As a former chef and restaurant owner it is easy to say that one of the most over looked appliances in both the bar and the kitchen is a good blender. Over the years I tried many different brands and models and over time found that Kitchen Aid Blenders tend rank well above other models.

Before I started using Kitchen Aid blenders I would go through at least one blender a month, I even started keeping a couple spares so when one went out we already had a replacement ready. Then by chance one day I bought a Kitchen Aid model and when I sold the restaurant five years later it was still the main work horse behind the bar.

Since then kitchen aid blenders are the only models I use in my restaurants and at home. Now I do like all the models there is one that I prefer over all others, the Kitchen Aid KSB5 5-speed blender.

There are several reason that help set this blender apart. First is the wide bottom jar, most blender tend to shrink in as you get closer to the blades which usually gets jammed when blend (the stuff on the bottom spins while the stuff on top never get blended in). The wide kitchen aid bottom allows for better circulation.

The next advantage this model has a solid membrane that covers the buttons. Not only does this help with easy clean up it also keeps thing from dripping or leaking into the button that would otherwise gum up the button and stop them from working.

The design of this kitchen aid blender also has very little cracks or crevices where food drink spills will normally hide, so clean up is a snap.

Powerful and quite, most of the time these two things never go together but they do with the Kitchen Aid blender. It’s powerful enough to make easy work of ice cube or frozen strawberries without sounding like you’re in machine shop.

Every part of this blender is sturdy and heavy. The jar is made of thick glass not plastic, the lid does a quick twist-lock, and the base is made of a heavy duty metal not a cheap plastic. The design allows you to load up your blender turn it on and walk away. No having to sit there and hold the thing together.

Nothing is prefect and this Kitchen Aid blender does have a drawback. The pieces that turn the blades are made from plastic. Plastic is used to protect the motor itself; if the blender was to jam somehow the plastic pieces will break before the motor burns itself out.

While this does protect the blender it also means that over time these plastic pieces do become warn and brittle and they will break. Now this is not as bad as it sounds it usually takes about four to six years before you ever have to even worry about one of them breaking. Then you can buy the pieces themselves and easily replace them with a little effort or take them to a local repair shop and have them do it normally only cost about 15 or 20 buck to replace.

Even with this little draw back the Kitchen Aid blender is an incredible buy.