Factory-Reconditioned Cuisinart HTM-9LBFR SmartPower CountUp 9-Speed Electronic Hand Mixer
by Cuisinart

List Price: $105.99
Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary

• Reconditioned by the manufacturer to "like new" condition
• Powerful (220 watts) enough to cut refrigerated butter
• Counts mixing time automatically; LCD display shows time, speed
• Nine speeds; automatically boosts power as needed
• Extra-large beaters for speed; 3-inch diameter whisk included

• WMF 12-Inch Stainless Steel Cake Plate with Cover

Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Factory-Reconditioned Cuisinart HTM-9LBFR SmartPower CountUp 9-Speed Electronic Hand Mixer

Customer Review: It works really well, but confused on beaters
Summary: 5 Stars

This is the top rated hand mixer in that consumer magazine that rates products. Don't know if I can use the name here or not.

EXTERIOR DESIGN is well rounded, which means it is great to clean up. Along with that the buttons are mylar touch buttons, that have no nooks where batter can lodge. You have to like that. The cord can be placed well to the left or right keeping it out of the way and great for either hand. However, as it is tightly coiled and being a heavy round cord, it bunches up a bit on first use, as it was folded for shipment. I think if you roll it in a larger coil versus folding it up, it will stay out of the way better on subsequent usage. Only time will tell.

BEATERS ARE LIMITED TO SPECIFIC SLOTS. I wish I knew why. One has a wide end, the other narrow. However the narrow one will fit in the wide slot and stay there, so if you are not paying attention, as I was not, when you put the second one in, it falls out. I thought at first my beater was faulty. Then I had to pull out the instructions. Guys, easy to use, means I don't have to do this. Everytime you use this, you will have to look at the bottom, when you put the beaters in. Who wants to do that? The whisk attachment is a narrow end so can go in either slot, but can't be used with a second beater. This to me is not a good design. It seems you limit your beaters to a side, which makes no sense and then you tell the consumer they have to use a whisk without another beater, but you don't stop them from doing this. Mind you, they don't fit well, but you can do it. Yup, I tried this too. HOWEVER, this aside, this does not make this a bad piece of equipment, just a little less convenient. I would have preferred matched beaters. Also if I'm using one beater like the whip a center spot would be better than offset, especially with a heavier beater as this is.

BEATER RELEASE launches the beaters, so watch for that. I wasn't quite prepared for the distance.

SOLID STATE ON/OFF button gives you a slight pause before the beater gets started. This threw me a bit. Having just moved from a slider control beater that starts up instantaneously, this hesitation, was a slight concern. You get over it fast though. A nice thing though is that you can stop at any speed. The beater also starts always at 1. You can't accidentally push the slider to a top speed. Needless to say, less mess.

9 SPEEDS are new to me. There seems to be no standard for SLOW, MEDIUM and FAST, when it comes to beaters. My recipes called for MEDIUM SPEED and given that this is a 9 speed mixer, I assumed 4 was about a slower medium. Reading the instructions however, 5 would have been a better choice. However, 1, 3 & 5 looks like the appropriate progression, but I don't know how that correlates to MEDIUM. According to the manual:

1: Ultra slow, mixing dry ingredients without splatter

2: Add dry ingredients to batters, Mash potatoes

3: Cream softened butter and sugar, Start mixing cake mixes

4: Whip potatoes

5: Whip cream, Mix thin batters

6: Complete beating cake mixes

7: For whisk attachment: Add sugar to whipped egg whites

8: For whisk attachment: Beat egg yolks

9: For whisk attachment: Whip egg whites

POWER BOOST IS ONE COOL FEATURE after using a hand beater that used to slow to a crawl and begin to smell bad. This is a definite improvement. When I was doing brownies that got real thick and then adding walnuts, this mixer was a champ. It detected the extra load and compensated. I could get used to this.

LCD timer, is a neat idea. At best I used to guess at this. I never knew two minutes was this long. My cake knew the difference though and didn't sink in the middle as it usually does. The only thing, I would suggest making the numbers a tad bit larger. Hey, we all don't have 20:20.

WEIGHT: According to the information this beater is only a little over 3 pounds. Compared to the ancient one (that used to smell bad), I had it is quite bit heavier. Given the power, this one has, it is easier to overlook. Currently available other beaters in this category, tend to be the same or slightly heavier.

BEATER DESIGN, is new for me. My old one, had the old flat beater style. This one is rounded and the batter just falls off of the beaters. That's always nice.

REFURBISHED in my book means good product, great price. I have never shied away from buying a refurbished product and have never been disappointed.

All in all and excellent product with only a couple of common minor concerns.

Description of Factory-Reconditioned Cuisinart HTM-9LBFR SmartPower CountUp 9-Speed Electronic Hand Mixer

Editor's note: This is a reconditioned small appliance. Reconditioned generally means that the appliance has been returned to the manufacturer, who brings the appliance back to like-new condition. Some appliances may contain cosmetic blemishes.

Cook's Tools & Gadgets

• Kitchen & Dining > Kitchen Utensils & Gadgets
• Small Appliances > Mixers > Hand Mixers