Meet the Hamilton Beach 51101B Personal Blender: The Fast and the Pretty
When I first started to blend my own smoothies, I used my standard size kitchen blender which is a tad too big for blending smoothies. It is sort of like using a huge butcher knife to kill a small chicken. Don’t get me wrong here, kitchen blenders are good enough to blend you a good glass of smoothie. However, I prefer a smaller sized personal blender specifically used as a smoothie maker. Furthermore, smaller blender means less cleaning!
Read over 400 reviews on Amazon here!
This is how I found the Hamilton Beach 51101B smoothie maker. It has many positive reviews on Amazon and is much cheaper than the other models with a 45% discount, and most importantly, it functions really well as a smoothie maker.
Design: A Black Beauty
Let’s talk about the size of the Hamilton Beach 51101 first. Measuring 3-3/4 by 3-3/4 by 12-1/2 inches, it is small, lightweight and very portable. The blending jar has a capacity of 14 ounces, enough for a single serving of mouth watering smoothie.
The engineers have adopted a simple approach when designing The Hamilton Beach 51101. It has a matt black plastic body with a single power button and a built in sprout. The sprout is a convenient method for dispensing your smoothie. I prefer to use the sprout over the traditional open cover pouring method, and it is a mess saver! However, the flow of the smoothie from the dispensing sprout can differ according to the thickness of your smoothie. Generally, I’m quite satisfied with this additional feature. If you find the sprout a nuisance, as it can be a little obstructing when you want to store your smoothie maker, you can replace it with the screw cap located at the bottom of the base.
Overall, the Hamilton Beach 51101 is a black beauty. Although the design is rather simple, it still maintains its elegance and the choice of using matt black plastic pays off as it appears more classy and sleek than the other smoothie makers. For once, I’m proud to have my smoothie maker standing on my kitchen counter.
Performance: One of the Best Tasting Smoothie
This smoothie maker unit has a single power operating speed, which is powerful enough for blending small pieces of ice and fruits. I have always cut my fruits and vegetables into small pieces before blending them into smoothie. You might want to take note of this if you want your smoother maker to last longer. Cleaning wise, it is rather easy to disassemble the blender for a thorough scrubbing.
Although there are several complaints that the Hamilton Beach 51101 is a tad too loud. I find the sound in the acceptable range, and unlike my larger blenders, I do not need to muffle the sound by covering the blender with thick blankets. Furthermore, the whole blending process only lasts a few seconds, and the sound would not bother you much after tasting the delicious smoothie.
I have found one or two reviews mentioning the blender breaking down after a few rounds of blending. This has not happened to me as I have been using the Hamilton Beach 51101 for 4 months, and it is still serving me well. The secret is to keep your ice, fruits and vegetable in small pieces before blending them.
Last of all, what really matters is the quality of the smoothie. The Hamilton Beach 51101 blew my mind away when it comes to the quality of your smoothie. I have tasted home made smoothies that are not smooth. These smoothies are filled with chunks of ice and fruits, which destroy the texture of the smoothie. On the other hand, the Hamilton Beach 51101 is really great when it comes to balancing the thickness and smoothness of the smoothie. After all, this is what a basic smoothie maker needs to have to blend a good glass of smoothie, and the Hamilton Beach 51101 has done a really good job in this area.
The Bottom Line 
With the price that you will be paying for the Hamilton Beach 51101, this is definitely one of the best value for money smoothie maker out there on the market. It makes no sense to me if you are a smoothie fanatic and does not buy this excellent machine for home made smoothies. You are missing out a great deal here!
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