Mueller Ultra-Stick vs Braun MultiQuick 5 Side-by-Side Comparison

Despite being a low-priced blender, the Mueller Ultra-Stick wasn’t any slower than the others we tested. It took about 30 seconds to yield two servings of pureed soup packed with carrots, pumpkin, and parsley.

That said, it wasn’t so good at drawing ingredients toward its blades, so we needed to move it around for an even blend. Moreover, it sucked tightly to the pot’s bottom, which didn’t cause as much spatter as the Cuisinart, but did cause small scratch marks on our cookware’s surface. It also made it very challenging for us to stir with the blending wand.

Our Mueller soup’s texture was acceptable but not the silkiest; there were still several large chunks of veggies left behind.

The quality of blade’s material is impressively sturdy for the price, and that combined with a heavy-duty motor give the Braun MultiQuick-5 a great pureéing capability. As hard-to-blend as it was, our hearty soup wasn’t a challenge for this blender. In the span of 30 seconds, a two-serving pot of chunky soup became soft and creamy. For most people, this result might be fine enough, but draining it was still necessary to separate the remaining solids if you want the most silky, restaurant-quality soup.

To ensure this portable machine can do the work of a full-sized blender for making smoothies, we designed this specific test for it. We would award it corresponding points if it could create a homogeneous mixture of just kale and frozen fruit. Disappointingly, we found that the Mueller Ultra-Stick isn’t great at blending solid fruit and leafy vegetables. 

In this task, it had a very hard time breaking up the ingredients. This caused it to demand up to 1 min 15 secs to finish the test. 

And although the Turbo mode is intended to give the blender ​​an extra boost at max speed, we noticed the speed increment wasn’t enough to make any difference. Our smoothie came out pretty smooth, but there were many unprocessed chunks of mango. It was also a bit grainy due to a mass of tiny leafy bits. For about $35 more, you can upgrade to the better Braun MultiQuick-5.

As this blender shouldn’t run for longer than 60 seconds at the time to avoid damage, we took a break after 30 seconds. In the meantime, we used a spatula to dislodge the food that lodged in the blade guard.

The Braun’s 13,700 RPM motor did a fine job at this test. It even worked as fast as higher-priced models, namely the Vitamix 5-speed, Breville Control Grip, and the All-Clad, churning out a serving of icy smoothie in only one minute. 

Most importantly, of all the blenders we tested, this blender is the only one that blended without too much trouble. With the remaining blenders, some had a hard time blending through the frozen fruits, while others created tight suction that made it pretty difficult for us to lift the blending shaft. The texture and consistency of its smoothie was also better than most. It was nearly as silky as the Vitamix—our best value immersion blender, with just a couple tiny chunks of unprocessed mango.

Although the Mueller’s whisk attachment has thin, floppy wires, it got the job done in less than two minutes. That was 10 seconds faster than the Braun, whose whisk is more sturdy and springy. It was nearly as fast as the high-end Vitamix and handily beat the cordless KitchenAid by a full minute.

It was also easier to clean. For the most part, its mayonnaise tailings rinsed off easily under our running tap. Using the blending shafts, on the other hand, caused the food to get clogged in the blade housing. As such, it was very challenging for us to scrub off the residuals on the blade’s backsides.

The Braun’s manual instructs that its whisk attachment should only be used for whipping cream, beating egg whites, making sponge cakes, and ready-mix desserts. This is certainly an unusual specification, as whisks are commonly used for other purposes - such as making mayonnaise.

Regardless, we stuck to our plan and used the whisk to make mayonnaise. As it turned out, it performed about as well as its competitors’ blending shafts in terms of emulsifying time and texture. 

Most importantly, our mayonnaise was rich and very creamy. It was a great example of how this blender can be an alternative to a hand mixer to top off your favorite meals with inspired sauces.

Grinding raw nuts shouldn’t be a challenging task for any hand blender. However, our Mueller couldn’t perform any worse, though part of the reason is due to our blending jar — its small size caused the liquid to overflow all over the countertop every single time we moved the blender. So if you intend to use this blender to prepare watery drinks, it’s best to use a bigger container. 

None of the blenders we tested could avoid suction, but the Mueller’s was so strong that it was hard to stir or withdraw the wand, and when we lifted it up the container came with it. These things caused the liquid to easily overflow.

Not only that, but this blender didn’t grind finely enough for a creamy drink. Our almond milk was drinkable, but quite watery and not as sweet as others.

In this test, the Braun MultiQuick -5 took just 47 seconds to produce one serving of almond milk. It grinded relatively evenly to dissolve the nuts’ sugars and proteins into the water. Thanks to that, even when our recipe is sugar free, we got a drink with a mildly sweet and creamy taste. Suffice to say, this blender will have you ditching store-bought plant-based milk without reluctance.

Before we began this test, we presumed that all the whisk attachments would perform well at  beating egg-whites, though some may be more efficient than others. Surprisingly, Mueller's performance proved us wrong.

First, it had an advantage over the blending wand in incorporating enough air into the egg whites, allowing the egg-protein to form a stiff, airy foam. What was until its motor seriously overheated several times, requiring us to let it stop and cool down. This issue didn’t regularly occur with the other blenders, and spending so long with the Mueller was tiring.

Even worse, after this test the whisk attachment had lost its original bulbous shape. The strands of looped wire were all out of their initial order, which would impair its performance in the next emulsifying and beating tasks.

Of all the blenders we tested, the Braun is among a few ones that passed this test, as it included whisk attachments ideal for beating egg whites. Using the ordinary blending wand, the remaining blenders couldn’t draw enough air into the egg-whites, which prevented the egg-protein from forming a stable foam. 

Compared to the rivals, our Braun MultiQuick-5 was 30 seconds faster at creating an airy, fluffy egg foam. Although there was barely any difference between their outcomes, the speedy whisking process of the Braun MultiQuick-5 did help it avoid overheating, which should make it more reliable.