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Argos Range Liquidiser
by alex88
- 400 watts
- 1.5 litre plastic jug
-stainless steel blades
-safety interlock
-non-slip feet
I brought this blender as a few of the girls at work kept talking about different smoothies they had been making, and so I decided that I wanted to get in on the action and make a few myself. So not wanting to ... spend a fortune (I'm saving for a house deposit and wedding!) I spotted the Argos Value Range Jug Blender at £9.89, the next cheapest was a Cookworks one at £14.99. So off I went to Argos to pick up my Value Blender along with a trip to Sainsbury's for a few frozen fruits, banana's and natural yoghurt.
Upon opening I realised that this is a very basic blender but had everything I needed - a large enough jug, 2 speed settings and a pulse setting. It looked ok, just a white base with a plastic jug, nothing spectacular. I added my ingredients (yoghurt, banana and strawberries with a bit of honey) and put the jug onto the base, at first this took a while to click on properly, but you soon get the hang of it. I choose setting 1 and off it went, I blended for around 40 seconds then pulsed it twice. This seemed to make the smoothie have the right consistency, it was all blended well and no lumps, it was gorgeous! I also tried making a milkshake the following day using chocolate chip ice cream, banana and milk. I blended for the same amount of time but there was still quite a lot of chocolaty ice cream lumps in it so I shook the jug and blended for longer, it then got rid of the lumps and was delicious! My next task will be to make soup, but it's a bit too warm to make that at the moment.
The blender is fairly hard to clean, the blades can't be removed but I think this is the same with all blenders so you have to give it a good blast with the hot tap and then try your best. The lid was easy enough to clean. The jug is also dishwasher safe.
For the price I paid, I think the blender was a good purchase and if you're on a budget then it's an ideal blender to make smoothies etc. Although I would only give it 4 stars for the fact you sometimes have to shake the jug for it to blend everything.
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Duronic BL1200
by Steam_Trixie
I have wanted a blender for a long time and this one took my fancy immediately. I know people say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but everyone does it and I was drawn to this blender because of it's style.
But that's not all it has, as a stainless steel model it is easy to clean and looks good straight after. ... Even the glass looks great and the jug is really sturdy and 1.8L. Though there is one of my only complaints, the jug is on the heavy side. It can be quite awkward to pick up, and when it's filled with juice, this can sometimes cause an issue.
In terms of usability, it has variable speed control and 3 settings for various functions, including ice crushing (a personal favourite) and smoothies. It also has auto clean, but this doesn't always work exactly the way I like. It depends on how clean you want it.
At around £60, this blender is perfect for me. Not too expensive, well made and has the right settings. If you want something more advanced this might not be for you, but for me it's perfect.
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Kenwood BL335
by Biskey
I'm not a heavy duty cook. More a dabbler in the kitchen. I try to avoid too many convenience foods, but most of the time my cooking is purely one of those necessary functions that must be performed to prevent starvation.
Now and again I get the urge to be a little more creative. In these odd moments I fancy myself as some ... sort of culinary artist. Not Picasso, you understand - more Gerald Scarfe, I suppose.
It is at these times that I realise a potato masher and a sharp knife constitute a limited range of kitchen utensils and I know I need some sophisticated technology. I couldn't justify going out and buying one of those food processors that chop, mix, blend, slash, slice and kneed your food and probably cook it as well. Realistically, I'm only going to make smoothies, soups, shakes and sauces.
So a few years ago I decided that I could use a blender and the one I chose was the Kenwood BL335. It has proved to be a good buy and the other day I was impressed to see that this model is still on sale.
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FEATURES
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The 350w motor is housed in a white, plastic base that is easy to keep clean and looks good. The one litre jug is clear, plastic and graduated, as you would expect and it has a removable filler cap, allowing for the addition of oil or other liquids during the blending. It took me ages to work out what that was. I couldn't understand why you would make a lid with a hole in it, but there you go.
The blades are stainless steel and will only rotate when the jug is properly in position on the base and the unit is switched on. This is a sensible and useful safety measure.
The switch is a simple, one-touch, one speed, rocker button. There are no complicated controls at all. The blades go round: the blades stop going round. Simple. This is my kind of technology.
In addition to the jug, there is a smaller mill which is great for chopping stuff like nuts, coffee beans or herbs, but also for doing small amounts which would be lost in the main jug. This smaller unit comes with a lid so that you can store what you've produced and this lid has an integral shaker cap - handy when you've ground spices, for instance.
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CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
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The outside of the motor base can be wiped over, while the blade bases of both the jug and the smaller container can be removed for ease of cleaning. Everything else washes up.
I've never had anything go wrong with this blender. Like a lot of these things, they either work or they don't and if it's going to go wrong it will likely happen while it's still under warranty. If the motor goes, you're probably looking at buying a completely new machine - doubtless the most viable option at these prices.
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USEFULNESS AND RELIABILITY
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Sometimes, if I've asked it to chop and blend too much fruit, for example, it has stalled the blades and I've had to take some out, or add more liquid, but this has never been a great problem and I have learned to feed it sensibly.
If you accept that this is designed for fairly light jobs, then you'll have no problem. What it does, it does well. For me, with my soups, shakes, smoothies, and the occasional dip or sauce, it has been ideal. The smaller unit is very handy too.
The acrylic jug and small container are tough and have shown no signs of cracking or leaking and the blades have remained sharp.
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Cost
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I have seen this recently online for as little as £22.99 and I would certainly regard that as good value.
If you're a dabbler in the kitchen, too, then this might be the blender for you.
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