KitchenAid 5-Speed Blenders with Polycarbonate Jars, White

Our old Oster blender has been retired, and this Kitchen Aid has earned a coveted spot on our kitchen counter!I started eating more whole foods this past year and have loved the difference in my overall health -- especially my cholesterol drop from 240 to 178 without using any statins at all. That said, chewing on "rabbit food" has never been appealing. I ate more fruits and veggies because I FINALLY realized most of our processed foods have WAY too many chemicals in them.At the State Fair this year my wife and I considered picking up a VitaMix blender after watching their demonstrations for how to make fruit & veggie smoothies, whole grain cereal, etc., but we were having a tough time coughing up $450 for that unit. We decided to seek other options and read reviews online, perhaps finding a used one somewhere. In doing that we found excellent reviews for the Kitchen Aid, and we opted for a refurbished one here on Amazon. We are impressed. The unit operates quietly and the "crush ice" pulsing feature does an EXCELLENT job crushing ice. It also does a much better job than our old Oster of liquifying fruits and veggies -- we now get a much smoother texture. Even our 8-year old has learned to make tasty fruit & veggie smoothies for her and her friends, and we'd rather have them doing that than drinking all the chemical-laden garbage on the market.We now use this blender 3 - 5 times each day, and it's holding up fine. Some reviewers have complained about the noise while others state their blender jumps around. We've experienced NONE of that. It stays put and it's very quiet compared to our old Oster.Also, we saw other reviews on Amazon complaining about it having a "plastic" pitcher ... Please note -- it's polycarbonate, not plastic. Polycarbonate is VERY strong ... the same stuff safety glasses are made of. And, as noted in some of the other reviews, the easiest way to clean this unit is immediately after using it. Just rinse it out, add hot water and a drop of dishwashing liquid and run it for a bit. Then rinse out the soapy water and you're done. Apparently if you put the pitcher in the dishwasher you can ruin the seal at the bottom. We're not about to test that theory -- the soapy water technique works just fine (even for my wife who can be a clean freak).So hats off, Kitchen Aid! And thanks to Amazon for selling refurbished units. We love our blender, so Five Stars.

I bought this blender to replace my old very well-used osterizer beehive (which, after four years, sounded like a jet engine taking off and legitimately required earplugs for use). That was a great blender also, but I had an issue with hot foods causing the lid to explode off and couldn't use it for soups or salad dressings so I was in the market for something different. After reading reviews on this kitchenaid model I decided to take a chance.I've used it on a daily basis so far for green smoothies, typically blending a few celery stalks, two handfuls of kale or spinach, some frozen strawberries and a few ice cubes with cranberry juice. It definitely does the job, and provides a nice alternative to my very expensive juicer, allowing me to consume all the fiber in the above veggies but with the consistency and drinkability of a smoothie. It's still kind of loud at the higher speeds (more than a standard blowdryer but not by much), but nothing near as loud as my old blender. I suspect my apartment neighbors appreciate the quieter operation in the mornings as much as I do!I tried using the blender to blend raw oatmeal into oatmeal powder, which worked okay. My previous blender did a better job at this (producing a finely ground consistent powder), but the kitchenaid did a serviceable job of grinding it down if you don't mind some powder and some chunkier pieces (for muffins, I didn't). Because the blade is larger and slightly more elevated than other blenders, I think it had a harder time with the dry oatmeal (and probably would have the same issue with nuts or other small dry products), but I imagine this would be a positive aspect for other larger items that people might blend (ie, chunks of butternut squash for soup etc). I've also put hot liquids in this blender and it definitely manages without explosions! My only caveat would be that you can't fill it more than 3/4 up with hot liquid or else liquid will ooze out of the lid and spill everywhere at the puree speed, but at least the lid stays on. Since the container is a generous size, I don't find this to be a huge impediment.The blender is easy to clean and I typically follow the manufacturer's suggestion to blend warm soapy water for a few minutes then rinse. I've found it slightly disconcerting that some sort of black lubricant seems to leech out of the underside of the pitcher while drying, but since it's not on the surface that would come in contact with the food, I'm wiping it off and hoping that it goes away over time. Overall a good purchase for my needs. Oh, and the color is great! Adds some pizazz to my counters :-)