Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program PACKAGE CONTAINS
Frigidaire has produced a decent quality handheld mixer/blender--with limitations. The product is well-made with both metal and plastic components. The power stick houses the 200 watts motor, making it the heaviest of all the pieces. It has parts that click into place and are removed by holding in a button on the power stick. Pushing the button while simultaneously attaching/detaching a part may prove a bit difficult if your hands are weak. In addition, there are: small, metal, double beaters; a plastic beaker for mixing; a plastic bowl with a tiny, metal blade (for chopping); and a long, metal immersion stick for blending (in the beaker, in a pot, etc.).
GOOD for LIMITED SPACE
For the price, you are getting three kitchen helpers: a blender, a mixer, and a food processor. That's a good deal if you lack money to buy all three products and/or are short on kitchen storage space. The Frigidaire Professional Immersion Hand Blender/Mixer is great for those who live in dorms, where space is severely restricted. It would also be a good choice for apartment dwellers who have limited kitchen space for small appliances.
PRODUCT'S LIMITATIONS
If you are preparing very small amounts of food, this is a handy appliance to own. However, if you cook for more than one or two, this is not the appliance you want. The manual advises that, the chopper, for example, "....works well for herbs, nuts, and some vegetables...". In other words, this is not for heavy duty food preparations. The chopper bowl itself is quite small as is its metal blade.
The 200 watts motor has its drawbacks. While strong, it must be allowed to rest for a full 60 seconds after 30 seconds of use. Using it without these rest breaks may cause the motor to overheat. To whip two extra large egg whites, it took a full 30 seconds (on the highest, TURBO speed), using the metal beaters. The result was very well whipped egg whites (that were not even forming soft peaks). After the requisite one minute rest, I whipped the whites again for 30 seconds. Soft peaks were only just beginning to form. Should you want to make whipped cream, you can do so in quantities of up to 17.5 oz.. However, the manual's timing of 50-70 seconds on TURBO will not yield stiff peaks. In other words, the work/rest/work/rest operation is time consuming.
I put a few ounces of frozen whole almonds into the food processor to see how it would chop. It worked well. But, it took several minutes to bring it to a finely ground almond powder. Pushing the machine even further, I added a little coconut oil and whirled the motor again. Within several seconds, I had about 3.5 ounces of almond butter. Nice job!
PRODUCT COMPARISONS/CONTRASTS
The immersion stick has the same amount of power as my Cuisinart SmartStick(tm), but the former has more attachments, making it a more versatile, useful appliance. While the SmartStick (tm) has limited speeds, the Frigidaire has variable speeds and a TURBO setting. Frigidaire's model is heavier in the hand than the Cuisinart's version. With fewer parts, the Cuisinart is easier to clean-up, but the Frigidaire can do more for your various blending, whipping, chopping, and mixing needs.
With that said, neither of these does what my Miallegro 9090 Mitutto 550-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, Professional-style can do. And it doesn't need to rest until the work is done. This one is about 53% of the cost of the Frigidaire model. The Cuisinart SmartStick(tm) is 27% of the price of the Frigidaire.
THE BOTTOM LINE
So what does all this mean? If you do a lot of food prep, and for more than a couple of people, and time and appliance power are important, get a model that doesn't need to 'nap' in between work sessions.
If you are cooking for just one or two, but the priorities are space-saving and multiple-use appliances, and your time is not important, the Frigidaire Professional Immersion Hand Blender/Mixer is perfect for your needs.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Many of us home cooks use immersion blenders--the convenience of pureeing hot food right in the pot certainly beats ladling out hot soup into a blender pitcher and making sure you don't get splashed if you filled it too full. And you don't have to batch the pureeing process or wash out the pitcher. That's why these hand-held blenders are so popular.
This blender by Frididaire is not like the original ones by Braun or other manufacturers. The stem is steel, the speed is variable and it has attachments and even an LED readout. The extra-long stem means you can puree in a deeper vessel. It's stainless steel, which cleans up well (no oily residue; oils tend to stick to plastic and you really have to wash thoroughly with detergent to get plastic items squeaky clean.)
The blade is a new design, that creates vortices and has sharp knife edges. (A triple blade, not the usual single blade sharpened on two opposite sides.)
There is an extra-large chopping beaker, for chopping fruits and veggies.
You can select nine different speeds or hit the "turbo" button for max power right out of the gate. They claim you can crush ice with this but I haven't tried that out yet.
It comes with a dual whisk, sort of a hybrid between the old dual-beater designs of handheld beaters and a single wire whisk; this works REALLY well on egg whites. (One of my tests.)
It makes very smooth "smoothies" in the beaker. I haven't had occasion to try pureeing a large pot of lentil or bean soup, but I am sure it will come in handy when I make up some this fall.
The bottom line? If you want a professional immersion blender and are willing to spend two to three times the cost of a basic unit, you'll get a lot of function and control as well as versatility. A very impressive design.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I used to use the Miallegro 9080 Mitutto 450-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, so any comparisons is based on my experience with that product. I must say I am impressed with how smooth my dips and soups are coming out with this Frigidaire. My Miallegro would still leave things somewhat grainy or tiny flecks of herbs left, but things get much more pulverized/mixed with this Frigidaire. I like that the gaps in the metal at the base of the immersion blender arm are bigger than the Miallegro so it allows larger chunks to get pulled in through the gaps and chopped up without having to tilt the end of blender around to fit chunks under the blade to chop it up. Being able to keep the blender upright instead of tilting cuts back on the splashback a bit. The arm gives you about 7.5" blending depth to work with the Miallegro only gave about 6.5". With the gaps larger at the bottom, I also find it easier to work a sponge around the blade when I want to wash it.
One drawback for me is the Frigidaire is wider at the base, so you might not be able to fit it to the bottom of some containers you used to mix in before. My Miallegro required 2-5/8" diameter clearance, the Frigidaire needs 3-3/8" at least.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program This is the third immersion blender we've used over the past six or so years (the others are still working and being used in different parts of the house). It's also the one that seems designed to be used by heavy-duty users and/or professional chefs/cooks (as in a restaurant or other type of professional establishment).
Depending on your needs and usage, this is either overpriced overkill or one of the best additions to your food-prep appliance line-up.
From my perspective as an at-home, non-commercial cook who uses an immersion blender several times a week, here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
* Clean, stylized design. Most folks would have no problem keeping this on display (A plastic vertical, wall mounting unit is included.)
* Ease of adding and using attachments. Unlike some immersion blenders, the whipping whisks and the main knife piece are easily attached to and deattached from the power base.
The extra long 10-inch knife attachment is a plus or minus depending on the type/size of vessel that contains what you are trying to blend.
* Sturdy--and substantial. The main unit and the attachments (especially the knife, which is the most heavy-duty type I've ever used) don't feel as if they will fall apart with frequent use. As always, a lot depends on how you treat items. We haven't dropped any of our other immersion blenders but the other two seem as if they would break a bit on hard impact, from a fall or otherwise. Not this unit!
* Power: You can vary the blender attachment speed from low to high and it also includes a Turbo setting. We make a lot of soups and even the low speed made for fast, smooth (and spatter-proof) blending. Easy cleanup.
You can also chop ice with the tri-blade knife and this is a feature I really use as it is faster (and requires less cleanup) than doing it in our old-style vertical blender.
* Versatile: You've got the all the traditional uses with the knife and then there are the two whisks (Secured into a separate mounter that is easily attached to the power unit.)
* Accessories: The tall pitcher makes it easy to blend/pour liquids (and we've also used it when whisking as well.) And I'm glad that it comes with a separate, extra large dual blade chopper unit as we are always looking for ways to avoid using our Cuisinart(heavy to drag out; a pain to clean as we don't have a dishwasher.)
Depending on content, using the tall blending pitcher allows for some quick smoothies. And again, fast cleanup.
Cons:
* Size/weight: The extra-long knife attachment paired with the heavy power unit could make it less comfortable to use for some folks. However, given the speed of the unit, and average home-cook use, I doubt you'd have to use it long enough to have your hand get really tired. But it may be a consideration for some, so I point it out.
* You need to be sure you're using a deep enough container when using the Turbo speed or you could have some splashing/mess. Also, you've got to hold the unit very firmly on Turbo or, again, a possible messy situation. In general, a firm grip is essential.
* Cost: It's high for average home-cook use given other options on market. But, if your needs are heavy-duty in terms of both frequency and types of things you cook, it could be a solid investment piece for your kitchen.
Why four, not five stars given all the pros? One basic consideration: Price. However, to repeat, if I were a professional chef or someone who prepared a lot more food (volume and frequency), this would be five-stars as this would be a good investment piece.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have a large family and use an immersion blender almost daily.
I to have gone through several hand blenders, the last, before this one is the Kitchen aid immersion blender that I bought here on Amazon last year. It was around $100.00 then, this one for $25.00 more has what I feel to be of an equal quality construction wise, it is solid but a little bit lighter (easier on the wrists) & has all the bells & whistles that did not come with the Kitchen aid like the beater attachments, ice crusher etc... One of the big differences even though both are stainless steel on the immersion part is that the Kitchen aid is more top heavy!! It has fallen over sooo many times & splattered stuff EVERYWHERE while setting it down for a second when adding ingredients to whatever concoction I was blending at the moment.
This Frigidare has a much more stable base on the end where the blades are located (it has 3 blades as opposed to the Kitchen aid's 2 blade system) and it has about 2" more on the neck so it can blend into deeper containers all the way to the bottom. I have read people say that it is good for small families as it has "wait" times when on turbo speed & others said it was good for small retail establishments like cupcake bakeries. I think this is good for ANYONE wanting a good quality versatile immersion blender. I like it much better than my Kitchenaid which I would put into the same quality/price range category as this one.
It does so much more and it is lighter, longer,and most important of all MORE STABLE!! No more flying food splatters, YAY Frigidare!
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I have been in need of a quality paring knife for some time. Though I've not used this bird's beak style before, I find it to be a good knife and am glad I purchased it. If you're used to a standard paring knife, there is a bit of a learning curve while you adjust to the different style. I would have given it 5 stars, but the very tip of the blade has a tiny imperfection (bend) in it. I'm sure I can have if ground out when I take my knives for sharpening; it didn't seem to be worth the effort to exchange it so I'm keeping it, the tiny bend hasn't affected my use of the knife, it just sort of annoys me that a $40 knife didn't arrive in perfect condition.
