KitchenAid KHB100ER Hand Blender, Empire Red

Great, but no “ON” button, just “pulse”, November 23, 2007

By 

L. Bollinger “bollinl” – See all my reviews

  

I love handblenders. I have this one and its attachments, and I use it pretty regularly. I have two complaints: 1) the powercord is thick, cumbersome, and hard to keep out of one’s way. I had a cordless unit from a different manufacturer before, and I must say–the extra power here is nice, but I’m not 100% convinced the hassle of the cord is really worth that extra umph very often. 2) and here’s the kicker–there’s no actual “on” switch. You’ve got to hold it on the whole time. I really wanted to give one to my mom for Xmas, but she simply doesn’t have the hand-strength any longer to make use of this unit. It takes me two hands to keep it held “on,” and my hands cramp up when I’ve got something that I need to blend for a sustained amount of time. That said, this is a lovely unit (I adore the red color), and I get lots of use out of it. I just would have liked a chance to think about those two issues before I bought it (about a year ago), and certainly before I gave it for a gift.

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Unsanitary – eventually may cause food poisoning, January 22, 2010

I bought this to replace a Braun I had for 15 + years. This was to replace the cheap Braun on which the motor finally gave out after thousands of uses. I have the most expensive Braun and it is the best ever made, however Braun has stopped making hand blenders all together (I wrote to Braun and that is what they told me). I have always thought kitchen aid to be a great product and in the past they were, until they sold out to Westinghouse. The blender works well, although the slowest speed is higher than medium speed on my Braun.

The problem is the seal on the bottom of the mixing shaft under the blade. There is a rubber gasket or sealer that does not seal, but traps blended food under it. After a through washing and allowing it to stand and dry the food particles leak out and dry. I used mine daily, week days at work, to make a whole food/protein shake. Each day I washed it thoroughly and dried it. The next day I would take it to make my shake and note that particles of yesterdays shake had seeped out from under the rubber seal. I tried cleaning under the seal on the outside only to discover that the problem also appears to be in the center next to the shaft where it is impossible to clean. I could actually see food trapped half under the rubber seal and there is no way to clean it out. My shakes are green in color and I can see the green, gradually turn to brown, on the outer edge of the rubber seal and again whole food trapped under the center.

Amazon has been great about returning products that are defective and has assured me that they will get me a full refund for this product. My problem now is finding a quality hand blender equal to the top of the line Braun to replace this KA.

If i can see the very bottom where the blade and seal are it would make the purchase easier. Braun put a stainless steel plate with an O ring in the center and what appears to be a durable sealant on the base. That is how you make a quality product, not the way kitchen aid made this product. If they would fix this problem, the rest of the blender has worked fine 5 days a week for 4 months.

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WONDERFUL hand-blender, November 27, 2004

This among other KitchenAid products were a wedding gift. I absolutely LOVE this blender. It’s been great for making smoothies in the morning for breakfast and also as an ice grinder. It has 9 speeds which allow for any consistancy. I highly recommend this product.

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