On my frozen fruit smoothies I was surprised at how effective the Hamilton Beach blender was at completely pureeing even the chilliest chunks of fruit. While the blend time was definitely longer when using frozen fruit, it was extremely effective. Both the KitchenAid and hamilton beach blender Breville blenders won this test by a long shot. The KitchenAid and the Breville actually turned the block into larger, more edible shredded-cheese-esque pieces. That means that it had a couple of small chunks of strawberry left over after I ran the auto smoothie setting.
In our tests, it didn’t seal tightly to the cup, causing the ingredients to leak out and spill onto the countertop. This is because frozen fruits thaw quickly at room temperature, causing the overall consistency to be diluted if a blender isn’t able to blend fast enough. The final result appeared visually smooth, but when we used a spoon to stir it back and forth, we noticed a few fruit chunks still remained intact.
Lap Vo is head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (the RTR) at Healthy Kitchen 101. He is responsible for designing and overseeing the testing of kitchen tools and appliances. Tina Pham is a staff writer and reviewer, with five years of experience in the industry. As a passionate amateur home cook, she loves to discover practical cooking solutions, and has made it her mission to bring her findings to every kitchen. Her ultimate goal is making cooking more of a pleasure for all. The Hamilton Beach allows you to get its single-speed through a simple button, which demands just a slight pressing pressure to activate.
Pro FeaturesIf you’re a seasoned cook, you might want a machine that can handle it all. Many top-of-the-line models have more sophisticated settings than the typical low-medium-high. Pro-style blenders also have the most power—expect about 1800 watts of peak power—so you can quickly blend the toughest ingredients without issue. Of hamilton beach blender course, higher-end models typically come with higher price tags, so it’s worth considering if the extra features are something you’ll get a lot of use out of. No, it didn’t outperform any blenders per se, but it did perform on par with the $200 Cuisinart, and given the value of the Hamilton Beach, I consider that a huge success.
The motor’s build quality is a little bit better but doesn’t look as sturdy as other blenders we’ve tested and lacks the firmness to ensure optimal stability. In this test, the Hamilton Beach took 3 mins 45 secs to yield a portion of protein shake, which is far longer than average. The mixture came out slightly coarse due to a smattering of unblended dried blueberries, but since all the oatmeal and almonds were entirely liquified, it wasn’t too lumpy or unpleasant to drink.
The ice cubes in water got to the desired consistency much faster, and the blender blades barely made a dent in the bagged ice. That’s probably because it was a frozen solid block, rather than uniform cubed pieces (something to think about if you’re planning to make delicious icy hamilton beach smoothie blender beverages en masse). All of the blenders responded in pretty much the same way, although some of the more expensive models got there sooner. The Hamilton Beach has a stainless steel blade assembly, which is too short and not particularly sharp, unlike other personal blenders.