Customer Reviews

220 Volt Braun Hand Blender 300 Watts, WILL NOT WORK IN THE USA

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This product blend ice, frozen fruit and everything else. Veru durable, bought as gift 7 years ago, still going strong!

I see this advertisement states "will not work in USA" but when I owned this EXACT SAME MODEL, it was made for use in America. I would say it is more accurate to say, "Will not work in food."

I wanted an immersion blender for a long time, but didn't get around to it on my own. A friend told me about her "amazing Braun!" in 2005, and I told her I was interested in a similar model, but it was Kitchenaid I was looking to buy. Well... she gave me the Braun for Christmas that year anyway. It's the thought that counts, right? I love her for the gift, and if this were a review of kind acts from a friend, then it would receive 5 stars. But this is a product review, so the machine itself gets the over-rated 1 star since Amazon won't let me give it a zero or a negative star review.

The machine simply has no guts. The first thing I tried make when I took it out of the box was a pureed vegetable soup. I pre-stewed the tomatoes, and cooked down the onions to a nice, soft texture long before going into the final stages of attempting to puree. The Braun couldn't do it! What should have been a fully liquefied concoction ended up being a chunky, wattery soup full of many pieces of soft tomatoes & onions. I stood over my stove for a good 30 minutes trying in futility to smooth this soup out, but to no avail. I worried my stock pot was too large, but the Braun was supposed to be able to draw the soup into the blades in a vortex. Not a chance. I moved it around slowly, lift/move/press down/repeat for the entire half-hour until I had to give up.

I tried using the chopper attachment. USELESS! It didn't chop anything, not even the small slice of onion I placed in the container for my first test run. That's right: a single slice of onion which I had quartered. It went in as 4 pieces, and came out as 10. I even shook the chopper in my hand and turned it while trying to mince this onion, but it was a waste of time.

I tried to make mayonnaise: what a joke! All I did was waste an egg, some oil, and a lot of time.

In all the time I had this worthless thing, I tried many different uses, and in the end it turned out to be nothing more than an expensive egg beater since the whisk attachment was the ONLY thing that worked properly, and even that only worked at the level that any hand whisk works. Whenever I needed to make a meringue or whipped cream topping (or anything that requires a good portion of air to be whipped in), I had to use my Kitchenaid 6qt 525 watt Pro for proper results. The only thing the Braun ever made successfully was ME: mad & frustrated.

Before you decide I must be a novice in the kitchen, let me reassure you I am an excellent cook. I have been cooking for over 30 years. I spent 3 years in Home Ec. classes in junior high (who does that?), and have taken other cooking classes outside of public school before I turned 20. I toyed with the idea of pursuing a culinary arts degree before opting for an English MA. I still consider going back for that CA degree just for my own personal fulfillment. I am particularly skilled with pastries. In short, I am no kitchen noob! I really gave this thing a fair shake, but it proved time and time again to be an absolutely useless immersion blender. When I broke up with my ex & moved out, I "accidentally" left this thing hanging on his wall so I could have an excuse to get the KA I wanted.

When I had the Kitchenaid immersion blender, the difference was night and day. The power was amazing! The first time I mashed potatoes I accidentally whipped them into oblivion because I simply was not used to so much power. The KA is very large, and it has 9 speeds at 550 watts. I would endorse the Kitchenaid over the Braun any day. The drawback on the KA (as I am learning is a common issue for most affordable immersion blenders) is that it has a plastic mechanism inside. My husband stripped out the gears while making our son a smoothie--he was not lifting and pulsing properly, so a frozen blueberry became lodged between the base cap & blade causing the unfortunate death of the otherwise wonderful Kitchenaid stick blender.

I am now on the hunt for a professional quality immersion blender, so I am prepared to fork over at least a few hundred dollars to get something with metal gears inside and up to 17,000-20,000 RPMs. I am currently considering a Bamix or a Waring, both of which are found in gourmet restaurant kitchens internationally.

For the average home cook who doesn't want to spend a fortune and only wants something functional for smoothies & soups once a week (or a few times a week), then I would strongly recommend getting the Kitchenaid or Cuisinart SmartStick. These are the two highest rated immersion blenders for efficient home use. If you know you need something with metal gears for heavy duty kitchen work, look into Bamix or Waring. Also check into Dualit and Viking to see if one of these meets your needs. Whatever you do, don't waste a dime on the useless Braun. I suspect most high ratings for a Braun hand mixer are probably left by people who have not used any other mixers, or who have never had to really put this thing to task.

UPDATE: I picked up a Smartstick @ Costco because it was cheap. Cheap is right: the thing is almost as bad as this Braun was! I gave in and bought the Bamix Pro from William-Sonoma, which is just a Bamix Gastro 200 with a different name slapped on it. LOVE IT! I am now adjusting my previous advice to "Kitchenaid for low-end, and Bamix ANYTHING for a serious cook." I am considering replacing my stripped KA because I do like the whisk, and I like how low I can adjust the RPMs, but I don't know that it will be necessary with the Gastro on hand now. The Bamix is friggin' AMAZING.

There was a mistunderstanding with this product, as it was not compliant to be used in the US. However, the seller was very gracious and returned it. Thank you!

I was excited to receive this blender as a gift from my dad, only to realize that it WON'T PLUG IN! It is completely useless in the US. This particular seller should make that more clear in the listing. I don't know what to tell my poor dad when he asks me if I am enjoying my new blender.