Customer Reviews

Kalorik BL-16909 500-Watt 2-Speed Countertop Blender with 48-Ounce Glass Jar, Brushed Stainless Steel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I purchased this blender, as many others have, based on the recommendation from Cook's Illustrated as a "Best Buy." I previously owned a Cuisinart blender that cost roughly three times as much as this one. I was never happy with the Cuisinart; it couldn't thoroughly crush ice or make smoothies, required constant intervening when blending to try to get the contents consistent, and eventually the motor burned out.

I have owned the Kalorik for over a year now, and have used it to make many smoothies and margaritas as well as the occasional pesto, sauce, or soup. To date, I have been extremely happy with the blender. I rarely, if ever, need to push the contents around to ensure everything gets blended. It is certainly not whisper-quiet, but is probably a little quieter than blenders with comparable power. It mows through an entire container of ice and frozen strawberries without slowing down or struggling at all. It's easy to clean since everything comes apart.

There are a couple of minor downsides that cause me to deduct one star from the rating (if I could rate it 4.5, I would). The lid is flimsy and can be difficult to remove. I did notice that they sell a pour top on the Kalorik website, so I may pursue one of those. I would also prefer at least one additional speed. The slowest setting is still awfully fast, so that one slower speed would be useful when starting a smoothie.

Those minor issues don't detract a lot from the blender in my mind. The best part about this blender is the value it offers. It is a high-performing product at a much lower price than most comparable units. I personally wasn't willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a blender, and am very happy with the price I paid for such a functional machine.

So we liked the blender but then the other day we found it spewing ball bearings (like little BBs at a high rate of spped) and rust dust. Bounced off our kitchen backsplash and just missed shooting my wife. if I wanted this kind of excitement in a household appliance I would have bought a chainsaw.

Bought this blender on the Cooks Illustrated recommendation and it is a good blender with a solid glass jar. The rubber gasket between the jar and the blade is almost clear and I lost mine. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the $1.99 gasket would cost over $20 to replace! The Kalorik website only handles minimum of $10 orders so 6 gaskets are the minimum purchase. I decided on an additional blade ($9.99) and 2 gaskets. Shipping for that is $10.85. So it is costing me $24.82 for the $1.99 gasket.

Moral of the story - HOLD ONTO YOUR GASKET!

Maybe I should buy the 6 and sell the other 5 through Amazon. Hmmm.

This blender got raves in Cook's Illustrated, which is why I bought it. At first it was great (we make a lot of smoothies from frozen fruit). After a couple of months, I thought it seemed louder than before, but shrugged it off thinking that it must have always been that loud, as it was still working fine. Well it turns out the noise was based on the fact that the blender basically vibrated itself apart! Didn't last more than four months.

Bought it in April, had to return first one because of no lid. (Amazon was GREAT and sent another one very quickly)
Second One blended ok, but sounded horribly loud! Then in August small ball-bearing sized metal pieces and sharp metal slivers started showing up in our food!! I called the Kalorik service #, and they told me I had to BUY new blades. Would not listen to any reasoning about the dangers of the machine. WOULD NOT REFUND or REPLACE.

DO NOT BUY THIS BLENDER!

While the product is a strong performer the company is not. The blender is distributed in the US by "Team Marketing", a 6 person operation in Miami. They do not answer their phones, their employee directory is non-existant and their website is non functional for ordering parts. This is the context in which I experienced them: I broke the glass jar and could not find a replacement anywhere. As of 6/25/09 their website was unavailable to order. I paid $50.00 for the blender on Amazon in 1/09, a replacement glass jar costs $20 plus shipping. I would recommend you find a product where replacement parts are readily available or purchase a stainless jar. But when you need to replace the blades... you get the idea. Beware!

I purchased this blender on the recommendation of a friend. It was rated highly in Cook's Illustrated,and my friend had owned hers for a year with no problems. I was hesitant to purchase it at first,given its 3 star rating on Amazon, but my friend gave it a glowing review. In the first few days of use, I found that the seal on the bottom leaked when making smoothies. Unfortunately, a leaky seal was the least of my problems.

A week after receiving the blender, when trying to make a smoothie, the blade assembly began shaking wildly, causing the jar to fail catastrophically. The blade continued to chew through the glass jar, flinging shards of glass everywhere until I was able to turn the unit off. I was lucky that I wasn't injured in the process, but I was covered with glass and unprocessed smoothie. Needless to say, I cannot honestly recommend a product which actively tried to assassinate me. I would have already given it a low rating for its leaky seal, but the blender-splosion that ensued has definitely sealed the deal.

Just a few days after this happened, my friend's blender had a different failure where the plastic base cracked during operation, flinging smoothie ingredients all over her kitchen. Luckily, the jar held up for her. But, I do consider this to be blender karma.

Works great. We make a fruit and yogurt shake every morning and this thing grinds through it. The frozen strawberries and blueberries are no match for the blades. Purchased based on a best buy rating in cook's illustrated and I am glad I did.

Finding a reliable blender proved to be harder than I thought. The first one I purchased [not a Kalorik] stopped working after only one use. Some of the highly rated ones cost twice as much as this one. I have had the Kalorik for almost two months and have used it repeatedly for crushing ice and making smoothies. Operation is simple: choose pulse or one of two speeds, and it comes apart easily to clean. It is also small enough to leave on the counter and looks good. I would definitely recommend this for anyone who needs a basic blender.

BUYER BEWARE - Kalorik DOES NOT stand behind their products. I have the Aztek version of this blender and in the first 5 uses (approx 2 minutes of actual blend time) the Glass Jar developed a huge crack from bottom to top and is not usable. Though the Blender has a 1 year warranty, the glass jar, one of the most important parts is not covered. I have never seen a company basically say "Sorry" when the item dies right out of the box.