Customer Reviews

KitchenAid KSB5OB 5-Speed Blender, Onyx Black

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

There are several reasons why I love using this blender.

1) The wide bottom jar: My last few blenders had the more traditional jar which narrows toward the bottom. That desgin usually jammed with anything thick (contents at the bottom would spin while the contents at the top would sit still and didn't "blend" at all). The KitchenAid's wide bottom wont "jam". Contents at all depths of the jar are circulated providing a smooth consistent blend. While there are more features to like - this one advantage was enough to make me never glance at another blender again.

2) Buttons: My last 2 blenders had a row of buttons. Food spills (ice cream shakes) would invariably drip down the side of the jar onto the base and through the holes where the buttons come through the base. The buttons would gum up and eventually stop working. The KitchenAid covers the buttons with a solid membrane. Nothing can leak in and any drips are easily cleaned away with a single wipe.

3) Clean design: There are really no cracks and crevices where food or drink spills can hide making this blender easy to disassemble and clean.

4) Heavy: Every part of this blender is sturdy and heavy. The jar isn't plastic, it's glass... thick glass. The lid doesn't push on, it does a quick twist-lock on. The base feels like it's cast metal - not some cheap molded plastic or thin metal like a tin can. I have no fear about loading it up, pushing the button, and walking away to prepare something else while the blender does the work. I don't need to hold the lid down and keep everything together as I did with my previous blenders.

Often times expensive "brand name" items really aren't noticeably any better than than their less expensive generic equivalents. This is not the case with this item. The design is substantially better than a typical blender.

This was one of the best blenders I had ever owned. I used it weekly for smoothies and it made great margaritas. It's very powerful and easily crushes ice on even the lowest setting. Unfortunately, after nearly 5 years of use the rubber part that spins the blades became brittle and shredded off. And as many other people here have said, there is no way to repair this obvious design flaw in the machine and customer service is downright terrible. It served me well for the time I had it, but for over $100 bucks this thing should have lasted at least 10-20 years!

****UPDATED REVIEW*****
After a second call to KitchenAide customer service I was able to find a repair shop in my area. They were able to fix the broken coupler in less than 5 minutes and it only cost 20 bucks. The repair technician at the service center explained to me that this part is designed to break in case the blades jam in order to prevent the motor from burning out. This made sense to me so I am upgrading my review to 4 stars. I am still with holding 1 star because Kitchenaid customer service was so bad and it took a lot of work just to find a repair shop in my area.

I've never owned a blender before, and tired of trying to use the Cuisinart for pureeing soups (drip drip drip) so broke down and bought this about a month ago. Since then its been in use almost everyday. Funny, I never was much into milkshakes and smoothies before, but with a machine like this, new excuses for uses are easy to come by.

There seems to be a trick to placing the jar & sleeve on the unit *just so* in order to get the quietest operation. I manage to nail it about 50% of the time and hope I'm not causing any damage the other 50.

The ice chopping capability works like a zip; the pieces left could probably be smaller, but I'm not complaining - I suspect this blender will be the perfect iced coffee maker come summer.

Due to the other reviews expressing motor problems, I intend to revisit this review in the coming year, to update if there are any such troubles.

Edit 6/8/04 - As promised. Still using the blender 2-3 times per week for shakes, smoothies and soup purees (haven't tried the iced coffee yet) and having no motor troubles at all.

However, increasingly when I lift the unit to clean after use, there's evidence of the black coupler, that drives the thing, others mention starting to get chewed. Due to the price of the blender, unless the coupler is useless before the warranty runs out (in which case I'll just get a replacement), I'll be buying something with more dependable or at least replaceable parts. KitchenAid should seriously consider a recall.

In Deciding whether to get a KitchenAID versus a cuisinart or a Waring I read all of the previous reviews as well as did a lot of research and asked around. Reviews seemed somehwat mixed but seemed to favor KitchenAID. I chose this blender and it has lived beyond my expectations.It's easy to clean and when you first turn it on it adjusts to the designated speed after starting at a slow speed. I mostly make smoothies and different kinds of drinks. It crushes ice, and fruit nicely. I had been using a cheap Hamilton Beach model prior to this and now I realize why people pay so much more for great kitchen appliances

DIS IS DA KINE!!! It is quiet and powerful. The first time I used it, I couldn't tell if the blender was doing its job or not. The power is so strong and quiet, that tough jobs are done without a sweat, and without hearing the motor getting slow and cranky. It is so smooth, that even when you crush ice or make frozen strawberry smoothies, you feel like you are just blending soft spinach. You don't hear the blades, or the solid ice cubes or frozen strawberrys getting stuck and freeze your motor, if you know what I mean. I am comparing this with my old and trusted Hamilton Beach Commercial Blender, which I own for 12 year. Dear Hamilton Beach, don't take me wrong, your blender is great, but it makes too much noise, you hear scary noises when crushing ice, like the jar will explode; and taking your blender to service or changing the rubber cluch myself, takes just too much work and time, I rather just order a new blender from KichenAid at Amazon. GET ONE. (hints for the sad owners: learn how to blend and you will know how to avoid chunks!!! Feel your blender, talk to it, and know when it asks you to pulse, stop, rest, and pulse again.... gravity makes chunks fall to the bottown when turned off... no blender is designed to just blend everything in one step... be a good cook, and be interactive when using your baby, if you think one push of a button will do your meal, just order take out).

This blender is big and heavy. It looks powerful. It looks capable. It looks great.

It performs poorly. It spends most of its energy in violent stirring, not blending.

1. It takes a long, long time for it to liquify the ingredients that go into a smoothie (yogurt, a little water, sunflower seeds, 3 or 4 pieces of fresh fruit, maybe some raisins, perhaps a nice little bit of honey).

2. Bananas. Gotta have 'em in a smoothie. What this blender does with them is unique, and darkly fascinating, and maybe just a little bit dangerous: it breaks them into segments, softens them somehow, coats them with some especially slippery banana by-product (banucous?), and, when tipped, delivers them, plop-plop, into your cup. If you're not ready for them, they can slide right down your throat.

3. I AM ready now, but it did take some getting used to.

4. Raisins are also problematic for this blender. Some of them convert to the liquid state, some do not; the choice seems to be up to them.

5. This blender does good job of crushing ice. I always throw a few cubes into a smoothie.

I'm saving my money for a vintage Vitamix.

I picked up a refurbished version of the KSB5 a few years ago for around [$$]. The blender worked and looked great . . . until the blade assembly stripped and no longer functioned (this is the plastic/metal part that has the star-like metal piece that connects to the motor on one side and the actual blade that spins inside the glass on the other, with a rubber gasket). I contacted KitchenAid for a replacement part. The service rep needed the serial number to determine the age of the blender. I was told that my blender was made in 1998..., that the company redesigned the blender in 1999, and that they no longer carried replacement parts for my blender, and that the blade assembly for the newer KSB5s will not work in my 6 year old blender. The rep told me that as an owner of the older KSB5, I qualified for a price break on a new blender. I told her I thought this reflected very poorly on KitchenAid . . . I thought when I purchased this good looking, heavy-duty blender that it would be the last blender I'd have to purchase for a long time. Not sure I'd purchase another KitchenAid for this reason (a shame really, because the blender was really great while it worked).

This blender looks great! It's much quieter than my 14-speed Osterizer blender -- which still works, but I want a quiet blender for making my family's top o' the morning smoothies. So, into the KitchenAid 5-speed blender, I poured limeade, ice cubes and green grapes and let it all blend on "liquefy" (the top speed) for what seemed like a very long time. What a poured into the first glass was actually a "lumpie" -- not a smoothie. I processed it again for a full minute. Still, some of the pieces were as big as half a grape. I pulled out the noisy old Osterizer, dumped the "lumpie" mixture into it and within seconds, it was a refreshing smoothie.

But, still wanting this beautiful, quieter Kitchenaid blender, I made a second batch with a new strategy. First I tossed in the ice cubes and pressed "liquefy" -- and it quickly pulverized the ice into a snow-like texture. Good sign! Then I added the grapes and pressed "liquefy". After what seemed like forever, I peeked inside. Seemed pretty pureed. So I added the limeade and pressed "liquefy". Poured it into my glass. Not *as* lumpy, but still chewy hunks of grape skin. My husband said he wouldn't drink it that way. So I tossed it back into the ol' Osterizer and within seconds, it truly was a frothy smoothie.

I'm returning this gorgeous, quiet machine. My search for a quiet *and* powerful blender continues. Until then, the old Osterizer looks better than ever.

I purchased this blender a year ago and I was totally disappointed in the way it mixes and very loud. The black rubber that turnes the blades at the base has become quite the project when you try to clean it. The rubber sometime smears and very difficult to remove. I went and purchased the new Oster that just came out the other day, what a difference. So quiet and gets the job done much faster for the same price I paid for the KitchenAid

We bought this blender a few years ago, going on brand name that was known for quality. However, we have been disappointed with this blenders performance. With light use of this blender only over 2 to 3 years time the blade assembly is now non-functioning. I called the company and they said I could order a new blade assembly for $25 and with shipping I was up over $30. I decided it wasn't worth it when I could get a new blender for that price, one that rates even better for less money. I was dissappointed overall, with the product and the customer service.