Oster has always been a name I could trust for quality products that actually last for years. So when it came to buying a blender, I naturally went for the Oster line and decided to get a 10-speed model, Oster Model 869.

How the Blender Works

The Oster blender has 10 speeds from slow to very fast and are as follows: chop, grate, grind, stir, puree, whip, mix, blend, liquefy, and ice crush.

In addition, the Oster blender has 2 distinct methods of operation. Continuous run for blending, liquefying, and fine chopping and Controlled Cycle Blending, used for coarse chopping pieces of food, such as chopped veggies, nuts, or cheeses. There are several different ways of operating the Controlled Cycle Blending feature but all involve turning the motor “on” and “off” intermittently. During the “on” portion of the cycle, food is chopped and tossed away from the blades. During the “off” portion of the cycle the food is distributed around the blades to make processing more uniform. A cycle consists of operating the blender for about 2 seconds and then allowing the blades to coast to a stop.

The three buttons marked, Chop, Grate, and Grind are “cycle” or “pulse” operation buttons, they also function as the “off” switch. As long as one of these buttons are held down, the motor operates. As soon as the button is released, the motor shuts off. The remainder of the buttons are for continuous operation.

The Blending Container

The blending container is made out of a hard plastic that is light in weight and is molded of heat and cold resistant material. This is dishwasher safe. The blending container offers measurement markings of 1 cup to 5 cups. The lid is a soft vinyl with a hard plastic see-thru feeder cap. The feeder cap is removable for use as a measuring cap and provides an opening for the addition of other ingredients.

Processing Assembly

This consists of three parts: a sealing ring used as a cushion between the container and the agitator; agitator of high-grade stainless steel; and a threaded bottom container bottom.

Motor and Motor Base

The motor is a powerful 375-watt to work well for those smooth frozen drinks in seconds. The motor is completely enclosed within the housing. The motor uses a “free-floating” feature to reduce noise and wear.

The base is very easy to wipe off with a sponge or cloth.

What I Use the Blender For

Although one can use the blender for many types of food, I mainly use mine for milkshakes and Frozen Daiquiri's. This blender can take crushed ice from my ice maker from my freezer and turn it into a two large strawberry frozen daiquiris in less than a minute. Think of all the money you save by making your specialty drinks at home instead of paying $4.50 a pop at your lounge.

The kids love milkshakes and lets face it; even McDonald's is now at least $1.60 for a shake. This blender whips up a chocolate milkshake in a matter of seconds!

Final Thoughts

You cannot go wrong in buying this blender. It pays for itself in a short period of time with the savings of making drinks alone at home, not to mention the time it saves to chop, grind, and whip all the other foods.

The quality is very good and I have been extremely pleased. My other Oster products were a coffeemaker that lasted for 11 years and a can opener that finally gave up after 12 years. Let's hope my blender gets close to this time period.

Warranty

This blender offers a warranty of one year from date of purchase.

This review is brought to you by the First Official Three-Legged Write-Off, an event pairing two members of the Epinions Community running side-to-side to offer tandem reviews because it’s not only fun, it supports the spirit of working together toward a common goal: providing consumers and Epinions with a wealth of information that you can find nowhere else.

Please be sure to read the legendary writer who so graciously agreed to be my running mate, Mimi369 and read her review on this leg of the race.

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Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 29.99