off topic (but it is a tool recommendation question)

[marc rosen]

Hey All, That earlier food post made me think back to Thanksgiving day. (No, I did not have the spicy shrimp). After setting the bird in the oven I started making the cranberry relish from fresh berries, apples and oranges. Our old blender began to make that awful burnt electronics smell and I knew its time was about up. So, I'm here now asking some fellow tool junkies what blender or food processor they would recommend. It's a tool after all, and who should I trust more- you guys , or some stranger at the appliance store? Thanks in advance and you're all invited to my house for turkey and stuffing next Thanksgiving.

Marc

[scott]

I know what I'd avoid - Cuisinart. Pure glitzy looking crap. Had trouble with their blender, under warranty the blade fell apart. Customer service told me to send it in on my dime. After a month of waiting, I bought a Kitchenaid. Its not exactly built like a tablesaw or anything, but it is pretty beefy and works 100% better than Cuisinart's. We had a problem with a Kitchenaid food processor (bubble switch quit working) and called their customer service. What a difference. They apologized for the problem, sent me a new unit immediately, and inclosed a paid sticker for the return of the old one, told me to put it on the front door and it would be picked up. I promptly took the cuisinart (after eventually getting it back) and gave to someone. Braun also seems to make some reasonable stuff. The only issue with the Kitchenaid blender is that the glass part is pretty round and the stuff inside gets going so fast it doesn't blend as well as those more clover looking containers.

Scott

[Lee Michaels]

Well, Mekon had one one here recently that requires a bandsaw and materials to make you very own home built wrench to take it apart for cleaning.

[jo4hn]

Just chuck one of those paint stirrer thingies into your router and go for it. Don't I remember someone here doing something like that some years ago? aging... jo4hn

[DonkeyHody]

Well, that depends. Will you be happy to quietly stir your stuff in the kitchen, or do you want a go-anywhere Hummer that will be the envy of every party? If it's the latter, then you want this gasoline powered model here.

"It only costs another nickle to go first class."

[JeffB]

For the last 40 years, we have made the cranberry relish using a hand-cranked meat grinder something like:

the oranges - use the fine grinder plate, for the berries and apples - the medium one. Since the fruit is really juicy, if the grinder is of the design where two halves are hinged together - look for one that has a channel to catch any juices running out the bottom. I think the grinder was my grandmother's... it'll outlast a whole string of blenders!

[Andy]

We have an Oster Beehive blender, and it works great. Metal drive shaft and metal shaft on the glass pitcher make me feel better about its potential for longevity. And it actually blends! (Unlike our old Hamilton Beach, which made noise and produced that electrical burning smell, but didn't ever really blend). Only 2 speeds, but that's all you really need anyway. Available at Target in stainless or red for a little under $50, last I saw. Andy

[Robatoy]

Well, Marc, you asked the right newsgroup. Have I got a suggestion for you: Blendtec. Most incredible piece of gear you'll see. AND, it is for real. It will blend golf-balls, hockey-pucks, glass marbles.. I kid you not.

Go take a look:

the show. Meanwhile I remain,

sincerely yours,

r

[Doug Miller]

I'll tell you another one to avoid: Black & Decker. We received one as a gift a couple years ago. It just died -- no fault of B&D's, though: tree limb dropped on our power lines last week in a windstorm and we lost the neutral feeder, roasting the blender and several other appliances.

It worked fine for the two years we had it. The only real complaint I had, up until last week, is that the damn thing is noisy as hell. But it worked fine.

So why do I say avoid B&D? Simple -- NO REPAIR PARTS. Zip. Zilch. Nada. While Googling for repair parts, I stumbled across a review of the same blender on epinions.com, ripping it for exactly the same thing. The person submitting the review had dropped the (glass) carafe, and can't get a replacement. Well, mine has a burned-up transformer, and apparently nothing else wrong -- but not only does B&D not sell parts, the daggone transformer isn't marked to indicate its output voltage, so I can't even take it to Radio Shack for a replacement. GRRRRR. Next blender will probably be a KitchenAid. For sure it won't be B&D.

On the bright side, if I can track down the person who submitted that review, I have a carafe to sell her...

[Chris Friesen]

I bought a commercial Waring blender. Stainless container, epoxy powder-coated zinc base, and instead of a bunch of push buttons it has a single steel toggle switch with three positions: Off/Low/High.

Also available with a glass jar if you prefer that route.

[Bob AZ]

Marc

Marc

Only one way to go. KitchenAid Mixer et al. K4.5 or 5.0 or bigger. We have one. 35 years and still going strong. Daughter has one and mixes

100 pounds of special diet for dogs weekly. 5 years and still good as new.

Bob AZ

[Morris Dovey]

| That earlier food post made me think back to Thanksgiving day. | (No, I did not have the spicy shrimp). After setting the bird in | the oven I started making the cranberry relish from fresh berries, | apples and oranges. Our old blender began to make that awful burnt | electronics smell and I knew its time was about up. So, I'm here | now asking some fellow tool junkies what blender or food processor | they would recommend.

Kitchen-Aid food processor!

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[Mekon]

(snip)

That is a Sunbeam.

Mekon

[marc rosen]

Hey Group, Thanks for the suggestions and I think I will take the simple way out. I have a hand crank meat grinder with varying size grates so it is coming out of the cabinet next week for a trial run of my next batch of cranberry relish. Don't know why I did not think of that last time but I guess I've become too accustomed to power tools. Contrasted to that comment, we use a hand crank apple "lathe" for pies and cooked apples and I only use one of those hand crank poppper churns (on my woodstove) to make popcorn . Still, I never gave any thought to the meat grinder for the berry sauce. Thanks too for the links to the various blenders. Some of those looked like they'd be fun to use. Marc

[Puckdropper]

jo4hn wrote in news:12ns5r9hf539l70 @news.supernews.com:

I've been known to put marshmallows on the end of a portable screwdriver... ;-) They don't work as well as the fondue forks, though, something about too much rotational velocity and not enough heat build up...

Puckdropper

[M Berger]

Here's my recommendation for a blender. You can even use it during power failures:

marc rosen wrote: