KitchenAid - Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender - Empire Red

Love it! It’s so convenient and good battery life.

Pros Easy to use Dishwasher safe detachable blades Charger port requires blade removal for safety Light Balanced weight Powerful Variable speed Sturdy container for food prep Quiet Fast charge time Long battery life Second safety button to reduce accidental activations Cons Guard falls off easily Very tall Small batches can be messy Difficult to maintain precise speed with variable control Design and Features The blade handle has a two-button system where the button that rests in your palm serves as a safety button to prevent accidental activation and the button for your fingertips controls the variable speed. On top is a charge and battery level indicator light. The bottom half which contains the blades, is made mostly of metal with a small section of plastic where it connects to the main body. The blade section detaches and is dishwasher safe. Included in the box is a blade guard you can attach to the bottom to help prevent damage to more sensitive pots and pans. A sturdy mixing cup, which includes a lid, is the only other accessory in the box. Performance and Usage The variable speed is easy to operate but precise control is challenging as there is no digital readout or dial to maintain consistent speed. In most cases you only need small bursts of blending, so this issue is only minor. The middle section of the motor body has a narrow section for your hand which helps give you a secure grip on the blender. The motor is so quiet that you would think this blender isn’t up to the task. It’s great to not have to worry about a cord getting in the way but sacrificing power would be a deal breaker. Fortunately, the motor never had an issue with anything it was tasked to blend. Quite the contrary. Even when used to blend thicker items the motor didn’t seem to change sound or speed and made the task easy. In fact, often blending was much shorter than expected of whatever was thrown at them. This can sometimes be a delicate balance for tasks such as homemade milkshakes as it can blend the ice cream so fast that you must stop and mix the remainder of the ingredients manually or risk a runny milkshake. If you are trying to blend small amounts, such as when you are making a small batch of blueberry jam, the blender can throw the ingredients everywhere, so you want to plan accordingly with a suitable container. A slight downside for the advantage of having a blender that is up to the task. If there was any part that was a disappointment, it would be the plastic guard used to protect your more sensitive pots and pans from scratches. It holds on with so little force that more sticky items, such as potatoes, will pull the guard off as you attempt to make mashed potatoes. Maintenance is simple. Cleaning only requires twisting the bottom half of the blender off and tossing it in the dishwasher. The battery seems to last a long time and charging is easy. A simple but helpful safety feature is that the charging port requires you remove the blades the same as if you are cleaning. Just leave it to charge and when the light on the top of the handle turns green you are ready. Final Thoughts If you have thought a hand blender would be good addition to your kitchen tools, you might look to go the extra step and get a cordless one. The convenience of not worrying about snagging a cord spoils you to never want to go back. To that end, the KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender fist the bill with little compromises.