Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 52204 Blender/Food Processor

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I gave a Hamilton Beach blender to a friend of mine as a gift last year. It's worked wonderfully, and that's pretty incredible, considering it's been used primarily for pulverizing ice for margaritas! I'm sure most blenders would have gone to small appliance heaven by now, but it just keeps on going. The glass blender jar is much nicer than plastic. Both probably work as well, but glass looks more permanent and makes for a nicer gift. I have a small food processor as well, and now I'm kicking myself, since it looks like they included it in this blender set at about half the price I paid for it. Good quality product, and remarkable value.

I recently got my blender/processer, and have enjoyed using it almost every day. I started making smoothies for breakfast -- the ice crusher feature is great. When I get home, chopping up veggies for a quick stir-fry or sauce is a breeze with the food processor attachment. No more crying over onions or concentration for carrot chopping. This very economically priced multi-function appliance is very VERY welcome in my kitchen.

I've just thrown out the food processor part of this appliance and replaced it with one that actually processes food! Often when you buy a tool or appliance that has more than one function you get a compromise that does neither task well. In this case, the blender works great, just as my old HB blender did for 20 years. However, whoever designed the food processor attachment didn't test it out enough in the kitchen. The ends of mixing blades are a good half inch from the sides of the bowl, when mixing or chopping anything but pure liquids, all the food gets moved to the sides of the bowl and out of the way of the blades. I had to continually stop it and scrape the food back into the center only to have it spin to the sides unchopped again - totally useless! Also shredding cheese nearly brings the slice/shred blade to a stop. Just not enough power there.

I was skeptical about whether a blender/food processor combination could be either a good blender or a good food processor. This machine acquitted itself very well.

The blender jar is heavy glass, and its graduations are well marked. My personal preference is to shun plastic jars -- it just seems like an inappropriate material for the kind of violent action taking place within! The base is stable and sturdy. The rubber parts seem a little inflexible, and I'm especially not sure the lid is going to stand up to years of use.

Blending works like, well -- blending. So far I've done some test blends like crushing ice, but I also grated orange rind for a loaf of bread I was baking, and was very pleased with the results. The only part of the blender that can go in the dishwasher is the blender jar -- everything else must be washed by hand (and carefully in the case of the blades).

The food processor comes as an accessory kit in its own interior box with separate instructions. BE CAREFUL: following the instructions to wash everything before first use, I put the food processor base in the sink in soapy hot water. THEN I read the warning not to do this: the base is actually a gear reduction unit (like the transmission in your car), and not meant to get wet. It took over half an hour to shake all the water out of it, and I hope I haven't done permanent damage.

Since the base just sits on the blender power unit, you'd think that there would be no safety interlock ... but you'd be wrong. The unit will not spin unless the lid is on, because the lid has a protrusion in the center that pushes down on the shaft.

If you have previously owned a full-size food processor, you may not be happy with the size of the bowl. It's a step up from a chopper. But the attachments (an S-blade, and a combination slicing/shredding disc) are standard, and they do the job. The oil chute looks as though it would work well, although I haven't tried this feature.

This is a good value and saves space on the counter. It definitely represents an economic and environmental saving over owning two separate appliances for similar work.

...I decided to purchase it. I am truly disappointed in the blender attachment. I attempted to make 1/2 batch of pina coldas and the ice does not get chopped. For some reason it gets stuck in the bottom of the blender and the spinning blades do not reach it. I have to turn it off and on several times and switch power levels many times to get the ice cubes chopped. A 1/2 batch of pina coladas typically takes 5 minutes blending time, by which time most of the ice cubes have turned to water. I often make milkshakes as well and I have the same problem. It is very frustrating and embarrasing to have company over and try to be blending drinks and then apologizing that they are all lumpy with big ice cubes.

I used the food processor attachment and wasn't impressed either. The blades do not reach to the outermost portions of the processing bowl, so it is necessary to scrape the food back where it can be chopped. I've used it for making graham cracker crumbs and for chopping onions.

I will be shopping for a new blender that actually does chop ice...It was such a disappointment for me.

I've found this to be a very good blender with some helpful food processing features. It is not a substitute for a Food Processor but does perform some handy "light duty" functions. It has a reversible blade for grating and slicing. It does not have a dough mixing blade, several kinds of slicing and grating blades and a large bowl, which is typical of a full size food processor. If your food processing requirements don't extend beyond some grated carrots or cheese for your salad, sliced onions, or chopped vegetatables, this might be enough for you. The bowl is not that large, so sometimes you might need to do your processing in two batches. The blender itself is useful for a lot more than just making mixed drinks and smoothies. You can make bread crumbs for a topping, grind spices and coffee beans, beat pancake batter, make pesto or lightly whip cream. And nothing beats the blender for making a smooth pureed soup. I use the blender daily and frequently use the food processing attachments. For "heavy duty" food processing chores, I still use my full-size food processor, but the Hamilton Beach Blender-Processor is very handy and a good value ... You could buy a similar, more expensive product, but I feel this a good buy. I would recommend it even if you already have a food processor. It's easy to clean and less bother than a large processor when you need just a small amount of food chopped, grated, or sliced.

I recently replaced my old Hamilton Beach blender with this. My old blender was fine, which says a lot about the manufacturer, Hamilton Beach, because the blender I replaced was 15 years old and plastic, and worked perfectly.

I was intriqued by the dual function that this blender has with the capability to blend and also having food processor functions. How clever!

What I enjoy is the sturdy, glass pitcher. As I mentioned above, my other was plastic and after all those years of use, the pitcher was scratched and the plastic turned a milky color. This won't happen with a glass pitcher. Also, when pouring, the heavy glass feels so much better in your hand.

If you are shopping for a food processor, this might not be right for you. It doesn't have the features nor the abilities that a true food processor has. Rather, think of this as a blender (a GOOD blender!) that has some food processing functions.

I have a few choppers, two electric and one hand crank model, in addition to one food processor. Despite having them, I don't use any of them often. They work well but are a real bother to assemble, disassemble, and clean.

Not the case with the food processing attachments that come with this blender. It's easy to assemble and much easier to clean. Because it's a blender, I'm able to dump out any food bits, rinse out the pitcher and clean it by adding warm water, dish soap and BLEND. I soak the attachments in the warm, soapy water right inside the pitcher itself. Then finally, I pour the warm soapy blended water over the blades and voila! It's washed! Then just wipe and rinse, and all are clean!

This would make a nice family holiday gift, a perfect gift for the cook or chef, a wonderful wedding or housewarming gift and it's a great addition for your own kitchen.

This combination appliance is just right for small kitchens with limited storage space. It saves the space and expense of a separate motor base. Would prefer a way to store the two included blades together inside the bowl. The food processor attachment is great -- very easy to attach, use, and clean. The small bowl size is fine for a couple or a small family. The blender is a blender and does what it should do. Limitations: it lacks the multiple cutting blades of larger food processors -- but I never used them all anyway. Switches are mechanical pushbuttons, not electronic. This appliance will suit most people well. Recommended.

Sorry, but I had a bad experience with the blender. I tried to make a smoothie, and the blender would not work right. A normal blender would suck inward and down into the blades, while expelling the pureed goop upwards along the sides. This blender did neither. I think it is because the bottom of the glass tapers off to much, leaving little room for stuff to move down there. It couldn't even chop ice correctly. It was the only item I had to send back.

Finally Hamilton Beach has come out with a multi-use product by combining two logical appliances. When I first saw the price, I thought that I would have to give up something for the convenience of a 2-in-1 appliance. After receiving this gift for Christmas, I was dead wrong. It's a 3-in-1 appliance. I also use it as a coffee grinder (on Liquify speed).

We don't have to get in to the fact that this thing is ultra-convenient in that it doesn't take up the room that two appliances normally would. But something else I was relatively surprised at was the size of the base. This appliance is pretty compact for a blender/food processor. On the whole, I would say it is smaller than most blenders. However, I don't think you give up too much, if any room in the blender pitcher. The manual wasn't exactly clear, but I believe the blender pitcher holds between 40-48 oz. of fluid (1250-1375 ml). The pitcher is sturdy glass, sits on the base comfortably and has four sets of measurements in mL, Liters, cups and ounces. None of the parts are supposed to go in the dishwasher (unlike one of the reviews) but like most blenders, all parts come apart easy for washing. The blender has 12 speeds including ice crush. I found the top speed probably slower than most other average top speeds on a blender, but it's quieter and I haven't seen any less results as far as my food blended is concerned. It rips through ice, one area of concern for me when I was looking for a blender.

The manual comes with some recipes and a section on blending techniques. Oh, and as far as one of the other reviews of this product is concerned, I didn't get the gummy label on my blender. This shouldn't influence your decision to buy, it may depend where the product originates.