with this review on the Cuisanart Smart Power 7 Speed Blender. Everyone else seemed to like it a lot, but I have had nothing but trouble.
Design
This blender is extremely sturdy. The base of the blender is white and heavy. Buttons for each of the 7 functions are on the front of the base along with the on and off buttons. The base is thick and strong with no slip rubber grips on the bottom.
The glass part of the blender is made of thick clear glass and holds 5 cups (40 oz.). It is a heavy piece compared to some other blenders, but it feels durable. A solid, easy to grasp handle is on the side. On top is a tight fitting lid which has a clear plastic 2 oz. measuring cup that fits in the middle.
Operation Cuisanart designed a blender anyone can use. You just fit the glass pitcher part into the base. This can require a little work.It fits very snug so you may need to use a little pressure to get it to slide into place all the way. Plug in your blender and add the ingredients. Hit the on button and then select which speed you would like. When you are finished, push off. Very simple to use.
As the name implies, there are 7 blending options: Stir, Mix, Chop, Puree, Liquify, Pulse, and Ice Crush.
My Experience
I have attempted to use this blender on numerous occasions. I really wanted to be able to make fruit smoothies which is a common thing to make in a blender. This blender is incapable of making a smoothie. I have tried several times with different ingredients and techniques. No smoothie!
Usually smoothies involve juice, ice cream or yogurt, fruit, and ice. When I add the ingredients, only the stuff at the very bottom right next to the blades gets blended. Even then, it doesn't get mixed up very well. The blades lack the power to whip everything up. It couldn't even mix just juice and ice cream. It couldn't chop the fruit and forget about crushing ice. I try to help the blender by using precrushed ice, but it still doesn't blend. The blades get stuck on the ice and sound like they are going to snap off or the motor will blow.
I have found a technique that does work. I start the blender, blend for 3 seconds, stop the blender, take off lid, rearrange ingredients, put lid on, repeat. Making a smoothie takes 15 minutes and a lot of elbow grease as I am constantly stirring except for those 3 seconds of good blending action.
A couple weeks ago, I tried to make pesto using the blender. The recipe contained very few ingredients and nothing hard to blend. I threw in a jar of sundried tomatoes, fresh herbs, and a few other things. This blender could not chop the tomatoes or herbs. It didn't blend anything. I had to constantly start and stop the blender to shove the ingredients down by the blades. Once again, it took 15 or 20 minutes to make something that should have taken about 30 seconds.
My Thoughts
I really like the Cuisanart blender's design and feel. It's very solid and sturdy. It appears to be built to handle to tougher blending jobs. But my experiences have been nothing but frustrating. I absolute hate making anything that requires the use of a blender because it's going to be a huge hassle. This blender can not make a milkshake or smoothie, can't make pesto, can't chop food into baby food, and can't crush ice. I haven't found anything this blender can do!
I'm wondering if it would work better if the blades were longer. It seems like it can't get a hold of the ingredients to mix them around. I always have to push stuff down to the blades and risk splashing food everywhere.
Cooking with this blender takes too much effort and I do not recommend it.
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