Beast Mighty 850 Plus Health Blender Review

Design and features

• 1-minute blending programme plus pulse
• Small, medium and large cups
• Dishwasher-safe parts

While the basic operation of the Beast Mighty 850 Plus is the same as most personal blenders in that there’s a single blade unit that screws into a vessel, that’s where much of the similarity stops. There’s a lot that’s different, starting with the stainless-steel gearing and four angled blades that combine with a powerful 850W motor.

The latter is worth highlighting because it uses copper coils to prevent overheating and maintain consistent speed. Its programme is different to some too: rather than blitzing at the same speed throughout, it works for 20 seconds, slows, then another 25 seconds, slows again, then finishes with 15 seconds more blending. As well as the programme, contents can be pulsed using a brief push of the same button (a little confusingly, the on-off button is at the back, while the button at the front with an on-off mark is solely for blending).

The Beast Mighty 850 Plus comes with plenty of kit. There are three Tritan vessels – 786ml (blending capacity 615ml), 638ml (blending capacity 500ml) and 415ml (blending capacity 275ml) – that are noticeably thick to prevent distortion. They’re also ribbed inside and out for helping ingredients to circulate and better grip. These are joined by two lids for storage and one lid that can be drunk out of using a straw or sealed with a carry handle lid. Plus, even the flex and plug matches the rest of it, which is a stylish touch.

Perhaps best of all is that cleaning has been well thought through: as well as a thin brush to clean the straws, there’s a brush for cleaning under the blades, and all the removable parts are top-rack dishwasher safe.

Performance

• Excellent smoothie and soup blending
• Struggles to crush ice alone
• Easy to clean

From its straws to the practical carry handy, it’s clear that the Beast Mighty 850 Plus is designed with smoothies in mind, so that was its first task. The ingredients I use for a green smoothie are deliberately tricky: spinach leaves to assess any remaining flecks, pear for grittiness, pineapple for fibres, and chia seed, which is hard even for full-sized blenders to completely pulverise.

Blending was fairly noisy but not unbearably pitched. The cycle of three sections helped to free clumps of spinach that had gathered at the top of the cup and the result was mostly smooth: only some unblended chia seed and a few green flecks remained. It wasn’t gritty though and there were no noticeable fibres. I liked that despite using the tallest cup, the Beast Mighty 850 Plus sat securely on the worktop while it worked.

Afterwards, I drank from the cup using the straw and its coordinating lid. Unlike basic plastic straws, the straws included have a little flex – making them great for surviving being stuffed in a gym bag – and were easier to clean than rigid ones. 

I found the flat brush that was supplied especially handy for cleaning around and underneath the blades afterwards, as they had seeds stuck around them. For the rest, I found the ribbed part of the vessels tricky to clean by hand. While they appear effective in creating a smooth blend, seeds and tiny flecks of green tended to stick. A dishwasher clean was required to shift this completely.

As the Beast Mighty 850 Plus isn’t suitable for hot liquids – but can handle more than just smoothies – I blended cooled soup.

The dimensions of the vessels were a challenge: they’re not that wide at the top, making it awkward to decant food. In addition, the max fill limits the capacity. I was able to fit in about two portions of chunky vegetable soup in the mid-sized cup, meaning it’s good for blending soup for lunch but less so for a big batch.

The result was consistently textured soup with no chunks remaining.

There are other suggestions of what you can blend and how included in the instructions: this includes chopping vegetables in water and grinding coffee beans, though I wouldn’t recommend the latter as there’s little control over grind size and consistency, and blades can burn coffee.

The blades of the Beast Mighty 850 Plus can clearly blend harder substances but crushing ice by itself was a challenge.

I filled the smallest vessel with a handful of chunks and employed multiple pulses until it sounded as if the larger pieces had been crushed. The result was mostly snow but there were a few chunks of ice remaining. I felt that it would be more effective handling ice as part of a drink rather than solo.

Should you buy it?