It's amazing what you can find online when you look hard enough. I found this about my blender on Consumer Reports. Come on!! A blender's job is to CRUSH ICE. I guess I asked too much of my poor blender. RIP, Cuisinart SmartPower. "In professional reviews, all the models in Fast Answers did a fine job pulverizing ice; cheaper models like the Cuisinart SmartPower and Black & Decker need to handle ice in smaller batches than heavy-duty models like the Vita-Mix or Waring."