Oster Pro 1200 Plus Blender Review

What Is the Oster Pro 1200 Blender?

Are you getting tired of your regular 20-dollar kitchen blender that’s hopeless at crushing ice and struggles to deliver smoothies which are actually smooth?

Or perhaps you’ve come across the all-raging green smoothie, nut butter and nut milk craze—blender recipes which require processing power beyond what is needed for simple fruit smoothies and milkshakes?

Yet, you’ve also seen the hefty price tags on premier blender models like the Vitamix and Blendtec range and you don’t feel ready to commit to this level of investment.

Sounds relatable? Then I’m totally with you.

But that’s when the Oster’s Oster Pro 1200 Plus—a blender bringing together decent performance and budget-friendliness—becomes quite attractive!

In this Oster Pro 1200 Plus review, I’ll take you through everything you need to know if you’re thinking about purchasing one of Oster’s most popular blenders, so let’s get started!

Video Overview

Product Details and Usage

Notable Product Features

• 1200-watt motor powerful enough to crush ice and make green smoothies as well as nut butters
• Preprogrammed cycles for added convenience
• Clockwise and anticlockwise blade rotations for more thorough blending cycles
• Multiple speed controls and pulse function
• BPA-Free Tritan jar

Build and Design

The Oster Pro 1200 Plus will make a compact addition to your kitchen, featuring a sleek brushed nickel base.

With the jar attached, the blender measures and weighs:

• 7 inches wide (17.8 cm)
• 14 inches tall (35.6 cm)
• 7.9 inches deep (20.07 cm)
• 13.3 pounds (6.03 kilograms)

There are 9 parts to the blender, including the base.

You get a solid Tritan jar with a 48 oz. (6 cups) capacity. If you didn’t know, Tritan is an ultra strong BPA-free plastic used to increase a product’s durability—and hence longevity.

The jar lid comes with a cap which doubles as a 2 oz. measuring cup and can be removed when you need to add extra ingredients without taking off the lid.

Compared to previous Oster blender models, it features a significantly larger blade, translating into effective processing.

You also get a 24 oz. blender cup which you can either “fill up to go” or use instead of the blender jar to process your food directly inside the blender cup.

Something you should know about the blender cup, has to do with its wide design, which was necessary for it to fit the blender blade.

The drawback to this width, however, is it makes the cup’s lid difficult to tighten or remove if you have medium to small hands. The cup can also be difficult to drink out of.

Because the cup doesn’t feature a rubber or O-ring inside the lid, it’s prone to spilling and leaking if liquid pours against the lid. So, unless you can keep the cup in vertical position at all times, I recommend you don’t bring it with you on the go.

Suffice it to say, while the cup can seem handy, keep it outside of your buying decision.

The blender base features a total of 9 buttons with an LED light indicator, which gives you considerable control over processing.

These include “On/Off” and “Stop” buttons as well as Low, Medium, High, and Pulse controls. To top it off, you get 3 preprogrammed cycle buttons for (1) greens and frozen fruit, (2) food chop and salsas, and (3) milkshakes.

The power cord is roughly 30 inches (76.2 cm) in length; easily suitable for most people.

How Long Is the Warranty?

For the price range, the Oster Pro 1200 Plus comes with a 3-year satisfaction guarantee warranty along with a 10-year limited warranty on the all-metal drive.

While not as attractive as the 7 and 8-year warranties you’ll get on high-end blenders, it’s definitely reasonable.

Performance and Noise Level

Price aside, when you purchase this Oster blender, you’re getting a decent piece of kit when you consider its processing power.

Some consumers say it’s like having 90% of a Vitamix’s performance at a fraction of a Vitamix price-tag.

The Oster Pro 1200 Plus is powered by a 1200-watt motor with a rotation speed of 19,000 RPM, powerful enough to process tough produce and crush ice with relative ease.

During preprogrammed cycles, you’ll notice the blender uses a dual direction technique with its blades, which helps pull food items into the blades and prevents them from sticking to the sides of the jar.

This also means in most cases you won’t have to open the lid to scrape things off. An exception to this, is when you try to make nut butter (you’ll be scraping a lot).

One thing you should know, is this blender is louder than average, especially on its highest speed setting, and the motor can sometimes sound like a revving engine.

If you’re an early-riser in a household with other members, and intend on doing high-speed blending, keep the high noise level in mind.

Is It Easy to Use?

Even if you’re new to blending, the Oster Pro 1200 Plus is fairly easy to get to grips with.

Assembling and disassembling the removable parts is effortless–with one potential exception, removing the lid from the accompanying blender cup, which you may find difficult at times.

When placing the jar on the base, there’s no twist or rotation locking; just place it on the base and that’s it.

There are a few tips from the user manual you should keep in mind:

• When blending, always keep your hand on top of the jar lid, holding it down with gentle pressure
• You may only blend hot liquid using the jar, not the blender cup
• Don’t blend more than 4 cups of hot liquid in the jar
• When blending hot liquid, remove the 2 oz. lid cap
• When you want to crush ice, only use the pulse control
• To avoid overworking the motor, make sure to add enough liquid when blending frozen ingredients

This blender really lets you “fine-tune” the processing with the multiple speed settings, pulsing, and preprogrammed cycles.

So if you run a cycle–which stops automatically at the end–yet find your smoothie needing a tad more blending, simply pulse it into perfection or use a speed setting until you get your desired consistency.

You can also stop a cycle at any time using the stop button.

If you find the blender moving across your table while blending, just place it on a towel and it should sit still.

Is It Easy to Clean and Dishwasher Safe?

If you’ve got some experience with certain brands of high-end blenders, you know how easy they are to clean.

Personally, my favorite blender is a Blendtec, which takes less than 30 seconds to clean.

In comparison, the Oster Pro 1200 Plus requires slightly more effort with 9 parts to clean vs., say, 4-5 parts with a Blendtec or Vitamix.

Especially the blender cup receives a lot of complaints because of tiny crevices where food material can get stuck and is hard to clean out. Also, the way the blades are put together creates small spaces where things like seeds can get stuck.

On your first use, remember to wash removable parts in soapy water, rinse off and dry.

Once you’re finished blending, simply wipe down the base with a damp cloth.

For removable parts, you’ve got a few options. You can either:

• fill the jar halfway with warm water and add dishwashing liquid, then use the pulse function for 30 seconds
• wipe and/or brush with soap and water
• soak removable parts in a soapy water basin
• place them in your dishwasher

Indeed, the Oster Pro 1200 Plus’ removable parts are dishwasher safe.

The smaller parts should be placed on the top rack and the sealing ring goes in the bottom basket.

Overall, you shouldn’t have too much trouble, especially if you don’t use the blender cup frequently.

I do encourage you to pull apart the blender blade to give the rubber sealing a thorough cleaning as it tends to collect food material that isn’t easily rinsed away.

And always be careful with the sharp blades!

What Can I Make with the Oster Pro 1200 Blender?

While this unit isn’t effective for making absolutely everything, the 1200-watt motor makes this blender powerful enough for making:

• smoothies
• soups
• salsas
• nut butters
• ice cream
• frozen drinks

In addition, you can also chop ingredients and crush ice.

Where you’ll notice this blender struggling or becoming fairly time-consuming, is when you try to make nut butters or pulverize dry plant material into powder.

Smoothies

Here’s an example of a green smoothie made with the Oster Pro 1200 Plus.

As you can see, it does a really good job with a smooth result.

Nut Butter

Check out this video, which shows what you can expect when trying to make nut butter:

As you’ll notice, the Oster Pro 1200 Plus isn’t the best blender for nut butters because it doesn’t come with a tamper accessory you can use through the lid. So be prepared to invest some energy into getting your butter just right.

Ice Crushing

This video shows you that ice is no match for this blender:

Impressive, yeah? You’ll have crushed ice in a matter of seconds.

Salsas

Here’s a demonstration showing you the Food Chop/Salsa preprogrammed cycle option in action:

As you’ll see, it’s a matter of simply popping in the ingredients, placing the lid and pressing the cycle button.

What’s the Consumer Feedback Like?

I’ve been digging around the web to get a general feel for what other consumers think about this blender.

Overall, most are impressed with its performance with respect to its price. While it doesn’t totally liquefy tough produce, it’ll still give you a smooth blend.

As implied above, many are happy with this model as an affordable alternative to brands like Vitamix and Blendtec, while still getting a pretty powerful blender.

So you’ll definitely be getting value for your purchase.

A frequent complaint that does come up, concerns when you need replacement parts, for example to replace a broken locking gasket. These parts are either always sold out on Oster’s website or not available at all.

So when a part of your blender breaks, you’ll have to plan on purchasing a whole new one.

Any Problems with the Oster Pro 1200 Plus Blender I Should be Aware of?

Before I begin, just keep in mind there’s no “perfect” blender out there, so any blender will have its drawbacks. What the drawbacks mean to you, however, is what really matters.

The Oster Pro 1200 Plus is a decent choice, overall, but there are a few things you should know before you jump in.

As mentioned earlier, don’t buy this model because you want a blender with a proprietary carrying cup. The 24 oz. accessory cup isn’t designed very well, making it prone to leaking, difficult to clean, and its lid is sometimes challenging to remove.

Should I Buy the Oster Pro 1200 Blender?

This blender is for you if you’re looking for a powerful and fairly versatile machine at a very affordable price tag.

It’s an excellent entry-level blender for beginners before considering a premium-priced brand model.

The Oster Pro 1200 Plus works best for regular and green smoothies, milkshakes, chopping ingredients, making sauces, soups and salsas, and crushing ice.

It might be a “loud-and-proud” machine, but it’s great value for the money.

Happy blending!

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