A month or two ago I came across a special deal at Costco for the relatively new Oster Pro 500 blender. $10 off $39.99, or basically $30.
Now, I already have two blenders in good condition, but what caught my eye, besides the discount, is that the blender has a special "smoothie" button. Intrigued, I picked it up. I tested it after purchase to make sure it turned on and off properly, but didn't do much more than that. After all, who wants an ice cold smoothie in the February deep freeze?
But recently I decided to give it a whirl. My other blenders - a newish Oster beehive and and a Kitchenaid flat bottom number, but they both struggled to make smoothies without annoying ice chunks in the finished result.
So I put in some special smoothie mix (also from Costco) over a glass full of ice. Poured the smoothie mix over that. Maybe a shot of gin as well. Pressed the "smoothie" button and the thing took off. It blends forward and backwards, which seems to be rather effective at the initial breakup of the typical ice maker semi-circular ice "cubes". Then it goes into higher speeds and finishes off at a relatively high speed. It's supposed to stop on its own but I could tell it was done fairly rapidly and so far I haven't let it finish its program. The results are excellent: no ice chunks, very smooth, and the longer you let it run the more air it incorporates and gets fluffier with more volume.
My only criticism, so far, is that the base, while very attractive, is incredibly light weight. It's pyramidal shaped so not excessively tippy with the glass jar on top, but the light construction does not communicate quality or longevity. We'll see how long it lasts. This blender probably will be the designated smoothie/daquiri/margarita maker in this house. For $30, not too shabby.
Now, I already have two blenders in good condition, but what caught my eye, besides the discount, is that the blender has a special "smoothie" button. Intrigued, I picked it up. I tested it after purchase to make sure it turned on and off properly, but didn't do much more than that. After all, who wants an ice cold smoothie in the February deep freeze?
But recently I decided to give it a whirl. My other blenders - a newish Oster beehive and and a Kitchenaid flat bottom number, but they both struggled to make smoothies without annoying ice chunks in the finished result.
So I put in some special smoothie mix (also from Costco) over a glass full of ice. Poured the smoothie mix over that. Maybe a shot of gin as well. Pressed the "smoothie" button and the thing took off. It blends forward and backwards, which seems to be rather effective at the initial breakup of the typical ice maker semi-circular ice "cubes". Then it goes into higher speeds and finishes off at a relatively high speed. It's supposed to stop on its own but I could tell it was done fairly rapidly and so far I haven't let it finish its program. The results are excellent: no ice chunks, very smooth, and the longer you let it run the more air it incorporates and gets fluffier with more volume.
My only criticism, so far, is that the base, while very attractive, is incredibly light weight. It's pyramidal shaped so not excessively tippy with the glass jar on top, but the light construction does not communicate quality or longevity. We'll see how long it lasts. This blender probably will be the designated smoothie/daquiri/margarita maker in this house. For $30, not too shabby.
