157 replies to this topic

[Dakki]

The Blendtec recipe book is so bad it's alarming. If it reflects American tastes, I never want to let anybody from another country see it. I'd be too embarrassed.

As a representative of the non-US eGullet membership, I demand you post a sample.

[Chris Hennes]

Their ice cream recipes are awesome: for example, the ingredients in the hazelnut ice cream are hazelnut-flavored non-dairy creamer and ice. You can't be serious, BlendTec. Can you?

[Fat Guy]

There must be a lactose-intolerant person in a position of power at Blendtec because they use a lot of non-dairy creamer throughout the book and in their live demos. Likewise, many recipes seem fine as you're reading along until you come to some crap ingredient like Tang, taco-seasoning mix, or instant vanilla pudding powder. What you have to be able to do is back it all out to the underlying liquid-solid ratios and then use your own ingredients to get something acceptable.

[Dakki]

That's... pretty bad.

I assume the target demographic is something like "juicing freaks and foodies" so why are they publishing that sort of recipe alongside the product?

[Fat Guy]

They must figure those people are going to buy fancy blenders anyway, so the extra audience at the margin is the Middle American semi-homemade-type cook. Or it may just be that nobody at the company, which is based in Utah, knows squat about cuisine. You can see a hint of this in their choice of chefs for their demo videos (which used to be online but are now only on the DVD that comes with the unit): I wouldn't want these guys to cook anything for me.

[weinoo]

There must be a lactose-intolerant person in a position of power at Blendtec because they use a lot of non-dairy creamer throughout the book and in their live demos.

Maybe it's because those products work better when using them in these recipes made in a Blendtec? Cream, milk and all sorts of of lactose goodies may not blend-tec as well.

[Fat Guy]

In my limited experience they behave exactly the same.

[Chris Hennes]

Milk and yogurt certainly "BlendTec" well (at least, when combined with frozen fruit).

[JAZ]

Do either the various Vita-Mixes or the BlendTec do small amounts well? By "small" I mean, say, half a cup of pureed tomatoes or vinaigrette.

[Chris Hennes]

The BlendTec does not seem to like quantities below a cup, in my experience, though that will depend on the consistency of the puree. I imagine more liquid things would do better in small quantities.

[mgaretz]

There must be a lactose-intolerant person in a position of power at Blendtec because they use a lot of non-dairy creamer throughout the book and in their live demos. Likewise, many recipes seem fine as you're reading along until you come to some crap ingredient like Tang, taco-seasoning mix, or instant vanilla pudding powder. What you have to be able to do is back it all out to the underlying liquid-solid ratios and then use your own ingredients to get something acceptable.

Works for me (since I'm lactose intolerant!).

With the BlendTec I have found that a ratio of 2 parts frozen to 1 part of liquid (by volume) works for frozen desserts and 1 to 1 for smoothies. And you need to add some kind of emulsifying/smoothing agent. In the BlendTec demos they use banana. I don't want to use banana since it's high in carbs. Instead I use xanthan gum. For a 2 cup total smoothie (1 cup frozen fruit, 1 cup liquid) I use 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum. For frozen dessert I use 1/2 tsp.

[scubadoo97]

Do either the various Vita-Mixes or the BlendTec do small amounts well? By "small" I mean, say, half a cup of pureed tomatoes or vinaigrette.

I am looking at the Blendtec HP3A with the new 3 qt jar which has the larger blades. I too have concerns about smaller quantities although I can't foresee doing anything as little as a 1/2 a cup in the blender. Anyone had experience with the new container? In some of the videos at the RawFoodWorld the 3 oz jar Blendtec seemed to work the best at quickly blending all the contents. Also for an additional $60 you can get both the 2 qt jar and the 3 qt jar. Would there be much need for two jars?

Edited by scubadoo97, 17 August 2010 - 06:07 AM.

[JimS]

The BlendTec does not seem to like quantities below a cup, in my experience, though that will depend on the consistency of the puree. I imagine more liquid things would do better in small quantities.

Unfortunately, the same also applies to the Vitamix. I seem to remember reading somewhere that 4oz was the bare minimum for it. In my experience, even a cup may cause problems.

[paulraphael]

]I don't want to use banana since it's high in carbs. Instead I use xanthan gum. For a 2 cup total smoothie (1 cup frozen fruit, 1 cup liquid)...

All fruit is high in carbs. Exceptions are the ones we don't think of as fruits ... like cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.

[jsmeeker]

Yesterday my wife decided she wanted a smoothy for lunch. I do not have a high-powered blender, so the result a) was not very smooth and b) nearly destroyed the old blender. The upshot is that she agreed to pitch in for a new blender, so I've got the base BlendTec model on order, as suggested by Fat Guy. Has anyone used theirs for Mexican sauces with dried chiles in them? I'm interested to know how smooth the result will be. What about nut-heavy purees like a mole?

Chirs

How is the Blendtec working for chile sauces using dried chiles? I love to make a sauce for enchiladas and am wondering how much a of a difference a high end blender makes. I know Rick Bayless uses a Vita-Mix on his show ( I make the sauce using his recipe) and figured if it works for him it will work for me. But now you and Steven have me thinking about a Blendtec.

[Caruso]

I'm considering a Blendtec or Vita-Mix and leaning toward the latter because it is available at Macys where I have my wedding registry. However, in doing some research, I came across this Popular Mechanics blender faceoff on youtube and was confused and disappointed by some of the results. Neither did that much better than a $100 Kitchenaid blender, and the Blendtec completely failed at the apple test. Has anyone seen this?

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

[Dave the Cook]

Pretty much all those tests show is the difference in performance between jar designs when used to do an arbitrary task. (I'm not sure what it matters that you can liquify a whole orange, anyway. Is this a common smoothie ingredient?) Pick a different ingredient -- strawberries or bananas -- and you'd probably get very different results. I'd also point out that their failure to read the manuals caused the VitaMix and Blendtec to appear to be less capable than they actually were.

I guess if you're buying an appliance to pulverize whole fruits the size of apples and oranges, then you should get the KitchenAid. But I can tell you from experience that it's not a very good blender.

[IndyRob]

Jeremy Clarkson had a pretty powerful blender on Top Gear once...



Might need some refinement though.

[HarryB3]

Loved the Top Gear Blender!

My recently acquired VitaPrep has paid for itself in not going to Jamba Juice anymore. And now I am discovering the joy of homemade hummus. And savings as well!

[Fat Guy]

When I was doing blender research I came across the articleconnected with that Popular Mechanics video. It seemed so ill-informed, so clearly written by people who have no clue about blenders, that I was unable to extract any useful information. If you focus on unintended use when doing product reviews, you get silly results. It's like saying "We took these five automobiles and drove them into a lake, then measured how long they floated before sinking. Surprisingly, the Kia Rio floated the longest, easily beating out more expensive vehicles like the Porsche Cayenne. We give the Kia our highest rating." Fine, it can float, and it's still a piece of junk.

[devlin]

I'm nearly sold on the Blendtec, but am having a little trouble figuring out whether I should get the standard pitcher with the 3" blade or the larger pitcher with the 4" blade. Does the larger pitcher and 4" blade really outperform the standard pitcher with the 3" blade? Help me out here. Or maybe I should simply go with the option that allows me to purchase both pitchers?

[scubadoo97]

I too am on the fence between the BlendTec and the Vitamix. They sell the BlendTec with both jars. May not be a bad thing to have an extra jar for doing multiple tasks.

The Popular Science video although not really representative of what you would normally do with a blender still made me think twice about the prosumer blenders. One thing I've heard more than once in reviews is that the BlendTec can over blend quickly. Orange smoothie becomes orange juice. Anyone have input on this?

[DanM]

I recently picked up a Vitamix blender at Costco. So far, wifey and I are very happy with its performance. The main usage is from making smoothies for me in the morning, baby food for my daughter, and a frozen cocktail when necessary. Vitamix has a longer warranty than Blendtec and much simpler controls, hence my decision.

Dan

[Fat Guy]

I think the best move is to get the Blendtec at Costco. If you buy the Blendtec from Costco you get a 7-year warranty from Blendtec as well as Costco's own unconditional warranty on top of that. So, for example, let's say you have the Blendtec for a year and it breaks. If you bought it from Costco you have two options: 1. You can send it in to Blendtec for warranty repair, or 2. You can return it to Costco for a refund.

You can only buy it at a Costco during a Blendtec roadshow event. You can look on Costco's website to find out where and when these are happening. They only sell the Total blender standard package, not the bigger pitcher, but I've been entirely happy with that package.

scubadoo97, I've never had an overblending issue with the Blendtec program cycles. If anything, I find myself adding time. I guess if your ratios of frozen stuff to liquid stuff are not ideal, the friction generated by blending will melt stuff too much. That's going to be an issue with any high-power blender, though, I think.

[devlin]

Thanks so much for the feedback. That helps.

[Becca Porter]

I have had my VM 5200 for at least 6 months now. When I was pregnant, I made green smoothies every day for about 3 months. Now I frequently make smoothies, frozen desserts, puree soups, make hummus, etc. I have had zero issues with durability. Every time I use it I think how glad I am that I bit the bullet.

BTW, Vitamix offers a 3-month payment plan on their website. They just break it into 3 payments and take it out of your card for 3 months. It worked great for me.

As far as Mole/chile sauces go, it eliminates the need to ever sieve your chile pastes again. Completely smooth. Amazing. Here is a blog about it: http://porterhouse.t...c-red-mole.html That link also has my very favorite green drink recipe.

Oh, and though I try not to do it often, my VM pitcher will fit in my dishwasher, no problem. So it depends on your dishwasher.

Edited to add that I will actually have had my VM a year next month.

Edited by Becca Porter, 09 September 2010 - 07:10 PM.

[inductioncook]

So, I think it is clear that the Vita-Prep is in lots of kitchens of restaurants everyone in this thread would consider well informed, for making sauces, mixtures for frozen desserts, all sorts of things. The Blendtec dominates the blender-store market, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, etc. Does that tell us anything? Why do serious chefs prefer the Vita-Prep?

[paulraphael]

So, I think it is clear that the Vita-Prep is in lots of kitchens of restaurants everyone in this thread would consider well informed, for making sauces, mixtures for frozen desserts, all sorts of things. The Blendtec dominates the blender-store market, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, etc. Does that tell us anything? Why do serious chefs prefer the Vita-Prep?

I suspect it's the automatic modes. And don't some of those Blendtecs come with a noise reducing enclosure?

Overall I'm willing to bet the Vita-prep 3 is the better blender, if you're not looking for automation and other juice bar features. This site suggests so, and they sell all the blenders in question. They are pretty dismissive of the home Vita-mix blenders, which they put in a different category.

That company also sells a Chinese made blender called the Omni, which looks promising. Performance close to the Vita-Prep 3 for $250. I can't vouch for it.

[Fat Guy]

I'm pretty sure the Vita-Prep units they market to smoothie places have automatic cycles and sound enclosures. The market consensus just seems to be that the Blendtec models are better for that application. Or it could just be the herd mentality, or effective sales and marketing.

For example, when I asked the guys at a local restaurant, Beacon, why they chose the Vita-Prep they said "Because that's what our supplier carries." A lot of restaurant purchasing decisions are made that way.

I can't speak from experience on the question of professional Blendtec v. Vita-Prep models. What I can say is that the home Blendtec Total blender seems like a better product than the equivalently priced Vita-Mix 5200. I've owned both for enough cycles to be pretty sure about that.

[slkinsey]

As Steven says, in many/most of the professional situations, it comes down to what the supplier carries and what the prevailing trends are. That said, when we look at the base units that most people buy and consider what the units are best known for, it suggests that they have different strengths depending on what you want to do.

From what I can tell, the BlendTec has some clear advantages when it comes to making thick, smoothie-type preparations. The ability to toss a bunch of frozen stuff in there, press a pre-programmed button and walk away is a big advantage. Yes, I'm sure that VitaMix makes some machines that might have some similar functionality, but they're certainly not known for it the way BlendTec is.

On the other side of the debate, I think the VitaPrep has some clear advantages over the BlendTec when it comes to certain applications that a restaurant might typically want to do. For example, I have had occasion to turn blanched/shocked/squeezed arugula into a vibrantly green, perfectly smooth puree so dense you could call it a paste. This was a process where the VitaPrep's plunger and the base's variable speed dial made a huge difference in getting the thick herb into the blades and controlling the temperature. I don't see how something like this could possibly be done in a BlendTec without cooking the green out through friction or adding more liquid. On the other hand, if you make a million smoothies and aggressively rock the container around on the base while plunging like Steven did with his VitaMix, then having the plunger design is clearly a liability.

This, to me, all points towards figuring out what your priorities might be for use. Me? I don't really care about smoothies and I like to do a lot of things that really depend on the plunger, so I have a VitaPrep. On the other hand, if I were going to open a tiki bar, I'd make sure the blenders were BlendTec.