Dice, Slice, Chop & Teach Those Egg’s Who’s Boss With Toastmaster’s Preppy Food System!
Written: May 25 '05 (Updated May 02 '06)
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Pros: Attachments, nice system, safety on and off feature, compact size.
Cons: Is it something that you are going to use on a regular basis?
The Bottom Line: If you bake, cook or get adventurous in the kitchen, this is a nice product to have around.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Toastmaster 1750 Handheld Blender |
When I started looking for a handheld blender to make drinks, milkshakes for the kids and protein shakes for myself I wanted something that was easy to clean, wouldn’t make a mess and would last a couple of years. I had several of the stick blenders in the past and liked the way they performed but they were a pain to clean if I was mixing Jell-O pudding mix of a quick batch of cake batter. As usual I strolled the aisles and looked for something to toss in the cart - I started off with a basic handheld blender and slowly started rethinking my needs. “What if I had something that came with it’s own storage container?” and “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could find something that did more than just make milkshakes?” were the thoughts that started going through my head. I eventually ended up getting the Toastmaster 1750. It only cost about six dollar more than the first handheld mixer I looked at and it came with a lot more stuff, had more features and would let me get things done quicker when I was cooking or doing food prep.
ToastMaster 1750 Preppy Food Prep System
First of all, let’s get the name out of the way - it’s not just a “handheld blender” folks, it’s the “Preppy Food Prep System”. Regardless of what you call it, it’s a handy thing to have around the kitchen and does a lot more than you think but is it something that you are going to use? If I had a dollar for every time I purchased something thinking that it was going to make cooking or food prep easier I’d be rich - and I wouldn’t have had half a closet full of stuff to get rid of before I moved. This is so much more than a handheld blender - it dices, slices, has a dough hook, will beat eggs, make cake batter and does a pretty nice job of chopping up things like garlic and onions. If you do a moderate amount of cooking then this is something that you might want to look into purchasing however if you are someone that thinks that this is going to make cooking easier - think again. It will simplify things but you still have a lot of stuff to clean up and storing the attachments gets to be a hassle if you have limited cabinet space.
This is a nice “thing” - I hate to call it a blender because it isn’t and I hate to call it a handheld blender because it’s so much more than that. It’s not really a food processor nor is it a mixer - maybe that’s why they gave it such a bizarre name. Come on - tell me you don’t snicker when you hear “Preppy Food Prep System”. Even though it has a somewhat silly name it is nice to have in the kitchen to handle small to medium sized tasks. This comes with a dough hook to mix bread mixtures but it’s for small things like muffin mixes and single serve loaves of bread. While this does have an output of 210 watts of power it’s just not enough to contend with large batches of dough. I do use this when I am making a small batch of biscotti or using a bagged bread mix but other than that this doesn’t really do a great job of handling bread dough in large quantities.
The shredding attachment is nice for harder cheeses like Romano and Parmesan but for softer cheese like Mozzarella, Cheddar and Monterey Jack it needs constant attention because the softer cheese seem to get stuck in the disc. Most of the time if I am not paying attention I end up with chumps of cheese instead of shredded cheese but make no mistake about it, if you are looking the shred harder cheese instead of dragging out the grater this is the way to go. There are also beater attachments for this but instead of two metal pieces that get slid into the base of a handheld blender, this is one solid piece that gets snapped into place. This is nice to have for making fluffy eggs, mixing pancake batter, salad dressing and mayonnaise.
If you are someone that doesn’t like to make a mess then this might be worth looking in to - there are three different sized “cups” that come with it that you can use with the main part of the system. There are a total of three containers that comes with it - one for the chopper, one for blending things and one tall chopper jar. Cleaning up the attachments and jars / containers [what ever you wish to call them] is pretty each and almost all of them can be tossed in the sink or on the top rack of your dishwasher. The only time I have any major problems are when I use this to slice or grate softer cheese; but that is pretty much the norm when dealing with metal surfaces and cheese. If you are using anything with eggs in it make sure that you wash the attachment and blending cups with hot soapy water to eliminate the chance of salmonella.
Warranty
This comes with a one year all parts warranty against manufacturer defects and a ninety day warranty for parts and labor. This is a little confusing because in one section it says that everything is covered for a year then they slap on this ninety day clause for parts and labor. I did have to contact them about a small crack that developed in the plastic part of the egg beater and I asked about the warranty. the girl I spoke with told me that unless someone picks it up and throws it against the wall, if something breaks they will replace it. I told her about the crack that was starting and she said “no problem”, took my information and sent me a new one. I thought I was going to have to jump through hoops or send the piece back to get a new one but she said that wasn’t necessary. She did send a postage paid label with the replacement piece and asked that if I still had it, quality control wanted to see the piece to check out where the crack occurred.
Price
I started out with something that cost less but didn’t have all the features that this one had so spending about five or six more dollars to get all the extras was worth it for me. I found this at Target for $22.95 which is a little less than what most of the online stores are charging for this. To me this is worth it but I do have to stress that unless you already do all the things that this will do for you - this will be a wasted purchase. I mean, if you have no need for something that will dice, chop, mix and beat then why bother spending the money on it or having it on your counter top? I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to make use of all the features of this but so far I’ve been having a blast using this for small to medium sized jobs. This won’t replace large mixers or industrial pieces used for making bread but it’s a lot easier to work with than single application appliances.
The Bottom Line
I do a good bit of cooking and baking and this is something that has made the small jobs a lot easier. It won’t be taking the place of my huge mixes any time soon but it’s nice when I want to whip up something for dessert or when making omelet and I want to have a lot of things to toss in. If you don’t have a need for at least half of the things that come with this then stick with something basic even if the price is the same. Why bother having a bunch of useless stuff around if you don’t need it? I do use this on a regular basis - probably four to five times a week and it’s been something that I really like using. The look if it is pretty uniformed and the bright white color looks nice with the other appliances. If you are looking for something to take the place of a few other gadgets or want something that will do more than just a handheld blender - this is a great pick!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $22.95
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