Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 56406 BlendSmart 18-Speed Blender

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We felt like we'd taken a step into the next century when we replaced our old blender with this state of the art beauty by Hamilton Beach.

It took us a while to adjust to the fact that we no longer had to stand over a blender, turn it off, and circulate the mixture with a spatula. This blender is aptly named "Blend smart" - it is programmed to blend automatically and then turn off. All we have to do is touch the Blend Smart Button once for 45 seconds of pre-programmed blending cycles.

In addition, this blender has the capability to crush ice and other solids msoothly and consistently.

For safety's sake the jar is locked to the base so it won't tip over.

Now, our shakes and drinks are perfection. Why didn't we get one sooner?

I recently purchased a Smart Blend 18 speed blender after sending back a Smoothie Maker. The Smart Blend does everthing that the manufacturer stated. It does a great job at shaving and blending ice and quickly. The price is moderate compared to other blenders and I feel a good buy.

The quality of the Hamilton Beach 56406 BlendSmart 18-Speed Blender is excellent. This is a POWERFUL blender. It comes with 550 watts of power. The glass jar is thick and has a very wide bottom. The jar locks into place when used so you don't need to worry about the jar shaking off the base. The base of the unit allows you to wrap the cord around it to neatly put away the cord or to shorten the cord so that you don't have a cord dangling around your countertop. This is a nice feature that is not present on most blenders. Another nice feature present on this blender is the speed dial. This is far more convenient to use than a bunch of separate speed buttons. The unit also comes with a special ice crushing blade. The big question is: can this blender crush ice well? With most other blenders, in order to crush ice, you have to baby-sit the blender, manually pressing the pulse button several times, stopping once in a while to shake the jar or stir the ingredients with a spoon to loosen up the ice that's stuck in the bottom on the jar. With this blender all you have to do is press the BlendSmart button! The BlendSmart feature starts out by automatically pulsing the motor to crush the ice for you, and then it starts blending at a low speed, slowly increasing in speed until it completes the process, and then it shuts itself off. This means you can press the BlendSmart button, leave, come back in less than a minute and it's done. You don't need to baby-sit this blender. To test the blender I made a very thick banana smoothie with a dozen large ice cubes and very little milk, by simply pressing the BlendSmart button once. The smoothie came out perfect. I was amazed at how well the ice was crushed, and very pleased that I didn't have to baby-sit the blender to make the smoothie. Being a 550 watt blender, the noise level is not as high as you might expect. At lower speeds the noise is less than most other blenders. This is by far the best blender I have ever used. I highly recommend this blender. It's a quality machine.

I got this blender as a wedding gift and have given several as gifts myself since. This little machine does it all, even for those who aren't really cooks, such as myself. The ice crusher alone makes it worth the money. Highly recommend, as I've found mine to be far superior than more expensive models owned by friends

A great blender, and I hoped to order from Amazon. But it isn't shipped from Amazon. It is from some wholesale club that Amazon fronts for. Shipping was quoted at over $17.00! More than 55% of the price of the item! So much for the lovely discount. So, I bought it at a mall.

JUNE 2005 - We make smoothies almost every day. We use frozen fruit and juice - no ice cubes. I've had my Kitchen Aid mixer for 20 years - nothing better! So, naturally I went for the Kitchen Aid professional blender. First of all- when making smoothies, I would have to stop it several times to stir the fruit because it would struggle with the contents. Then, even when it looked smooth, someone would always end up with a fruit chunk in their glass. After a year or so, the motor burned out. Got a replacement blender (same model). And within a year, while making a smoothie, the glass jar was not set on properly (I suspect) and the little rubber feet that turn the blades broke off the base. And of course, you can't just buy that part - you have to send the whole machine in for repair. At the original price of that baby - forget it! So, I decided to try the Hamilton Beach after seeing the positive reviews. The glass jar is large, sturdy, and solid. It has a powerful 450 watt motor. There is a lock on the base, so the jar cannot be put on unevenly. The smart blend feature is great. Press the button and walk away. No stopping and stirring. Smooth smoothies every time. No chunks! I am so impressed by this blender!!!
UPDATE NOVEMBER 2006 -
I am so sad to say, that we finally burned up the motor on this puppy too! It hung in there for a long time and worked like a charm, until it died. It was still a great bargain for the year+ that we owned it. I guess we will look at a commercial WARING blender for our next adventure... they're VERY expensive, but supposedly last for years...

Whether you need to blend for a big group in the glass jar or are making a smoothie just for yourself, you are going to love this blender. It does a great job on even ice heavy recipes....this lives up to any challenge

I love this blender, super action and easily used to mix everything with ice, etc. I have recommended it to friends and family.

Got this blender a month ago - almost paid full price for it before Xmas. Now it is a bargain at <$30. The "BlendSmart" feature is pretty nifty - just dump in your fruit, yogurt, ice, etc., hit one button, and it goes thru an automatic pre-programmed cycle of pulsing and blending that makes a perfect smoothie everytime. Also makes good frozen drinks too. Seems pretty powerful and the heavy glass pitcher has ridges in it that must help create the desired turbulence to assure an even mixing and chopping.

I purchased this blender recently and have not yet had the chance to use all the features, however for the period of time I have been using it, I am very please with the results.

I also love the large capacity of the jar which allows me to blend more items at a time. The easy locking feature lets you know that the jar is secure.

I have not yet used the smartblend feature but once I do, I am sure I will be giving this product 5 stars.