A smooth gadget (Kenwood Concert Smoothie Blender SB256 1.5 L)

Member Name: madmum71

Product:	Kenwood Concert Smoothie Blender SB256 1.5 L
Date:	11/02/08 (203 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good fast smoothie maker

Disadvantages: noise

It is a well-known fact in my house that my other half is a gadget magnet; whenever a new gadget comes out he is the first to buy them. The problem with this is he also thinks that I like all these gadgets for the kitchen and he marvels how they will save me time, like the bread maker I mean it takes me 5 minutes to pop to the shop and buy a loaf of bread and about 2 hours to make one! That's just an example but you can see what I mean.

But for once I actually asked for a kitchen gadget from my mum for Christmas, I decided not to ask the other half as I just wanted a plain smoothie maker and not one that looks like it has bean beamed down from space and takes me 6 months to read the instruction manual! The reason I actually wanted one is simple really I don't eat enough fruit, to be honest I don't eat any and it is also getting harder to get my eldest boy to eat fruit also, so I decided to try making smoothies to see if I could at least make it look like I am being healthy! So was this just another wasted gadget or the answer to my problem?

WHAT I GOT FOR MY MUMS MONEY!

My mum is certainly less gadget friendly then the other half and would have looked for a smoothie maker that looked nice rather then any fancy extras and this one certainly looks good.
When I first opened this product I realised that I would have to put it together but to honest it was quite easy even for me! You get a nice smart looking silver base that also has 4 buttons up the side of it to work the smoothie maker. You then have the jug that is in a few pieces but you just screw the nice looking tap bit into the hole you can't over tighten this as there is a little marker to stop you turning it. Then you have the blade bit and you just screw this bit onto the bottom of the jug, you also get a rubber seal to put in between. Then you have the lid, which comes in 2 pieces, you get the main lid with a hole in the middle and then you have the smaller bit that you put in the hole so you shouldn't have to take the lid completely off when using and you can stir through the little hole, you also get a black plastic stirrer. Also in the box you get your warranty, instructions and recipe booklet.

USING

So finally I had my new smoothie maker on Christmas day and so I put it away looking forward to playing with my new toy, about a week after Christmas I finally remembered where I had put it and toddled off to the shops to buy lots of lovely fruit to start experimenting!

I then remembered that this time of the year isn't the best time for all the fresh fruit I like so I headed to the frozen section of the supermarket and stocked up on all sorts of frozen fruit mixes and apple juice, so I was finally ready to play with my new toy.
Obviously I washed all the bits of the smoothie maker before I started to use them, I decided to just have a basic fruit and juice smoothie the first time I used it. On the jug you have the levels, you put your liquids in first to either the first level for 2 smoothies or the second level for 4. You then add your frozen fruit again to either the first frozen level or the second.

The liquids level can either be juice, yoghurt, milk and fresh fruit and the frozen level is a bit obvious really either frozen fruits or ice. The appliance holds up to 1.5 litres of liquid, which is enough for 4 decent size glasses.
So when you have the jug loaded you then press the mix button that is on the side of the base unit for about 30 seconds and then you press the smooth button and this one stays on between 20 to 30 seconds. The other 2 buttons are pulse and stop, I haven't used the pulse one much but it can be handy if the fruit gets stuck and occasionally this does shift it.

The only problems I have come up with when using the smoothie maker is that firstly you have to make sure that the frozen fruit is not in big chunks otherwise these can get stuck and you will find yourself stopping the maker and having to constantly use the stirrer to try and get them chopped down. Also this appliance is not going to win any awards for quietness! In fact it really is noisy to the point it can even drown out my monsters noises and that is no mean feat!
After you have finished you should in theory be able to use the nice tap thingy to pour out your smoothie into glasses but I don't seem to have mastered this yet when using frozen fruit, mine seem to be too thick for the tap to pour it and it comes out really slow and as patience isn't my strong point I tend to pour it straight out of the jug. When using fresh fruit it does come out of the tap easier and my boys can then help themselves.

If you do have to stop the appliance to stir the ingredients you don't have to take the whole lid off, you just take out the plastic bit in the middle of the lid and that is big enough to put the stirrer into, but remember to put the plastic bit back after using or your kitchen could get decorated in a smoothie!
After using the appliance I wash the jug straight away so no fruit bits get congealed on the jug and I can say it really is easy to clean. All the bits come apart easily and even if I don't use the tap I always run some clean water through the tap just to make sure it is clean. Just to let you no you can't put this into a dishwasher for those of you lucky enough to have one!

So as for taste well I am really happy to report that I am currently on a smoothie a day and do feel better for having more fruit in my diet, I do like experimenting and trying some of the recipes that are in the booklet but my eldest monster just prefers apple juice mixed with the frozen fruit as he says its more like a slush puppy than something healthy! It has also got him trying lots of different kinds of fruit including things like mango and kiwi, which if I had given him this from the fruit bowl he would of turned his nose up and refused to eat it.

SAFETY BITS

All the usual things when using electrical appliances plus:
When removing the jug from the base wait until the blades have completely stopped, always make sure the lid is firmly on before using, if using hot liquids make sure they have cooled before using in this appliance, obviously keep away from little monsters, don't use the appliance for longer than 60 seconds continuously, never blend dry ingredients or run the appliance empty.

EXAMPLES

In the books that you get with the appliance there are loads of useful recipes for lovely smoothies, the best one I have found for the kids is:

FRUIT SMASHER
Nectarines cut up
100g fresh strawberries
100g fresh raspberries
100ml lemonade
100ml apple juice
6 ice cubes
Place the juice and the fruit into the jug, put the ice cubes in last. Switch to mix for 10 seconds and then smooth for 20 seconds.
This really is refreshing and my monsters love it!

There are also some great ones for adults that include alcohol and just for experiments sake you understand I have tried quite a few of these!
You can also make soups in this appliance and I have also had a go and can report that the soup I made was lovely.

PRICE

Now as this was a present I felt it would be a bit rude to ask my mum what she paid for it but then she is used to me being rude to her! But instead of asking her I looked it up on Amazon and you can pick one up for around £23.99.

So would I recommend this appliance? Yes it does everything I want and I can actually say that this is one gadget that will not be gathering dust in the loft! The only little problem is the noise and to be honest it's only on for a short while and on the plus side it drowns out my monsters arguing! It is also really nice to see my eldest monster having fruit and actually enjoying it.

Property of madmum71 & lisa8871

Summary: A decent good looking smoothie maker