The Smeg BLF03 is a full-size blender featuring a retro style. It has a 48-ounce capacity and features a speed dial with four preset speeds and four automatic blending programs, as well as a pulse button. It doesn't have hot blending capability, so you can't safely blend hot ingredients for soups, and it's not dishwasher safe.
This blender is available in a variety of colors. See the Differences Between Sizes and Variants section for full details.
Our Verdict
The Smeg BLF03 is poor for multi-purpose use and struggles with basic blending tasks. While it can make smoothies with fibrous ingredients, the process requires you to frequently stop and scrape the sides regardless of batch size. Ice crushing is inconsistent; it works sometimes and jams other times, even with the dedicated Ice Crush preset. There's also a serious safety concern: the blender overheats and starts smoking when attempting to dry blend ingredients for an extended period of time, like when making nut butters. The lack of hot blending means you can't make hot soups, limiting its versatility. If you need a blender that can handle a variety of tasks reliably, this won't fit the bill.
Creates smooth blends of fibrous ingredients.
Easy to clean.
Can't hot blend.
Can't make nut butter.
Bad build quality.
Can't produce crushed ice.
The Smeg BLF03 is adequate for single-serve smoothies, but it requires a lot of effort. The Green Smoothie preset won't get the job done on its own. You'll need additional rounds at full speed, and you'll need to stop and scrape down the sides multiple times. The final smoothie is thick with visible kale bits and a slightly grainy texture, so if you're particular about smoothness, this isn't the blender for you.
Creates smooth blends of fibrous ingredients.
Easy to clean.
Bad build quality.
Can't produce crushed ice.
The Smeg BLF03 is okay for making multiple servings of smoothies. Running the Green Smoothie preset leaves kale bits behind, so you'll have to manually intervene by scraping ingredients off the sides and blending at high speed in multiple rounds. The texture is very good when you're done, but kale bits remain visible throughout. It's serviceable if you only make big batches once in a while, but the hands-on approach can be tiring if this is part of your daily routine.
Creates smooth blends of fibrous ingredients.
Easy to clean.
Bad build quality.
Can't produce crushed ice.
The Smeg BLF03 is inadequate for crushing ice, with inconsistent results. One attempt might produce perfect snow-like ice, while the next batch stops the blender entirely, leaving cubes completely unprocessed. Standard-sized ice cubes frequently jam the blades, and you can't rely on either the preset or pulse mode to work consistently. Smaller ice cubes have better odds but still need multiple interventions and tend to turn into slush rather than the fluffy crushed ice you'd want for cocktails or blended drinks.
Bad build quality.
Can't produce crushed ice.
The Smeg BLF03 is bad for making soups, primarily because it can't hot blend. You can't safely blend hot ingredients, so you'll need to either let the soup cool before blending or blend cold ingredients and heat them separately. This adds frustrating extra steps to soup-making and disrupts the typical workflow. While it can handle fibrous vegetables with some effort, its inability to handle hot ingredients is a dealbreaker if you often make pureed soups.
Creates smooth blends of fibrous ingredients.
Easy to clean.
Can't hot blend.
Bad build quality.
The Smeg BLF03 isn’t suitable for professional use. The most critical issue is a serious safety problem: the blender overheats when blending dry ingredients for an extended period of time without shutting off. As a result, it can't make nut butter or other thick spreads. Ice crushing is also unpredictable. It works inconsistently and frequently jams, even with the dedicated Ice Crush preset. The lack of hot blending capability makes it inconvenient for making soups. While it can produce large batches of smoothies, the process is laborious and wouldn't be conducive to a professional environment.
Creates smooth blends of fibrous ingredients.
Easy to clean.
Can't hot blend.
Can't make nut butter.
Bad build quality.
Can't produce crushed ice.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Smeg BLF03 comes in six colors: ‘Black,’ ‘Pastel Blue,’ ‘Pastel Green,’ ‘Cream,’ ‘Pink,’ and ‘White.’ We bought and tested the ‘Black’ version. There's also a high-end black-and-white variant that's part of the Porsche X Smeg collection (BLF03PCWUS). Here's a photo of our unit's label.
If you encounter another variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Blender Comparisons
The Smeg BLF03 is part of Smeg's '50s-style retro appliance collection, which prioritizes a distinct vintage aesthetic. It occupies an unusual position in the blender market, competing with premium models from high-end brands, but its performance falls far short. It can't hot blend and can't blend dry ingredients. The KitchenAid K150 and KitchenAid K400 both feature a retro look and offer significantly better performance at lower price points. The Chefman Obliterator is a design-forward option that's much cheaper and performs much better. The BLF03 really only makes sense if you already own Smeg appliances and your priority is finding a blender that matches. If performance and consistency matter to you, there are better options available.
If you're looking for alternative options, check out our lists of the best blenders, the best blenders for smoothies, and the best blenders for crushing ice.
The Smeg BLF01 performs much better than its successor, the Smeg BLF03. The older model can create snow-like crushed ice and smooth blends of fibrous ingredients with ease, whereas the newer BLF03 struggles with basic tasks. However, neither model can blend hot soups or make thick spreads like nut butter.
While the Smeg BLF03 and the KitchenAid K150 both have a retro aesthetic, the KitchenAid outperforms the Smeg across the board. Whether you want to make smoothies, soups, or crushed ice, the KitchenAid offers much better performance. If you often make nut butter, the KitchenAid is the clear choice because the Smeg isn't up to the task.
The KitchenAid K400 and the Smeg BLF03 are both design-forward blenders with retro styling. However, the KitchenAid offers superior build quality and overall performance. The Smeg, on the other hand, is slightly quieter. It's also easier to clean, but this is largely because it can't produce nut butter, which is typically the trickiest substance to clean.
The Ninja Detect Kitchen System TB401 and the Smeg BLF03 are both full-sized blenders, but the Ninja performs better. Whether you're making smoothies or crushing ice, the Ninja produces superior results. The Ninja also comes with a personal-sized jar and food processor bowl. Neither model can hot blend, so they're not suitable for making soups.
Test Results
The Smeg BLF03 is a relatively compact full-sized blender. Its dimensions are similar to the Smeg BLF01, but it's slightly wider and heavier.
This blender feels poorly built. While the jar feels solid with a comfortable handle, and the motor base has a solid-looking aluminum shell with silver accents, the execution falls short. The dial, start/stop button, and pulse button all feel cheap. They're springy, wobbly, and lack the tactile feedback you'd expect. The measuring cup in the lid has a design flaw that makes it nearly impossible to remove if you twist it slightly when installing it.
Though this model has a metal blade assembly base (unlike the plastic base found on the BLF01), it still began smoking when processing dry ingredients for an extended period of time.
This blender's jar has a 48oz capacity, but you can also purchase a single-serve 20-ounce jar for making smoothies to take on the go.
Unlike the Smeg BLF01, this blender isn't dishwasher-safe because you can't remove the blades from the main assembly.
This blender features a two-part lid, and the main lid is easy to remove and install. However, the measuring cup has a design flaw that makes it difficult to remove if you twist it slightly when installing or removing it. This isn't an intended locking mechanism, so you may need to pop the measuring cup out from the other side of the lid to remove it.
The power cord feels high quality and is long enough to reach kitchen outlets. There's cord storage underneath the motor base, but only about two-thirds of the cord fits.
- Motor base
- 48-oz main jar with removable blade assembly
- Two-part lid
- Manual and warranty information
The Smeg Retro Blender is decent for processing small batches of fibrous ingredients, but it takes over two minutes, and you have to stop the blender and scrape down the sides multiple times throughout the process. The Green Smoothie setting won't yield smooth results, so you'll also need to perform additional rounds of blending at full speed. This process produces great small blends though, with a smooth texture overall and minimal unprocessed ingredients.
Blending large batches of fibrous ingredients is satisfactory overall. This blender is capable of producing smooth blends with only small unprocessed bits. That said, the process is a poor experience, and using the Green Smoothie preset alone won’t get the job done. You'll need to scrape down the sides multiple times while running the blender at the highest speed, and the entire process takes over two minutes.
This blender does a poor job of crushing ice, with very inconsistent performance. Even using the dedicated Ice Crush preset, this blender gets stuck when attempting to crush 12 ice cubes. Splitting the batch in half yields inconsistent results, at times producing a perfect snow-like texture, while at others stopping the program due to jammed blades. Smaller ice cubes fare better but still require several interventions and produce slush rather than snow. The blender appears underpowered for this task, whether you're using the Ice Crush or Pulse setting, and the blade design is prone to jamming. Overall, ice crushing with this blender is unpredictable.
This blender is awful for making nut butter. After many scrapes and taps to keep ingredients moving, the blender is barely able to process a small amount of nuts before throwing everything to the sides. However, a bigger issue than the poor performance is that the unit overheated during our testing and didn't automatically shut off. Instead, the jar base eventually started smoking near the drive shaft.
The manual states that the blender shouldn't be used to grind dry ingredients and recommends adding liquid to prevent overheating. That being said, nut butter is a common blender task, so you should absolutely not purchase this unit for making nut butter or similar recipes.
This blender isn't the loudest full-size blender on the market, and is much quieter than its sibling, the Smeg BLF01, but it will still be bothersome to anyone sensitive to noise. For a quieter model with a similar retro look, consider the KitchenAid K150.
The Smeg BLF03 has a limited range of speed settings. It lacks slow speeds, which are useful for recipes like nut butter.
While this blender is advertised as having an 800-watt motor, the label lists the power capacity as 600w.
The dial has four speeds when turned clockwise and four preset programs when turned counterclockwise. It's four automatic blending programs use different speed patterns:
- Smoothie: 50 seconds
- Green Smoothie: 50 seconds
- Ice Crush: 40 seconds
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Self Cleaning: 60 seconds
Cleaning this blender is fairly easy, though this is partly due to its inability to make nut butter, which is typically the hardest substance to clean from a blender. Running a self-cleaning cycle with soap and water removes most residue. You'll still need to manually scrub some areas, like the blades and lid gasket. Just note that the sharp blades require careful handling, and it's difficult to clean under them.