Magic Bullet Party Mixer review

Last year, I succumbed to the commercials and bought myself a $40 Magic Bullet Party Mixer from Canadian Tire during a sale. It came with four party mugs, one large cup, one small cup, extra o-rings, two types of blades and the base unit.

I was excited to use it for all the things they mentioned in their commercial: salsas, dressings, cheese, alfredo sauce.

The first few times I used it, it wasn't so bad. But now less than a year later, it's hitting it's last legs.

Things I don't like:
1. The party mugs are a joke. They take up a lot of storage space and they don't stack nicely. The coloured rings they give you to put on the rim that has the threads to screw on the mixing blade, are fugly and cheap-looking. I have NEVER had a party and used these mugs. But maybe that's personal choice because I don't like drinking out of plastic.

2. Bad blades. I've used the mixer no more than 40 times ever. I normally only use one of the blades (one's flat and the other has raised blades I believe it's for chopping) and they're both dull. As in, I put the food in the cup and it takes forever to process. And even then, there's still solid chunks.

3. Bad chopping. They teach you to do this "tap" method when mixing food. You have to tap the cup to move stuff down, then you mix, then tap, then mix. It's annoying. Especially if you have a heavy liquid in the cup like mayonnaise. Even if you don't and you're trying to mix salsa, some of the stuff is chopped, while the other stuff isn't. So if you keep going, some gets liquidized and the other stuff is chopped to the size you want it. There's just no consistency.

4. Bad mixing. If you don't fill a cup all the way with food or liquid, then some of the contents will throw up to the top of the cup (when it's on the mixer) and won't get mixed in. You have to unscrew the mixing blade, scrape it down and try again.

5. Poor materials. Mine hasn't broken yet, but it did leak the other day. Granted, I just needed to push the o-ring down further. I've read that other people have had the part that spins the blade break on them fairly early because it's only made with plastic parts. Plus it emits a smell if I put it to mix for more than a few seconds.

Things I like:
not much. It's handy to put in the dishwasher. It's lighter and easier to handle than my full sized blender.

Rating: 2 out of 10
Recommend to a friend? NO!