Customer Reviews

Cuisinart CSB-77 Smart Stick Hand Blender with Whisk and Chopper Attachments

5 star:		(217)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(117)

 

 

I purchased this product mainly for making soups. I hated having to put soup into the blender in bathces to puree it. Not only was this time consuming but I usually made a huge mess in the process. Well this product solved that problem for me. I made a soup the other day and used this product to blend the soup right in the pot! While I was nervous about "only" being able to run the blender continuously for 50 seconds, I learned that 50 seconds is more than enough time for this item to blend a whole pot of soup, in fact it only took about 15-20 seconds.

I have also used the grinder attachment to mince fresh parsley, and have also made a smoothie using the included measuring cup and blender.

Although the manual states that you cannot run this product for more than a certain amount of time (depending on the function), I have learned that this product can accomplish those tasks easily in the time frames given (it took 5 seconds to mince my parsley!).

I cannot comment on the warranty as I have not had a problem with this item, but for the price if it fails I would most likely just buy a new one.

My only complaint would be that the whisk attachment seems very flimsy, but I have not actually used the whisk attachment yet, so I assume that it will work just fine for light tasks such as whisking egg whites. Although based on the feel of it I would not use it for much else.

However, I have a feeling that I am going to continue to find uses for this wonderful little gadget. For the price this item is a great buy.

I would like to give it no stars but that's an option on Amazon rating. Bought in May (but only used about 4 times since then as we were away for a long summer). Used to blend tinned tomatoes. Worked fine couple of times then blades in blender, chopper and whisk turned very slowly and seemed to squeal when motor ran. Called up Cuisinart and they sent me a new kit. Same thing happened. So I called again and they sent me chopper lid and whisk attachment (only blender had worked in new kit). Now I've the handstick that works very well (for how long though?), chopper grinder doesn't work at all and neither does whisk. I looked inside the motor shaft and these "stripped teeth" everyone in the one-star category keeps on about are also looking that way in mine (I hadn't looked in the original one I sent back). Unfortunately I hadn't read the bad reviews before I bought it, and it seems that this "teeth stripping" is a continual problem with most of their hand sticks. I've already spent $20 between sending it back the first time and then receiving the new parts....I'd like to ask for a total refund for the now $70+ I've spent on it but I think such a request is futile.

I have had this blender for about a year and have used it weekly for smoothies with great success. Last week I was using it to chop basil and the blade in the chopping bowl sliced into the side of the plastic bowl. Miraculously I kept and located the manual that said it had a 3 year warranty. I called the number, which told me to call another number, I was on hold a very short time. I read the customer service representative my item's serial number and she sent me a new bowl and suggested that she also include a new blade in case my blade had been damaged. Way to go cuisinart.

I have been debating for a while now about what to do with my faulty Cuisinart Smooth Operator blender (read my review, mine leaks) While looking for potential replacements, I read the reviews about immersion/stick/hand blenders and decided the concept made SO much sense!First for me, is the easy clean up. Then convenience (esp. love not conveying hot soup to the blender!). So I bought the set up that comes with the mini chopper and the mixing cup (for those of you who complained it didn't come with one--buy a big plastic cup at the dollar store)

Took it right home and started playing with it: a cup of frozen blueberries, some frozen ripe bananas, a cup of vanilla soy milk, a little green powder from Trader Joes and I was off. Stuck the blender in followed directions and buried the blade under the mixture and moved it up and down. This baby went to work and made a smoothie before I could say "Mmmmmmm..smooooooothie." Later in the evening, I'm using the crock pot to make my dog his food and once the beef is cooked I remove the roast, and stick my new gadget in the pot and turn the yams, brocolli, carrot and spinach mixture into my dog's meals for a month.

I love this thing, the reason 4 not 5 stars is the manual states to used chipped ice, not whole ice. For me, I'm lucky enough to have the crushed ice dispenser on the fridge, but for others, that would make this gadget a little less frosty-licious.

Love it, love it, love it and I'm buying another as the PERFECT gift for a brother who loves to cook.

I don't know about the warranty stuff, and I've only had this a week or so, but I love it. I always hated ladling chunky soup into the blender, thence into another bowl while I did further batches, making a mess at every stage. With this I did a big bowl of soup, put the hand blender into it and in maybe 15 seconds it was perfectly pureed. Moreover, a note in the manual led me to using it every morning to froth the almond milk I use in my latte, at which it does a fantastic job--again, 15 seconds or so and way better than you get at Starbucks (though a good barrista can still do a better job with steam). Terrific.

...not to have bought and used this product sooner. I heard wonderful things but kept putting it off. Finally after a messy and dangerous evening of pouring hot soup straight into a blender, I decided I'd waited long enough.

The design is user-friendly both from an assembly and safety standpoint (everything goes into an obvious place, and clicks when locked in) and from an ergonomic one. I found the blender very easy to hold and maneuver while I used it to puree homemade tomato soup. Within less than a minute the soup had a silkier and smoother texture than I've ever gotten with a standard blender. It was truly of restaurant quality.

Cleanup couldn't have been easier: "blend" some hot, soapy water. Done.

I'm really happy with this product and would wholeheartedly recommend it to any home chef.

My original review was very negative, but I have come to really enjoy the Cuisinart Stick Hand Blender. One of the nicest things about it is the mini-processor, which works well to make small portions and eliminates getting out the Big Cuisinart (with all that the cleanup of that entails). All of my initial concerns have subsided -- I still do think that Cuisinart should have paid the shipping for the replacement part, but now that this is safely in the past, I am enjoying using this appliance. It literally saved the day when I was making "Fleming's Potatoes" and neglected to process the leeks before putting into the cream sauce with the cheese. A few zaps with the blender and all was well.

First, the plastic on the chopper bowl lid broke while I was trying to grate cheese (according to the directions). And then, after I replaced it (it took them 2 tries to ship out the correct part), something in the motor stopped working so that none of the attachments rotate at all (the motor is on though). This was a gift so I don't have a receipt. Cuisinart will not replace the motor under the warranty. Looking for a different brand now. It looks like it'll be sturdy, but it is not!

I've always respected the Cuisinart brand name, and that's one of the major deciding factors that helped me choose this product. I wasn't disappointed. I love the brushed steel look, and especially the versatility. Very easy to clean, too. I've always been annoyed at how loud similar products have been but the motor is quite quiet, and unless I'm blending crushed ice it's a nice volume level during use.

The only thing that bothers me is the blade in the chopping cup is a bit difficult to clean if anything is stuck on it, since it is so slick but the blades are so sharp, and the pulse button style is a little trigger-happy so I have a few more inadvertent spins when not in food, which just sprays my food a little bit when I slip. *that one is more my fault though!*

I received the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender with whipping and chopping attachments for Christmas, two Christmases ago (xmas '07). It is still going strong, with almost daily use, and some specialized uses. I think it is a very good product. It's primary intended use is as a hand blender, and it excels at that.

The chopping and whipping attachments do work, and work well enough in a limited cooking context. I wouldn't expect them to be otherwise: the first two words in this product title, after the brand name "Cuisinart Smart Stick," are "hand" and "blender."

A caveat: I have a love/hate relationship with single-use small appliances (such as hot air popcorn poppers, rice cookers, hand blenders, George Foreman grill, etc.). There are a few important reasons:

(1) Single-use appliances (such as hand blenders) will always be much more limited than multi-use appliances (such as actual blenders). For example, if I want to REALLY crush ice and not worry about killing the appliance, then I would use a REAL blender, not a hand blender. If I need to whip a LOT of whipping cream or a LOT of egg whites, I'll use a hand mixer, not a Cuisinart Smart Stick. The full size appliances are up to the tasks. They are also SIZED appropriately for the tasks. They are also appropriately MOTORIZED for the tasks.

Single use appliances are limited in what they can do by their design. I'll allow that it is probably more than a little disingenuous to market a hand blender as a food processor or whipping cream whipper... because, at the end of the day, it's primary use is to be a hand blender. The other options are not to be the primary uses of this small appliance. If they were, it would be called the Cuisinart Smart Stick Whipper, Food Processor and Hand Blender. And it isn't.

(2) Single use appliances are usually far simpler to use than their full-use counterparts. Consider the size and design of a hand blender vs. a real blender. Or vs. a KitchenAid stand mixer. There's just no comparison.

The multi-use appliances have more removable parts, they're more complicated to put together and take apart, and -- contrary to Whispering Willow's objection to cutting up vegetables prior to using the Smart Stick Chopping attachment -- the foods usually require more prepping before you put them in. You don't just dump a whole cucumber or a whole carrot into a food processor to be chopped or slices, any more than you would try to put a whole cuke or whole carrot into the Smart Stick Chopper attachment.

But the complexity and more moving parts are why multi-use appliances can (for example) chop ice better than a hand blender: because they're built bigger, with bigger parts, stronger/faster/more variable speed motors, and with more complex design. There is a reason why the average blender has about 12 speeds (or more): because it needs to be able to not just mix or chop but also to, for example, frappe.

In other words, if you need to do more than blending, minor chopping, or minor whipping, you should probably use a blender, food processor, or hand mixer, not the Smart Stick. All blenders, food processors, and hand mixers have multiple speeds and switches that lock "on" to keep the motor going at a specific speed for long periods of time or to allow for measured, accurate, repeated bursts of blending/chopping/mixing.

(3) The single-use appliances like hand blenders are usually much easier to clean than their full-size, fully capable counterparts. You clean the one removable part and wipe the base or motor, and that's it.

On a real blender, you're supposed to take the bottom off, remove the blade, remove the rubber washer and wash the pitcher, the blade, and the bottom -- WITHOUT the gear attachment! -- in your sink or dishwasher. You can't put the motorized part or the gear attachments in dishwater or in a dish washer, unless you want to wet the motor (and probably kill it) and make the gears rust.

On the Smart Stick, because of its design, you can't put any of the attachments in a dishwasher or in a sink filled with soapy water, because they mesh with the base via plastic and metal gears at the top of each attachment. The only one you can put in the dishwasher is the whisk part of the whipping attachment (not the gear part of the whipping attachment).

Now, on to how the Smart Stick functions:

This hand blender is a little work horse with three major things going for it: stainless steel blades, stainless steel blender, and a good, fast motor.

You can blend soups with it, make smoothies (with ice cubes, frozen berries, frozen chunk fruits like mango, etc.), make shakes, mix drinks, crack ice. (Okay, don't do the latter. The manual says not to, and I didn't get that adventurous with it until after I'd had it over a year. And the cubes I'm cracking are from ice cube TRAYS, not the refrigerator ice maker. That said, it *can* chop ice cubes. You probably shouldn't, but it is possible, as long as the ice cubes aren't huge ones from your fridge ice maker or from store-bought bags of ice.)

It makes smoothies very well, but I've used it to make shakes (some of them quite thick, accidentally), and to whip eggs for omelettes or scrambled eggs. I use the BLENDER to whip eggs, not the whipping attachment. I froth milk with the blender when I don't feel like using my Melitta espresso maker to steam-and-froth milk. The Smart Stick makes a nice head on hot chocolate. It mixes horchata well. You can make faux cappuccino with cold or hot "frothed" milk by using the blender for a long time on the milk with your finger depressing the switch the whole time, and then pouring only the "head" of the milk into your espresso (which will be most of the milk, depending how long you blended it).

Now, to the attachments. This is where Whispering Willow's negative review has to be put into perspective, and Willow's and others' expectations of a HAND BLENDER need to be adjusted.

Yes, the measuring cup/mixer cup that comes with the Cuisinart is badly designed. It flares wider as it gets towards the top, so lifting the hand blender in and out like you normally would can splatter a lot. I don't use the measuring cup that came with this Cuisinart hand blender. I use the old one I have from my dead Braun hand blender: it's taller and has straight sides, so liquids don't splatter when you move the hand blender up and down the way you normally would, to do what a hand blender does!

However, the criticism of the lip for pouring is minor, I feel. Yeah, so it pours wide. I've experienced this with water pitchers, wine carafes, bottled juices... the solution to this problem? Pour from a higher height. You've seen waiters do this, but it's not a special talent. They do it for the same reason: some pitchers pour wide, so they must pour from a higher point to get the liquid thin enough in diameter to go into a water glass without splashing out along the sides.

Whispering Willow's criticism of the whipping attachment is valid. You can't pick it up out of the measuring/blending cup, or you'll splatter whipped cream (or eggs, or whatever) all over your counter, other appliances, and yourself. But you don't *need* to pick it up while it's moving... the whipping attachment circulates the liquid in the cup well while you're whipping. That is, if you're not over filling.

I have used the whipping attachment in bowls to whip whipped cream and to whip egg whites to be folded into cake batters or for meringues. It's not as good as a hand mixer, but it's not too bad. Just use a deep bowl. I have some stainless steel bowls in graduated sizes, and I use a smaller, taller bowl, and I don't lift the whipping attachment. For serious whipping, I get out a hand mixer. Which will also splatter if you lift it up out of the bowl while it's still on and moving, Whispering Willow. Huh. Who could imagine... (File under "Duh...")

Regarding the criticism of the chopping attachment: yeah, it's not a food processor... so it's not as versatile. For myself, I've easily used it to chop onions. I'm not expecting it to mince them, but coarsely chopped is fine.

You can chop finer than coarse, but do not expect to be able to mince anything with this chopping attachment. It's good, but it's not that good. In fact, nothing but a cutting board and a good kitchen knife really minces well. But you're using a hand blender to speed up the process of chopping. You're choosing speed over quality.

If it is so crucial to get something finely chopped, then you're probably following a recipe to the letter, and you need to do it the way Julia Child did: by hand. If you're not willing to sacrifice the quality of the chopping (or whipping) for the time you save, you probably shouldn't use a hand blender.

Most people's mistake is to overfill the chopping attachment: this is how you end up with some very finely chopped stuff, and some large chunks.

Instead, the best way to get the Cuisinart chopping attachment to chop things well is (1) don't over fill it (do large amounts of vegetables in two or three or more installments), and (2) shake it up and down while you are chopping, like you would to get an even grind in an electric hand-held coffee grinder.

Yes, so you have to cut vegetables into pieces before you throw them in the chopping attachment... so what? You have to cut vegetables and meat into pieces in order to process them in food processors, too.

I've used the chopping attachment to chop baby carrots into carrot slaw, apples into apple-slaw, onions, garlic, tomoatoes, water chestnuts, cucumbers for tzatziki (cucumber/garlic/sour cream dish, it's Greek), and I think you could easily use it for any "wet" type vegetable -- that is, things that are dry on the outside but wet on the inside, like carrots, zucchini, etc.

You can also chop fresh herbs well with this Cuisinart blender chopping attachment. I like to buy cilantro fresh, then chop about 2/3 of what I've bought coarsely and put it in single or double serving bags and freeze them. That way I have them all made up and prepared, and all I have to do is yank them out of the freezer, and empty the bag into the soup or salsa or beans or whatever I'm using the cilantro with. This summer I plan to do the same thing with our basil plants in the yard, because I love a good bruschetta.

Now the criticism that the Cuisinart attachments can't be put in the dishwasher is a valid one... if you think that dishwashers actually sterilize your dishes and kill all germs. Think again. I'm a registered nurse. Part of my job is knowing how to kill germs or at least remove them from my clothes, from equipment, etc.

No home dishwasher or clothes washer is ever going to be hot enough to kill everything. In order to do so, you would have to set your hot water heater's max temperature so high that you would be risking 2nd and 3rd degree burns from scalding whenever you turn your hot water on -- not practical in homes with elderly people or small children or both.

The max high temp most homes have their hot water heaters set to is NOT enough to kill all bacteria, viruses, and other infectious microbes. The only dish and clothes washers that can reach temperatures high enough to kill MOST microbes (and a LOT more than your home dish- and clothes washers) are industrial: in restaurants, hotels, and hospitals.

It is not just the temperature of the water. It is the amount of soap and the length of wash time. This is true with hand washing as well: washing your hands with soap and water may not get rid of all the microbes on them. However, wetting them thoroughly, using a generous amount of soap, and then washing with that soap for at least 20-30 seconds (long enough to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice) will remove MOST of the microbes from your hands. And this is why surgeons scrub for a LONG TIME and halfway up their arms prior to gowning and gloving for surgery, and with nail brushes, etc. -- to maximize the amount of skin exposed to the soap and to maximize the amount of TIME the skin is exposed to the soap.

So, for the Cuisinart hand blender, I would say, do what hospitals do with hard surface disinfecting, if you're really that worried about it: a bleach solution, sprayed on and allowed to sit for 30 seconds minimum, and then wiped off. The Cuisinart can take it -- it's stainless steel. Then, just rinse it before using.

Myself, I find it fairly simple to rinse the blender attachment off, or rinse the chopper attachment out, and the inside of the chopper lid (that attaches to the blender base). I have a spray bottle near the sink that is a mix of dishwashing liquid and water (thinned just enough so that it is sprayable). I wet the attachments with my hot water sprayer, then spray the attachments with the dishwashing liquid/water mixture, and scrub really well for half a minute or so with the scrubby side of a kitchen sponge, then rinse with hot water.

If you've made the mistake of letting the blender sit out and food has dried on it, simply fill up the blending cup with warm soapy water and soak the blender attachment or whipping attachment. After it's soaked long enough to loosen dried food or liquid, scrub as above, and rinse. Not a big deal.

If you know what a hand blender is for, and what it ISN'T for, this is one of the best out there, if not the best on the market currently. (I don't think the Braun Multiquick is still on the market.)

It's a great hand blender, it's an okay chopper, and it's a decent whipper.