Cuisinart HB-155PC Smart Stick Stainless Steel Hand Blender with Whisk, Silver/Black

I have never saw the need of getting one of these stick blenders. But received one as a Mother's Day present. Now I understand all the fuss. If you were contemplating buying one of these, you absolutely should. The first thing I made were smoothies. Instead of taking out the blender and then having to take it all apart to clean it. I plugged in my new stick blender and used the mixing cup that it came with, and voile perfect smoothies and a snap to clean up. I made some potato soup, and whipped out my stick to smash up the potatoes in the pot. Amazingly easy no transferring hot soup to a blender making more mess to clean. I am so excited that I can’t wait to try it for more creative things. I have not used the other attachment yet but will comment again when I have. It should be very easy to make whipped cream, and blend up some crepe batter, or scramble up some eggs for omelets. I like the fact that there is a speed control on the top, and the push button to turn on and off makes it very simple to pulse and not run the motor for longer than the one minute continuous recommendation. Comment on some reviews: The blade is protected provided you are smart enough not to put your fingers inside the blade guard. If you follow the instructions you should be able to use this without any worry. It's not heavy and is very easy to hold. The attachments go on and off very easily. So far I have not found anything I dislike, but since this is my first I cannot compare it to any other similar product. However my kitchen arsenal consists of mostly Cuisinart and I'm 99.9% happy with their products.

I'm still relatively new to cooking. I have maybe less than two years under my belt, (if I wore a belt.) I subscribe to several YouTube channels dedicated to cooking, and saw that this device is becoming more and more common. And now I know why. It's just too damn practical to NOT have. There are a plethora of models out there, not only by Cuisinart, but other manufacturers, but I chose this one for the variable speed. It just seemed more appealing than one that had either a high or low setting. Even at the low speed, this baby is very efficient. If you are new to wand, or stick, or immersion blenders, let me tell you, you need to keep it immersed in what your blending, or your gonna have a mess. Other than that, it's a no brainer. It works great, and it looks great if I leave it out on the counter with the rest of my stainless steel appliances. Who can ask for more? It shines when making a puree soup. Rather then transferring your soup to the blender, then having to clean out the blender, just stick this in your soup pot, and let it do all the work. This method is not only convenient when cooking, but you have one less thing to clean afterwards. The whisk attachment is something I'll probably use once every few months, and the cup, to me, is somewhat unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with the cup. I see it is great for making a variety of things, especially single serve smoothies, but I have a blender for those, and prefer the larger capacity of my blender. If this was available without those extras I'd give this 6 stars, if I could, since I feel I'm paying for something I don't need or want. When it comes to cleaning, the easiest way is to submerge this in some soapy water and turn it on for a few seconds, turn it off, then submerge it in clean water, and turn on again for a few seconds, and you're done. Unless you are working with an oily substance, this is typically all you need to do to clean it. Thinking back to the included plastic mixing cup, that is ideal for this. WARNING: When you're done cleaning it, make sure to unplug it when you dry it. You may seriously injure yourself trying to dry the underside while it's plugged in if the on button is activated. Pros: It's very efficient. I read dozens of reviews on other models, decided on this one, and don't regret my decision. Cons: None so far. 3-3-14 Update: I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I make my own salad dressings, and this is the perfect appliance for making these as well if you're going beyond simple vinegar and oil. MY BOTTOM LINE IS, don't THINK about getting one of these, just GET one of these. Then you too can ask yourself, "Oh baby, where've you been all my life?"

I had a stick blender years ago (different brand) that I hated - it splattered soup everywhere and didn't purée consistently - so I was a little sceptical about this purchase but needed something that would fit in a tiny kitchen and do the job. First impressions are excellent - the blender is well made and sturdy. I've used it several times to blend soups and it works really well with no mess. It is powerful enough to do the job quickly. I'm less impressed with the whisk attachment (hence only 4 stars - the blender on its own merits 5 stars) - this gives a much less sturdy impression and it took me a very long time to whip some egg whites to soft peak stage. It does work, but isn't brilliant and I'm not sure how long it will last. Overall I think it is good value for money and I would recommend it to anyone who primarily wants to use the blender and only occasionally needs a whisk.

I talked myself into buying this after watching them being used on various cooking shows and competitions. I didn't really expect much to be honest. But, after it was delivered, we had the situation where we didn't have and pasta sauce, but did have a can of diced tomatoes. This hand blender did an excellent job. I just dumped half the can into the measuring cup they provide and in seconds it turned the diced tomatoes into a nice smooth sauce. No mess, no splattering out of the can, just perfect. The hand blender stays cool and has a very handle speed selector dial, although I will just probably use it at the highest speed all the time until I get a chance to try the whisk. Clean up was simple. I only had to rinse it under the tap. With the attachments disconnection from the motor, you don't even have to worry about damaging anything with water. We have bought many varieties of appliances over the years, but we have always loved Cuisinart.

Review is based on making shakes only. My drink consists of the following: A couple, broken up, hard frozen bananas, covered with coconut milk and some chia, flax, & hemp seeds. I have been doing this in my blender which tends to require more liquid than what I would prefer, just to get it all to blend up smoothly. But that wasn't the reason I bought this. I bought it for the convenience of not having to clean up the much larger blender every time I wanted just ONE drink. To my surprise, not only did I get an appliance that is MUCH easier to clean, but it makes MUCH BETTER shakes - thicker and smoother. With the blender, I was never able to get the shakes as thick as I prefer them. With this appliance, they are PERFECT. Even the seeds get ground up pretty good - something I believe is essential for getting the full nutritional value from them. And it is so EASY to clean! I may never need my blender again. If you are wanting to make shakes, look no further. As a skeptic, this thing is far better than I expected - great ergonomics (fits perfectly in the hand), blends perfectly, and is super easy to clean. Hopefully, it can stand the test of time. Meanwhile, I'm going to make a shake.

This iunit works well in most of the functions it offers, except that the whisk attachment wires are bent out of center, causing the unit to wobble and is therefore hard to control when using it scramble eggs, for example. Even at the lowest recommended speed the oscillating whisk causes splatter. A call to the Cuisinart factory produced a prompt replacement whisk, which unfortunately, was only somewhat better than the original. The other blending blade functions well and offers the ease of use that I had expected.

I cannot say enough good things about this product. We have owned it for over a year now and it has become one of our most used kitchen tools. It's extremely versatile and powerful. We use it for mixing dough (when we don't want to get the stand mixer down), chopping food (when we don't want to use the giant food processor), and even making smoothies (when we don't feel like cleaning up the Bullet). It does a great job in all of those areas. Truth be told, it's not a true master of any area. But, boy oh boy can it hold it's own. We've used this product to mix everything from tough, glutenous bread dough to light airy whipped cream. Did I mention the blades? They aren't the sharpest ever, but they motor is powerful enough to make up for that. You can get well blended smoothies and make some amazing soups, salsa, and sauces. This tool is easy to clean up, hasn't broken down or even skipped a beat once, and has answered the call for nearly all but our biggest cooking duties. The only issue you might run into is it's small size. We are sold on this device for life and will definitely be replacing it with another if/when it breaks down.

UPDATE: March 15, 2014 - The blender continues to work well. No issues to mention at this time. I purchased my first Cuisinart Hand Blender 10 years ago. It was used nearly every day for making smoothies and to puree soups. It was one of the most handy kitchen gagets to have. We did not heavily strain the motor by trying to mix super thick things and only occasionally did we put ice cubes in our smoothies and have the blender chomp through them I actually don't think it's a good idea to expect this hand blender to be able to handle ice cubes very well so we tend to avoid doing so. After 10 years of service, the blade shaft just froze up and was not repairable. I had the option to order just a new replacement shaft for only $15 or to buy the entire package. I opted for the entire package. I have several first impressions of the HB-155PC. It seems quite similar in size and weight as the previous one I had but I do notice some differences. First of all this model has a variable speed motor on it. The dial for controlling the motor speed is on the top of the handle. My original handle/motor was just a single speed. Another difference I notice is that the shaft assembly seems a bit less substantial than the shaft on the original model I had. I weighted the shafts to compare and sure enough, the older shaft weighed 237 grams while the new shaft weighed only 211 grams. So the newer shaft is using a somewhat thinner stainless steel. The last difference I notice is just the sound this one makes. It's hard to put into words, but this just doesn't sound as "substantial' in some way as the previous model did. Concerning performance, this one works just as well as the older one did. I actually prefer the single speed motor on the older one since I am a proponent of simpler is better. Of course there are times where having a variable speed could come in handy but for our use of the blender, mostly smoothies, it's not necessary so I continue to use the older handle with the new shaft. I'll keep the "new" handle as a backup in case the older motor finally gives out. There have been many people who have complained that the nylon gears strip and I do believe that to be true. However I also believe that in many cases the cause of them stripping is because the shaft was not firmly seated in the motor. It has happened to me... I think the shaft is fully inserted but in fact it is not and when you turn the motor on, the blade begins to spin but then stops spinning because the gears are not firmly seated. This could easily lead to them stripping. So it is important that you firmly attach the shaft to the motor handle until you hear that "click" that tells you it is locked in place. For now, I'm happy with this. I'll update my review should it be necessary to do so.