Customer Reviews

KitchenAid KSB5 5-Speed Blender, Cobalt Blue

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I just purchased this blender, after becoming fed up with my old $20 blender. I do not regret this purchase at all! I bought it primarily for the ice crushing capability, and it didn't disappoint. I tossed all the fixings for a milkshake - including whole ice cubes - and within seconds, it was finished. It only left two tiny pebbles of ice that probably would have been taken care of had I not been antsy for my shake. I've also been pleased with other features; thick ingredients don't get trapped under the blades, the motor hasn't bogged down under cups of ingredients, the wide jar is convenient, it's quiet by blender standards, and the best feature is that it's *solid*. I'd have to have one hand on the lid and one hand on the base of my other blender when mixing, and it was so liberating to hit the "liquefy" button and let go. The touchpad is a breeze to clean, and the unit comes apart for washing very easily. The lid has to be the best I've ever seen on a blender - snug fitting and built to resist flying off. Granted, it's much more expensive than most blenders on the market, but I feel the ease-of-use is well worth it. I have yet to get as frustrated with this blender as I have been with cheaper models - not even close! Having already been through two cheaper blenders, it makes sense to splurge once and not buy another. Another score for KitchenAid's quality reputation.

Although I've owned three of these KitchenAid blenders in the past few years, I persist in thinking they are a good machine. The first one was a gift, and when the motor burned out after five months, I made one quick phone call and KitchenAid mailed me a new one, absolutely free, and included a postpaid box to return the defective one. The motor on the replacement unit burned out last month, after a couple years' use, but I think that may be my fault: we put a container of fruit smoothies in the freezer, then tried to blend it while it was still too frozen. The third one is still going strong. I love the pulse feature, and it blends ice cubes into a smooth slurry IF the container (a gigantic 50 oz.) is completely full. This is great for a pitcher of daquiris, but when I'm making a 16-oz. smoothie in the morning, the ice and/or frozen fruit doesn't get completely blended. By the way, my third blender came when I called and wanted a replacement container. Since they had redesigned the blender and no longer had containers that fit my old model, KitchenAId offered me either a FREE refurbished blender, or a new one at less than half the retail cost. Their customer service is the finest I've come across.

My old Waring went kablooey, and despite the negative reviews here, I decided to trust the KitchenAid name (I've had and loved their mixer for several years).

I was pleasantly surprised to make a smooth batch of hummus in a matter of minutes. I simply dumped all the ingredients in. I didn't even have to scrape the sides down!

It blends smoothies quickly and quietly. In go some ice cubes, some frozen fruit, some fresh fruit, some yogurt, a bit of honey, a minute or two of blending and pulsing at 'Chop', half a minute at 'Puree' , and DONE! No problems with chunks of fruit or ice.

I also dumped a tray of ice in mine. Working the blender from 'Chop' to 'Mix', pulsing to finish off a few lingering chunks, a fine ice perfect for frozen drinks was created.

The blender has performed flawlessly in over a month's worth of regular use and has easily tackled every job I've put in. I think many people having problems may not be pulsing the blender to get rid of any chunks.

I must say that the primary reason I got a new blender was my friends' irritation at the fact that with my old blender, you couldn't make a frozen drink for the life of you. Anyhow, you can't do so with the Kitchen Aid, either--no matter how long you blend, it always leaves big chunks of ice in the drinks. I've also had trouble with thicker sauces (i.e. pesto). Having invested the cash in this blender, I am stuck with it for now, but next time I'm getting a Waring. From what I've heard, it's the only one that crushes ice and makes blended drinks halfway decently.

I am repurchasing this to replace a 1 yr old kitchenaid that recently broke. Like many other reviews have said, the coupler fell apart one day... the pieces disappeared. This is disappointing considering the price of this blender.

This said, I give my reasons for repurchasing the same blender:

1.) I am too chicken to dive into the unknown. I already know the flaws of this blender and have learned to manipulate the machine to work its best for my purposes.
2.) It matches my kitchen and other kitchenaid electrics.
3.) Despite its tendancy to jam frozen fruit (though it makes claims of crushing ice) I have had more expensive and less expensive blenders do the same.
4.) When all is said and done, it makes a mighty fine smoothie.
5.) My 1 yr old son got into the cupboard and pulled this out... there is a possibility that he damaged the machine (though based on the reviews, is likely not the case).

I give this machine a 3... an average rating. It's not the worst but I'm sure there are better out there.

***Update: If the problem is the little black rubber thing on the base that spins the blade the repair is inexpensive. Take it to an authorized repair place (found on Kitchenaid website). I had mine fixed for 15 dollars.

My first blender had the same defect that an earlier poster reported -- within the warranty period the rotor/teeth connection stripped out. Kitchen Aid replaced the unit. Today the new unit had exactly the same misfortune. Its our misfortune now because the unit is out of warranty and Kitchen Aid won't supply the part on the excuse that installing it requires disassembly by a repair center.

This is a wonderful blender for making shakes, but because of this one critical defect, I would recommend that you look elsewhere.

I agree with the other negative reviews. The blade is poorly designed, so there are always big chunks of ice or food material left over. It doesn't matter how high a speed you use, or for how long. There are other design problems as well. It's difficult to get a good seal at the bottom, so stuff leaks out a lot. Finally, the spout on the pitcher is way too small. You always end up dripping stuff all over the place. For the amount you're paying, there are a lot of better choices (e.g. Waring).

This blender makes wonderful, icy mixed drinks! All of my previous blenders struggled with effectively crushing ice, but I haven't had a problem yet. I also love the wide mouth jar for pureeing hot soups. Cleaning the base is a breeze with the soft touch smooth buttons -- no spaces between buttons for dirt and dust to hide. The cord wraps nicely in the base. Overall a great design.

I bought this blender 3 years ago and really loved it. I used it twice daily, and also liked that it was a fairly quiet blender. However, after three years the rubber teeth on the rubber rotator coupling seem to have become brittle with age and started breaking off. For the price of this blender I would have expected a better lifespan. I will not buy another one of these, and am shopping for another make.

I had two of the previous version a white one and a blue one. Both with a fancy lid that I am sure KitchenAid thought was a great idea on paper but you could not pour without spilling. The white blender still runs like a champ lots of power to crush ice and make milkshakes but I gave it to my mom and bought the blue one. The blue blender, which was only two months old, failed in firey display of smoke and gear chips. KitchenAid has great customer service and now I have the new redesigned model free of charge. The new lid, which is really an old lid design copied from Oster, works great. If it aint broken... The new one also has a redesigned blade that chops ice even better than before and they added an electronic clutch to manage the huge 6.5 amp motor. I think this is the failing of my old one the blade got over torqued and twisted right off the drive shaft!