By Melissa (NY, NY USA)
I've burned through 3 other brands of blenders -- each time the plastic "spinner" in the motor base (which mates to a plastic spinner in the pitcher's base that turns the blade) broke. Finally we decided to try out the Oster "Classic" because it uses a metal shaft that fits directly into the pitcher's base to turn the blades rather than the plastic disks that all the newer blender designs seem to use. That does the trick. I make a lot of fruit smoothies using frozen fruit -- which can be pretty hard on blenders -- but so far the Oster Classic has been up to the task. I highly recommend it!
By Shinda (Joplin, MO United States)
We bought this blender after a horrid experience with some Cuisianart mulit-speed blender that turned out to be a piece of ... Originally I was attracted to all the bells and whistles, but after all that leaked on the first pouring, I realized we had a problem, Houston.
After cruising the ratings here, we bought the basic, two-speed (read: go and pulse) GORGEOUS chrome beehive blender. Somehow we got the one that had the mini-jar for dressings, the food processor, and milkshake blade with chrome cannister, all for less than the Cuisinart Multi-Function Mistake. :)
This thing kicks. I've made dressings in it, and it was done with ease and they were blended well. Most importantly, I've made several batches of adult drinks involving ice, and as long as you add the ice a few cubes at a time, it turns out perfectly smooth (no ice chips hitting your teeth as you tip the glass).
I LOVE OUR OSTERIZER BEEHIVE BLENDER!!!! Simple is really all you need in a blender. If it's something that needs a bit of mixing, hit the pulse button as needed. If it's serious mixing, turn it on. In my opinion, speed 3, 6, and 9 are not required. This does it all, and looks MIGHTY fine while doing it. If only we had the counter space to leave it out.......it's SO pretty!!!!
Happy blending, anything!
Shinda
By A. Manning (NY, New York)
I use this blender 3-4 times a week, mostly for smoothies (always with ice and some kind of frozen fruit, often large strawberries) and I LOVE IT. It blends very smoothly - I never have to turn it on and then off and on again for it to blend everything in the jar, it does that in one blending cycle.
Two cycles is all you need and more - especially when they work this well. I went to my mom's over Christmas and used her "Oster 6663 Designer 12-Speed Blender with Glass Jar" and it was world's apart - could hardly crush ice (even on the 12th speed, which had no difference from speeds 6-11) and left smoothies and milkshakes with a lot of floating, un-blended objects. Not so with this blender - it is as smooth as my local juice joint.
It is a blender, so there is some noise, but it was much less louder than I anticipated given the reviews here. Its never bothered me and I beleive it not as loud as the one at my moms (poor mom, need to get her one of these for next Christmas!).
And it is beautiful to have on my countertop. Easy to clean as well.
By Danielle Lane (Horseshoe, North Carolina)
I was drawn to this blender because of it's vintage looks, the beehive chrome base is right out of the 50's. Of course, since I am addicted to smoothies and all other blenders I've owned haven't lasted very long (or plain couldn't chop through the ice!), I was skeptical about purchasing a blender on looks alone. After reading all the reviews though, it seemed like this could be the blender I've been searching for. As soon as it arrived, I washed it and put it on the counter and stared at it, yes it really is a good looking piece! In the morning, I threw in all my smoothie fixin's and piled in the ice - still a little skeptical, but very hopeful. I couldn't believe how quickly the ice was chopped and then smoothed into a nice puree! Thinking it may have been a fluke, I made another smoothie that evening. Same thing happened. Yes! Finally a blender that works! I couldn't be happier and have found that now that it's so effortless to make my smoothies, I have them even more often than before. Plus, there's no need to shove this blender into the pantry, it stays on the counter in all it's beautiful glory. This blender rules!
By C. Freeman (Seattle, Wa. USA)
I burned through 3 blenders in like a year and a half because I make a smoothie almost every morning for breakfast and I guess the other blenders just couldn't handle it. One didn't even last a month! Then I bought this Oster, which not only looks great, but also has lasted me almost 2 years now and is still going strong! I really love this blender so I had to write!
