Oster Reverse Crush Counterforms Blender, with 6-Cup Glass Jar, 7-Speed Settings and Brushed Stainless Steel/Black Finish - BVCB07-Z00-NP0

The media could not be loaded. I read many reviews of various blenders before choosing this one. I've owned it for over a week as I write this review and have used it every day since receiving it. I am very pleased with its power and performance, but most of all with its cost and sturdy construction.I developed a taste for McDonald's Mocha Frappes. Unfortunately, the high calorie count of the drink made me feel guilty every time I bought one. I found a recipe on the web for making a low cal version at home, but my old cheap blender didn't have the power to easily crush ice. This one blends the frozen drink smooth in just a few seconds.Clean up is very easy. The plastic cap on the bottom of the glass decanter screws off, there is a blade assembly with a metal plate and a rubber seal that mates to the hole in the bottom of the decanter. Another review pointed out that the threads on this cap would mate with a standard Mason jar. While true, there is a warning in the instruction manual about only using approved glass containers. There appears to be good reason for the glass to be thick and impact resistant, this thing has a good deal of power.In addition to the "Low, Medium, High, Pulse-Low and Pulse-High" speeds there are two "Programmed Modes." One of those modes was of great interest to me, "Frozen Drinks" mode. When you start the blender in this mode it stops and reverses a couple of times at a moderate speed before fully blending on "High" for several seconds. The stops and reversals allow the ice to fall back down among the blades to ensure a good blend. The only time this didn't work well for me I found that I had not included enough liquid, thus it did not flow back down to the blades. The instruction book gives advice about how to best avoid this.One of the impressive things about this blender is that the drive is "all metal." When I was comparing with some of the more expensive models, they had plastic parts. Now granted, modern plastics can be really tough, and the plastic parts can slightly lower the amount of noise when blending; but, I have a hard time believing that paying twice as much for a blender with plastic parts in the drive mechanism is wise.I can't say that this blender is the right answer to everyone's needs. If you're running a restaurant, you might want something built even heavier, or with even more power, or a longer duty cycle, greater mean time between failures, or better guarantee. But, for the price, and for casual home use, I don't think you can beat the value of this blender.Of course, I saw that some reviewers complained that the electronics failed prematurely. If that happens, I'll be sure to post an update to my review.

Was initially hesitant to purchase the Counterforms, as it had garnered a stamp of notoriety from Cook's Kitchen (for whatever little that's worth, they do not seem to follow manufacturer's directions while testing) and received a number of one-star reviews here as well. But even with the higher end machines there are most always some lemons in every run. Out of all the blenders in its price range, the BVCB07 does currently score the best among Amazon Verified Purchases. So upon finding one listed "Used -- Very Good" through Warehouse Deals at a generous discount, I risked ordering it. Unit arrived quickly and in perfect condition, only the OEM box was at all damaged. Obviously the item had never been used, there was still a light residue from the original cardboard packing material clinging electrostatically to the separate parts. Once dusted off the whole thing looked virgin. Tested fine when plugged in.This Oster has all the same features as the Fusion, only the design is a bit different. I honestly prefer the look of that other model, but have seen used Fusions posted for sale where the printed film over the control panel has shown stress marks or started to peel, probably from aggressive cleaning. In contrast, the Counterforms colorfully illuminating lozenge buttons have their functions very clearly stamped into them from the back, with a few extraneous words of description stenciled in white directly onto the black plastic panel. That superficial lettering on mine had come out a little sloppy though, which kinda cheapened the look of the base unit. Fortunately it rubbed off pretty easily with a cotton swab moistened in rubbing alcohol, without marring the rest of the finish.The Counterforms' 600 watts is the maximum you'll currently find in Oster's "All Purpose" category. So of course when run on High you can really hear the motor whirring; still I did not find it louder than any other blender I've ever owned, just a bit higher in pitch at top speed. On Medium and Low the machine weakly purrs. Okay, the automatic settings do sound rather garbly as the blades reverse rotation. OTOH, when manually transitioning between speeds, the motor gently revs up or down without a hiccough.Have been pleased with the performance, so far has worked as directed -- have never attempted to purée large hard foodstuffs without first chopping them up a bit and adding either some kind of liquid or soft ingredients such as fresh apples, etc. It is still possible to whip up fairly stiff dishes, if you don't rely on the Oster to carry out the entire process on its own. For example, by processing chickpeas with garlic, lemon and roasted peppers, and using a separate mixing bowl to manually incorporate the sesame paste, you can end up with an especially thick and tasty hummus without leaving the blender a smoldering ruin:16 oz dry garbanzo beans (chickpeas/ceci), cooked16 oz roasted peppers, with solutionfew cloves garlic, peeled and trimmedjuice one lemon8 -12 oz sesame paste (tahini)salt (optional)Soak garbanzos overnight and cook according to instructions on package. (Pressure cooking is recommended both for speed and quality of finished product.)Because the blender jar cannot accommodate the entire recipe at once, you'll have to divide all the ingredients except for the sesame into two equal batches for processing. (Or you could choose to halve the entire recipe, and process that in one fell swoop, but I really don't think it's worth getting out a pressure cooker just for half a package of beans.) So:Drop the first half of the garlic down onto the blades of the empty blender jar.Add the first half of the roasted peppers and brine, along with half the lemon juice.Drain beans and add half their total to blender jar while still hot. They should come up to about the four cup mark, maybe a bit over.If necessary, add broth left over from preparing the beans to bring the liquid level up at least to the two cup mark on the blender jar.***DO NOT add any of the sesame to the blender jar, or any oil at all! That would only impede blending and make the glass jar a mess to clean out.***Secure lid on blender jar and select Frozen Drink (NOT Food Chop.) If the beans do not draw down into the spinning blades, slowly add more broth through the fill cavity until they get moving. Once that cycle completes, if a smoother texture is desired, pulse on High. This should not take more than a minute, no need to completely liquify the beans for hummus.Pour out from jar into large mixing bowl, then repeat process with remaining ingredients.Stir about one cup of sesame into the mix, until contents are uniform in thickness and color. Additional tahini and salt to taste.Dispense into sterile containers, seal tightly and let cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Hummus will "set up" nicely when chilled.Makes about 3 lbs, or 1 1/2 QtBon appétit!