blender review, was l'equip

[Guest guest]

Hi Sherry,

I originally went to raw food in 2005 because of severe problems with my

digestive system, and spent quite a bit of time looking for a blender that would

make a really creamy smooth (gentle) smoothie because my digestive tract

couldn't handle anything else at the time, and ended up buying several different

blenders, and experimenting with them, before I found a solution that worked.

 

I think there is some confusion in the appliance industry about what they mean

by a " smoothie " and a " puree " , and I also think the raw food community uses

" smoothie " to mean something different from the general public. I think the

general public usually makes their smoothies from soft smooth stuff like bananas

and ice cream. It looks like making a thick raw smoothie from soaked nuts, fruit

with peelings, and fibrous vegetables is what many people call a " puree " . So be

cautious about accepting descriptions of blender abilities at face value. Even

if there is agreement on how smooth a smoothie should be, the tough stuff in

many raw food smoothies is a lot more challenging for the blender than what many

cooked food people usually put into their smoothies.

 

For 2 years now I've been using a Braun jug blender (comes with a glass jug) and

it works great for me:

www.braun.com/na/products/fooddrink/blendersjuicers/powerblend.html

It only costs $50 and is the Consumer Report " best buy " in their current blender

review. The current review gives it an excellent on smoothies, good on noise,

and very good on the other tests: icy drinks, convenience, puree, and ice crush.

 

I bought my Braun blender online because most stores don't carry it around here.

 

This place sells parts for the Braun jug blender (specifically the blade

assembly) and probably sells the whole blender:

Action Small Appliance Inc. 1500 145 Place SE, Bellevue WA 98007

425-643-9806; M-F 8:30-5, Sat 9-2

 

The Braun makes smoother raw food smoothies than the Kitchen Aid did for me and

costs less.

 

The Braun also runs on a solar power system with a less than perfect inverter.

The inverter converts the battery power to the 120 VAC for the blender and other

appliances. The Kitchen Aid blender requires very pure power because of its

fancy electronic controls, and didn't run on the off-the-grid system I tried it

on.

 

I tried avoiding the blenders with the sharp blades, but they just can't make a

smoothie as smooth as sharp blades can. The Braun has sharp, but not razor sharp

blades like some blenders do. In addition Braun slightly rounded off the blade

tips, which is lots safer then the ones sharpened to a needle point. So between

trying to be more careful, and the safer sharp blades on the Braun blender, I

haven't gotten any serious stab wounds trying to clean it like I did on some of

the other blenders.

 

In theory, its simple to avoid the blades when cleaning the blender. However,

when cleaning the blender before the stuff dries, before you eat, when you are

hungry and tired, its easy to rush and not pay close enough attention. Rushing

when you are hungry and tired is a classic formula for an accident waiting to

happen, and so safer blender blades seem to be a good idea.

 

The plastic blender jugs make far more noise than the glass ones (enough that

they really hurt my ears) because they act like a drum head when the blades

throw nuts or ice against the sides. The most powerful motors also make a lot of

noise. For noise, according to Consumer Report the Braun is good ($50), the

vitamix is fair ($400), and the blendtec is poor ($400).

 

I think I caused hearing damage to myself by making 2 smoothies a day for years

without hearing protection, and now wear some high quality protection (the kind

like ear muffs) when I run the blender. The ringing noise in my ears has

decreased some since I started wearing hearing protection while making

smoothies. The ringing noise in the ears is a critical occupational safety sign.

The price range for the ear muff style noise protection runs about $10-$30 a

pair with the more expensive ones being far more comfortable to wear and far

more effective in protecting your hearing.

 

I use a lot of almonds in my smoothies, which are one of the harder tougher

nuts. Its unlikely Consumer Report used almonds to establish their noise

ratings. The almonds are REALLY loud in the plastic jugs. If only soft

ingredients are used, the plastic jugs won't be as noisy, however they will

still fog up with scratches so eventually you can't see what's going in inside

the blender.

 

I hated the l'equip. It was extremely noisy, the plastic jug was at risk for

bouncing out of the blender base, and because of the intense vibration the

blender base slowly moved across the counter if I didn't hang on to it.

Appliance manufactures frequently make design changes, and the one I tried I

bought in spring of 2005, so maybe the current design works better now. However

it still costs more than twice as much as the Braun.

 

Avoid the blenders with narrow jug necks by the blades. The narrow neck is a

choke point in getting the smoothie past the blades, and you have to add so much

water to get the smoothie to circulate inside the blender that it makes a very

watery tasting smoothie.

 

A watery tasting smoothie tends to leave you craving for more flavor and at risk

for heading back for a bit of cooked food. The thicker the smoothie (meaning the

less water you add to it), the stronger and more satisfying the flavor. In

addition I can make a thicker smoothie in most blenders with the jug one third

to half full than with the jug filled to the top.

 

Another issue is the narrow necked blenders are usually the cheaper blenders

with cheaper motors, and they tend to produce more ozone gas (which is toxic

when inhaled or absorbed into the mucus membranes) than do the more expensive

motors. Ozone has a sharp irritating odor and is often thought of as " that

electrical smell " because so many electrical devices produce it. Any electrical

arcing produces ozone, including lightning.

 

A problem that seems common to most blenders is the blade bearing burning out if

it frequently dries out after any smoothie fluid has worked its way inside the

bearing. I would carefully wash, dry, and reassemble my blenders after they had

thoroughly dried out, and then sooner than later, I'd have to get another blade

assembly when the blade assembly bearing burned out.

 

Now I wash the blender parts, reassemble them, and put the jug back on the

blender base with the lid a little bit ajar to air out the inside of the jug.

With this procedure, the current blade assembly for my Braun blender has lasted

much longer than the previous blade assemblies, apparently because the blade

bearing never dries out.

 

I think the problem is that it would be extremely expensive to make bearing

seals that seal perfectly on the blade shaft and then continue to seal perfectly

during years of use. Because the bearing seals aren't perfect, little bits of

dissolved sugar, oil, and protein (in the nut milk) from the smoothie work their

way down into the bearing. If these smoothie liquids dry out, they gum up, then

the friction carbonizes them and this carbon then acts like sand in the bearing.

 

I use my blender 1-2 times a day 365 days a year, so it never dries out now that

I put the blender jug back together immediately after its washed and put the jug

back on top of the blender base.

 

Possibly one of the reasons why the vitamix costs so much is that they use a

high quality blade bearing assembly which isn't as subject to problems like

this. However since their web site talks about how much longer their bearings

last compared to regular blenders, likely their bearing seals don't seal

perfectly during extended use, and keeping the vitamix bearings from drying out

and gumming up would extend their life too.

 

Since neither the vitamix or the blendtec have removable blades, when their

bearings do burn out, you have to buy the combination blade assembly/jug, which

is quite expensive.

 

The less expensive blenders, including the Braun and Kitchen Aid, use a sleeve

bearing with a simple rubber seal which just won't provide a water tight seal

with the kind of forces a blender blade assembly is exposed to.

 

I spent years trying different ways of rehabilitating gummed up blade bearings

on the Kitchen Aid and Braun, gave up, and decided to just buy a new blade

assembly as needed. When I gave up trying to be careful, and just reassembled

the blender immediately after washing it, I discovered that the trick is keeping

the bearing in the blade assembly from drying out. Storing the blade assembly in

an airtight bag or a small jar of water should work fine for when the blender

will sit idle for a long time and risk drying out the blade bearing.

 

Maybe if I was making a smoothie meal for a whole group of people at the same

time, then I'd want very powerful blender with a very large jug. I had a vitamix

15 years ago, and it was too tall to fit in my cupboards or on top of the

kitchen counter under the cupboards - it was just too huge so I gave it to a

relative with a big house. The 7 cup jug on the Braun is plenty large enough for

1-2 people.

 

All in all, for making a smoothie for 1-2 people, the Braun is small, light

weight, reasonably quite, has the quieter glass jug that doesn't get scratched

up with use so its still easy to see inside it after many uses, runs on less

expensive inverters for off-the-grid power systems, AND only costs $50.

 

The last Braun blade assembly I bought cost $17, which isn't much compared to

the cost of fancy blenders or their blade/jug assemblies, and now that I'm

keeping the blade assembly from drying out, after 6 months of daily use there

aren't any signs of the bearings starting to burn out.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace, progress, and warm laughter,

Roger

 

-

" sblackwidow " <sblackwidow

 

Sunday, January 27, 2008 1:21 PM

l'equip

 

 

> Hi! My name is Sherry I have just joined your group

 

...anyway I am curious if anyone has use the l'equip

> blender? I am new at this and my reg blender is not cutting it but I

> really can afford a vitamix..anyone have any advice?

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Roger , Thank you so much for all the info! YOU dont know how much I

appreciate that! Bless you! Sherry