Review on Cuisinart SM 50 5 5 Quart Renewed by Michael Thaxton

I bought this refurbished model because I used to have good luck with this type of product. When I tried to unbox it, I wanted to return it myself! The styrofoam holding the bowl under the blender head was so tightly packed there that I couldn't get the lever to release the head so it could be tipped back to push it down. I used my husband's pocket knife to cut off pieces of styrofoam until the pressure under the mixing head was relieved enough for the head release lever to work. As the packaging is all torn I doubt I can return it now if I wanted to. I love the color and it looks great on my desk. I don't have time to try this today, but if there are any issues with how it works I'll update my review. We also have a Cuisinart capsule coffee maker that broke before the manufacturer's warranty expired. The company replaced it for free, but I was surprised to learn that it's owned by Conair, the hair dryer company. So I bought an extended warranty plan for this blender just in case Cuisinart doesn't become as good a brand as it used to be. Update: I've had the opportunity to use it several times. Not sure if such a big blender is worth the money. It has the ability to knead tough doughs like chocolate chip cookies very well. It doesn't work as well with box cake mixes. Preparing the filling for the pumpkin pie was a mess too. The problem is that the blender blade doesn't even get close to the sides of the bowl and the area at the bottom of the blade doesn't blend at all. It's quite difficult to scratch the sides of the bowl. You have to lift the mixing head and attached beater to access the batter and I have to detach the bowl and tilt it a little to access the sides and bottom. The bowl feels huge and unwieldy, especially when the dough gets on your fingers. I've been looking for accessories like a spatula with scrapers or a smaller bowl, but this model doesn't have any accessories other than what comes with the kit. My daughter has a Kitchenaide blender and was able to get a scraper. Of course, it was a much more expensive mixer. I will continue to use my small hand mixer for cake mixes and pie fillings, and will use this mixer for larger, more complicated jobs like bread and cookies.