Oster Appliances @ Target

[decodriveboy]

Hey guys, I'm dreaming of beehive blenders and retro toasters lately.

Currently I have KitchenAid appliances and love how they look (colors), but that blender of theirs is pure caca! Why the hell would you build a blender with teeth and blade assembly made of only PLASTIC??

I already had to return one KA blender for this problem after the teeth burned off on its maiden smoothie. Now the pitcher leaks all over the place from the bottom.

I give up!

Love the pink styling; HATE the engineering of the thing!

So now I'm looking at something else. No more KA small appliances for me. What's your feedback on these Osters being offered at Target?

 

[~sudsshane]

decodriveboy~

Do yourself a big favor and buy a vintage Osterizer from eBay. I bought my 1968 Osterizer Classic 4 last year and it by far does a better job blending than my 3 yr old Cuisinart. Most of the stuff,not all, on the market today can't hold a candle to anything vintage. BTW..Oster of Today, is not the same Oster of yesteryear. Let us know what you decide.

Shane

 

[petek]

Of any I would get the classic beehive though I can't attest to it being the quality of old. Personally I would buy a vintage Oster and if you can't bare using a "used" jar and blade assembly you don't have to because you can still buy brand new replacement jars and blade assemblies. The square shaped Osters of the late 60's thru 80's preferably the metal deluxe models, cyclo-matics, have bigger motors in them than the mid range and the low end ones.. some are 1100 watts. The real beehives vary in amps depending on the year etc as do all the other ones. Those new design ones on the Target page don't look very sturdy and certainly don't fit a retro kitchen theme.

 

[sudsmaster]

I can't imagine a blender needing 1000 watts to work correctly. But who knows?

In any case, my '95 Oster beehive is made in USA and sports 350 watts. That's more than most stand mixers of that day.

Prior to the beehive, had a square 10 speed pushbutton Oster. One too many daquiris did that one in. I didn't like the pushbuttons, nearly impossible to keep them clean. The beehive is much easier - just a single toggle switch and the rest is smooth chrome.

 

[maytagbear]

A single

Toggle is all anyone (usually) needs!

I have a made-in-Mexico Oster, and it is fine for my limited blender uses. I use my KA processor and my Braun handblender more.

However, if you use a blender more than once every three months, I agree about either going Vintage or Vitamix.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[sudsmaster]

I've seen the newer beehive Osters at Costco and they have this unappealing matte silver finish. Don't know if the shiny chrome is still available.

I'm a bit surprised that the KA proline blender has plastic cutter housing/gearing. Kind of strange, considering the heavy diecast nature of the rest of the unit.

 

[tolivac]

Yes go with a vintage Oster blender-and as above new jars and blades will fit them.KA blenders are USELESS!I have a few in my collection-they just look nice don't BLEND like others.I bought my vintage Oster blenders at yard sales.Thats another good place to look-you don't have to worry about rip-off EBay prices and damage due to baggage handler shipper gorillas.The new Oster machines are built in Mexico and don't have the motor quality the old ones have-and another thing on new Oster blenders-that "metal" blade drive clutch may connected to the motor by a breakaway PLASTIC shaft.The older Osters the metal drive is machined into the motor shaft.And in older Oster machines the motor "floats" slightly side-to-side so its easier to put and take the container off the base.

 

[mixguy]

KA Blenders

I am in agreement that Kitchenaid Blenders fall short of doing what blenders do well, they only excel in blending icy drinks. I had bought one and returned it in 5 days. I tried the Oster modern Beehive and returned it too. I now have a Hamilton Beach 10 speed with a commercial blade assembly. I like vintage blenders over those available for home use. The new KA blenders look like a leap backward as well. The plastic container is less likely to break, the blades smaller and sharper. Looking at the blade clearance and jar design, cannot picture it chopping evenly. Also the motor control is pulsing is not the best, there is a delay with there soft-touch controls. I was in hopes that Oster's Intutitive blenders would have been good but they are not. What seened like a great idea in principle did not workout in reality. Anyone here have or used an Intuitive blender? I wonder how long Oster will have parts available now that they are discontinued.

 

[63getelevision]

Oster Beehive

I have a 1955 Osterizer Deluxe, model 403 with the cookbook. It is a 350 watt unit 115 volt AC DC. It has a three position switch marked OFF LO HI OFF. The base weighs a ton. I know this isn't a collectable thread, but I figured you might get a charge out of it.

 

[ericpeters68]

I have a Cobalt Blue Greenville, OH-made KA mixer and the Brand labeled KA made-in-France (they're now Chinese) 10 cup cobalt blue food processor, so when it came time to buy a blender I also wanted cobalt blue. I bought a Waring (the only other cobalt blue one I could find and they may be discontinued). The waring has a glass jar with a handle, metal blades, and looks very blender-y unlike the KA which does not. Just my 2 cents.

 

[tolivac]

I have an Oster Intuitive Blender-use it carefully though-its one of those with the plastic shaft between the motor and the jar coupler.It does work well.When you use the "salsa" cycle-it forward-reverses blade rotation just like an older Vita-mix!.Of course the older or newer Vita-mix is a better machine.bought my Oster quite a while ago.The Oster Intuitive machine I have has a commercial thickness plastic jar.And also a 6 pointed sharp blade assembly.It is better in action than any KA blender!The Oster machine gets the job done rather than bumping the food around in the jar as the KA ones do.