A blender comprising: a base assembly; a motor positioned within the base assembly; a blender jar selectively engageable with the base assembly, the blender jar including an agitator blade assembly, the agitator blade assembly including at least one agitator blade and an agitator shaft for connection to the motor in the base assembly; electronics housed within the base assembly and configured to be electronically connected to a power source, the electronics including at least one controller, memory for storing at least one operating program for controlling the operation of the motor, at least one current sensor coupled to the controller for measuring the current being utilized by the motor at any particular time, said at least one current sensor being configured to output a signal to the controller indicative of the current being utilized by the motor, characterized in that the blender further comprises at least one speed sensor coupled to the controller for measuring the speed of the motor at any particular time, said at least one speed sensor being configured to output a signal to the controller indicative of the speed of the motor; wherein the blender is configured such that signals from the current and speed sensors (36,38) to the controller during operation of said at least one operating program control the operation of the motor during execution of said at least one operating program; wherein the blender is configured to detect the load that has been placed into the blender jar by determining the resistance of the at least one agitator blade using a combination of speed and current detection as sensed by the current and speed sensors (36, 38). a base assembly; a motor positioned within the base assembly; a blender jar selectively engageable with the base assembly, the blender jar including an agitator blade assembly, the agitator blade assembly including at least one agitator blade and an agitator shaft for connection to the motor in the base assembly; electronics housed within the base assembly and configured to be electronically connected to a power source, the electronics including at least one controller, memory for storing at least one operating program for controlling the operation of the motor, at least one current sensor coupled to the controller for measuring the current being utilized by the motor at any particular time, said at least one current sensor being configured to output a signal to the controller indicative of the current being utilized by the motor, characterized in that the blender further comprises at least one speed sensor coupled to the controller for measuring the speed of the motor at any particular time, said at least one speed sensor being configured to output a signal to the controller indicative of the speed of the motor; wherein the blender is configured such that signals from the current and speed sensors (36,38) to the controller during operation of said at least one operating program control the operation of the motor during execution of said at least one operating program; wherein the blender is configured to detect the load that has been placed into the blender jar by determining the resistance of the at least one agitator blade using a combination of speed and current detection as sensed by the current and speed sensors (36, 38).