Customer Reviews

KitchenAid KSB5 5-Speed Blender, Onyx Black/Stainless Steel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this blender almost a year ago (around T-giving of last year); I have used it practically every day to make "frozen" coffees, so it has taken quite a beating; anyway, the other night, I noticed that one of the little "pegs" on the coupler that hold the blender cup had broken, but the blender still worked fine; two nights later, I turned on the blender and all of the "pegs" had broken off; I assumed it wouldn't be covered under the warranty and called Kitchen Aid's customer service line to find out how to replace the coupler and how to reinstall the new one. After providing my serial number, without any question or hastle, the representative informed me a NEW BLENDER was being shipped to me and to simply place my old one in the box and drop it off at UPS (prepaid). Given MOST customer service obtained these days, needless to say, I was SHOCKED! Kitchen Aid truly backs their product!

This blender is outstanding, and truly lives up to the reputation Kitchenaid has for producing a quality product. I own a Kitchenaid stand mixer as well as several of their major appliances, and never been disappointed. This blender appealed to me because of the Kitchenaid name, its poweful motor, capacity and stainless steel pitcher. The pitcher is more light wieght and durable than glass (the glass pitcher on the Kitchaid blenders appears especially heavy even when empty), and unlike plastic containers it will not stain, show scratches, crack, or absorb odors. The controls are easy to clean, and the step start (feature that starts the blender at lower speed and then increases power) is a nice touch. I was shocked by some of the negative feedback about this product by other consumers. This is a blender and not a food processor, and therefore would not typically be used for making a puree or cream soup, even though people who manufacture blenders (including Kitchenaid) tell consumers that it can be used effectively for that purpose. I have made smoothies, milk shakes, protein drinks, etc. with this product, and have always been pleased. I do admit that it may be necessary to scrape the sides of the pitcher when making smoothies for example, however, that is the case with most blenders. Most people do use at least some ice when making a smoothie and this blender does not leave any grainy texture in the mixture. My previous blenders have all always left at least small chunks of ice but, this blender has by far yielded the best results. This blender does represent a considerable investment but, it is not likely you will have to replace it for some time.

No more "$30 blenders" for me.... this thing is built like a tank, but in a good way. ...it's heavy, durable and wow does it blend. As a bonus, it's QUIETER than my old blender; who knew? The base stays screwed on the bottom, the "o" ring is thick and solid and NOTHING leaks, and the controls are easy and nice. Overall a dream blender, one that I will probably be using 30 years from now.

5 STARS- STAINLESS STEEL BLENDER JAR

5 STARS- BASE CONSTRUCTION (Very Sturdy)

5 STARS- DRINK CONSISTENCY

5-STARS- CHOPS ICE

1-STAR- SELECTION OF BASE COLOR (black only)

After spending hours on the web searching Consumer Reports, product reviews and various news groups and other sites; I finally decided on this particular model. Others rated it high and satisfaction was high. When I found the blender with a stainless steel blender jar that was an extra bonus! When making malts & shakes stainless helps with the consistency of the drinks. Plus it's unbreakable! I had to decide if it would bother me not to see through the stainless, before I purchased... With the glass you do have the advantage of seeing your mixture whirling around. I decided the pros outweighed the cons on that. I tend to look through the clear hole through the lid anyway. I wish Kitchenaid made the stainless steel top available with other color choices for the base, such as, the chrome bottom or at least give color choices of white, etc. as they do with the glass jars. As for performance I am highly satisfied and wouldn't hesitate to recommend this blender. I've always used the lower end blenders that cost no more than $30-$40 dollars, I am glad that I spent the extra money and finally got a blender that does what I expect it to. 120 volts ac only Hertz 60 Grounding: 3-prong system 15 amp branch circuit

Let me start out by praising Amazon. They have a great site, it's a great way to shop, one of the best.

This blender works!! I mix heavy shakes with this. I mean thick shakes with oatmeal in them. It doesn't labor, the motor doesn't have a burning smell like other blenders I have had. I broke the glass on my old blender and they wanted $50.00 for a new jar. I saw this one and bought it right away. I don't blend fruit in it so I can't speak for the job it does with that. I do blend ice cubes and it works great on blending the ice for a great shake. The best is the stainless steel jar, you can toss this around without worrying about breaking it. Get it, don't settle for less. If you don't get it, you will have two blenders some day. This one and the other one you don't use.

The Kitchen Aid blender is quite a nice blender, if you don't crush lots of ice or if you don't use it daily. It is just fine for 99% of all of the customers. I think that most people would be satisfied with this product.

However, I found that I fell in that small 1%. I realize that this might be hard to believe, but the blades on my blender broke after two weeks. The blade assembly doesn't seem to be very strong.

I like to drink my smoothies with a lot of ice, but this blender didn't chop it up very finely and I usually had to run it for about 90 seconds.

Unfortunately, I had to return the blender back to the store I bought it from and I resumed my quest to find the perfect blender. I finally settled on a K-Tec blender which has a 3 horsepower 1500 watt motor, but that cost 3x the Kitchen Aid! I am finally satisfied though.

My advice is that you will probably be satisfied with this. For the price, I am pretty much sure that there is nothing better.

I just returned one of these blenders because I found that while it was built like a tank, it didn't blend very well. When I made smoothies the KA left chunks of fruit and ice under the blades, even when I tried pulsing, all speeds, prayer...the problem seems to be that the blades sit up higher than the bottom of the glass jar, and are made of thick metal, the better to pulverize ice, but my sister-in-law's cheapie blender made a silkier puree...

I have had this blender for three years and absolutely love it. It is especially useful for cold drinks since the stainless steel keeps everything even colder. As I have said before, you just can't go wrong with a KitchenAid and their products are worth every penny. With the jar being so wide and a full 40 ounces, stuck ice cubes are a thing of the past. It can handle anything you can think of blending. Smoothies are always a problem with other mixers since you need to use a lot of fruit. This baby seems to say "Let me at 'em" and purees without hesitation. I just love this mixer and I love KitchenAid products. They are worth every penny you spend and won't disappoint.

I have read the various reviews pertaining to this blender and feel compelled to mention that there is some misinformation out there! If you are making smoothies with lots of fresh or frozen fruit, you get the best results by using the pulse button to get the chunks to a finer consistency-about 10-15 seconds. When you depress the pulse button, it activates the pulse function. All of the top buttons on this blender then become "pulse" buttons. You simply press and release the buttons to allow the product to fall down to bhe blade to become impacted-it makes sense! If you go full speed ahead, you will see the chunks floating around the middle and not falling down to the blade. It actually takes you longer to get a smooth smoothie! Also, there is a polycarbonate jar available, which is unbreakable and fits all of the blenders-you can see what you are doing and don't have to worry about breakage! Hope this helps with your decision making! You will greatly prolong the life of your blender and coupler system with the pulse button. It is a very powerful blender and without this TLC, there is undue stress and strain on the coupler! Happpy blending!

I have 2 young children, and have had more than one of my plastic appliances get broken, including the blender the KitchenAid replaced. The stainless steel jar is a Godsend, though it does make it a little more difficult to adjust frozen drinks and other beverages during blending. However it's graduated on the inside so you don't have to pre-measure the ingredients.

The motor has a large amount of torque. If the countertop is damp, the blender will actually 'twist' slightly when you turn it on (so does the big KitchenAid food processor btw). It easily chops ice and other solids, producing excellent smoothies and frozen daquiries.

Because the jar is metal it absorbs the temperature of the contents, so you will need to adjust your bulletproof frozen drink ratios, adding a little more liquid, to get the same results you are used to. It's not unusual for ice to form on the outside of the jar during blending, leading me to think that the liquid inside is freezing as well, thus more liquid is needed to thin the mixture. I get great results with no chunks or graininess. This temperature absorbtion quirk could also be why others are having difficulty with the top leaking while blending hot beverages - the steel expands when heated creating gaps around the cap. This doesn't worry me, because I only use the blender for cold blending.

Would I buy again? Absolutely. And the lack of color choice? Now that it's available in Black and White, I don't know of anyone whose kitchen it won't look okay in (except my Mom's avocado 1960s kitchen, that is). The best part is knowing that I'll never have to replace the jar because it got knocked to the floor or was dropped.