I have to admit that before I got my Dynablend, I had one of the grungiest old blenders known to humankind. I just tried to Google my blender to see what decade it sprang from and found a similar one on eBay sold as vintage with the selling proposition, “Own a piece of kitchen history.”

So, in short, I might be easily impressed.

The Honeymoon Period

At first, I loved my new blender. But our story did not turn out to have a happy ending.

The Tribest Dynablend Horsepower Plus is a good looking and powerful piece of kitchen equipment. It’s a high-power blender that features a glass pitcher and both pre-programmed buttons and a variable speed dial.

 

It was easy to use right out of the box. The only mystery were a couple of silicone seals. I couldn’t figure out where they went, if I needed to attach them or if they were just spares. So I followed my favorite tactic in such a situation: ignored them. And the blender worked fine without them.

The blender comes with a nifty little recipe book that details how to make soups, salsa, rice porridge, puddings, tapenades, nut patés and baby foods. To clean the blender, you fill it 1/3 full of water and add a few optional drops of dish soap, then run it for a minute or so. Dump out the dirty water. Refill 2/3 full with clean water and run again. Seemed like a very simple way to clean a blender. The only problem was water came out from between the lid cap and the lid when the blender was that full. It was just water, so didn’t really matter. But if I were making soup, this could be an irksome mess.

You also get accessories, including a lovely stainless steel utility scoop. Also, a blade opener for when you get food stuck beneath the blade.

Tragedy Strikes

I used my blender a few times in the first weeks I got it. But then I let it sit on the counter top, unused, for a month or two. When I eventually plugged it back in to make a smoothie, it gave one great cough — just enough to make a mess of my ingredients — then died. Resuscitation attempts failed.

I called Dynablend headquarters, hoping there was an obvious fix. Maybe I hadn’t screwed the top on right. Maybe the silicone seal was actually a vital piece of equipment. But, alas, the customer service rep had no idea why it had failed on approximately its fifth smoothie ever. Since I’d received it as a demo unit for reviewing, she wasn’t sure what to do about it.  She said someone would call me back later. But I never heard from them again. Of course they’re not obligated to replace a demo product for a reviewer. But it’s unclear why the blender failed, and how a real customer would be treated in such a case.

Now I wish I hadn’t given my vintage blender to the Goodwill. But at least it has company. Since I couldn’t fix my new Dynablend Horsepower Plus blender, it, too, wound up at the thrift store.

 

 

Here are a couple of smoothie recipes you can make in your blender. Dump the following ingredients in your blender and mix till smooth.

 

 

Pumpkin Smoothie

 

½ cup pumpkin

1 frozen banana

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

½ cup ice

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp molasses

 

 

Blackberry Banana Smoothie

 

¾ cup unsweetened soy milk

1 banana

½ cup ice

½ cup blackberries

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp milled flax seed