Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5 Review

The Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5 is the latest iteration of this longtime fan-favorite blender. It features a commercial-grade 3.5-horsepower motor base with Cuisinart's proprietary BlendLogix technology, which automatically adjusts blending speeds based on the weight of the ingredients loaded into the included 64-ounce jug. The four presets—Smoothie, Ice Crush, Soup, and Clean—are fully adjustable, with a built-in memory function that stores your preferred power and time settings. The LCD display includes a digital countdown timer and an auto-shutoff feature.

Smoothies

Like other high-end blenders we tested, the Hurricane Pro features a Smoothie preset. When blending a berry smoothie, the powerful, 3.5-horsepower motor effortlessly cruised through frozen fruit, though it's worth noting that this blender was a bit louder than other premium models, measuring an average of 86 decibels. Although there were still a few small seeds in the mix, in only 45 seconds, we were pouring out a robustly blended smoothie with an even, creamy texture and invigorating flavor.

The Hurricane Pro also features a Green Smoothie preset, which doubles the time and boosts the power to blast through tougher ingredients. But this blender performed so well on the regular Smoothie preset that the specially designed preset seemed almost superfluous. The green shake was similarly thick and creamy, and our testers couldn't get over how brightly the flavor of all of the fresh ingredients shone through. “I can't get over how great it tastes!” exclaimed tester, Gena Bradshaw.

Even on the standard Smoothie setting, the Hurricane Pro easily powered through a difficult fruit, nut, and oat smoothie recipe. It had no struggle breaking up ingredients and blending efficiently without any assistance from a tamper. The result was a notably smooth breakfast blend, which was appropriately thick, yet it was still a smoothie we could drink from a to-go cup. With such stellar smoothie performance across the board, it should come as no surprise that the Hurricane Pro also turned out a velvety smooth Oreo malt, using the same Smoothie preset.

Pureeing

Like other versatile blenders we tested, the Hurricane Pro can tackle tasks other than blending. However, pureeing was a bit of a mixed bag for this blender.

Using the Soup preset, we were able to puree a rich, decadent steaming pitcher of homemade tomato soup, which warmed up to a prime 150°F during the six-minute cycle. The Hurricane Pro stands out as one of the better blenders for making and warming homemade soup in one fell swoop. It was “like a dream,” according to our taste-testers.

Although it is a less common task than pureeing soup, you can substitute a high-performance blender for a food processor to make nut butter at home. While the Hurricane Pro eventually produced a passable nut butter with a moderately creamy consistency, it needed a lot of assistance. It took a significant amount of stirring with the tamper and a lot of extra oil to produce a spreadable nut butter. If it weren't for the extra hassle involved in this process, the Hurricane Pro surely would have scored better in this regard.

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Frozen Drinks

Using the Ice Crush preset, the Hurricane Pro quite literally crushed this test, pulverizing a cup of ice into a snowy mix without additional pulsing.

This blender also turned out a delicious blended margarita in just one minute, using the same Ice Crush preset. The margarita was smooth and coated the tongue with boozy bliss, and one of our taste-testers described the result as “lovely.”

Controls

On top of its exceptional smoothie performance, the Hurricane Pro is also one of the easiest blenders to operate.

While the interface isn't quite as sleek as other premium blenders, we always appreciate plain-language labeling, as opposed to having to decipher icons to figure out button functions. The digital readout displays the settings and a countdown timer, and all of the presets include an auto-shutoff once the cycle is complete.

Unique to the Hurricane Pro is the ability to adjust the speed and time of the presets — say, to best suit your regular smoothie recipes — and to save those changes with an incorporated memory function. Of course, you can also adjust the blending power manually, and you have the option of a pulse button.

Ease of Cleaning

The user-friendly design ties into cleaning as well. Using the Clean preset, you can simply partially fill the pitcher with warm water, pop on the lid, and let the machine do the work for you—then just set the pitcher on your drying rack and voila!

You can also opt to use your dishwasher. We particularly appreciate that the gasket on the lid is removable and dishwasher-safe, as this is a particular area where gunk tends to build up on blenders. The blades aren't removable, unfortunately, but the self-cleaning should get them clean most of the time, and they're not too difficult to scrub under if you happen to blend something that leaves stubborn gunk behind.

Should You Buy the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro 3.5?

Earning one of the top scores overall, this is undeniably a phenomenal blender at a more reasonable price point than comparable premium options. Our only reservation is the wear and tear our testing put on the Hurricane Pro 3.5 within a relatively short period. While our tests are objectively laborious — frequently subjecting blenders to tough tasks like crushing ice, grinding nut butter, and milling corn flour — we were particularly surprised by the state of the blades at the end of our test period. However, unlike other brands, Cuisinart offers replacement parts for its appliances. But if you only rely on the Hurricane Pro for more everyday duties, we doubt you will need to replace its components.

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