Up To $150 Off All Vitamix Pro BlendersDetails:A few months ago, I spent a lot of quality time testing three high-end blenders — and I mean a lot. My family drank tons of smoothies, I made enough hummus to serve at my cousin's bridal shower, and I turned pounds of carrots into carrot purée. After the blades stopped whirring, I was faced with a choice: Which one was worth keeping in my kitchen? After some intense hemming and hawing, I chose the Vitamix. Here's why, and here's what I think of my choice four months later! Vitamix, Blendtec, and Breville: Which High-Powered, High-Investment Blender Is Right for You? After testing, I had narrowed it down to the Vitamix or the Blendtec, but it was hard to decide which one I liked better. What did I like, and almost as importantly, not like, about each one? The Blendtec Designer 625 Blender Makes Blending Stylish and Easy The Vitamix 5200 Will Help You Blend Like a Pro I first leaned toward the Blendtec because it would be easier to store and I loved that it had lots of programming for a "push-and-walk-away" approach.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'm not a daily smoothie person, and the occasional blending I did usually required me to monitor the progress of the blending. I also found the buttons not as intuitive as I thought, and I realized that even at its lowest speed, sometimes harder foods would get stuck and I'd have to stop and scrape down the pitcher. With the Vitamix, however, the tamper meant I rarely had to start and stop, and the variable speed knob meant I could start blending at an ultra-low speed to get things going, then ramp up the speed later when food was partially blended. And although the Blendtec is easier to clean by hand, just filling the Vitamix's dirty pitcher with a little dish soap and some water and running it for a few minutes was pretty easy too. Once I realized that power and ease-of-use was what really mattered to me, the Vitamix was the clear choice. The last hurdle was figuring out where to store it, which I solved by placing the base in a cabinet and the tall pitcher on top of the refrigerator.

It's not the most visually appealing of storage places, but it's quite easy to reach for when I need to blend.kenwood hb714 triblade hand blender review Four months after making my decision, I haven't regretted it one bit. ninja master prep professional qb1004 instructionsWe've been enjoying banana ice cream and silky puréed soups weekly, and have the Vitamix to thank for them!jimmy buffett margaritaville blender costco Did you make a similar decision on a high-powered blender? farberware rocket blender vs magic bulletHow did you make your choice?blendtec costco roadshow schedule

Vitamix 5200 Series Blender, $449 at Amazonninja master prep qb900b vs qb1004 Blendtec Designer Series Blender, $409 at Amazonoster 10 speed 450w blenderThe blender has suddenly become the “it” kitchen appliance, and purchasing one that can’t crush margarita ice, pulverize the contents of your smoothie, or whip your gazpacho into a perfect puree is simply unacceptable. There’s a huge price range when it comes to the hot blenders on the market— let’s see what’s in the mix. I’ll never forget buying my first blender as a newlywed, and then realizing that it could do absolutely nothing. It struggled hopelessly with anything thick like hummus, and it tossed ice cubes around, never so much as chipping one. Then I got my Vitamix, which could grind an iPhone (not that I’ve tried that), and my whole blending life changed.

I make a smoothie for most of my family members every morning, not to mention all the salad dressings, dips, soups and sauces, so it’s earned its keep in my kitchen.  I realize, however, that spending $500 on a blender isn’t in everyone’s budget, so I wanted to take a look at the competitors in the market and see how they stacked up. Raw food chefs and health food stars wax poetic about the American-made Vitamix, a monstrously strong blender that claims to replace all your other blending, chopping and mixing machines, and looks pretty great on your counter. Mention making your own nut butter, and someone is bound to suggest a Vitamix. That raw kale-zucchini hummus at your friend’s dinner party? Probably from a Vitamix. For the purposes of our comparison, we’ll look at the 5200 because it’s the mid-level consumer model and the one the company uses to formulate all its recipes. The power of a Vitamix can be credited to it’s powerful motor and it’s proprietary blade shape.  

The 5200 has a 1380-watt motor, which makes easy work of nut butters, dough, and even grinding seeds. By blending in ice, you can also create sorbets or fro-yo in thirty seconds. Plus you can make hot soup: just put in your room-temperature ingredients, and rev them up for about five minutes; the motor is so fast, it’ll heat the contents to steaming, which is kind of cool— hot soup with no stovetop involved.  The blades, instead of being razor-sharp, are angled and shaped to crush and pulverize. Added bonus— you don’t have to reach in to clean them.  Just add dish soap and water, and run the blender to auto-clean it (a big help if you’re prone to slicing your fingers off in the kitchen, like I am). The Vitamix comes with a seven-year warranty. One of my testers got to test this out when she tried grinding a block of Parmesan cheese, which looks totally doable on the included DVD, and her pitcher blew apart. She received a prompt a replacement, no problem. Fans online say they’re still using units from as far back as the 1970s— I’ve had mine for 5 years and it’s still working like it did on day one.

Again, at $449, the Vitamix 5200 is a hefty investment— if you’re not a frequent blender, this might be a little too much power to pony up for. You may have seen the viral YouTube videos where Blendtec creator Tom Dickson asks, “Will it Blend?” and feeds a Blendtec light bulbs, golf balls or cell phones. And these machines do blend, thanks to a massive motor. (The most powerful Blendtec model has an absurd 2400 watts, and unless you’re blending laptops and willing to wear ear protection, your smoothies don’t need it.) I’m looking at the Blendtec Signature Series because it’s the company’s basic bruiser, and most comparable to the Vitamix 5200— it has 1560 watts, more powerful than the Vitamix.  The Signature model comes with a 96-ounce pitcher (vs. the Vitamix’s 64 ounces) yet the whole thing is five-and-a-half inches shorter than the Vitamix 5200.  This means that the Blendtec fits under most upper kitchen cabinets, where the Vitamix will not. The Blendtec’s proprietary five-sided shape is engineered to blend more efficiently by kicking ingredients against the sides so they’ll fall back to the blades, rather than swirling them.

Like the Vitamix, the Blendtec has a similar blade design that won’t mame you, and you can clean the blender by running it with soapy water inside. It also has a seven year warrantee, just like the Vitamix, so that’s all good too. For tech lovers, it’s worth considering that this is the most digitized of the contenders, with an LED touch pad and several “one-touch” pre-programmed blend cycles that get faster and slower throughout a cycle, without your having to keep turning dials. So if you want a smoothie or ice cream or soup, you can push a single button and let the machine take over. That’s also nice for folks who doubt their blending skills or just want to save time. You still have the choice of manual operation. At $399, it’s just a little bit cheaper than it’s  and it’s admittedly kind of boxy, in a classic Volvo kinda way. It’s made in China, and it’s half the price of it’s competitors, but you can tell by looking at it. With its plasticky base, suction feet, and only three speed buttons, it’s clear that part of the savings went into design.

But its selling point is its impressive 1500-watt motor that can make nut butters and dough. It doesn’t advertise that it can grind flour; some users say it works. It will make sorbets and fro-yo, but not hot soup for you! The Ninja Mega comes with many, many many pitchers and parts— it’s definitely not for those that are tight on space: it accepts a variety of blades and bowls to get different jobs done, which is why it’s officially called a “system.” It comes with a 72-ounce pitcher plus a 64-ounce processor bowl, a dough blade attachment, a set of extra shredding and grating discs, and a set of single-serve blending cups with lids, so you can make a smoothie and take it to go. Another big difference between the Ninja Mega and its competitors is the blades. The Ninja is so-named because of its multiple sharp blades. That means that (1) they’ll eventually become dull, and (2) you must be very careful when you’re cleaning them. Now, what about that warranty? The Ninja will give you just one year.

At $199, it’s much less than it’s counterparts, but it’s not exactly free— and has less of a guarantee that it will still be working years from now. If you’re looking for the gold standard, the Vitamix has set it and models like the 5200 continue to uphold it. The Blendtec Signature Series, however, is a worthy competitor— with the same warrantee, similar blade mechanisms, and a more kitchen-cabinet-friendly design, not to mention it’s digital bells and whistles, it’s on it’s way to overthrowing Vitamix as the reigning champion. They both can handle the tough jobs of crushing ice, grinding seeds and pulverizing nuts into butters. But at $499 and $399 each, the bill is pretty substantial. The Ninja Mega has a powerful motor and significantly undercuts both the Vitamix and Blendtec in price, but there are substantial differences: More plastic, more parts to store, and a smaller warranty. The motor can handle dough or nut butters, but expect that if you blend a lot of tough ingredients, you’ll probably be replacing the blades after too long.