Customer Reviews

Oster 4119-022 2-Speed 500-Watt Beehive Blender

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I bought my first Oster beehive blender around August 2002 and I loved it from the start, but after about 4 months, the rubber piece that holds the drive shaft snapped in two. Thinking this was a fluke, I bought another beehive blender since it had performed so well before breaking (I use it nearly every day to crush ice for smoothies). And now, 4 months later, the second one broke the same way. This is obviously not a fluke.

This blender is excellent. It crushes ice very well & has an all-metal drive. 2 speeds is just enough. We compared it to very expensive models and it won us over with the cool retro beehive look from the 50s. We like the glass container too. It sits securely in place when blending. This model also made excellent all-fruit drink by blending ice cubes, juice, chunks of apple, orange, and pineapple and it worked just perfectly.

Tip for ice crushers: nuke cubes for 10-15 seconds & pour on top of liquid in the carafe. You will get perfect drinks every time in this blender.

We like the professional results like the professional models at a very affordable price. Can't beat it. We would recommend it to anyone.

After burning out the motors of 2 previous, less expensive blenders, not to mention constantly cleaning the goop out of the plethora of pushbuttons, I rushed out to Target and picked this one up for just a few more bucks. It blends ice and everything else in a fraction of the time, and at the turn of a single switch. Once again, it's a pleasure to make a smoothie.

My other reviews are, well, for a different range of material.

But over the past month I've become smoothie-obsessed, and this blender has made my heart sing a new song. I started out reading the reviews here, and decided to buy another Oster blender, in the 6000 range, thinking that the basic operation of that one would be the same as this one, the 4094. They are not; as far as I can tell, the 4094 is almost exactly the original Osterizer of the 60's, now made in Mexico and with a few plastic parts.

The 6710 has an LCD, and 12 speeds or so; it claims to be a food processor, too. It broke in a week.

I've only had the 4094 for a few days, and will update this review in a few months to confirm what seems obvious already, but it's a completely different machine. It doesn't really even seem to notice what's in the jar, even ice cubes (though I would still suggest putting cubes in one at a time to get a more even drink).

I thought the 6710 was loud; I was wrong. The 4094 is LOUD; it literally sounds like a jet engine has started in your kitchen. But once you've broken another blender or two, that enormous sound (which will only ever last a few seconds because more is unnecessary with the 4094) is very reassuring.

A review below speaks of downgrading the blender for breaking after 8 months. As far as I can tell, when you use a blender regularly, 8 months is an eternity; I'd still give this blender 5-stars if it took 8 months to break. If it lasts 30-years, the way other reviews of the original Osterizer say it might, the thing deserves 20 stars.

Note: I think the 4094 is basically identical to all the other blenders in the 4000 range, but I have not verified this with any external evidence--go for the 2-speed chrome beehive blender with the dial switch.

What an incredible blender! I picked up the Oster 2-speed Beehive Chrome Blender (500-watt edition) after researching blenders online. The 30-some positive reviews it received on multiple websites had me sold, and of course, its overall look was a deciding factor. Its shiny base adds eye candy to your kitchen, and looks like something you'd find in a 50's jukebox cafe.

When I had Oster's Beehive out of the box, assembly took less than a minute - it was a complete cinch. In the center of the rubber top, there's a small plastic circle that pops in and out, so you can add ingredients from that space, without having to remove the whole top. Additionally, the base is solid and sturdy, so you can be sure it won't tip over and create a mess.

I bought the blender for making cold, refreshing smoothies on hot summer days, but was a bit skeptical it would be able to handle frozen strawberries / ice cubes. Any worry I once had was diminished the first time I used it. This machine crushed the ice completely, along with the strawberries, and resulted in one smooth, delicious, ice cold smoothie! It was one of the best I've ever had.

If you're looking for a heavy-duty, all-business blender, with a powerful motor that'll crush even the toughest ice cube, the Oster Beehive 2-Speed Chrome Blender is the blender for you.

After reading some 100+ blender reviews I purchased this classic blender. The metal drive was certainly a deciding factor, good looks notwithstanding. But even more decisive were the claims that this is an ice crushing monster.

And guess what? It IS. I used the Oster in a side by side comparison test with the Cuisinart 7-speed Smart Blender in a ice-off. The beehive made a much more frothy pina colada. The Cuisinart had to blend longer in order to pulverise the ice, which it finally did, but it definitely struggled. The Oster immediately chewed up the ice cubes. These are both 500 watt blenders, sufficiently powerful and up the to task, but the Oster is the clear winner.

This particular Cuisinart is also chrome and very handsome and it has a very nice large glass beaker, but the Oster can't be beat for price and performance. SO..........if you're out there researching and reading about the blender wars, this is another vote of confidence for a classic machine.

My Oster 2-speed beehive blender has served me faithfully for 2.5 years, during which time I made one smoothie daily. ("Daily" means "every day" -- for 2.5 years.)

In those 2.5 years, I've had to replace two glass jars. You know that plastic cap that screws onto the bottom of the jar? Well, after a few years of screwing and unscrewing it, the glass screw-threads on the jar cracked.

So I ordered a second glass jar from Oster. Then I did it again. So I got wise and bought a plastic jar and have had no such problems since. (I did have a bit of a problem because Oster didn't send me the appropriate plastic jar, and then mistakenly assumed the lid for my glass jar would fit on the plastic one too, but eventually I got that worked out too.) All the other parts of the blender have held up just fine.

The blender will pulverize ice, even those big curvy-trapezoidal chunks ~2 inches long you get out of the fancier refrigerators today. But if the mixture inside is too dry or too chunky, the blades will create an air pocket and spin uselessly, even if you try to "pulse" the blender by turning it on only briefly at the slow speed setting.

The dread air pocket problem is quite a nuisance, because it means you have to stop the blender, take off the lid, and use a spoon or some device to push the gunk down towards the blade and break up any air pockets down there, possibly repeatedly. Possibly repeatedly. Possibly repeatedly. Possibly repeatedly.

What a hassle! As a work-around for that problem I've honed my smoothie formula very precisely in the last 2.5 years, both in terms of the amount of each ingredient used and in terms of the order in which they're introduced into the blender, and I blend in stages. You can't just throw everything in at once and flip it on and expect it to come out right. No; for best results, I find I have to place the Gatorade in first, then the protein powder. Then I blend those two alone. Then I add the frozen fruit. Blend again. Finally the ice cubes, and one last final blending.

Another problem I note with this blender is that my smoothies are so thick that you can put more into the jar than can possibly be blended. In other words, sure you can "fit" five cups of smoothie materials inside the jar, but only the bottom three cups or so will actually churn when you turn it on. The top layer will stay perfectly still as the bottom layer mixes. (For me, this means ice cubes calmly floating on a tranquil smoothie surface while everything beneath cycles through that savage vortex.) Then, again, you need to take off the lid and mix manually with a spoon. Possibly repeatedly...

Would a more powerful motor resolve this "layered churning" problem? I dunno, but it's already 500W as it is. (Or was it 450? I forget.) Any more and you might really need ear plugs.

Still, I've honed my smoothie formula precisely enough that I can live with these limitations, and I suspect that other blenders suffer from the same maladies, probably even more acutely. Overall I'm very happy with my faithful Oster.

Oh yes! One final thought -- this Oster blender has parts which have to be hand-washed: the rubber O-ring and the blade. That's also a hassle, so if you want to be able to toss everything into the dishwasher you might consider a fancier, and pricier, blender (such as a Waring model) where the jar is one piece (doesn't disassemble), and is therefore completely dishwasher-safe.

Before this blender, we had a Krups Combi, and whenever we tried to use it for smoothies or frozen drinks we'd have to stop and use a spoon to stir things up before blending again. Not with this blender! The Oster makes awesome smoothies and frozen drinks. I've never had such a smooth frozen margarita. The only drawback to this blender is that it is LOUD, but it is so fast and makes such great, smooth drinks that it's an easy trade-off.

Update: About three weeks after I wrote this review, I have had to downgrade the blender because it broke after only 8 months of use. I was making bread crumbs out of stale bread (which I had done previously with this blender with great success). However, this time the drive shaft coupling on the base snapped in two.

I have been through at least 3 blenders in the last few years. We make at least 1-3 smoothies a day, complete with ice and frozen fruits. This one has been the best! The motor is very powerful and I only need to blend 2 cups worth of ingredients for a few seconds and it is all well mixed. Other blenders were several minutes plus lots of shaking and stirring. Search no more, this is by far the best value for blenders. Mine is now over 6 months old and going strong. I think it even far surpasses more expensive blenders.

This is the one. I have examined and used various blenders over the years, including Warings, etc. This blender performs fantastically, instantly powdering all shapes of ice and making wonderful smoothies and slushies. Of special note is the all metal drive train. A nice METAL shaft connecting easily to a METAL housing. A very solid HEAVY GLASS container that seals perfectly. One no-nonsense switch with ON and pulse options. Many times, I just fill with water and a drop of soap then rinse to very easily clean without over stressing the rubber grommets. A GREAT bar blender, and I believe the best at any price, but what a great price and looks so good you will want to leave it out for display.