Cuisinart Hand Blender - Smartstick
Review

Overall, the Smartstick is a solid, fairly reliable little blender

The current models of the Cuisinart hand blender, Smartstick, are upgrades to the original version released several years ago. As such, they have an improved handle and grip design, more attachments and accessories, and an improved construction quality.

The cuisinart quick prep hand blender is meant to function as multi-purpose prep tools, allowing you to easily blend soups, smoothies and salad dressings, chop vegetables, and mix drinks.

Features

The Cuisinart hand blender, Smartstick, comes in three varieties:

Cuisinart CSB-76 Smart Stick Hand Blender

The first, model CSB-76, has a 200-watt motor, a stick design that allows it to blend in pitchers, pots, bowls, and other small containers, an ergonomic grip, and an easy control for one-handed blending.

Cuisinart CSB-77 Smart Stick

The middle-grade model, the CSB-77, has all of the above features plus a control that lets you choose between continuous and pulse blending, a stainless steel blending attachment, whisk attachment, chopper attachment, and a 16 oz. beaker for mixing and measuring.

Cuisinart CSB-78 Smart Stick Rechargeable Hand Blender

The final Cuisinart hand held blender, Smartstick CSB-78, is a cordless blender with a fast recharge, one-step power switch, chopper and whisk attachments, and the 16 oz. beaker. In addition, it can plug directly into an electrical outlet or be recharged in its wall-mounted recharge station.

All of these blenders feature a limited 3-year warranty from Cuisinart, and most of the attachments and beakers are dishwasher-safe. You will need to read the directions for your blender to find out specifically which parts need to be hand-washed.

Advantages

The comfortable, easy grip that the Smartstick has achieved is not to be underestimated. While this is not important to some consumers, being able to hold on to your blender is an issue of safety as well as comfort, and this blender comes out on top.

Though, like most hand blenders, this one is not intended to chop ice, users have found that it does a good job blending crushed ice into smoothies and other drinks. This gives it an advantage over other hand blenders, which cannot even handle a little ice.

The Smartstick is also easy to assemble, disassemble, and clean. Most of the detachable parts are dishwasher-safe, so you don't have to bother washing them by hand and can be assured of their cleanliness and therefore of your food safety.

Disadvantages

With only a 200-watt motor, the two corded versions of the Cuisinart hand blender, Smartstick, are less powerful than some of their counterparts made by other companies. This is not really a blender to chop ice or anything else large and hard.

In addition, some of the connections (between blade and shaft and between the two sides of the motor housing) in this blender tend to be weak, and so the blender falls apart faster than most consumers would like. While it is not expensive to replace, this can be frustrating when you're in the middle of preparing something.

Finally, the 200-watt motor can burn out fairly easily in this Cuisinart hand blender Smartstick. While this is a common complaint about hand blenders, it is still annoying when it happens and the blender must be replaced.

Consumer Reviews

Summary

Overall, the Cuisinart hand blender Smartstick is a solid, fairly reliable little blender. It does most tasks well, though will not perform anything heavy-duty with ease. If you're looking for a blender that will be useful for most kitchen tasks, look no further. If you have a specific use in mind for your blender, you'll want to check carefully to make sure this one will work for you.