Kenwood HB 716 > Reviews (1)

You have may have read the review that I did yesterday, discussing my soup maker. I have found that I have been using it more and more since being on a diet since Christmas and it is a good size so does not take over the kitchen. With the soup maker, I have been using my larger blender less and so when doing a car boot I made the decision to get rid of it and opt for a hand held one instead. I have found that this has worked really well and after spending some time researching I opted to buy the Kenwood HB716 model.

I made the purchase of the Kenwood model just after Christmas so I was fortunate enough to find it in the sale. I did do a little bit of homework on the hand held blenders as I had never used one before and I found some to be lot more expensive than others. This model cost me £29.99 where at full price it will cost you £39.99. I was shocked as I thought that this was a little expensive but I have managed to get a great deal of use out of it so I guess it has paid off in the end. I brought my Hand Held Blender from curry but this model can be found in most electrical shops as well as online.

The product came with a small instruction booklet and a one year manufacturer’s guarantee from memory, I say that as it is really easy to use so I just plugged in and got on with it really. The blender comes with a measuring beaker (0.75l in size) and also what Kenwood call the ‘Bigfoot’ attachment which allows you to blend in your bowl or saucepan. The blender comes with a decent sized electrical lead so when you plug in there are still lots of room for you to work and not get in a mess.

The blender is not too noisy when you put it on and its power rating is 700w. As you can read it is not the most powerful of products but it does have a definite kick to it and this comes from the one turbo setting. I have found that the blender works well with even the most difficult and hard foods and the other day when making an apple puree it made no fuss and just got on with it! I guess it is such a simple and quick process that it is hard to go wrong.

The one thing I will point out is the fact that Kenwood advertise the measuring beaker and the ‘Bigfoot’ as being splash free and although I do not use the ‘Bigfoot’ that much I do use the beaker and this is not at all splash free, especially if you fill it to the top and are using it. If you only have a few herbs and some stock in there then you will be fine but if you want to blend a bigger volume of ingredients then you will struggle not to make a mess!

The beaker as I mentioned above is quite small in size and it is not too much if an issue as I am either normally cooking for just the 2 of us or if having people over then I do it in a couple of goes if that makes sense! I can see why this beaker and the spillages that it causes would be a bigger issue if you were using it and had a larger household to cook for.

The blender is really easy to clean, all parts of the product are dishwasher safe and it comes up looking as good as new. I have washed it by hand before as well and warm soapy water will see it looking great.

In summary, this hand held blender is a great asset to the kitchen. There are a couple of negative points that go with it but other than that I have been really pleased. Yes, the beaker could do with being more rounder in size or having an overspill tray perhaps but other than that it performs well in a safe and efficient way.

4 out of 5 from me on this one

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