KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 review
A great little stick blender that will rapidly convince you that going cordless is a great idea when it comes to blending
The KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 is an excellent stick blender – or immersion blender if you are American. The best thing about it that it runs on a battery, which makes it even easier to use than a standard, corded one. The second best thing about it is that it handles everyday soup, sauce and shake blending very well indeed. It also looks pleasing and has a KitchenAid logo on it – you just can't beat that 'I own a KitchenAid' feeling
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Blends well
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Has no wires
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Rather affordable by KitchenAid standards
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Not the longest mixing arm
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Variable speed trigger is a little hard to master
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Fire up the KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 review: if you want blending with complete ease and simplicity, look no further than this red devil (also available as a black, grey and almond devil).
Probably the best hand blender I have ever used was made by KitchenAid. It wasn't this one. It was an extremely expensive cordless hand blender that was probably rather over-specced for my needs. The Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 – funky name, right? – is pretty affordable, less shiny and pro looking, but it still does almost as good a job at blending and has long battery life. What more could you want from a cordless blender.
There is really not a lot to say about hand blenders, stick blenders and immersion blenders – all names for the same thing. You just stick them into solid food, and it reduces it to a purée, paste or near-liquid, depending on what type of food it started out as. The Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 is a very good hand blender. If you would like a slightly more in-depth analysis of it, just read on…
Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 key spec
Charges fully in 2 hours
20-minute 'quick charge' gives enough power for any standard blending job
Comes with a mixing jar
KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53: price and availability
The KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 retails in the UK at £129, officially. In the USA, the equivalent model is called KHBBV53DG and costs $99 – but it is currently only $69 at KitchenAid.com – bargain!
In Australia it's called KHBV53 (!) and it's AU$179 direct from KitchenAid.com.au.
KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53: design and features
This handsome chap comes in a choice of four colours (red, grey, almond and black – textbook) and feels good in the hand. For your safety and that of others, you need to depress a button on the back and on the front simultaneously in order to make it run. This is absolutely fine in theory but the front trigger is actually a variable speed control. When initially using the 5KHBBV53 I had no idea of this, as one's natural tendency when holding down two buttons at once is to depress both fully.
Once I discovered I could vary the speed, I can't say there was a radical change to how I used it, as I don't see why you would ever want anything less than full speed. Perhaps if you're worried about being splashed, or are blending something very delicate. Not sure I can picture what that would be but anyway, there is a variable speed control, should you feel you need one.
The included mixing jar is an ideal height and width for hand blending smoothies, shakes and possibly even soups, although I would say you're better off just blending directly in the pan for anything bigger than a milkshake.
Oh and there's also a plastic attachment that is meant to stop the blender's metal head from scraping your precious pans. I can't say I have used this much but it seems to work
KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53: performance
For everyday blending needs, the KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53 is a very handy performer. It makes easy work of soups, even when I'm blending leftover meat scraps and stock. With the mixing jug, it's also good for milkshakes and most things you can turn into a smoothie.
Sure, if you want to blend kale or nuts, you will need to add plenty of liquid to keep things moving, but that's true of any blender. If your smoothies are hardcore or you want to make nut butters – does anyone actually do that in real life? – I would definitely recommend a full size blender instead. Try our guides to the best blenders and/or the best Nutribullets.
Obviously, the best thing about this cordless blender is that it's cordless. When you're working directly on the hob, this is a very welcome added convenience. It's unlikely you'll willingly go back to a corded immersion blender once you've sampled the delights of battery power. Charging is a little slow at 2 hours in total but I've been using my one for six months and have only ever needed to charge it up once, so that has not been much of an issue. Hand blenders often don't see a lot of use for prolonged periods, unless you are on some kind of soup-only diet, and the good news with this one is that it also doesn't seem to lose too much charge while it sits in your drawer.
It will fit easily in most drawers and cupboards too, as KitchenAid's handheld pal is very compact and doesn't have any annoying sticky-out bits.
KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender 5KHBBV53: verdict
Once you've had a cordless hand blender, you'll be a convert. This KitchenAid one has done all I've asked of it and is always there, in a drawer, should I feel the urge to make soup or a smoothie or a really well blended salad dressing. Or martini!
For the price, especially if Amazon or others are offering discounts, you can't really do better than the 5KHBBV53 when it comes to everyday hand blending.
As you can see from above, the Cordless Hand Blender has some siblings. The little chopper/food processor (5KFCB519) is really excellent – I use mine all the time – and the whisk/mixer (5KHMB732) does its thing very competently as well. If you need to whip a lot of cream or make a lot of meringues, consider buying that too.
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Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.
Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years.
A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."
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