Mueller Ultra-Stick Hand Blender In-depth Review

While we love a good bargain, the low price of this Mueller Ultra-Stick Immersion Blender left us skeptical about its efficiency and durability. That was why we put it through a series of tests whose results would let us determine how well it works, how reliable it is, and how easy it is to use. To ensure our test results are comparable, we also ran the same tests on our other stick blenders, including the Vitamix 5-speed, Cuisinart Smart Stick, Braun MultiQuick-5, and Cordless KitchenAid. 

Whether or not this blender is the best performer, our comprehensive review means you will get entirely dependable information.

Key Specs

Where to Buy Price at publication $36.17

*You help support HealthyKitchen101's product testing and reviews by purchasing from our retail partners.

Compared to Other Immersion Blenders

7.3 Performance: Fine for the Price

The Muller didn’t give us superior blends in all the tests. It wasn’t powerful enough to break down large chunks of fruit and veggies, even when we had cut the solid ingredients into smaller pieces before blending. For the most part, however, its blended results were acceptable.

7.0 Hot Soup Purée

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.

7.0 Frozen Fruit Smoothie

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.

8.5 Mayonnaise

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.

7.5 Almond Milk

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.

7.0 Whipped Egg-Whites

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.

6.8 Design: Above-Average Quality

The Muller’s motor is 500 watts, which is notably powerful but shouldn’t be used for pulverizing solid ingredients like coffee beans or whole ice cubes. To prevent damage, you shouldn’t operate it continuously for longer than a minute, either, though it’s designed to shut off automatically and will reactivate after cooling if becoming excessively hot.

In the Box

• Motor body 
• Blending shaft 
• Whisk attachment
• Milk frother 
• User manual

Dimensions

The Mueller Ultra-Stick has a balanced weight that makes it feel good to use. Since its blending shaft is long enough to reach the bottom of even deep pots, making hot puree soups is pretty much exactly what this machine is designed for. With this compact design, it is also very easy to tuck away in your cabinet when not in use.

7.0 Build Quality

The Mueller Ultra-Stick is mostly made of plastic reinforced with brushed stainless steel, so there is no chance of plastic’s chemicals leaching into your food. Besides being corrosion-resistant, this blender’s unique design gives it an elegant look, though it doesn’t feel as sleek as its higher-priced peers.

The blender has two buttons and a speed control knob. All seem straightforward to use, but are cheaply made. To reduce spatter-related issues, the blades are surrounded by a metal guard. We like this idea, but in our experience, this type of guard can scratch non-stick cookware.

7.0 Blending Shaft

The blades come relatively sharp, but they look flimsy and may dull under regular use, causing the machine to blend less efficiently. Our Mueller’s blades even slightly deformed after the frozen smoothie test.

0.0 Beaker: Not Included

10 Power Cord

The power cord is long enough to easily reach our nearby outlets. Like other immersion blenders, there is no place to hide the extra cord, but it has a small loop allowing you to hang the whole blender on a hook.

Extra Accessories: Whisk Attachment

With the whisk attachment, your blender can be a nice replacement for a hand mixer for certain tasks, such as whipping cream, beating egg whites, and emulsifying sauces. That being said, we don’t think this additional tool can ensure high durability, given its poorly-built quality.

Extra Accessories: Milk Frother

We haven’t performed any test on the milk frother, but we’re quite sure this attachment can make foam for your drinks. However, we suppose it will not live up to the expectations of serious latté lovers.

Speed and Controls

The Mueller Ultra-Stick has an intuitive interface, with two buttons and an easy-to-rotate speed control knob. During operation, you can adjust the speed in eight increments by gently rotating the speed control knob. However, as we found out during our testing, there is barely a difference between the Turbo mode and the highest speed in terms of power.

7.4 Usability: A Little Bit Short On Blending Comfort

Regardless of the inexpensive price, we suppose this blender may be less appealing to some users – particularly those demanding high durability or with wrist injuries.

7.3 Ease of Use

It didn’t take long for us to figure out how this blender worked. That being said, the buttons have a very awkward clicky feel. Although they’re not too stiff and demand just a light press to activate, we weren’t entirely comfortable pressing them all the way down. If you use them continuously for more than a batch, your fingertips may feel a bit tired. 

The control knob also makes the blender more complicated to use. It’s tough for one person to use the blender, adjust its speed, and hold the beaker at the same time, so we had to stop it to speed up or slow down.

8.5 Blade Assembly

To attach the blending wand or any blending accessories to the main body, simply line up the parts and make a quarter turn counterclockwise until you hear the unit click into place.

There is a plastic coupler that attaches the removal parts to the motor body. So far, we haven’t found any issue with this add-on. After spending several days going through hundreds of customer reviews, however, we were warned that the coupler can easily be irreparably broken.

6.5 Handling

We appreciate that the Mueller is designed with an ergonomic handle to reduce hand and wrist pain. However, because the blender itself vibrated pretty violently in all five tests, our hands got tired anyway.

8.5 Cleanability

All the removable attachments are dishwasher-safe, but we recommend you wash them by hand to prevent their finish from discoloring due to abrasive dishwasher detergents. Thankfully, the manual cleaning process isn’t so difficult.

You can either scrub off the residue under the running tap or let the machine clean itself by blending it in a mixture of dish soap and water. Either method should get it perfectly clean.