Jug blender first look reviews Dualit 83800 jug blender
At £149, the Dualit 83800 is quite pricey for a jug blender. For that price you do get six blades instead of the usual four, but does this translate to expert blending?
We’ve not yet fully tested it in our lab but we’ve given it a quick go to see if it’s worthy of space on your kitchen worktop despite its high-end price tag.
Solid simple design
First impressions are good - we think the jug is easy to put onto its base, and it can be positioned to suit both right and left-handers.
It also feels reassuringly sturdy and solid, which you’d certainly expect for a product of this price.
On the downside, it’s quite tall when put together so didn’t easily fit under our tester’s wall-mounted kitchen cupboards.
If you have a more compact kitchen it’s therefore worth measuring how much space you’ve got before investing in a jug blender.
Soft lid
The blender’s lid has soft edges so requires a bit of effort to secure it onto the jug.
The lid has a removable centre section allowing you to pour in extra liquid to your mixture as you go, although the hole is quite small.
You have to remove the lid to pour out blended ingredients.
Four speeds to choose from
We found the blender's control panel easy-to-use. It has four speed buttons, two pulse functions and an ice-crushing feature.
When we gave the blender a quick go we found speed-setting two more than adequate for blending smoothies and soups.
6the number of blades in the new Dualit blender
Six blades - better blending?
This blender has six blades, which Dualit says give the blender a ‘multi-dimensional mixing action’ for better blending and smoother smoothies.
In our quick trial the blender seemed to struggle with pureeing small amounts. Ingredients splashed up the sides so we had to remove the lid to see how much had been mixed.
The blender appeared to cope much better with larger amounts. Our trial soup came out really smooth with no lumps, as did our trial smoothie. All of our ingredients were mixed, with none caught around the blender blades.
We thought the blender seemed quite noisy when in use. Our flat-dwelling tester said she wouldn’t feel comfortable using it to make a weekday early-breakfast smoothie for fear of waking the neighbours.
Mirror finish
The blender’s base has a mirrored chrome finish and the jug has a black plastic trim.
Overall, our testers weren’t keen on the appearance and thought the blender’s looks and materials didn’t match its price tag.
The chrome finish may be tricky to keep clean of fingerprint marks.
The 2 litre jug is made from dishwasher-safe shatter-proof plastic, rather than glass, so it’s safer and lighter to move around.
The Dualit 83800 jug blender launches in Spring/Summer 2012.
It will be available from www.dualit.com, Amazon, and high street shops.
Pros: Simple to use, good for smoothies and soups, dishwasher safe.
Cons: Not great for small quantities, expensive, seems noisy.
- Read our blender reviews to find the best blender for your needs
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- Expert advice on choosing the best food processor
