Choosing The Best Blender
Nothing tastes better than a delicious, healthy, and nutritious strawberry smoothie on a hot summer day, or any day for that matter.
Strawberry smoothies can be such a fantastic treat for the whole family and they are so very good for you. When we make our smoothies, we include only the best ingredients, so why would we not want the best blender to blend them up?
When I get a craving for a delicious strawberry smoothie and have all of my ingredients loaded up in my blender ready to go, the last thing I want is a weak blender that takes forever and leaves icy chunks in my smoothie. So I took a look at some blender reviews to try and find which blender is the best on the market.
Which Features Should You Look For?
There are hundreds and hundreds of blender to choose from and they all have a variety of different features. One of the more important features you should look at is the container jar capacity where you put the ingredients. Bigger is better in this case with sizes ranging from less than 40 ounces to over 64 ounces. Containers made out of a polycarbonate material tend to be the strongest and the least likely to crack when dropped.
You also want to look at the power of the engine. The stronger the engine, the faster the cutting blades spin and the easier the blender will handle tough ingredients. A strong engine generally means a silky smooth smoothie. You will find engine power ranging from a couple hundred watts to over 1,500 watts, which is about 3 horsepower.
Finally you want to look at the number of speeds that the blender has. You can get a single speed blender all the way up to a 15 speed blender. More speeds will give you more flexibility when blending and let you choose the specific speed setting that matches the ingredients you are blending.
You don’t want to blend chunky salsa at the same speed as your strawberry smoothie for example.
What Kind of Blender Is Best for Smoothies?
There are three types of blenders, standard counter top kitchen blenders, personal blenders, and hand blenders.
Countertop blenders are what you commonly see in most kitchens. They have an engine base and a jug container that sits on top of it where you put the ingredients. Personal blenders are smaller and have cups that you use for blending and can also take with you and drink out of. These blenders are used especially for single servings and are very easy to clean. Hand blenders are used to stick down in boiling pots of soup and other dishes. They are long and skinny with a handle that you grip on one end and a blending blade at the other end. They can easily be moved around the kitchen from place to place.
Although any of these types of blenders can be used for smoothies, the best type that I found that really get the job done are the standard kitchen countertop blenders. The best brand in this category that stands out from the crowd is the Vitamix blender
The Vitamix 4500
The Vitamix 4500 was rated number one on a list of the top five best blenders on GoBlendIt.com. It has a huge 64 ounce container jar made of clear, non-toxic, nearly unbreakable polycarbonate. The container has measurement markings on the side and has a specially designed shape that helps to ensure ingredients are blended evenly.
You also get a plunger device that lets you push ingredients down into the container to help with the blending. The engine is extremely powerful, coming in at 1,380 watts or two horsepower. In almost all of the owner reviews, everyone loves the power of the Vitamix and give it an average rating of 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. The engine is designed to run without generating a lot of heat so that it will last longer.
It also can generate blades speeds up over 200 mph using special ball bearings in the blade assembly. You won’t need to worry about any unblended ingredients with this beast of an engine. The Vitamix has two different speeds, high and low, and an on-off switch. Most owners feel that this is enough and say that they like a blender that is so easy to work. They also feel that the Vitamix blender is less likely to break down than a blender with many speed options.
The Vitamix 4500 is covered by a 5 year warranty which is much longer than most brands on the market. You’ll also get a helpful recipe book with 150 recipes to get you started cooking with your Vitamix. The Vitamix retails for around $400, making it one of the more expensive blenders on the market. But you get what you pay for here, which is power and top of the line quality.
Try one of these yummy strawberry smoothie recipes with your new blender.