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Kitchenaid 5KSB555BAC
by ELDG77
Last summer, I went to visit with my dad in Bournemouth. I remember it being a beautifully warm weekend, and we sat outside on Saturday morning in his little garden to have breakfast. It was a pretty typical breakfast of cereal and toast, tea and coffee. And then he brought me a glass of his super fruity super smoothie! He had chosen ... mixed fresh berries, bananas, a secret blend of spices, ice, and a splash of double cream! Ok, so perhaps this would never fall into the health drink category, but it was smoothie heaven. Over the course of the weekend, he let me experiment with his KitchenAid Artisan Blender, and from then on I was converted to the world of smoothies.
As soon as I got home, I went straight onto the Internet to source my very own blender, and given the demonstration I'd had at dad's, I quickly chose the KitchenAid Artisan, in cream.
~ Price ~
This blender is a little on the pricey side (I bought mine for around £100 from Amazon, which included a discount, and they are anywhere up to £150 depending on the colour you choose), but when you unpackage this product, you can instantly tell that this is a well-made, sturdy bit of kit that will stand the test of time.
~ Set Up ~
The standard set up is in three parts:
1) The base. This weighs in at an amazing 4.5kg (measured on my kitchen scales). Yes it is pretty heavy, but the effect of this is that the blender is extremely stable when it is running, so you do not have to stand there watching over it or holding onto it!
2) The blade unit. The housing is made from very thick plastic (3mm or so), and the blade sits within it. The blade itself is not too sharp to the touch, but you would definitely not want to put your fingers anywhere near to it when it is on. But KitchenAid have thought of that. The blade unit does not fit onto the base unless you have screwed in the third piece (the jug), which means you can't accidentally switch it on with the blade exposed. I guess you could get your hand inside in the jug if the lid wasn't on, but why would you?
3) The jug(s). The blender comes with two jugs. The first is thick clear plastic, approximately 750ml capacity, with graduated measurements in ml, cups, and oz. It has a black plastic lid with a removable clear plastic centre piece so you can drop/pour ingredients in while the blender is on (the hole is not big enough to get your hands in). The second jug is glass with a 1.5l capacity, again with graduated measurements. This jug has a handle, and a cream-coloured flexible plastic lid. Again, the lid has a hole in the centre, in which is a removable clear centre piece. This piece is actually a mini-measuring cup holding 60ml.
The jug fits into the blade unit with a simple twist-and-lock feature, and then these two parts just sit neatly on top of the base. And then you are good to go!
~ Features ~
This is a blender and has all the typical functions you would expect, essentially various different speeds and configurations for blending depending on the ingredients you have put in it. It additionally has a pulse function, and an ice crusher function. This last function is excellent - you can easily produce your own (healthier) version of the Slush Puppy (maybe one that isn't blue...). You control the blender by selecting the function (a little red light comes on next to the selected function) and then pressing the bigger start button.
~ In Use and After Use ~
In use it is quite noisy, but then I tend to use frozen fruit in it on the ice crusher setting first, and then add milk or sparkling water to make a smoothie. It can also take hot ingredients, and I have made some pretty delicious soups too (most recently, Christmas dinner soup from the leftovers of Christmas lunch...highly recommended).
A key feature for me is how easy it is to clean after use. This is really easy. You just take the jug/blade off the base, shove it in the sink, et voila, clean for the next use. I use red fruits in it a lot and neither the glass nor the plastic elements seem to be stained at all. According to the manual, the jugs are dishwasher safe, but I can't comment on this as I don't have a dishwasher.
~ My Favourite Recipe ~
As well as the Christmas dinner soup, my favourite soup recipe is prawn and sweet corn (basically heat up some frozen sweet corn and frozen prawns in chicken stock for a bit with an onion, then add some milk and butter and blend...yum).
My staple smoothie is a handful of frozen mixed berries, a banana and milk. I occasionally have a high-protein smoothie, which I make by adding a scoop of oats and whey vanilla protein powder to whatever fruit smoothie I have made. I would recommend smoothieweb.com for inspiration on weird and wonderful recipes.
~ Summary ~
For me, this is a faultless blender, which I guess is not unexpected given the price. But I am certainly getting my money's worth out of it, and upping my daily fruit and veg intake too!
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Kitchenaid 5KSB555BAC
by europe-chick
This Kitchen Aid blender is a replacement for a previous one. I must point out here that there was absolutley nothing at all wrong with the previous Kitchen Aid blender, it was approx 6 years old and it still worked perfectly. I only replaced it as I wanted a colour change. I have given the old one to a friend and she is happily using ... it.
Kitchen Aid appliances are expensive, you can get cheaper brands, but Kitchen Aid products do look good out on display, they have that iconic sleek retro look. They are also brilliant quality and are built to last for years and years. So yes they are an expensive purchase initially, but they will last you virtually forever, and you will get your moneys worth out of them
The blender is quite heavy as it has a metal base, however this just means that it is sturdy and robust and built to last. The large pitcher jug is glass, so again this does add to the weight. You can put the glass jug in the dishwasher.
The stainless steel blades are really sharp and will cut through anything, whether it is crushing ice, blending soup, cake mixes etc. It makes light work of anything.
The blender itself is easy to wipe down and clean. The jug is the only part that is supposed to go in the dishwasher, but I put the lid, the measuring cup, and the rubber seal in the dishwasher too (only on a 35 wash though). The jug can go through on a heavy duty 65 wash.
It is easy to use with different pictograms for each funtion, such as blending hot liquids, crushing ice, whipping, mixing, chopping, and cocktails. There is also a pulse button.
The lid had a removable measuring cup in the centre, so you can add ingredients as you blend, and it is handy for measuring small amounts of liquid to add to the blender.
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Kitchenaid 5KSB52 Ultra Power
by laurenarcheruk
I purchased the 5KSB52 whilst on a health kick, determined to replace fizzy drinks with natural smoothies and juices. It works excellently and encourages the whole family to enjoy fresh, healthy juices within minutes. Not only if the appliance useful for juicing, it can also be used to create savoury dishes such as soups or dips like ... humous. The sturdy base of the blender makes it stable and means that you do not experience the typical loud vibrations of many blenders. The 1.25L capacity is more than enough, making five average servings of juice, milkshake or smoothie and a decent amount of dip or soup. The blender is also gloriously easy to dismantle and clean, making it a hassle-free asset to any kitchen. The blender comes in a variety of colours to suit any kitchen colour scheme, including some more vibrant colours such as yellow or bright red. It has been a dream to use and has really helped develop my cooking, helping me impress family and friends at dinner parties with my homemade humous!
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