DCM SINGLE SERVE BLENDER

The other day I impulsivley went and bought a Hamilton Beach Juicer. When I got it home I hemmed and hawed, wondering if I should use it or not. Did I really want it? I started looking around the internet and realized what I really wanted was something to make smoothies or other fruit concoctions. I researched a few things like the Magic Bullet and Ultimate Chopper but both had mixed reviews. I was tempted to buy the Tribest blender because it had some good reviews here at Amazon but I could only find it online and it's listed at $60 - much more than what I really wanted to spend.

Instead, I went to my local Walmart and to see what they had. I saw the Hamilton Beach Personal Blender and it was priced for only $13.67 so I was interested. It's just me, so I don't need a huge and heavy unit taking up what little counter space I have. I also figured since that if I bought it at Walmart and that if I didn't like it I could easily return it.

I brought it home, looked over the manual and attempted my first smoothie. I threw in milk, strawberries, frozen raspberries and hit the button. I needed to blend it some more because of the raspberries being frozen. Live and learn, I should have done those first. I put in some ice and blended it some more. It came out wonderful!

The jar itself can be used as a serving glass. I probably will only use it in that manner at home. It has no handle so I'd be afraid I'd drop it when I was out. Then the blender would be worthless because the blade is in the jar.

* Jar twists and locks into place on the base
* Comes with a travel lid to take your drink on the go
* Cord wraps around the base
* Not intended for all food - manual says not to process hard foods such as cheese, crackers or meat. A maximum of 12 tablespoons can be ground at a time. Do not try to mash potatoes, mix stiff dough, whip egg whites, grind raw meat or extract juice from fruit or veggies.
* Container cover has filler cap that can be removed to insert small objects when blending
* Can not use big chunks of ice. You need to break them down. I have an ice tray where the shape is a small circle (half ball) and it was fine. Perhaps this is what you can use those holiday themed ice trays for. Some of those sizes which I have seem I think would work in this.
* NOT dishwasher safe - but easy clean up - rinse, put water and soap in jar, blend for a minute, empty, rinse again and you're done.
* No complicated speeds or choices - one push button
* I can't find it on the box or in the manual but according to Amazon, the motor has 175 watts of power

I just went and made another smoothie! Banana, Vanilla soy milk, little bit of chocolate syrup and instant coffee. Yummy!

This one site has TONS of recipes that you can use with this blender. You just have to play with the recipes because a lot of them are meant to be multiple servings.

[...] * this link no longer works. Try allrecipes.com - a search of "smoothies" brings up 200 results. There are books totally dedicated to smoothies. Google "smoothie" or just use your imagination.

While this might not do what a full size blender can, this is a great blender for smoothies, drinks, shakes and to grind coffee. I love that it's small, the cord wraps around the base and I can use this thing at night and not wake up the neighbors!

I just came back from the grocery store and picked up some more fruit... what else can I make???

This is probably the best $15 I ever spent for the kitchen.

I had a bigger standard blender, but never used it. Now, with this little blender, the little jar is always filled with something or in the dish drainer. It never gets a chance to be put away in the cabinet. The blender base is always on the counter - the only appliance of any sort that has that status.

It's simple and it works. It makes no more than two servings, and it does a real good job with single servings. I can make one kind of smoothie or shake and my son can make his own.

All of a sudden, we go to the store looking for "smoothie fodder" and we don't have to agree on what that is.

I am buying my second mostly for the second jar and lids. It is so inexpensive that they do not sell the replacement parts.

[Update: Motor burned out in 5th month, but I may have become unrealistic in my expectations of the little machine, bullying it more than necessary. It easily outlasted a Blender Express, and unlike the bad design of the Blender Express, the elegant simplicity of this Hamilton Beach insures not only much quicker but spill-free, dripless smoothies. I've ordered another. Lessons learned: Make sure liquid gets to the bottom along with the ice; turn it off at first sign of heat or electric odor; keep a close watch on the 25c-piece-sized lid.]

If you're an experienced and regular smoothie maker, you know already that anything over a year's use from a non-professional machine is a bonus. I recently returned a lightweight Blender Express (by Back to the Basics) that failed after a single use! (The banana was too much for it.) This Hamilton Beach is the smallest, lightest blender I've seen yet, but it promises to perform for a while at least.

Ingeniously, the makers have avoided any reference to ice cubes in either the instruction manual or recipes (I get the point, though I still insist on using them). Also, there is no "on" switch; instead, the unit has only a "pulse" switch, thereby insuring that your hands must remain on the unit, preventing it from dancing off the counter and insuring that the motor gets stopped the instant excessive resistance is met.

For under twenty bucks and six months' use, you can count this one a decent value--though keep those smoothies small and simple. And if you plan to take the container "on the road," be extra careful about misplacing the quarter-sized center lid (mine disappeared faster than a quarter).

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 189 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars