Did you know? In 1922 the blender was invented by Stephen Poplawski. He was the first person to put a spinning blade at the bottom of the container. Stephen used this small appliance to make soda fountain drinks. In 1935 Fred Osius improved Stephen Poplawski's idea and the Waring Blender was invented.
In 1910 the Hamilton Manufacturing Co. was formed by L.H. Hamilton, Chester Beach and Fred Osius. This company became well known for it's kitchen appliances. Fred Osius later began improvements to Stephen Poplawski's blender invention.
Check this out!! From ConsumerSearch.com The true measure of a blender is its performance over time. After reading more than a dozen professional blender reviews and hundreds of owner-written blender reviews at Amazon.com, Epinions and Cooking.com, we learned that some otherwise highly rated blenders broke down after months of use.
For its most recent test of blenders, Consumer Reports tried to simulate heavy blender use by repeatedly crushing ice cubes without water at high speed. Most of the 31 blenders survived, but several failed. In addition to the punishing ice-crushing test, editors whipped up icy drinks and smoothies, pureed vegetables and grated cheese. Cook's Illustrated has tested both inexpensive (under $50) and pricier (over $100) blenders. Editors put both sets of blenders through rigorous tests, including a 45-second peanut butter challenge and a race to crush 15 ice cubes in five one-second pulses. We also read blender reviews in The Wall Street Journal and Good Housekeeping, which were helpful but not as thorough or comprehensive.
We found disparate reviews for many blenders. Often, a blender will perform well in professional testing, but user ratings can dampen enthusiasm. Despite high ratings in three recent professional reviews, reliability has often been a problem for the Braun PowerMax MX2050 (*est. $50). The PowerMax failed Consumer Reports' March 2004 tests due to problems with its gear-teeth assembly, but by July 2005, the magazine was reporting that the problem had been corrected. Owner-written reviews, however, still sometimes cite durability trouble. To be fair, we read similar mixed ratings for several blenders, many of which cost a lot more than the $50 Braun PowerMax.
Although it has fared well in two professional reviews, the Cuisinart SmartPower 7-Speed SPB-7 (*est. $60) has its share of problems. Many owners say that their SmartPower blenders are noisy. Also, both the plastic gear assembly and the plastic base appear to be prone to breaking. While some owners like the wide jar, others have found that it allows food to avoid the blender’s blades. Professional comparison tests confirm that the Cuisinart SmartPower blender is noisier than others, and it doesn’t crush ice as well as some of the competition.
Another Cuisinart blender, the SmartPower Premier CBT-500 (*est. $100), is named the best value in hands-on tests at The Wall Street Journal, but it receives only middling ratings in Cook’s Illustrated tests. Cook’s editors note that the SmartPower Premier, which has a squat, 50-ounce jar, occasionally leaked in testing. Several owners say that their blenders emit a "burning-rubber" smell. Others complain that the lip is poorly designed. Professional testers and owners alike wonder why they have to press three buttons to get the SmartPower Premier to pulse.
In short, we found at least a few detractors for pretty much every blender. While the Braun PowerMax MX2050 gets some complaints for durability, so do the KitchenAid Ultra Power KSB5 (*est. $85) , the KitchenAid Custom KSB560 (*est. $100) , the Oster Classic Beehive Blender (*est. $65) and the two Cuisinart blenders mentioned above, all of which are more expensive than the Braun blender.
