Customer Reviews

KitchenAid Factory-Reconditioned RRKSB5ER Ultra Power 5-Speed Blender, Empire Red

5 star:		(192)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

My wife and I suffered with a cheap old blender for years and decided to upgrade with this KitchenAid model. So far we are very impressed with the power and evident quality of this machine. It chews up all sizes of ice cubes with ease and the pitcher is very easy to disassemble and clean. If you want a stylish looking blender that packs a serious motor and no unnecessary frills, this is the one for you!

As for the fact that this is a reconditioned model... Ours arrived in factory new packaging and there wasn't so much as a scratch anywhere on the thing. Highly recommended!!!

I bought this blender because I have begun to have a smoothie every morning and my old blender couldn't handle it. I used to have to stop every 30 seconds to stir the fruit to get it to blend. The KitchenAid blender is amazing - I never have to stop and stir and never have to worry about chunks in my smoothie when I use frozen fruit. And it's beautiful - no visual imperfections. I definitely would buy it again, but don't think I would have to as I know that KitchenAid appliances last for pretty much forever.

We have had thre of these. On each one the coupler broke (the toothed wheel that couples the base to the pitcher blades). THis is a very common problem. Kitchen aid offered us an upgrade on the first one for $40. Then we bought another from Amazon (great price). Both couplers have now broken and Kitchen Aid is not willing to assist. The couplers are only $7 but nearly impossible to replace without a special tool that I have been unable to locate. By the time you pay the appliance store to replace them you can buy another blender. Really annoying. An obvious design flaw. Kitchen aid's only assistance was to offer the professional model at $50 off list, not even as good as it can be purchaced on sale. They dropped the ball onthis one!

If you've always had Wal-Mart appliances because you don't think it's worth $$ more, think again. 2 years ago I received a kitchenaid mixer (heavy duty 5 qt)as a Christmas present. I've used my hand mixer once since then b/c my Kitchenaid is just amazing. As long as it's used correctly, it never struggles. I was so pleased with this blender and my mixer that I went ahead and bought a KitchenAid KFPW760OB 700-Watt 12-Cup Food Processor. I wanted Refurb for the savings, but there weren't any so I had to pay full price (still cheaper than other places). You just can't go wrong with Kitchenaid. Everything has been superb.

My Hamilton Beach blender was on it's last legs so I did the research and reviews pointed to the Kitchenaid blender, but $100 seemed too high. Then I found the reconditioned one for $40! I immediately bought it(these don't last on Amazon for a reason), and I love it. Kitchenaid Refurbs are the same excellent, high-quality appliances with the same 1 year warranty. It is loud, but it can handle chopping ice and nuts. Plus, it's got a Stir-speed so it starts out a little slower to prevent messes. Great when mixing things with flour. The jar is plenty heavy, but it's squarish and a little more difficult to scrape. That is the only piddly negative thing I can say.

As with any blender, put your liquids in first, then the heavy food, then the ice if using. You won't have as much, if any, stuck at the bottom to scrape.

Like blended coffee drinks? Brew 1 c of strong coffee (use twice the coffee as usual) and chill. Add 1/2 c of coffee, 2 c milk, 1/4-1/3 c sugar, and 1 1/2 c ice cubes. If desired, add cocoa powder and/or an extract such as mint, coconut, or almond. Blend until smooth.

For a mocha frappucino, blend 1/2 c strong coffee, 2 1/2 c milk, 1/4 c sugar, 1 Tbsp dry pectin (canning goods isle), and cocoa powder to taste. It really does taste like the bottled kind. You can get these recipes at topsecretrecipes.com He's got several books out, and all the recipes are dead-on.

I pulled this blender out of the box and immediately filled it with ice cubes (no water). I turned it on and gave the cubes a whirl, stopping the blender when I heard the blade run without resistance--a minute or less. When I took off the lid, there was no ice in the center of the pitcher. It had all been ground down to a snow-like consistency and was stuck to the inside of the pitcher. I always use "the ice test" with blenders--if it won't crush up ice for a margarita, it's worthless to me--and I've a graveyard of blenders with dead motors to prove it.

With this blender, it was effortless. Powerful motor. Solidly made, and easy to clean. I have several products from KitchenAid and love them ALL. Great company. Buy their products with confidence--if something does break, their customer support is also fantastic.

This is a good blender, but that coupler is an issue.... forums on the kitchenaid webpage suggest that the two main reasons that the coupler is damaged is because of wiggling the jar during blending or from lifting the jar off the base/coupler before it has completely stopped spinning, which sounds reasonable. But, i think its mainly from the paddles on the blade assembly not being completely aligned with the coupler...

...If you unscrew the white plastic base of the jar, you can see how this assembly might be shifted slightly to one side or the other. I put the jar on the base, centered the blades as best as i could (with the blender unplugged, of course) and tightened the jar down like that. If you hear a "rattling" sound with the blender on, then its probably not completely centered.

If it does become damaged, I came across a DIY forum where they discuss repairing this for little money on howtomendit dot com here: http://howtomendit.com/answers.php?id=835
You can get the part for about $9 shipped from mendingshed dot com here: http://mendingshed.com/kacoupling.html
There is also an in depth thread on the official kitchenaid blender forums about this titled "Poor Design" here: http://forum.kitchenaid.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=767

Given this information, I think this refurb is worth a go for any adveturous blender enthusiast, but I certainly wouldn't buy this new having this advance knowledge.

I use my blender twice a day for meal replacement shakes and I couldn't be happier with the kitchenaid model I bought. I would recommend this blender to anyone who will use it on a regualr basis. I had a Cuisinart (SP?)before I got this one and it was annoyingly loud, and couldn't handle daily usage. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I just got my blender about a week ago, and have been using it non-stop. It has speedy, superior ice-crushing power, and blends beautifully without the need to stick a knife or spoon down the jar to assist. I bought reconditioned, and can not tell that this isn't a brand new unit (other than the refurb. printed on the box). This blender is also much quiter and easier to clean than the Oster I previously had.

I fully expect this will last as long as all my other Kitchenaid products, it seems to built as sturdily as all their other products. I say buy it, I think if you like Kitchenaid, you will love this blender!

I grew up with Osterizer in the house. The Osterizer beehive design was available at my local club store 6 or so years ago, so I bought one. It has a simple toggle switch for a total of two modes, on, and pulse. We don't count off as a mode, but some might.
I was eager to upgrade my blender after I got a KichenAid mixer and really liked the way it was built. I found the KitcheAid at a really good price on Amazon, but it was refurbished. That didn't bother me, so I now have the KitcheAid Ultra Power 5 speed blender in my kitchen. The first test of the blender was to make chopped ice. Forget that, it wouldn't keep the ice at the bottom with the blade. The ice would shoot up the sides and stick there. It was impossible to get chipped ice from this blender. OK, so I don't really use a lot of chipped ice, and I get it from my frig door when I do. My next test was to chop my salsa. I make a chunky salsa, then pulse it and smooth it out a little. The KitchenAid pulse is a failure in actual controlled blending. I could not get the salsa to be mixed in a way I could control, so I ended up with poor results. I thought I was done and it was too chunky, then I tried a little more, and it was too thin. So, maybe with a little practice, I could get the hang of the pulse, but I doubt it. The pulse control does not come to full speed of the pulse in the time that the pulse is sent to the motor. Yes, the KitchenAid actually sends a single pulse to the motor on the first push of the button; if you hold the button down, it will go to full on, for as long as you hold it.
The next chore for the KitchenAid was to make frozen Margaritas. I tried so hard to make them smooth, but each time, I had chunks of ice in the Maragarita. This was the last straw, I took my old Osterizer out of the closet and quickly make slush of the Margaritas, and put the KitchenAid back in the box. The main problems with the KitchenAid design, which were just opposite of the Osterizer were these:
The mixer bowl on the KithenAid is wide at the base, where the blade is. This means that the blade can push your food off to the side where it will be out of reach of the spinning blade. The Osterizer bowl is narrow at the base. Anything at the bottom of the blender is hit by the blade. This makes for a great blending action of the Osterizer, that does't require the rocking or tilting of the blender to get it to do what you want.
The next important difference is power. No, not the power reported by the manufacture, as much as it is the instant power that is delivered to the blade in a blink of your eye. The KitchenAid has a slugish start, and this is even worse if you use the pulse mode. It is the sluggish start that makes the pulse mode of the KitchenAid a total failure. The Osterizer, however, is a power house of instant blending power to the blade. So, my conclusion is that I already had the most powerful and useful blender, it was the Osterizer Beehive design. The KithcenAid, at any price, is was waste of your money. You should also know that KithcenAid makes a professional model that has the same single switch to control it, just like like the Osterizer Beehive, and it sells for over $200. I paid about $50 for the Beehive, and I love it more than ever now.

This blender has got to be the worst blender on the market. We have had nothing but problems with it since we got it. The sad part is we only use it to make milk shakes and the stupid thing can't even handle that. First the blade assembly on the bottom of the jar broke. We tried to get the replacement part only to find out it was discontinued so we had to end up buying the whole jar assembly which isn't by any means cheap. Than as if that wasn't enough the rubber coupler that spins the blades lost all the little teeth now the blades won't spin at all. I am about ready to throw this damn thing out the window!!! You need special tools to fix the stupid blender that kitchen aid doesnt have and half the parts are discontinued. I would strongly suggest to anyone who is even thinking about buying this blender to do yourself a favor and buy something else it truly is a piece of [...]!