Personal blender/smoothie maker/etc: what's the best kind?

[Darienne]

Well, my Magic Bullet died last fall after many years, and while in the States in October I bought a Hamilton Beach which turned out to be a piece of total junk.  The gears...some kind of rubber or acrylic...sorry I am not a CSI type...just came off last week.  That's not very many uses.  They just fell off.  So now I am going to buy a 'good' smoothie maker.  Don't really want to spend more than $100.00.  Or is that unrealistic? 

 

The question is for making smoothies and other small one person beverages, what is the best brand to buy:  Ninja? Nutribullet? Black & Decker?  Oster?  Does anything out there have gears made out of a material that will last?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I seem to remember some Ninja were recalled (at least in the US) as a safety hazard:

 

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2016/Laceration-Injuries-Prompt-SharkNinja-to-Recall-Ninja-BL660-Blenders/

 

Perhaps $100 is unrealistic for what you are looking for.

[daveb]

The good news is that there is a blender with gears that will last.  The bad news is that it's a Vitamix and is priced beyond what normal people would think normal.

 

A friend that is always looking for a frugal solution uses a "ninja" for her daily kaffir smoothie and it's been bullet proof for a couple years now.  I've heard nothing but positive from brothers as well.  We both owned Kitchenaid benders in the past and both died prematurely.  

 

Good luck.

[Darienne]

Good heavens...the Ninja injuries.  But then, to me the Hamilton Beach had very serious injury possibilities.  The blades could be engaged without the blender bottle on them, thus leaving them completely open.  Would never have had one with children in the house.  Or old folks...which come to think of it...we are both swiftly becoming.

 

I think the Vitamix is simply out of our snack bracket.  But thanks.

[cyalexa]

When my Magic Bullet died (I think it was abused while I was traveling) I immediately bought another one. Now I have twice as many blades, gaskets, screw on caps, etc. I think they are a good value, especially if you can find one on sale. I also have one of the early, low-end Ninjas. It has 2 containers and the smaller one is not too large for a single personal beverage. Although you could drink out of it after removing the blades it is not designed for that purpose and may feel a bit awkward. Even I dirty a glass and I am the queen of "how can I avoid additional dishes".

Edited March 10, 2016 by cyalexa (log)

[Darienne]

Thanks Cyalexa, daveb and JoNorvelleWalker for the information so far.  All grist to the mill, so to speak.

 

Interestingly enough, yesterday I watched a video of a Vitamix versus a Ninja (or one of them...can't seem to find it this morning) and the Vitamix won by a slight margin.  However, what I came away with was the fact that now, confined to my family size Hamilton Beach Wave Action blender, I was not keeping the action going long enough to completely make my smoothie smooth enough.  So this morning, I let the blender run twice as long, and what do you know?, the smoothie was acceptable.  (Not wonderful, not beyond compare...but good enough). 

 

I'll do more investigation before I make a final choice.  Or rather, before he-who-makes-those-sorts-of-choices makes the final choice.

[Smithy]

Why not get another Magic Bullet? Has the quality declined?

[Darienne]

No idea, Smithy.  I'm just trying to get personal anecdotes.  It seems to me that almost all research leads to confusing conflicting evidence in the end.  Maybe we'll just do that thing.  The Magic Bullet did last a good long time.  And did an adequate job.  I'm not trying to pulverize flax seeds in the first place...

[Katie Meadow]

I love my Nutri Ninja Pro. It works far better for most drinks than my blender, which is a modest priced NOT high powered blender. It is smaller and so much easier to clean. And it effectively deals with ice. My standard blender gets dragged out very rarely these days, mostly for soups. Sometimes I wish I had a high power blender, but that's mostly if I ever watch Rick Bayless cooking on TV. I use the Ninja enough to justify its place on the counter. When I bought it I considered the Magic Bullet, but research seemed to favor the Ninja when I checked them both out. 

[daveb]

Saw something earlier that Groupon has a BlendTec for $180.

 

Close to (and some say better than) Vmix build quality

 

[Nowayout]

It seems like most believe that a Vitamix/Blendtec discussion is similar to a Ford/Chevy discussion, that they are both about the same thing.  But having owned a Vitamix for a very long time and switching to a Blendtec about a year ago, I have quite a different opinion.

 

Vitamix:

We owned a 5200 for many years.  This is the model with the pulse on the left, rotary speed dial in the middle and stop/start on the right. Mechanically it was great with the one exception being the rotary speed control.  It failed no less that 3 times during the 6-8 years we used it.  It was replaced twice by Vitamix, once under warranty and once at my cost.  The third and last time I replaced it myself with a much heavier duty potentiometer.  This component is severely undersized and is prone to failure. Many many complaints.

 

As far as blending, the Vitamix did a good job, but honestly we had to use the big tamper quite often for thick malts or thick purees.  We became so accustomed to this that we just though it was normal.  Once we bought the Blendtec with the wild side jar (a 5th side that is narrower than the other 4 sides) we realized that we could blend and puree the exact same ingredients without ever touching a tamper or continually stopping it to move things around.   

 

We have now used the Blendtec for a bit over a year and I can say without a doubt that it is a superior product that yields superior results.  The Vitamix is on a shelf in the basement and I have brought it out for a side by side test a couple times (when a daughter was looking at blenders).   The Vitamix does a decent job, but it isn't a Blendtec.  

 

FWIW and YMMV.

 

Good luck, buy a Blendtec and never look back!

 

 

 

 

 

[Darienne]

Just to finish up this thread.  We've decided not to buy a blender dedicated to shakes/smoothies at all for the time being.  The big blender works very well and now that I know about leaving it on longer, I find that it does a perfectly adequate job. 

The main reason I would NEED a smaller blender is for travelling and mostly our travelling involves living in a condo at our destination...and our level of condo, while fairly well equipped, does not include a blender...so we'd be bringing the large blender anyway.  ...or that's how I've worked it out to date...

 

Thanks so much for all the information.  I'll act on it when the time for buying a smaller appliance comes around.    (Not to mention the incredible cost of the dental work we are having done right now.... )