The Good, the Bad, the Burned: Instant Pot Ace Blender Review

The more reviews I do, the more I see the need to consistently use a product for an extended period of time before recommending it. It's great when you get a brand new appliance and it's shiny and functions wonderfully... then you right a glowing review for the world to see, only to have something to wrong a month later. 
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For that reason, I've waited an entire year to review my Instant Pot Ace Blender. We purchased it last November, (and got a one year protection plan just in case) and I was a bit skeptical because it was new to the market and the reviews were mixed. 
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Previously, I had been relying on my Nutribullet which has been a faithful accessory for 6 years! I felt like I was cheating when I pulled out this new mega blender in front of my Nutribullet, but with so many smoothie drinkers in my house, I needed something bigger and wasn't about to spend Vitamix money.
 
The first thing I tried to make was a frozen dessert. I took coconut milk, frozen bananas and cacao and hit the frozen dessert button. A few minutes later, the mixture was perfectly smooth and I put it in the freezer as a special treat for later!

​Then, I made our traditional green drink, but family sized.  The Instant Pot Ace Blender crushed it perfectly. I do notice more green foam on top than with my Nutribullet so it’s possible that the smoothie setting was over blending, but that can be avoided by simply using the high medium or low setting and turning it off sooner.

​I also made a cauliflower mash recipe in the Instant Pot Ace Blender. The puree function heated the cauliflower perfectly and blended it. The only thing I didn't love was that the blender smelled like garlic for quite a while after, despite multiple washings.
 
The final recipe I hesitantly tried was butternut squash soup in the blender. My cauliflower mash didn't burn in the pot, so I was optimistic that the soup would work out, despite reading other reviews that said the soup burned. I loaded up the blender and hit the soup button... and it burned. 
 
Super bummer.

Especially because it's really hard to get the burn out with the blades. I found soaking it in soapy water helpful as well as scraping it out with those straw cleaners. NOT ideal at all...

​I feel like the design is also a bit cumbersome. The heating element is at the base of the pot, which makes it heavy and harder to clean. The blender is also too tall to slide neatly under the cabinet, so you might have to get creative on where you’ll store it depending on your kitchen layout. But it doesn't change my love for the Instapot Ace Blender- it just means my make my soup in a regular pot! The functionality of this blender is amazing and at a fraction of the price of other machines.  
 
If you’re looking for something to make pureed soups- check out the Hamilton beach immersion blender. I’ve had this one for 4 years, and trust it with all my pureed soups!
 
Have you tried the Instant Pot Ace Blender? What do you think?