KitchenAid KSB1575CB 5-Speed Diamond Blender with 60 oz. BPA-Free Pitcher, Cranberry

I was looking for a blender to replace my Vitamix 5200 which had fallen out of warranty and had just inexplicably stopped working. But, since I don't make nearly as much money as I once did, I needed the best bang for the buck. I landed on this Kitchenaid Diamond blender because my sister has one and told me to get it, and I suppose, for once, I took her word for something. This thing feels to me just slightly less powerful than the vitamix, and the jar is just slightly smaller, but overall I actually think it's a superior product for my needs. USES: Almost exclusively smoothies. Frozen fruit, spinach, nuts... all that kind of thing. PROs vs Vitamix: 1) The jar is wider and so the contents have more room to spin and the top ingredients get sucked down to the bottom much easier 2) way cheaper! 3) locking base. The vitamix base was sturdy but it tended move a bit while mixing. This feels much more secure considering I have kids who bump things. 4) angled blades. This has one blade pointed downwards so that, during mixing, it picks things up off the bottom that the upwards blades might miss. The vitamix did a great job, but seemed to rely on brute force to get the job done. The kitchenaid seems a bit more clever CONs vs Vitamix: 1) less powerful motor. If you wanted to make soup or blend something the consistency of rubber then, yeah, Vitamix is for you. But this is plenty powerful enough for me. In fact, I don't ever even use the top setting. No need. 2) Less capacity. I have two kids plus me and we consume very large glasses. Anyway, the kids have their usual serving, but mine is reduced a bit. No biggie though, I eat too much anyway. Anyway, that's about it. If you want to get the most out of your money, this is it! If money is no concern, this might still be the one for you, but the Vitamix is also good depending on your needs.

I purchased this blender in the Aqua Sky Blue (turquoise) color a few weeks ago. I had immediate buyers remorse - why did I just spend $150 on a blender, when I haven't used the one at my house for a year and a half? BUT it was totally worth the money. We have probably used it 20 times since we received it. As far as how it works - I am very picky when it comes to blending ice - I do not like any ice chunks, which is the main reason I had stopped using our old blender (an Oster). I read a lot of reviews of this product (both on Amazon and on the web) the general consensus was it blends ice very well. And it does - smoothies, daiquiris, margaritas, all come out super smooth....Smoothie King smooth. I also used it to crush graham crackers to a flour-like consistency for a recipe, and used it to puree a butter-egg mixture for baking. I know that some people have complained about the plastic pitcher but I don't mind it at all. Its a lot lighter and don't have to worry as much if you slam it in to the sink or something. Cleaning is easy, you can throw it in the dishwasher. I would caution washing it by hand because you can't remove the blades at the bottom, so there is risk of getting cut. But usually a good rinse does the trick. The aestheics probably shouldn't be important, but I think if you going to buy something, it might as well be cute. I loved all the color choices - it was a hard decision to make, but I love the color I picked, and it matches what was shown on the website. While I've never used a fancier blender such as a Vitamix, for the price and the excellent reviews this blender has received, I would definitely recommend it. Its the best I've used!

This is a well built great machine. The need for a blender recently came up for me and being a researcher I learned the Vitamix and Blendtec seemed to be the dominate players in the market. Not wanting or able to justify the $300++ price tag I began to look at other options. My first purchase was a Ninja NJ600 this machine worked well for chopping stuff up in a hurry but just wasn't great for the smoothies I was making. The smoothies were usually pulpy and required some chewing. Next I purchased the small $15 hamilton beach blender and tried the same smoothie recipe in it, it worked very well and made things smooth. So I figured if this inexpensive machine could do it why couldn't the Ninja... So I took it back and began shopping for another bigger blender because the little one just didn't make enough at once (I did keep the small one). All this hands on research lead me to this KitchenAid. It arrived right on time (thanks Amazon) and I made two smoothies, one veggie and one berry. After making the first smoothie I was soo thrilled and pleased I wanted to do another. I took the container off and noticed oil all over the bottom and a hot smell, I figured it was just getting broke in so I wiped it down then made the second smoothie. I checked the bottom after another awesome performance of this blender and this time there was less oil but a little of the smoothie color on the bottom side of the pitcher. I contacted KitchenAid via their live chat to let them know, they asked for the serial number then told me this blender has a 5 year warranty and are sending me a new container. Wow now that's customer service. Looking online at the product details Amazon states one year warranty so does this blenders user manual But if you look at the KitchenAid web page for this blender it says 5 year warranty. Either way I caught the issue quickly and notified the manufacture and their customer service passed with flying colors. I'm very pleased with this product, the customer service I received and am looking forward to years of use with a warranty and customer service department to back it up.

I decided to start making veggie-heavy smoothies every day, and needed a blender capable of turning all those fruits, veggies, and seeds into a suitable chilly goo. I first ordered a Ninja Professional blender, but sent it back -- while the Ninja was an excellent macerator, it never really blended. Each smoothie felt like a collection of tiny pieces of the ingredients. Also, the Ninja didn't pull the ingredients down toward the blades, but rather splashed them up onto the sides, making it so that I could never really see how much finished product I had in there. The KicthenAid 5-speed does the job very well. It pulls all the ingredients down in a vortex, doesn't aerate them too much, and really breaks them apart so that the resulting smoothie is smooth and creamy. It doesn't quite manage to break down all the tiny raspberry and blackberry seeds, but it does greatly reduce the number of these seeds that remain whole and crunchy compared to my old Cuisinart model. I regularly throw in whole apples, citrus, carrots, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kiwis -- all that stuff is broken down into a nice uniform smoothie stuff. Cleanup is also very easy, I love that the blade assembly is all in one piece with the jar so you never have to worry about dissembling it and washing the gasket. I'm also a big fan of the way this blender slowly builds up to speed; my only minor gripe is that it seems to begin by going full speed for a half second when you first hit the button. This has resulted in some unnecessary splashing, but again it's a minor gripe. Overall this is a great blender, looks and works great, powerful motor, and I expect to be using it for a number of years.

UPDATE 08/18/16: The customer service staff at KitchenAid really came through and saved the day on this one. I spent about an hour on the phone explaining to them exactly what I was doing and how I was using the blender. They made some recommendations to change what I was doing and then sent me out a new blender. It has now been more than ten months of regular use making smoothies and the blender is still going. The change was to use the Pulse option on speed 5. Previously, I had been starting at low speeds and working my way up. This was burning out the motor, apparently. (I still don't know why) So, I have to give four stars, taking away one because it's not obvious how to use it correctly. But when you do, it works very well. ---------- What a difference a week makes. Last week I was going to write a review and give this blender 5 stars. I only used it 1-2 times a week for smoothies since I bought it six weeks ago. Up until this morning it had been a beast. it powered through my frozen fruit and other ingredients without even a hiccup. Then this morning, while finishing up making another smoothie, it died! Just stopped working. I push the buttons and all of the lights start flashing, but the motor does not engage when the buttons are pressed. Totally dead in the water. It's disappointing since I was enjoying using this unit. KitchenAid customer service was very helpful and sent me a replacement unit which arrived promptly via Fedex with a prepaid label to return the original unit. I'll be using this new blender for my 1-2 smoothies per week. UPDATE 08/11/16: The replacement blender DIED this morning! Same problem as the first one. Making a smoothie and suddenly it stops and all lights on the base are flashing. Someone at KitchenAid should be fired for allowing this kind of poor quality control. KitchenAid refused to refund my money and offered to send me ANOTHER replacement blender. I'm taking it and planning to sell it on ebay. Then, I will order a Ninja or similar blender to replace it. I am not taking a chance with the same unit after these kind of problems.

I did a lot of research about blenders before buying this one. My ancient Oster was disintegrating before my eyes-- which I could forgive because it was 20 years old-- and I could no longer get replacement parts. So I looked at a lot of models for one that could handle my morning smoothies, and occasional puréed soups and puddings, sauces and other goodies. The kale test: I didn't want to spend a fortune, but I do throw a lot at my blender. Frozen fruit is tough for most, but one of the hardest is kale-- those little ribs are awful! This blender turned kale and frozen fruit both into smooth creamy liquid ( along with protein, crunchy nut butter, liquid, and whatever else piques my fancy). So it has done very well in my first test. I've only had it for a week tho, but I'll update this review if I have problems with puréed soups. I do want to point out two things to be aware of: 1) it is quite tall, so if it lives on the counter, make sure it fits under the cupboards. 2) at least for the moment, it is quite stiff to take the bowl off. I need to unplug it so that I don't accidentally turn it on when wrestling it off -- which I did the first time I used it! If you are taller than my 5'4" or have big hands, this might not be a problem. I'm sure it will get easier over time, but for the moment, I can't take it off with one hand and that is why it is only 4 stars. So far, tho, it does what I need it to! UPDATE: This blender is great. It took a while for me to get the hang of putting the bowl off and on, as you can see from my earlier review. Once I realized that it is a "snap" rather than a "straight lift" (in other words it needs a tapping motion forward or backward to disengage) it became easy. I can now easily give it 5 stars.

Great blender - purees into a beautiful smoothness we've never had with cheaper blenders. We've used it on soups, sauces, and various other things. I also tried it on some cooked fresh pumpkin and kuri sqaush, and that I had to do in small (about 1/3 the blender size) batches since it wasn't wet enough. We were making pie so didn't want to add any liquid. The pumpkin/squash really was quite thick, though, so I don't think any blender would have handled it well. The puree did come out beautifully smooth, though - like silk. Very happy with the blender, and it's a fun color too! Also, clean up has been pretty easy thus far. I was a bit worried since you can't disassemble the blades (which is the way all the units like this are made now), but so far so good, it hasn't been a problem, in fact it's been easier. Also we're using the blender much more frequently than we ever did before. :) UPDATE 1/3/2020 This thing still works as great as my initial review. It handles everything we need to, and cleanup is super easy. It won't puree anything that's too thick, but that's honestly not something I think most if any blender can handle. That's what a food processor is for. We definitely use the blender a LOT more since getting this one. Still very happy with my purchase five years later.

I love this blender. I was considering the Vitamix for a long while, but just couldn't bring myself to shell out that much money, and I'm glad I didn't. This blender is great quality for a much more reasonable price. I use it every day to make a smoothie for breakfast, and have had no issues. I have also pureed soup in it. It has a fairly compact footprint--I leave the base on my counter at all times. The jar itself is tall, and with the top on adds about 2.5 extra inches to the height, so it's something to check on if you need it to fit under a counter/shelf. The power switch on this blender is slightly different from other models: you have to press the "power" button, then one of the "speed" buttons before it turns on. I think this is a safety measure, but it takes two presses to start the blender, though it is not at all inconvenient. I put the jar in the dishwasher weekly and it comes out beautifully clean, with no wear and tear thus far. The base is smooth and easy to wipe clean. I have had no issues with chunks or lumps with this blender; I usually let the blender run for 45 seconds to a minute, and am very happy with the blended quality. The top fits snugly in the jar so there's no fear of the lid flying off during blending. The base has non-stick stuff on the bottom so it does not vibrate around. I am very happy I bought this instead of the Vitamix!