The Braun MultiQuick 5 is an immersion blender with a detachable blending arm and a couple of speed settings. It feels well-built and is very easy to clean as you can run the shaft under hot water, and it's dishwasher safe. The MQ505 variant comes with a whisk attachment as well as a 20oz beaker for blending, and there are other variations with different included attachments as well.
Our Verdict
The Braun MQ505 is passable for multi-purpose use. It can hot blend in a pot or pan and make an adequately smooth blend with fibrous ingredients like broccoli or kale. It makes a smoother blend with smaller batches and isn't bad for the occasional batch of nut butter or hummus. While it doesn't come with as many extras as some blenders, like the Braun MultiQuick 9, it has a 20oz beaker and a whisk attachment for making whipped cream or hollandaise sauce. It's also well-built and quiet when it's running.
- Very easy to clean.
- Can blend hot food.
- Makes a fairly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients.
- Can't really crush ice.
- Take a while to process ingredients.
The Braun MQ505 MultiQuick hand blender is adequate for single-serve smoothies. It makes a decently smooth blend with fibrous fruits and vegetables, so single-serve smoothies won't be overly grainy or leafy. The 20oz beaker is a good size for a smoothie, and it's dishwasher-safe along with the blending arm. However, ice cubes and bigger chunks of frozen fruit may not fit under the blade guard, which makes it almost impossible for the blades to reach them. Like most immersion blenders, it takes a while to process fibrous ingredients, so it's not the most convenient smoothie maker.
- Very easy to clean.
- Makes a fairly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients.
- Take a while to process ingredients.
The Braun MultiQuick 5 is adequate for multiple servings of smoothies. Since it's an immersion blender, you can blend in your own container and aren't limited by the size of the 20oz beaker. It makes a fairly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients, so smoothies with blueberries or kale won't be completely smooth but won't have big leafy bits left over. Unfortunately, it can't crush ice or similarly-sized chunks of frozen fruit because of the small width of the blade guard. That said, it's sturdy and easy to clean.
- Very easy to clean.
- Take a while to process ingredients.
The Braun MQ505 MultiQuick hand blender isn't suitable for crushing ice. Unlike immersion blenders that can crush ice, like the Breville Control Grip, the bell guard is too narrow to allow ice cubes to reach the blades.
- Very easy to clean.
- Can't really crush ice.
The Braun MQ505 MultiQuick hand blender is excellent for soups. Since it's an immersion blender, it's meant for blending hot ingredients directly in a pot or pan. While it doesn't completely liquify fibrous elements like kale or broccoli, it makes a fairly smooth blend and will have an easier time with softer ingredients like cooked carrots or tomatoes. It doesn't offer a very wide range of speed settings, but it's well-built and quiet when it's running.
- Very easy to clean.
- Can blend hot food.
- Take a while to process ingredients.
The Braun MQ505 MultiQuick hand blender is decent for professional use. It's sturdy, quiet when it's running, and its blending arm, 20oz beaker, and whisk attachment are dishwasher-safe. It makes an adequately smooth blend with stubborn elements like kale and can help with tough blends like nut butter as well. However, it's almost impossible to use for crushing ice.
- Very easy to clean.
- Can blend hot food.
- Makes a fairly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients.
- Can't really crush ice.
- Take a while to process ingredients.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 29, 2023: Updated text to match Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Aug 25, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Sep 08, 2020: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
This blender is available in several variations that come with a different assortment of attachments and accessories. We expect the other variations to perform similarly when used with the same attachments. Listed below are all variations of the 2-speed MultiQuick 5, including the MQ505, which is the model we tested.
| Braun MultiQuick 5 MQ505 | Braun MultiQuick 5 Baby Food Maker MQ523 | Braun MultiQuick 5 MQ537 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immersion Blender |
1x Motor body |
1x Motor body |
1x Motor body |
| Personal Jar | 1 x 20 oz Beaker | 1 x 20 oz Beaker + lid | 1 x 20 oz Beaker + lid |
| Attachments |
1x Whisk attachment |
1x 1.5-Cup chopper attachment |
1x Whisk attachment 1x 2-cup chopper attachment |
| Additional Accessories | N/A |
1x Spatula 1x Silicone Baby Food Freezer Tray |
N/A |
Braun also makes the MultiQuick 5 Vario, which has 21 speeds instead of two. This model is available in two variations: the MultiQuick 5 Vario MQ5000 and the MultiQuick Spiralizer & Hand Blender MQ5064. These weren't included in the table above, as we'd expect they may perform differently thanks to the extra blending speeds.
Popular Blender Comparisons
The Braun MQ505 MultiQuick is a simple, sturdy hand blender. Like the Braun MultiQuick 7, its blade guard design doesn't allow it to crush ice, but it's suitable for smoothies, soups, and even small batches of nut butter or hummus. Unlike the Braun MultiQuick 9 and 7, it has only two speed settings, so you might prefer a different model if you like to have more control over the blending process. Those models also have more accessories, like a masher and a food processing bowl.
If you're still looking for a blender, check out the best immersion blenders, the best budget blenders, and the best blenders.
The Braun MultiQuick 5 and the Braun MultiQuick 7 have different strengths. There are only small differences in their blending performances, but the 7 comes with a variety of accessories, including a masher and a food processing bowl with extra blades for purposes like chopping veggies and grating cheese. Its design gives you much more control over the blending speed. On the other hand, if you're just looking for a simple blender, the 5 is quieter when it's running.
The Braun MultiQuick 9 is a better immersion blender than the Braun MultiQuick 5. The MultiQuick 9 has a slightly different design to help bring the blades closer to the ingredients you're blending, which allows it to crush ice. It takes less time to process ingredients and comes with a masher attachment. However, the 5 is quieter when it's running and a little better for processing small batches of fibrous ingredients, like for a single-serve smoothie.
The Braun MultiQuick 5 is better than the Cuisinart Smart Stick Cordless Hand Blender. The Braun is better built and quieter and makes a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients in recipes like smoothies or soup. On the other hand, you might prefer the Cuisinart blender's cordless design.
The Braun MultiQuick 5 is better for most purposes than the Cuisinart Smart Stick Two-Speed Hand Blender. The Braun is much sturdier and quieter and comes with a whisk attachment for making whipped cream or salad dressing. The Cuisinart isn't well-built, but it can make a smoother blend with fibrous ingredients, especially in smaller batches, which you might care about if you plan to make smoothies.
Test Results
It's a small immersion blender with a removable blending shaft, making it easy to store in most drawers or cabinets. It's a bit smaller than the higher-end Braun MultiQuick 7.
This blender feels well-built. Its build quality is very similar to the Braun MultiQuick 7, and it's made of good-quality plastic and rubber. However, the connection point between the motor body and the blending arm is entirely made of plastic, and the motor body's handle feels a bit cheap.
This blender comes with a 20oz jar that you can use for blending, but its capacity isn't limited by the jar since it's an immersion blender that you can stick directly in a pot or pan.
The plastic beaker doesn't have a lid, but it can go in your dishwasher for easy clean-up.
There are two fixed blades on the end of the shaft. While the blades aren't removable, the blades/shaft are dishwasher-safe.
This blender doesn't come with a lid for its beaker.
The power cord is fairly long, so you can reach most outlets near your counter. It also has a velcro tie to help wrap up the cable when not in use.
It's adequate for small batches of fibrous ingredients. It takes a while to blend something like a kale smoothie, like most immersion blenders, which is slightly annoying because you need to hold the motor body and keep the power button pressed the whole time. The final blend has visible grains left over but no big leafy pieces.
It's disappointing for bigger batches of fibrous ingredients. If you're blending something like a batch of broccoli soup in a big pot, it takes a long time to get the best results. Compared to when you blend smaller batches, it struggles to fully process the kale and makes a grainy puree. The Braun MultiQuick 7 has a faster max blending speed and makes a smoother blend more quickly.
It's hard to crush ice at all with this blender. The bell-shaped blade guard isn't wide enough to fit ice cubes, so they have trouble reaching the blades.
It's adequate for nut butter. The immersion design that requires you to hold the blender and keep one of the power buttons pushed is especially annoying for tougher blends like nut butter since you need to blend for several minutes. However, it's not too bad since you don't need to stop and clear the blades every few minutes, and in the end, it makes good nut butter with just a few unprocessed chunks.
It's among the quieter immersion blenders we've tested, so compared to some models, using it for several minutes is less annoying.
There are two speed settings, with a 'Turbo' setting that's a bit faster. This doesn't leave you with many options for fine-tuning the blending speed. If you like to adjust the blending speed to suit different recipes, the Braun MultiQuick 7 and the Braun MultiQuick 9 offer a wider range of blending speeds.
There are separate buttons for the two speed settings, regular and 'Turbo'. You need to keep one of the buttons pushed to blend. Like most immersion blenders, it doesn't have any programs, but it's easy to pulse by pushing and releasing one of the buttons.