The Ninja Ultima Blender was sent to us for review. No other bribes were exchanged. All opinions are my own and my kids’ 🙂 jaden A few weeks ago we released “First look at the Ninja Ultima Pro Blender” – here’s our full video review! This review has been long overdue! As my parents and brother can attest to, I’m a big fan of Vitamix and Blendtec (I’ve purchased and gifted units to both them) and it’s the ONE appliance that I’m always using in the kitchen. We make smoothies, soup, sauces, chop nuts and even snow. But it’s a pricey investment: Is it worth the money? Are there cheaper alternatives that work just as well? You’re just about to find out! Ninja recently came out with the Ninja Ultima Blender Plus for $259.00. It has a 1500 watt, 2.5 horsepower motor. All these watts and horsepower talk makes my head spin. In the end, I want to see the Ninja perform. Will it hold its own against the Vitamix? Ninja Ultima Blender Plus on Amazon: $259.00 + free shipping

You might want to watch the “First look at the Ninja Ultima Pro Blender” first before the full review below. posted in Featured, Reviews, Video Top any sandwich with this homemade spread. It makes the perfect take-along condiment for summer picnics. 3 pasteurized egg yolks 1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 1/4 teaspoons dry mustardtribest personal blender stockists 1/4 teaspoon (3 ml) Dijon mustardoster blender bccg08 parts 1/4 teaspoon Kosher saltblendtec total blender sverige 3/4 cup canola oilphilips hand blender 1351c Place eggs, mustard, salt, and lemon juice into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.breville blender bbl550

Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. Blend for 10 seconds. Reduce speed to Variable 8. While machine is running, remove the lid plug and pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream through the lid plug opening until completely used and mixture thickens (about 30 seconds). Stop machine and stir in any oil sitting on top.blender cuisinart ssb1u Refrigerate in separate container and use within 2-4 weeks.reprogram blendtec blender Due to inactivity, your session has timed out and is no longer active.Show all reviewsGreat company, but spring for the 5200Should it ever become legal to marry a machine, this will be my husband.Gold Standard blenderEverything I expected and moreI can't believe I'm "eating" vegetables again, amazing!This blends kicks booty!Greatest blender ever.a powerful machineJust Do itA great investment!←Previous...

See all 13 answered questions Customers also viewed these itemsVitamix 1782 TurboBlend, 2-Speed405Vitamix 5200 Series Blender, Black509Vitamix 5300 Blender (Certified Refurbished), Black215Vitamix 1732 TurboBlend VS Blender118Need customer service? William Grover Barnard, the founder of Vita-Mix, released his company's first blender in 1937, but it wasn't until television came around that Vita-Mix was able to introduce blenders into the American vernacular. Buying 30 minutes of airtime on WEWS-TV in Cleveland, in 1949, Vita-Mix ran what the company says was the first-ever infomercial -- before long, blenders were flying off of the shelves, and Vita-Mix was rerunning the ad in markets across the country.Today, the Vitamix craze continues, with a small army of brand loyalists who swear by the things, insisting that they're worth every penny. That's quite a claim, given that a model like the Vitamix 7500 will cost you exactly 52,900 pennies ($529). We've already looked at some impressive blenders from competitors like Ninja, Breville, and KitchenAid, all of which will cost you around $300 less than the Vitamix.

And don't forget about the ultrapowerful Blendtec Designer Series WildSide Blender, of "Will it Blend?" fame -- it's competing with Vitamix too, and at a price of $454.95, even it costs less. Is a Vitamix blender really a justifiable purchase? For some, I think it will be, but for most, it's probably an unnecessary splurge. The Vitamix 7500 is an undeniably powerful machine, capable of blending just about anything you throw in it. If you're a foodie who plans on making smoothies, soups, and salsas day in and day out, it's a blender you'll be thrilled to own. Below that, however, I think most consumers would be more than satisfied with a more affordable machine like the Ninja Ultima, the Breville Hemisphere Control, or the KitchenAid 5-Speed Diamond Blender.If you're a blender fanatic who's dead set on buying a super-high-powered machine, you'll want to look at what Blendtec has to offer alongside Vitamix, as both performed well in our tests, with mostly aesthetic differences between the two brands (Blendtec offers a touch-screen interface while Vitamix offers a physical dial, for instance).

If you choose Vitamix, you'll also want to be sure and consider its other models. The Vitamix 5200, for example, offers the same general level of performance as the 7500, but costs about $80 less. Performance that pulls you in Confession time: I'm really not much of a blender guy. We never had one in our kitchen when I was growing up, and to this day, I've never owned one. I don't drink smoothies very often, and I'm happy to chop up salsa by hand. A blender just isn't an appliance that I've ever imagined I would use all that much.But that began to change as I was testing the Vitamix 7500 out. This is a powerful blender, with a 1,440-watt, 2.2-horsepower motor capable of spinning its laser-cut, stainless-steel blades at up to 37,000rpm. That kind of raw power has a very strange, very un-kitchen-like appeal. Turning it on is like turning the ignition to a luxurious muscle car -- dialing the speed up from 1 to 10 is like stepping on the gas. It just feels good having that much power at your disposal.

You find yourself wanting to blend everything. If I owned a Vitamix, I think that I'd find reasons to use it whenever possible, and that isn't something I would say about most blenders, or even most appliances.Fortunately, I'd have a difficult time running out of things to make. The Vitamix comes with an elegant hardbound book filled with hundreds of recipes ranging from blueberry margaritas to homemade salad dressing to vegetarian chili. But does the 7500 make all of these things as well as Vitamix claims, and does it do a better-enough job than other blenders to justify the price? A question of value The answer to this first question is pretty simple: yes. The Vitamix is a surprisingly versatile machine, capable of handling a wide variety of ingredients with little, if any difficulty. Wet or dry, large or small, nothing seems to trip the Vitamix up. We tested out delicate foods like pancake batter and homemade whipped cream, along with more rugged recipes like spinach pesto and additive-free almond butter.

We even subjected it to an entire block of cheese (although it would probably be more fair to say that we subjected the block of cheese to the Vitamix). Never once did the 7500 produce an unsatisfying result. Blender smoothie consistency 98.46 Blendtec Designer Series WildSide Blender98.46 Breville Hemisphere Control Blender98.46 Ninja Ultima Blender97.95 KitchenAid 5-Speed Diamond Blender97.44 Cuisinart PowerEdge 1000 Watt Blender96.92 Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart Blender96.41 That second question is a little more difficult. Just take a look at the results from our smoothie tests. Not surprisingly, the Vitamix sat at the top of the pack, tying for the best, most consistently blended smoothie. But none of the blenders we tested -- not even the $39 Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart Blender -- produced a smoothie that was anything less than great. The $199.99 Breville blender even managed to tie the Vitamix and Blendtec results. For basic smoothie blending alone, a high-end, $500 machine probably isn't worth it.