Blender
-
After spending 200$ for a supposedly premium Philips blender which broke in less than one year after having been sent to assistance, having parts replaced and broken again, been repaired by me and after I spent thousands of swear and curses, I am really this ’ ’ close to smashing it with an hammer and crucifying it to scare the other Philips products away from my kitchen.
Since those were 200$ wasted, and my parents and grandparents kitchen stuff worked sometimes for 30 years before breaking, where can I get my grandparents gear?
Should I just resort to smashing vegetables and fruits by hand with stones?I have found two vintage Oster blenders at yard sales, each for under $10. They are from the 50s and 60s and are solid heavy metal things with glass pitchers. I needed to buy new seals for them and on one I had to replace the little star bolt that the pitcher locks into to turn the blades. Either of them will completely liquify things that my modern cheapo Hamilton Beach would meekly chew at. If you can find one online or better yet in person, I can definitely attest they are built different.
-
Personally I have a good knife and a nice spoon. I find for most kitchen tasks they work just as well as a machine, are easier to clean, and take up less space in my tiny kitchen. I would spend your money on quality hand tools first, and learn to use them. I’m rarely doing so much in my house that a machine is actually better.
You blend things with a knife and a spoon?
Kudos I guess.
-
You blend things with a knife and a spoon?
Kudos I guess.
Or a whisk. Manual egg beaters work well to for a lot of things.
I do own a blender, and use it maybe twice a year. There are somethings it does I can’t figure out how to do by hand, but overall I’m not sure it is worth the space it takes up.
-
After spending 200$ for a supposedly premium Philips blender which broke in less than one year after having been sent to assistance, having parts replaced and broken again, been repaired by me and after I spent thousands of swear and curses, I am really this ’ ’ close to smashing it with an hammer and crucifying it to scare the other Philips products away from my kitchen.
Since those were 200$ wasted, and my parents and grandparents kitchen stuff worked sometimes for 30 years before breaking, where can I get my grandparents gear?
Should I just resort to smashing vegetables and fruits by hand with stones?I used to buy about 800 pounds of salvage electronics a week which I would then resell. I’ve seen and evaluated many brands of used older electronics.
For a blender, I’d recommend a Vita-Mix, then KitchenAid. Third tier would include Breville or Ninja.
We use a Vitamix here. A few benefits of the design are that the lid has no moving pieces or hinges or locking mechanisms… It’s just a flexible rubber dome that doesn’t crack if you drop it. The blender jug has the blender blade and a very large sealed bearing. You can swap the entire item out as a future service. The motor bases are extremely high quality. I can’t recall seeing any that were ever broken. They seem to rely on solid state electronics and big mechanical switches nstead of fancy displays and microcontrollers and LEDs.
My only warning is to avoid the white color motor base. That color will take on UV damage and turn yellow over the years.
I would not hesitate to buy a well used working Vitamix in the used market.
-
Or a whisk. Manual egg beaters work well to for a lot of things.
I do own a blender, and use it maybe twice a year. There are somethings it does I can’t figure out how to do by hand, but overall I’m not sure it is worth the space it takes up.
Sorry, I phrased that poorly by not being clear that I mean ‘blend things like a blender does [post topic], which includes cutting the ingredients into extremely small pieces while mixing them evenly’.
So do you make a fruit smoothie with a knife, spoon, and a whisk?
-
Sorry, I phrased that poorly by not being clear that I mean ‘blend things like a blender does [post topic], which includes cutting the ingredients into extremely small pieces while mixing them evenly’.
So do you make a fruit smoothie with a knife, spoon, and a whisk?
I don’t make fruit smoothies.
We actually have a blender in the kitchen - my wife and kids make fruit smoothies. Since we have it I use it for some soups - but this is only about 2x/year and I would eat chunky soups and do without a blender. This is the point I’m trying to make: you can do without things and live a satisfying life - so is it worth it to have the thing?
-
I used to buy about 800 pounds of salvage electronics a week which I would then resell. I’ve seen and evaluated many brands of used older electronics.
For a blender, I’d recommend a Vita-Mix, then KitchenAid. Third tier would include Breville or Ninja.
We use a Vitamix here. A few benefits of the design are that the lid has no moving pieces or hinges or locking mechanisms… It’s just a flexible rubber dome that doesn’t crack if you drop it. The blender jug has the blender blade and a very large sealed bearing. You can swap the entire item out as a future service. The motor bases are extremely high quality. I can’t recall seeing any that were ever broken. They seem to rely on solid state electronics and big mechanical switches nstead of fancy displays and microcontrollers and LEDs.
My only warning is to avoid the white color motor base. That color will take on UV damage and turn yellow over the years.
I would not hesitate to buy a well used working Vitamix in the used market.
Do you know if Vitamix motor units are relatively easy to repair? We have one that the speed control doesn’t seem to work consistently anymore. Even at low speeds sometimes it’ll randomly rev all the way to max, or if the knob is turned up sometimes it won’t actually speed the motor up. I think the model is VM0102D if that changes things.
We’ve been dealing with it as-is because the overall functionality isn’t terribly impacted, it just needs a little extra monitoring when it’s in use, but if I can fix it it’d be a much better experience.
-
I have found two vintage Oster blenders at yard sales, each for under $10. They are from the 50s and 60s and are solid heavy metal things with glass pitchers. I needed to buy new seals for them and on one I had to replace the little star bolt that the pitcher locks into to turn the blades. Either of them will completely liquify things that my modern cheapo Hamilton Beach would meekly chew at. If you can find one online or better yet in person, I can definitely attest they are built different.
Would you mind sending me a link example so I can see wht it looks like? I think there might be new models which look like the older ones, which I do not want.
-
Do you know if Vitamix motor units are relatively easy to repair? We have one that the speed control doesn’t seem to work consistently anymore. Even at low speeds sometimes it’ll randomly rev all the way to max, or if the knob is turned up sometimes it won’t actually speed the motor up. I think the model is VM0102D if that changes things.
We’ve been dealing with it as-is because the overall functionality isn’t terribly impacted, it just needs a little extra monitoring when it’s in use, but if I can fix it it’d be a much better experience.
I’ve fixed a bunch of things but not that specifically.
I’d try spraying the speed control knob with contact cleaner because it sounds like that might be the problem. (Available at any auto parts store in a spray can). Or use 99% isopropyl if you have that available.
If cleaning the connection doesn’t work, you can then replace the whole assembly, the new part runs about $20 incl shipping if you’re in the USA.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326749491891
That’s a non genuine 3rd party Comparible part. The genuine one is on Amazon for about $60 but I am not sure if it’s 3X as good. Your call.
If I’m not mistaken it would be the 2-wire version but ou might want to look inside and confirm before ordering.
-
Would you mind sending me a link example so I can see wht it looks like? I think there might be new models which look like the older ones, which I do not want.
Ah you’re right, it seems there’s modern copycats. Try searching for an “Imperial Ten” Oster model 642. That’s the other one I have, and it’s an 860 watt blender, solid metal with a glass pitcher and weighs like 8lbs. It’s probably not on par with the performance of a Vitamix, but it’s also not $400+. For my uses though it has never disappointed, I usually use it for grinding frozen chunks of fruit or berries to make ice cream.
