3 Comments on “Oster Reverse Crush Counterforms Blender, with 6-Cup Glass Jar, 7-Speed Settings and Brushed Stainless Steel/Black Finish Review
  1. 531 of 548 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Great for green smoothies, July 6, 2011
    By 
    JLC

    Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: Oster Reverse Crush Counterforms Blender, with 6-Cup Glass Jar, 7-Speed Settings and Brushed Stainless Steel/Black Finish (Kitchen)
    I bought this to make green smoothies – those addictive fruit and vegetable combinations (for those few of you who haven’t heard about them yet). We have an Oster blender from the 1960s that still works great, but we were worried that aggressive daily blending might be too much for its 50 year old motor. We love our old blender’s retro look and we are not ready to part with it, so we decided to buy a new blender. The Vitamix and Blendtec units are being pushed for green smoothies, but as we already have lots of food processors to do all that other work (second marriages, two full kitchens…) all we really wanted was a blender. We looked at other makes, but Oster consistently got great reviews, and as we had been so happy with our other Oster, choosing this brand was very easy.

    We chose this model because it was basic, and was a very good price on Amazon. I don’t like pre programmed appliances, so I was a bit put off by the “Frozen Drink” and “Food Chop” buttons. Clearly this is aimed at the margarita-and-salsa crowd. Although it was my intention to ignore the pre programmed settings and just use the manual ones, the “frozen drink” setting turned out to be just great for smoothies. It reverses direction a couple of times which pulls all those fruits and vegetables into the blades. You still need to pack it sensibly so that the blades have something to grab and liquify at the beginning but the reversing feature means you don’t have to be quite as concerned. Depending on the ingredients, it sometimes needs to blend a little longer than the frozen drink setting allows, so I use the high speed setting on manual for a few seconds.

    I have run the motor for a couple of minutes to see what it can do and whether the base unit became warm or started to smell like burning plastic – the signs of poor quality blenders. This has emitted neither heat nor smell as a warning that it was being used too hard. If you let it run on high for a minute or so it will completely pulverize everything, right down to the strawberry seeds. The “food chop” setting is not particularly useful because the shape of the blender jug does not allow enough movement for this to work properly. A food processor or mini-chop does a far better job. If all you want is a basic, reliable, powerful blender, this may be the unit for you. I’ll admit that I was almost seduced by the Blendtec demo at Costco, but I know I would never use most of the features (grind flour? Make ice cream?), and all I really needed was a really good blender, which this is, at a fraction of the cost. This one feels very substantial, and has a glass jar.

    Just changed my review to five stars. I have had it for 1.5 years now and it is still doing great.

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  2. 490 of 507 people found the following review helpful
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    great blender, May 1, 2010
    By 
    JJO (CA) –

    This review is from: Oster Reverse Crush Counterforms Blender, with 6-Cup Glass Jar, 7-Speed Settings and Brushed Stainless Steel/Black Finish (Kitchen)
    I make frozen fruit smoothies every day and I needed a blender that could handle that sort of heavy duty use. I bought one of these at Costco after seriously considering both the Blendtec and The VitaMix machines. I am so glad I bought this one. It has proven to be a great blender. Every morning I toss in frozen strawberries, bananas, pineapple, blueberries, oranges, and other types of fruit. To that I add protein powder and milk, secure the top and use the automatic (this lovely machine shuts itself off) setting to make a pitcher of really great, icey cold, somewhat frozen smoothies. Some days the mixture is so thick that we have to eat the it with spoons! Once in awhile I have to stop the blender and stir the contents because a piece of frozen fruit gets stuck. But that is a rare occurrence (the reversing blades are great at keeping things moving and blending).

    So why do I give this blender 4 stars instead of five? It is noisy. In my opinion it is very noisy. I can and do live with the noise because it performs so well. Well enough in fact that, I purchased a second one in case Oster decides to stop making this model.

    May 2014. My blender is still going strong. I purchased an extra jar (Wal-Mart carries them) because I find myself using this blender for more than just the morning smoothies. I have also replaced the gasket that sits between the blade assembly and the jar edge. Gaskets need to be in really good, flexible condition to maintain a proper seal. I feel it is important to note that the collar, blade assembly, and gasket should be removed and rinsed every time the jar is used. The jar and lid can go into the dishwasher but the rest is better washed or rinsed by hand. The gasket in particular should not be exposed to alkaline dishwasher detergents.

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  3. 141 of 143 people found the following review helpful
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    Powerful and Effective, October 1, 2011
    By 
    J. Strange (Carson City, Nv, USA) –
    (REAL NAME)
      

    Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: Oster Reverse Crush Counterforms Blender, with 6-Cup Glass Jar, 7-Speed Settings and Brushed Stainless Steel/Black Finish (Kitchen)
    I’ve had this blender for a month and use it every morning to make my green smoothie. It works very well, thoroughly pulverizing tough leafy greens (mainly kale) and cubes of ice into liquid along with various types of fresh and frozen fruit. The powerful 600-watt motor is noticeably more effective than the more common 450-watt motors.

    The pre-programed blending modes are very nice. The Frozen Drink program reverses the blade while ramping up the speed. The blade reverse feature really helps get stubborn frozen fruit, ice and tough leafy greens down into the blades.

    The glass pitcher and the rubber top seal very well, and the steel blade mechanism is mondo durable. The bottom collar and rubber seal work flawlessly to prevent leaks and reliably mate the pitcher to the base.

    A few minor negatives: “7-speed” is a bit deceptive. This is a 3-speed blender (High, Med, Low) with a high and low pulse plus the two pre-programed blending modes: Food Chop and Frozen Drink. Also, this blender is loud when running on high speed. Granted it is not any louder than other blenders, but be aware it makes noise. It would be nice if the blade reverse were available outside the Frozen Drink program, i.e. with a dedicated control button.

    Overall a excellent blender. You won’t be sorry you bought it.

    UPDATE (March 2013): Still going strong, chopping up ice and smoothies every morning. Be sure to replace the blade periodically. I recommend the ice chopper blade if you are doing smoothies or a lot of ice. It is time to replace the when it has a lot of up-and-down movement on the blade shaft. New blades are tight with no such movement.

    UPDATE (October 2014): The blender still working great. Just replace those blades.

    Enjoy! 🙂

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