Hi, We're looking for a good blender with a cup (to make smoothies, sauces, soups etc.) but don't want to spend 400 euros on a Blendtec. Being Dutch, I'm a fan of Philips but in the comments on Amazon people keep talking about brown gunk seeping up from the motor. Not many, but even the slightest chance of that puts me off. I saw a very wel priced Duronic on Amazon as well, but there also next to many enthousiast comments there are people who think it's rubbish.
At the moment I fancy the Sage by Heston Blumental Kinetix Contol. It's on Amazon for 120 GBP but not for sale in France.
Q1. does Amazon UK deliver in France? At what cost?
Q2. anybody know another good cup blender that crunches ice as well (min 800W) for max 100 euros?
We bought a coffee machine from Amazon UK and changed the plug to a French one, the coffee machine broke broke after 4 months so we sent it back to Amazon - they sent us out a new one no problem but we did get stitched on French postage - the return postage cost me 21 euro (since they scrapped the small packets rate on 1st Jan) and Amazon refunded me £6 only.
Generally though I always check both sites UK and Fr and if the price difference is significant I go with UK and change the plug.
Though don't do what my hubby did with my new slow cooker - he absent mindedly chopped the flipping end off that went into the slow cooker instead of the plug end so I had to order a new cable and couldn't use it for a week.
We already ordered a 100 euro Kenwood. Good enough for starters. And deserts.
I've bought a few blenders over the past 25 years -and I know you've said you don't want one...... but splashed out on a Blendtec (on offer from Costco - £320) last year and I can say it has been worth every penny. We all now eat more fruit and veg (including the kids having fruit smoothies every day) Would thoroughly recommend even though it's a really expensive item - I wish I had bought one years ago!
Brilliant - thanks Kent ... will see what I can find. I have actually found a couple of 7.5 and 10 amp adaptor plugs now - but they are travel adaptors, your solution sounds far better - thank you :-)
The best solution to an "adaptor" of sorts is to make a short extension with a good bit of cable and a proper plug at one end and a proper "trailing" socket on the other - whichever way around you need the conversion. You'll have a full 13 amp capability then. (It's the lower of the 2 capacities that would be the limit).
Forgot to say that sadly Brittany Ferries isn't much use to us as on the very very rare occasions we return to the UK it's by plane ...
Thanks very much for your replies :-)
It's the KitchenAid Artisan blender James ... I've had it about 7 years now - very heavy duty bit of kit, but not brilliant at blending - I always end up with some lumps. To repair it would cost about £80 and I just don't think it's worth it.
Thanks for that Kent ... I would much prefer to change the plug, but if I do it'll negate the guarantee ... so would rather use an adaptor for a couple of years - just in case! The Sage blender is 1200W, so I would need 5.2 amp ... and I think they are only sold in 5 and 10 amp ... of course I can find quite a few 5 amp ones, but no 10's :-(
You're certainly not wrong there, James, adaptors are a bit of a bodge. I just found that having lived over here in the 90s - changed all my plugs - gone back to England - changed all my plugs - come back over here again - can't be @r$€d this time unless it's new or needs repairing. I have 20 million things with plugs on… ARGH !!
Adaptors usually have the maximum amperage marked on them, and it's often not that high: often only 5amps.
Some folk seem to glaze over when confronted with working out what's the safe limit but it really isn't that complicated: the wattage of your gadget/tool/whatever divided by the mains voltage will give you the amps.
eg: Our Silvercrest whizzer is 600w, so, divided by mains voltage of 230v = only 2.6amps needed.
Just a tip but I've found that the adaptors I've bought on Brittany Ferries are 10amp. Believe that or not…
Is it a KitchenAid blender that you have Carol or the mixer?
It would be preferable to get the plug changed for a good quality (Legrand) EU one I reckon.
Hi
I'm also looking at blenders as my KitchenAid (not hugely impressed) needs some spare parts, doesn't seem worth spending out when I can get a new blender for just a bit more!
I was also really interested in the Sage by Heston Blumenthal - but am wary about the UK plug ... Perhaps somebody could advise whether it would be OK to run a blender with an adaptor plug? There seems to be a huge choice of plugs available these days ... would it need to be a 10 amp max one or would a 7.5 amp max do?
Would be very grateful for any advice
Many thanks :-)
I get quite a lot of stuff from Amazon.uk but not all their associated suppliers will deliver to France. Their system will let you know which when you try to order.
Watch out for postage prices before you check out. I recently ordered a pair of special batteries from Amazon being sold via "The Bargain Shop-London": £1-89 the pair - postage £25-98 I KID YOU NOT. Not surprisingly, I cancelled.
Myself, I don't buy Philips products anymore; I have found them to be unreliable with poor longevity. On the plus side, I think the firm has some great designs and they are good inventors, it's just that I've found stuff I've been unlucky enough to buy of theirs to not be well made and to break down early.
Can play fag cards though *whisk*
Good, cos' they can't play cricket !
Oy! Lankies can :)
I spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and tend to buy reasonably priced (read cheap) cooking gadgets from TV shopping channels, sometimes after a wine or two. The quality has always been excellent. My latest purchase was a Ninja Storm blender from QVC, and it does everything I want, although it's perhaps too basic for your requirements. I've made soup, a smoothie (just one), breadcrumbs and other stuff required by recipes -- and it works just fine. The motor's only 400 watts but this seems more than powerful enough for anything I tried. The four-bladed cutter seems to work better than machines with just two blades. The main downside could be that it's too cheap for a serious cook, just £26.76. CLIQUEZ ICI.
You need a Nutri Bullet... the Sherman Tank of blenders £99 or less. We got ours from Argos in UK but they are available on Amazon. It is so simple to use, very robust, easy to clean just rinse two parts under the tap. You can probably use it for mixing small amounts of sand and cement! We use it every day... No gunk!
Have you thought of the NutriBullet - worth a look -I think you will find it on the WEB it is around £99.00 or €130.00. one address / seller below. Good luck.
Aye, it cam' in yon kit when tha' midwifey pulled ma oot ;-)