KitchenAid KTA-KPCB348PPM Pro Line Chef's Blender with Polycarbonate Jar, Pearl Metallic

Been using a blender daily for years and years. Most common mix is frozen banana in skim milk and diet powder or fruit. The frozen banana is the challenge for sub $90 blenders. They blend but often leave little chunks unless the blender runs a minute while I do something else.

Enter the Pro Line Chef, exit the little chunks. Folks there are more expensive blenders out there but even on low speed the bigger blades finish my breakfast drink in about twenty seconds. First morning I made the mistake of using medium speed too long. My drink almost like thin whip cream. These larger blades and power blend FAST. Now I use only low speed with a couple pulses when I added the last fruit or diet powder. Did I mention this blender is much quieter? On high not so quiet but for normal use on low and medium half the noise of my old Krups.

Felt a little shy about the $183 but not anymore. Blender has a bigger base and higher container but fits fine under...Read more

I just started using this blender and all I can say is Wow! How it holds up over time is an unknown, but right out of the box it seems very sturdy and well-made. The polycarbonate jar won't break like glass, but it's clear so you can see what's going on, unlike stainless steel. The start-step feature is great-when you start it up, the mixture doesn't erupt upward and get all over the lid. There are 3 speeds and that's all you need.

The power is awesome. This thing could probably grind stones into gravel and come out laughing (but I don't recommend that). I put plain old ice cubes in and it grated them evenly and fine enough for a snow cone. The blade assembly seems to be well-designed too, so that it blends/chops/grates evenly and you don't have to stop and scrape down the sides and redistribute the contents like I had to do with my cheaper blenders.

All in all, I am looking forward to a summer of great smoothies and slushies.

First of all let me mention that I am really picky about the appliances that I purchase (it took me two months to buy a vacuum cleaner and I had to take one back just because I wasn't sure that it was the best for the money - my wife didn't know this about me when we got married - in fact her first exposure to this was with a blender some 19 years ago). Anyway, I am pretty thorough about doing the research so I can get the best product for the money. If money were no object I probably would have purchased a three or four hundred dollar blender but since I was trying not to exceed $150 (ended up at about $180.), I had to do the best that I could and stay near my budget goal (and please don't tell my wife how much I spent).

My goal was to find a blender that was powerful enough to do the frozen fruit and ice necessary for smoothies (often 2-3 times per day) and durable enough to not break down. I have had a more powerful blender (Juiceman), but have found that all the...Read more