Customer Reviews

Cuisinart CBT-700 Die-Cast 700-Watt Blender

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Before I write my review I wanted to add that this is literally the FIFTH blender we have tried in the last 45 days in our search for something decent.

To date we have throughly tested the following and found them all lacking in one way or another:

Oster 4093 Classic Beehive Blender, Chrome

Waring PBB25 Professional Bar Blender, Black and Stainless Steel

Vita-Mix 1700 Turbo Blend 4500 Countertop Blender with 2+ HP Motor

Oster BPST02-B Professional Series Blender, Black

Now our CBT-700 REVIEW:

The Cuisinart CBT-700 is the latest blender model to be released by the company. It combines the wide glass jar design of earlier models with a new SMART electronics system that provides preprogrammed functions for common uses such as making smoothies and crushing ice.

So far our results have been good, but we have noticed that the jar design does not funnel ingredients down into the blades as well as the Oster Beehive blender we tried. However, since as many other reviewers have mentioned on those product pages, Oster blenders suffer from a serious design flaw in which the drive system snaps in half, it really can't be compared to something that will actually last more than a few weeks. The fact that Oster claims in their product ads that they use an ALL METAL DRIVE, yet the main component of the drive is RUBBER left us feeling deceived. Especially when the machines we tried repeatedly broke down within weeks of receiving them. STAY AWAY FROM OSTER!

Back to the CBT-700...

If the blades used on the CBT-700 were larger and filled more of the jar area, I have no doubt that nothing would work better, but since that is not the case, you may have situations where an air pocket prevents thick contents from reaching the blades. I am still wondering why this design uses such a wide jar, yet incorporates a blade system that is the same size or smaller than many models with narrow jars. ??

The Smoothie feature seems to work relatively well, and we are still trying to determine the optimum mix of ingredients in order to get a smoothie that blends well, yet also ends up with the consistency we want. You may want to use a lower spped after the smoothie cycle is done to get the thickness to what you like.

In that regard, this unit's drive system uses the time tested clutch design common on many other blender brands. The gear material appears to be a synthetic rubber, which we are hoping will result in a long life and no broken or stripped teeth over time. It has a bit more "give" than the hard plastic found in most blenders with this type of clutch drive, and should be immune from the degradation that rubber clutches fall victim to over time.

Based on the unit's overall performance, design and appearance, I am able to recommend this highly blender as a good choice in this price range. Although we preferred the results we saw with the Oster Beehive better than anything else we have tried, the fact that the CBT-700 has already surpassed the number of smoothies made before the Oster broke, means that we have to go with something that will also last us more than a couple of months. On that note, this model comes with a 3 year warranty which is better than anything in this price range!

So... At present time we are planning to keep this one, which is saying something based on how many other brands we were forced to return!

I am giving this product a 4 star rating because I feel that no product is perfect, thus I see no value in rating anything with a PERFECT SCORE. Too bad I am in the minority around here, since it seems most people on this site give everything they like a 5 star rating. Throwing out perfect scores like confetti is hardly helpful for other potential buyers.

If anything changes in terms of reliability issues, I will update this review accordingly.

I hope that you found my comments helpful in your decision making process. :o)

We tried several other blender brands and models before settling on the CBT-700. Previous purchases were wrought with poor performance, cheap materials, or flat out failure of vital components.

The Cuisinart CBT-700 is the latest blender model to be released from the company, having first hit the market in March of 2009. The blender features the wide glass jar of the CBT-500 with a newly designed 6 bladed blade design. The new blade is supposed to be better at creating the vortex action needed to pull the food into the blades for proper blending. It also features a new SMART electronics system that provides preprogrammed cycles for Smoothies and Ice Crushing.

After having been disappointed with the blending action the Waring Classic, we were very pleased with the results we are getting from the CBT-700. I have found that although the Smoothie function works very well, I still feel the need to use the PUREE speed for a few more seconds afterwards to get the smoothie to the consistency I like. Running the smoothie cycle twice would be too much, and this one short extra step is no problem for me.

The blender is relatively quiet considering the 700 watt motor. It is easily the quietest blender we have tried so far and I have no issues with the motor noise. I think those who have complained about this model's motor noise have NO IDEA how much louder competing blenders can be! ;o)

After suffering through the early failure of the Oster Beehive Classic due to a sheared off rubber drive coupler, I was pleased to see that the CBT-700 uses the traditional star shaped "clutch" design used on many other brands. In this case, the clutch is made out of a vinyl plastic that has some give to it similar to rubber clutches, yet immune from the degradation rubber clutches fall victim to after a year or two. Contrary to some of the other reviews, the clutch of the CBT-700 is NOT plastic in the true sense of the word. Plastic is less forgiving and can easily break under stress. Because of this difference, I am optimistic that this clutch material will hold up.

While we are very pleased with the performance of this blender, it does not create a vortex as well as the Oster Beehive Classic model we tried, but since that blender had a serious problem with their rubber drive coupling shearing off easily, we feel that the Cuisinart is the best performer of anything in this price range that WORKS! On that note, the CBT-700 also features a 3 year warranty, which is the best warranty of anything in this price range. The blender is easy to clean and the blade and jar are easy to take apart for cleaning. The lid is also very well designed and we have had no issues with leaking.

Estetically, the CBT-700 is hands down the best looking blender we have tried.

Taking all things into consideration I feel that the CBT-700 deserves a 5 star rating. We have owned this blender for 4 months.

Thank you, reviewers, especially G. Harkness, who I followed all over the web while researching this! The Puree and Smoothie features on this blender are very useful, and not as noisy as using it at High. I have small hands so sometimes it's hard unscrewing the bottom, but I've learned first to tug on the side of the base, and if that doesn't work (perhaps because the frozen fruit in the smoothie has caused the plastic to contract), I let the jar sit for a minute or two and then put it back on the base to give me extra leverage for untwisting.

So far I've use this blender for smoothies, soups (several kinds), pesto (which is much easier to make than in a narrower blender because there's more room to push down the basil leaves), and mixing oj from concentrate.

The blender worked very well for the first few weeks. Used it to mainly make shakes & smoothies. However, the gears of the blade shredded while making a shake. Nothing unusual was used as an ingredient and I didn't operate it any differently.

Cuisinart customer service was quite helpful though and is shipping a replacement part.

I tried the Breville 550 and while it worked well, it leaked and another one that I had shredded the gasket under the blades. So I returned the blender to Macy's and exchanged it for this blender, which is the latest model from Cuisinart. Everything, including ice, gets ground up well and it does it in a very short amount of time. It has a 700 watt motor which is loud at high speeds, perhaps because it is a large motor but also because they didn't bother to do whatever a manufacturer has to do to insulate a motor housing. Still, I'm glad I got it. Also, I like having a glass jar like on this model. It's 56 oz., too! What's also nice is that it doesn't take a lot of strength (like on the Breville blenders) to screw the base tightly onto the jar or to remove it. It's easy to clean, too. I only have it for a week and have used it about twice a day for smoothies and frappachinos. Hopefully, it will hold up for the long term; it does come with a 3 year warranty.

I was very excited to receive the Cuisinart Poweredge 700 blender back in June of 2010. I specifically used it to make smoothies, with frozen fruit, and liquids. I was very impressed, until one day I put my ingredients in the jar, ready to make a smoothie again, and I pressed the button and nothing happened. I thought maybe that it was not plugged in or not sitting on the base right. I tried everything, and the blender would not come on, just the digital numbers and not the motor. I brought another one in August 2010, wary that the same thing might happen again, but this was a good blender. It chopped up everything nicely, and the smoothies were very good. I did not use this one very often, no more than 3 times a week. Things were going good until December 15, 2010, when it happened again. The motor just died, and the digital numbers were running until I pressed stop. For the price ($149 - $180), I think it should be made much better then it is. I was going to try the Poweredge 1000, but i'm hesitant on spending $200 and the same result. Right now, I'm still in search of a better working blender that will be just as good as the Cuisinart Poweredge 700, but also last longer than a couple of months with limited use. Here are my runner ups: 1)Blendtec, 2)VitaMix, 3)Ninja S1100, 4)KitchenAid, and 5)Waring 1100XT. In a couple of months, I'll check back in with my results.

This is my very first blender and I knew from all my readings buying a cheap blender will cost you more in the end so I bought the best I could find. The first one died after 2 weeks of use which did not make me happy. But because I loved the blender so much I returned it and bought another one. I use it almost every single day ofthe week with great results. I make protein shakes where I put a lot of ice in it so it is kind of like a milk shake. It works flawlessly. The only thing that I don't do is let it run for more than 30 seconds with out a pause. I also think that using the high setting is was burned out the first one. I think it has almost too much power. Trust me you don't need the high setting. This machine works great. I blend frozen fruit and ice with no problems. Love it.

Just bought my blender at Costco using a $20 off coupon, so it cost $59.99. I made a few smoothies, and the motor smelled like it was going to burn out. Also, the pulse and puree functions don't work at all. Nothing happens when I push the button to either of those. The lid is extremely difficult to put on as it is too large, but at least it won't leak when blending.
After reading the reviews, I'm going to return the blender and get the same one again. Perhaps I will be luckier with the next one. The $59.99 price makes it worth trying again. If it doesn't work well, I'm not out that much money.

Unfortunately, I've had to return this blender twice within a year's time because it stops blending. There still appears to be power going to the unit, but it doesn't actually blend. Each time I send the unit in for repairs, they charge $10, plus I have to pay the $20 to ship it to them.

From the experience I've had, this is NOT A GOOD BLENDER.

Very unhappy with this product. It won't blend small amounts of food. Tried to make pesto with it and all the pinenuts were left whole. Most of the basil leaves were finally crushed after being poked down with a wooden spoon several times. What should have been a quick recipe took over ten minutes due to stopping and pushing down pinenuts and basil leaves. End result was not acceptable.
If the container, which is very large, is full, then it appears to actually work.
I had great difficulty getting the lid on. It seems to be too large and takes much effort to finally get it attached.
On a plus note, I do like the fact that the base and jar easily attach. In my previous old blender, it never seemed to form a secure connection.
I am looking for a new blender and it appears that the KitchenAid KSB560 is the highest rated one in this price range. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.