Smoothie time! (Kenwood New York Smoothie Maker)

Member Name: kelr101

Product:	Kenwood New York Smoothie Maker
Date:	21/01/06 (3340 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, Dispensing Tap and easy to clean

Disadvantages: Noisy!

For my birthday (June 2005), I’d asked my mum for a Kenwood New York Smoothie Maker. This was mainly because my birthday is in the summer, and I knew I would appreciate the chance to enjoy some luxurious ice-cold smoothies, but I also thought it would come in handy for cocktail evenings, especially as the winter draws near. Being such a nice mum (and me being the only daughter who doesn’t live at home) she agreed quite readily, so on the evening of the 11th (they day after my birthday as I was too “merry” to do anything too soon) I set about unwrapping my present.


Kenwood New York Smoothie Maker Packaging

The Kenwood packaging is very similar to all their products currently on the market, displaying the KENWOOD logo, and a lovely background in shades of blue.

The picture on the front of the box, was of a shiny chrome designed Smoothie Maker, of which this was surrounding by several tempting smoothie drinks, and lots of fresh fruit, including Pineapples, Strawberry’s, Banana’s and Kiwi Fruits.

The mixture in the goblet didn’t exactly look like the drink it was dispensing, but I’m sure this was to give consumers a general indication of the products capabilities.

The cardboard egg shaped packaging securely encased inside the product itself; sorry it’s the only description that springs to mind, and all included inside were an instruction and recipe idea booklet.


Assembly

Before using this product for the first time, Kenwood recommends you wash the products thoroughly, following the recommending cleaning guide in the manual provided. Basically you need to ensure the product is unplugged from the mains and dismantled before cleaning, and the advice is that this product is not suitable for dishwasher usage.

So, now I had the product I needed to put it all together before I could start “playing” with my new toy. Full instructions are given in the manual as to how to assemble the product, and they are very simple. The only thing I would advise is not to let young children assist in setting up the processor, as the blades that are supplied are extremely sharp.

The Kenwood Smoothie Maker is made up of the following:

Stirrer, Cap, Lid, Goblet, Tap Assembly, Sealing Ring, Blade Assembly and a Power unit.


Smoothie Maker Series and product details

The product is advertised with the claim, that you can make your smoothies the New York Way, with this Kenwood processor. The product is available as a SB200 (White) or SB206 (Shiny Chrome), of which I have the SB206.

The product itself is approximately 38cm in Height, 20cm in Length and at the widest point measures 21.5cm, and weighs 2.6kg. The Goblet will hold 1.5 litres of mixture, and shows indicator marks for 2 and 4 servings. This is quite handy as I have a tendancy to put any old ingrediants in, and end up with far more than I bargained for!

The plastic base beneath the goblet encases specially designed stainless steel blades to aid in a consistent smooth texture of the drink.

It has an extremely powerful motor – which unfortunately is very noisy and gave me quite a fright when I pressed the start button for the first time. I have got used to this incessant noise now, although this still shocks guests or friends when they hear this noise coming from the kitchen. Due to the powerful motor and sharp blades, the mixer is capable of blending ice, fruit and ice cream into a smooth consistency.

The Goblet is designed in this particular funnel shape to ensure the ingredients are drawn into the centre for optimum blending results. To aid this process a unique swivel stick is also provided, which can also be used to aid the process of dispensing the drinks.


Smoothie Mixing

Using the Kenwood smoothie maker is very simple. Following this set of very simple instructions will guarantee you a delicious tasting smoothie.

1. Place the liquid ingredients into the Goblet – this includes fresh fruit, fresh yoghurt, and milk and fruit juices. Place these up to the level marked liquids.
2. Add ice or frozen ingredients – this includes frozen fruit, ice cream or ice. Place these up to the level marked Frozen Ingredients.
3. Secure the lid onto the goblet.
4. Press the MIX button for 30 seconds – basically this starts the mixing process.
5. Press the SMOOTH button for approximately 30 seconds.

When using larger fruit portions or items that don’t blend easily, I’ve found it easier and more successful to alternate the Mix and Smooth process a little more, e.g. Mix 20 seconds, Smooth 20 Seconds, Mix 20 Seconds, Smooth 20 seconds.

6. Place a glass under the unique dispensing tap and press down on the dispensing lever.
7. If the liquid does not dispense easily, because of a thick consistency, press the mix button for a couple of seconds.


Kenwood Hints and Tips

With respect to the smoothie maker, it is always handy to be made aware of a few hints and tips. So;

1. To make a thinner smoothie drink add more liquid
2. To make a thicker smoothie drink and more frozen ingredients
3. Remember drinks won’t always be completely smooth e due to seeds of the fibrous (tougher) nature of some ingredients.
4. Never blend dry ingredients e.g. Nuts.
5. Some liquids increase in volume and froth when blending e.g. milk, so be careful not to overfill.


Cleaning and maintaining

To ensure a perfectly happy and long life span of your product, it is recommended that it be cleaned after every use and stored safely away.

The product should be switched off, unplugged and dismantled before any cleaning programme commences, making sure that the power cord, unit or plug do not get wet.

Quick Tip - As an aid to cleaning the dispensing unit, fill the goblet with a small amount of water and press MIX, and allow the water to drain into a container.


Service and Customer Care

Kenwood Customer Care can be contacted on the following number 023 9239 2333, and you advised to have your model number handy (SD200 or SD206).

Kenwood itself can be contacted at the following address:

Kenwood
New Lane
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 2NH

The Smoothie Maker comes with a 1-year guarantee, and Kenwood offer to replace or repair the product if it goes wrong within this time period.


Recipes

The bit you’ve all been waiting for! There are 12 Suggested Smoothie recipes in the recipe booklet and 6 Alcoholic recipes. The main smoothie recipe I used is an adaptation of the following:

Thick Banana Milkshake

3 medium banana’s cut into chunks
500ml semi skimmed milk
6 small scoops of Vanilla Ice cream

I tended to use whole milk for a thicker creamier texture, and added a variety of other fruits such as strawberries and kiwi fruits. I also alternated the vanilla ice cream for flavoured ice cream for a stronger flavour. Delicious!

My favourite alcoholic recipe was the following

Raspberry Refresher

800ml Cranberry juice
5 x 15ml Vodka
250g Frozen Raspberries
3 scoops of Raspberry sorbet

This makes approximately 5 large glasses of one of the most refreshing summer cocktails.


Price and availability

The Kenwood New York Smoothie maker is available from a number of well-known outlet places, and at varying prices, so it is well worth looking around.

Generally outlets such as Argos and Sainsburys carry this item in stock, as well as Amazon with the relatively new home and garden section.


My Opinion

So what did I actually think about the Smoothie Maker? Well apart from the fact it took a couple of minutes off my life by scaring me when I actually switched it on, I’ve found it a very welcome addition to my kitchen. It was used a lot throughout the summer making various ice cream and yoghurt-based smoothies, with the odd cocktail party thrown in.

Its been fun experimenting with the different tastes and textures, and as yet don’t think I’ve found a particular favourite, although thick banana shakes are definitely at the top of my list.

For the price my mum paid (I was cheeky and asked her) GBP29.99 from Argos in June 05, I think I have got my money’s worth. I haven’t yet had to relegate the processor to the back of the cupboard, because I find it a handy tool to have, especially when I have friends and family over for drinks.

The product is easy to keep clean and maintain, and touch wood, I haven’t yet had any problems…

Summary: An easy to use smoothie maker - ideal for the summer or winter!