Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

(WARNING- This is an in-depth review for those who are looking for a lot of information to base buying decisions off of. If you are not interested in reading a long review, see the paragraph labeled THE BOTTOM LINE for a brief summary of this review) I have a rather extensive collection of hand blenders. You might wonder what a person would need all of those blenders for, and that is a very good question. I make a variety of things using hand blenders. I make very large patches of soup during canning season and I need a tall powerful hand blender to handle the soup that I need to blend into a smooth texture. I make lotions. This means that although the ingredients I use are all natural, I do need to keep a hand blender dedicated to doing lotions. That does require a powerful one, but not quite as deep as the one I use for soup. I also am getting into doing soaps. In order to reach trace, it is important to have a dependable hand blender which will run smoothly and powerfully enough not to burn out when making soap. Again, I prefer to keep this hand blender dedicated to the task which makes it easier to use and clean appropriately. Also, I prefer to have a backup or two. That way if I am in the middle of a project and one burns out, I can easily continue with the new replacement. So, although I have the Cuisinart Smart Stick 2 Speed Hand Blender, Brushed Stainless Steel. which I have been using in soups at preserving time and beyond for about 7 years or so, I will not be using this in my review as a comparison model as it is quite old. In this review I will be comparing the Chefman 300W to Ovente HS583B Robust Stainless Steel Immersion Hand Blender with Beaker and Whisk Attachment, Black and the Braun MQ725 Multiquick Hand Blender, Black. WHAT IS THE CHEFMAN LIKE? First of all, the Chefman comes put together in one piece in a nicely packaged box which protects the blender well. (I am talking about the product, not the shipping). The handle is a rubbery textured body which makes it easy to hold on to, even when hands are a bit wet. The top is slightly contoured and there is a slow speed and a fast speed. Each speed has a different button to press. The bottom blender unscrews from the top for washing. It is easy to do, and seems to hold in place despite it not being spring loaded. STAINLESS STEEL LENGTH The bottom itself is only 5 1/2 inches of stainless steel. The Ovente is 7 1/2 inches and the Braun is 8 inches. That means that you can only use it in about four inches of liquid comfortably and safely. BLADE LENGTH The blades in this are about halfway between the Braun and Ovente. They are thinner than the Braun but similar shape and size. They are about 1/3 bigger than the Ovente. CORD The cord is about 56 inches long (it is curled from storage, so it could be slightly longer). The Braun is the same, and then Ovente is about 3 inches shorter. WEIGHT The weight of this is equal to the Ovente, and about half the weight of the Braun. That indicates to me that there are more plastic parts in it. QUIET This is a very quiet machine, the others are slightly louder, but not by much. DOES THIS STAND UP ON ITS OWN? Yes, you can stand this on a flat solid surface and it will stand up without tipping over. WARRANTY It has one year with phone number and email address for problems with the model number printed on every page for reference of the operation guide. DOES THIS DO ICE? I have to be honest with you. One of the things I do not like about many hand blenders is that they advertise on the box that this will work on ice, however, in the instructions it specifically says NOT to use on hard objects such as pits, bones, or ANY OTHER HARD MATERIAL. That means that the kind of ice you can use this on is ice that is already crushed. YOU CAN NOT USE THIS ON ICE CUBES, YOU WILL BREAK IT. My suggestion to you is if you plan to use this with ice, you put water in your blender, put in some ice cubes, run the blender to crush the ice, strain it and then use the crushed ice in your hand blender smoothie. PERFORMANCE I used this in some soup with chicken in it that was cut into teeny tiny pieces. There were no other hard items in it, but cooked veggies and onions. The blender worked beautifully on the soup and was quiet and strong. The high speed was best to use, as I felt the slower speed was struggling a bit too much. I also used this on soft fruit blends and it worked nicely. The motor does get warm after about five minutes. The best way to use this type of blender is to use it in spurts of power. Use for about 15-30 seconds and then turn it off for a second as you rearrange your pan or scrape the edges. Then use it again. If you do it that was instead of constant running with no breaks, it will last longer and not get hot as easily. I did notice that it got very warm when using it to make mayonnaise in a cup that came with the Ovente. I prefer to use a blender or food processor for mayonnaise, but it is doable. COMFORT I did not think that this was comfortable to hold. It says it is ergonomic but I find that the Ovente and the Braun (and Cuisinart I have which is not part of this comparison- LOL) are all more comfortable to hold and use. It is not bad though and tolerable. The buttons are able to be pushed well and the blender is easy to pull up and push down. DOES THIS STICK TO THE BOTTOM? Amazingly, this blender does not get attracted to the bottom as easily as the other blenders. It seems to have less of a suction than the others which makes it a bit easier to work with. THE BOTTOM LINE I love the color of this hand blender. It has a nice rubbery grip so it won't slip easily if your hands are a bit wet. The blending steel is quite short which makes it useful for more shallow projects than the others. The blades seem to do a good job and the motor is pretty quiet compared to the others, but the others are not overly loud either. This does come apart for cleaning and seems to stay together well when using. If you take care of this hand blender and only use it for soft cooked foods, soft fruits and veggies, and CRUSHED ice only, you can get it to last longer. It is not to take the place of a regular blender or hand mixer, or stand mixer. Due to the shorter length, and handle not being quite as comfortable as the others I have used, I am giving this four stars. I will use it however, with my soap or lotion in the future, so as I continue to use it, I will report on any further insight or information that might help you in your buying decision. UPDATE I have been using this blender for lotions and am happy to say that all has worked out VERY well for me so far. I have not tried out any soaps yet, which is going to really be a test, but I wanted to tell you how it has worked for lotions. No problems with being slowed down or struggling and the results went well, although I did find that one of the lotions got too many bubbles in it and I had to try to get them out afterward. HAHA I hope the soap does not do that.