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The other day I impulsivley went and bought a Hamilton Beach Juicer. When I got it home I hemmed and hawed, wondering if I should use it or not. Did I really want it? I started looking around the internet and realized what I really wanted was something to make smoothies or other fruit concoctions. I researched a few things like the Magic Bullet and Ultimate Chopper but both had mixed reviews. I was tempted to buy the Tribest blender because it had some good reviews here at Amazon but I could only find it online and it's listed at $60 much more than what I really wanted to spend.
Instead, I went to my local Walmart and to see what they had. I saw the Hamilton Beach Personal Blender and it was priced for only $13.67 so I was interested. It's just me, so I don't need a huge and heavy unit taking up what little counter space I have. I also figured since that if I bought it at Walmart and that if I didn't like it I could easily return it.
I brought it home, looked over the manual and attempted my first smoothie. I threw in milk, strawberries, frozen raspberries and hit the button. I needed to blend it some more because of the raspberries being frozen. Live and learn, I should have done those first. I put in some ice and blended it some more. It came out wonderful!
The jar itself can be used as a serving glass. I probably will only use it in that manner at home. It has no handle so I'd be afraid I'd drop it when I was out. Then the blender would be worthless because the blade is in the jar.
* Jar twists and locks into place on the base
* Comes with a travel lid to take your drink on the go
* Cord wraps around the base
* Not intended for all food manual says not to process hard foods such as cheese, crackers or meat. A maximum of 12 tablespoons can be ground at a time. Do not try to mash potatoes, mix stiff dough, whip egg whites, grind raw meat or extract juice from fruit or veggies.
* Container cover has filler cap that can be removed to insert small objects when blending
* Can not use big chunks of ice. You need to break them down. I have an ice tray where the shape is a small circle (half ball) and it was fine. Perhaps this is what you can use those holiday themed ice trays for. Some of those sizes which I have seem I think would work in this.
* NOT dishwasher safe but easy clean up rinse, put water and soap in jar, blend for a minute, empty, rinse again and you're done.
* No complicated speeds or choices one push button
* I can't find it on the box or in the manual but according to Amazon, the motor has 175 watts of power
I just went and made another smoothie! Banana, Vanilla soy milk, little bit of chocolate syrup and instant coffee. Yummy!
This one site has TONS of recipes that you can use with this blender. You just have to play with the recipes because a lot of them are meant to be multiple servings.
* this link no longer works. Try allrecipes.com a search of "smoothies" brings up 200 results. There are books totally dedicated to smoothies. Google "smoothie" or just use your imagination.
While this might not do what a full size blender can, this is a great blender for smoothies, drinks, shakes and to grind coffee. I love that it's small, the cord wraps around the base and I can use this thing at night and not wake up the neighbors!
I just came back from the grocery store and picked up some more fruit... what else can I make???
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I got this for my 17 year old son to make smoothies. He made the most delicious peach smoothie from ice and the Big Train Fruit Tea Smoothie Blast syrup also bought on Amazon. The consistency was smooth and perfect, just like a professional frozen drink. I asked him to make me one. On the second smoothie the motor died. We thought maybe it needed a little "rest" but sadly, it was the end of the road for that blender. When pressed for details, my son admitted that he noticed a burning smell before the motor stopped dead, and yet he kept pressing that button! Bottom line: great design, lightweight, nice personal cup size, easy storage and cleanup. The motor is just not very powerful, and can't take long blending times. Still, we are going to order a replacement and see if a bit more TLC while blending gives this blender better shelf life. Seems like it worked for some of the other reviewers.
Update: we got the new blender and it is working out great. You just have to be careful to pulse the blender as you go along, and stop for a few seconds (10?) if you start to smell the motor smell. Ice is blended into drinks very well, with no big chunks. The only downside is the no dishwasher requirement. I feel pretty tempted to try it, but as this is already the second blender I will resist.
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I was looking for an inexpensive small personal blender that was powerful, easy to use, and could blend a perfect smoothie. I did a lot of research and looked into about a dozen other brands including the famed "Magic Bullet". What I found out was that not all personal blenders are made equal. The "Magic Bullet" didn't get very good reviews even though it is by far the most popular. After all my intense research, I settled on this one... The Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender. Here's the scoop on what makes this surprising blender the "cream of the crop" :)
Pros:
-Simple and easy to use
-Easy to Clean
-Powerful enough to chop frozen fruits (and probably ice too)
-Pulse button allows you more control because you can start or stop it.
-Seems very sturdy and only has 3 parts to it. (lid, glass, and base)
-This thing is freaking cheap... got mine for $15.
-Blends Smoothies perfectly with no unchopped pieces of fruit.
-Power cord can be tucked in and wrapped around bottom of base for storage.
Cons:
-Emits a slight 'burnt oil' odor while it is in operation... but it's not as bad as it sounds.
-The Lid seems kind of flimsy.
Conclusion:
At $15 this little blender is not only a bargain, it gets the job done and does it well! In fact, it works just as well as my friend's personal blender which costs more than twice the amount I spent on this one. The elegance and simplicity of the design is also to be admired. The plastic blending container also doubles as a travel mug and the Lid to it doubles as a sipping lid when used as a travel mug. It's a nice surprise to see a product in which you can see that they put a lot of thought into it's design. It's positive aspects greatly outshine the few negatives... especially when considering the price. So if you need an amazing blender but you're on a budget, pick this one up and never look back! By the way, this thing is also available elsewhere... like "Wally World" and "Target" ...and at the same low price :)
Honest reviews on Hamilton Beach Personal Blender
This product is an effective and useful single-serving drink mixer that comes with a few drawbacks.
It is basically a tiny kitchen blender with a pulse-blend button and no other speed settings. The mixer jar works just like a blender: it is a plastic jar with ounce/ml graduations on the side that contains a built-in mixer blade with a lug on the bottom to spin it when it is on the motor; you put the jar on top of the motor unit, twist to lock it into place (be sure the lid is on tight!), and hit the pulse button on the motor. The motor screams like a dying gerbil and the blade in the jar spins to mix your stuff. When that's done, you just pull the jar off the mixer and take it with you blade and all. The mixer jar doubles as your drink container. The lid has a slideable spout cover for drinking from, and there is a plastic rim on the bottom so you can stand it upright. The jar is about 7 inches tall by 3.5 inches wide so about the size of a large coffee carry-container; it holds up to 16 ounces. It is not insulated.
You cannot disassemble it for cleaning; you just wash with soap and water. (I've found that pulsing the jar with some soap and warm water inside works pretty well, but it takes some effort to get down around the very bottom of the mixing blades with a brush.) The lid has a lot of grooves and crannies but it cleans up pretty well; if you're some kind of sterility fanatic, it's hard to get under the sliding spout cover, but you can rinse it with soap and water to get it clean.
As to functionality, as far as this unit goes, it's fine. The mixing action is quite good, and the lid stays tightly on the jar. I've mostly used it for light powder mixes, nothing heavy; it does well with that, and takes very little pulsing to get a good mix. The directions state that it is not to be used for hot drinks, or heavy solid foods. It can probably handle fruit chunks, but it is far from a powerhouse.
A few drawbacks: as noted, the motor is not strong. Others have complained that it burns out with long use; I have only used it in quick-pulse mode, and that is what I would recommend. It runs at very high speed and vibrates if you don't hold it while pulsing; I don't know how long you can expect it to last it really does seem to be laboring with even light duty. My real complaint is the lid: the only lids provided are the "drink-through" type with a hole in the lid near the drinking spout, and a flat sliding cover that opens and closes the hole (it is not a positive-cover system, like some spring-loaded types it is just a flat cover that slides in a groove back and forth over the hole). The cover is nowhere near watertight, and there is also a small airhole on the other side of the lid that has no cover at all. This means that the drink will seep out easily if you tip the jar, even with the lid on and the cover closed. Liquid also oozes up around the hole cover while you are pulsing the mixer, so the lid gets wet and dirty before you even finish making your drink. If you are carrying it in a bag or purse, you have got to be very careful never to tip the bag, and probably should enclose the drink cup in a plastic bag. This is a pain, and really detracts from the usefulness of the system, which is, obviously, intended to be portable. I don't understand why they built a product expressly for the purpose of creating liquid drinks to take out of the home with you, and made the container leaky. I would prefer a simple completely closed cover that you could remove to drink; I understand that many people prefer the sip covers, especially in their cars, but, compared to other to-go containers on the market, this one is unusually cheesy. If you are using this system to make drinks to take with you for lunch or a workout later in the day, you essentially have to spend your entire day worrying about leaks and remembering to hold your container carefully upright which is the opposite of making things easier for you.
In short, the system works well enough and is very convenient in terms of speed and ease of use. It takes only minutes to mix up a drink, and then you don't have to find a container to put it in (or have two separate containers to clean). Having two mixer jars is great for couples or for making two drinks to have with you at different times of the day. However, there are questions about the durability of the motor, and the leaky lid creates a serious hassle. The latter is particularly regrettable, because otherwise it's a great system.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hamilton Beach Personal Blender
This blender is good for the price. You get what you pay for. I paid $15.00 for it to travel with to make smoothies. If you hold down the button too long, there is a little burning smell coming from the motor, so it would be easy to burn it out. I have just blended protein powder, milk, and bananas with this and it has worked well for me. It's better to pulse the start button than to keep it running.
