Smoothies, soups and sauces. Nut and margaritas butters. Puddings, sauces and batters. If any of this appeals to you, a blender or glass mixer should be on your list of home appliance priorities.
But with so many options - and a wide variety of prices - to choose from, selecting the right one can be tricky. To help you figure this out we have tested nine popular mixers, making smoothies, soups, and peanut butter and ice powder to find the models that produced the creamiest, silkiest textures and had the best functionality and durability.
The bottom line: Higher cost also means higher performance and a longer-lasting machine, so if you're going to use it frequently, we think it's worth the long-term investment (think how much you'll save if you skip your $ 8 daily shake! making your own version at home). But if you rarely have the need to mix a low budget model it will serve you perfectly.
After mixing, tamping, cleaning, and dodging neighbors' complaints, we narrowed the nine candidates down to three winners:
Best Blender Overall: Breville Super Q
The luxury choice: Vitamix Venturist V1200
Low budget choice: Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ
A quick look at the winners
With 1,800 watts of motor power, the Breville Super Q features a multitude of preset buttons, comes in multiple colors, includes key accessories, and is quieter than other models. At $ 500, its price is high, but for those who can't imagine a smoothie-free morning $ 1.30 a day for a year it seems like a bargain.
We recognize that $ 630 seems like an extreme amount of money to spend on a blender, but as a luxury option, the Vitamix Venturist V1200, with its incredible 10-year warranty and a host of great, durable and great functional features, simply deserves to be on the podium.
Finally, when it comes to a blender priced at $ 00 or less, we found the Ninja Professional Plus blender with Auto-iQ to be the best. In addition to doing an admirable job of mixing creamy smoothies and soups, it comes with a number of presets, as well as low, mid, and high manual settings. It doesn't have the heavy or quality materials like the high-performance mixers we tested, but for casual users, it won't disappoint.
In detail
Best Overall Blender: Breville Super Q ($ 499; amazon.com)
The fastest roller coaster in the world reaches 150 miles per hour. A cheetah can run at approximately 75 miles per hour. Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, records 28 miles per hour. When we read that the Breville Super Q features stainless steel surgical blades that can go up to 186 miles per hour, we were impressed. No wonder our spinach disappeared in our smoothie in seconds.
Those blades, coupled with a large 1,800-watt motor in a strong blender with a sleek design, scored highly in all of our tests, producing creamy smoothies, perfectly blended hot soups and ice so delicately crushed that we decided to declare a happy hour every afternoon. .
The Super Q is fast and quiet, comes in six colors (brushed stainless steel, black, gray, white, champagne, and navy) and includes a large 68-ounce BPA-free Tritan carafe, and also a 24-ounce blender cup. The lid includes a nifty internal measuring cup that can hold up to 2 ounces (less dirty dishes is always a bonus). When you're done mixing, a button on the lid releases the grip, making it easier to remove. We share this because before we discovered this trick, we were concerned about breaking the lid trying to get it out of the jar.
At 22 pounds, it is heavy and durable. The model also scores points for its ease of use. Preset buttons include pulse / crushed ice, smoothie, green smoothie, ice cream, soup, clean, and timer. There is an on / off and pause / cancel button and a manual dial with 12 speed settings including pause, stir, mix, chop, mix, mash and grind, and hot soup. An LCD screen gives you information about the shaking process and, in its box, you will find a good cookbook.
The Super Q was second only to Vitamix models in all categories, but while you're saving $ 130 compared to the best Vitamix we tested, you're not sacrificing much. We were especially impressed with the hot soup setup (there is a six-minute auto shutdown limit) and we recommend asking Santa for the Vac Q accessory ($ 99.99; amazon.com). It's a small, expensive device, but when you open the vacuum pump on the lid, it sucks in any air pockets in the jar, resulting in an extra creamy, smooth and rich mix.
Oh, and as for the advertised "silent" feature of this model? It may be a little less noisy than other models, but when is it crushing ice at 186 mph? It is still noisy. If you expect this blender to prevent your spouse or children from waking up while mixing your morning training shake, you will be disappointed.
The Breville Smart Q has a sleek, modern stainless steel design, presets that allow you to work almost hands-free, makes thick, creamy soups you still dream of, and has a 1,800-watt motor. This high-performance blender isn't cheap either, but it simply rose above almost all of its competitors.
The Luxury Pick: Vitamix Venturist V1200 ($ 629.95; vitamix.com)
Choosing your favorite Vitamix model is a bit like naming your favorite child. All three of the brand's mixers we tested had outstanding qualities and delivered impressive results that outperformed all other competitors; We would gladly give any of them space on our kitchen counters. But when we put all the scores together, the Venturist V1200 was the clear winner.
Yes, it was the most expensive blender we tried. But when it comes to making thick, creamy smoothies and 100% silk-smooth peanut butter or velvety soup, no lumps and very hot, you just can't beat it.
The model is similar to those of the brand's Ascent series (we tested the also wonderful Ascent 3300). Both with a 1,400-watt, 2.2-horsepower motor, digital timer, 10-speed manual dial, pulse control, and on / off switch. Both have 6 1/2 minute shutdown times to help prevent overheating, include 64-ounce jars, and come with hardcover cookbooks. Both are also considered smart mixers: They use Bluetooth technology to sync with the Vitamix Perfect Blend app that includes 17 preset programs (from smoothies and hot soups to dry nibbles and baby food), along with recipes and commands that let you control the blender wirelessly. They also use "autodetection" technology that automatically detects and adjusts the mixing time depending on the container you are using. The Venturist, however, also comes with an 8-ounce mixing bowl and a 20-ounce mixing cup (you'll save around $ 20 if you buy those accessories separately).
Don't you need all the extras? You can't go wrong with the Vitamix 5200 Standard. Priced at $ 499.95, it has all the power of Vitamix and a taller, narrower, high-profile container. In fact, this is our only problem with Venturist: Its low-profile container design is amazing for mixing large portions, but it doesn't work as well as the narrower version of the 5200.
But let's go back to our praise for the overall winner: We love the Venturist's ability to offer extra silky smoothies and soups - no fruit seeds or vegetable stains or herb leftovers, no small chunks of ice, or chunks of stringy celery. And yes, you will need space in their closets to store all their accessories. But what if you take the plunge and decide to invest in this expensive but fabulous blender? We promise that its cost per use will make it an easy purchase to justify. Money-saving tip: Find a refurbished model on Amazon for $ 449.95.
Make no mistake: This model that combines very high power with Bluetooth technology, along with a wide variety of container sizes, tools and more, is worth what it costs. Ai uses a blender on a daily basis, it is worth saving for this Cadillac of kitchen appliances.
The low-budget pick: Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ ($ 89.99; amazon.com)
We recognize it: The stacked triple-leaf design on the Ninja Professional Plus intrigued us, but we also found it a little scary. Is it a great and smart way to chop, blend and puree? Or is it a torture device? It depends on your motives, we suppose. But once we (cautiously) placed the blade at its base inside the container, we were impressed with this machine.
For just under $ 100, it doesn't have the power of the high-performance models we tested. And, it is true, $ 90 is not what we would call "cheap", but models in the less than $ 40 range tend to have much lower engine power and therefore simply do not operate at the same caliber as a machine like this, which boasts 1,100 watts of engine power.
Plastic materials look pretty good, but they don't have the weight of their competitors. The plastic jug / jug is fairly large at 72 ounces and features presets (known as Auto-iQ), which include smoothies, crushed ice, and ice cream, which are good for mixing without touching. It also has manual low, mid, high and pulse settings.
All fairly standard. But other little touches (the suction cups on the bottom keep the blender firmly connected to the table, the jar clicks into place to make sure it's firmly on the bottom ...) gives you extra points.
That's not to say it's perfect - visions of cutting your hands while cleaning can haunt you, and the jar is quite tall, meaning you probably won't be able to store it under your counter cabinets. But that patented three-blade design made for a pretty good smoothie (albeit with berry spots and a texture that leaned a little more towards ice than creamy), a well-mixed soup (reheating necessary), and well-crushed ice that was almost everything like snow, except for some larger fragments. Still, if you are a casual user of the blender, this model is definitely worth a try.
Once you get over the fear of the Ninja's triple blade, you'll be impressed by how smooth it is. In addition, its extra features, which include a base with good support and a lid with a locking mechanism, made it stand out among other models.
Keep this in mind
As with most small kitchen appliances, all mixers are different. In fact, for a tool made primarily for mixing, mashing, and stirring, consumers face a wide variety when considering their options. From personal-size models meant to prepare single servings or small batches, to low-cost basic versions at moderate prices that can handle more volume, to high-performance, commercial-grade machines that can scare you off the price, but also carry your recipes At a new level, choosing the right machine can be a bit, well, like a whirlwind.
So which model is the best? If you drink smoothies daily, you like juices, you like to make your own butters and nut flours, eat soups regularly, adore a super emulsified dressing, or just spend a lot of time cooking at home, generally a high-performance blender can do. the highest price.
The most important thing that distinguishes these models from the rest is their engine size. High-performance models record more than 1,400 watts of power, while budget mixers are generally in the 500-watt range. Higher horsepower engines mean you get the right vortex needed for creamier mixes, especially when mixing stringy fruits and vegetables, herbs, nuts, and thick shakes and drinks. A good rule of thumb: choose as many watts as your budget allows.
As for the blade, look for a stainless steel one for durability. Vitamix, for example, uses aircraft grade stainless steel blades to maintain consistent mixing results.
Next: the container jars. Plastic is standard for most mixers, and the more expensive models are made from BPA-free Tritan plastic, a super durable, shock-resistant and lightweight material that comes with a long service life. Glass, of course, is less likely to stain or absorb food odors, but it can break and doesn't work well with high-speed, high-powered blades. Many of these containers have a capacity of 64 ounces or more, which means you can mix multiple servings at once (great for families), and some come with smaller accessories, like a take-out smoothie cup.
If you're the type of home cook who likes to set it all up and forget about it, a blender with pre-programmed settings may be right for you. Many mixers feature one-touch buttons for smoothies, soups, crushed ice, cleaning cycles, spreads and dips and more. Variable speeds, which allow you to manually configure your mix from low to high, are standard, as is a pulse button that lets you start and stop as needed. Some high-end versions also come with timers, helping to further simplify the task.
Soup lovers in particular will be drawn to high-end versions for their ability to whisk hot soup - just add the ingredients, set the timer, or select the preset soup button, and after about six minutes of mixing , your soup is cooked, steaming and ready to eat straight from the jug. But remember: Just because you have a preset doesn't mean that pressing a button results in a perfect match.
Accessories are also quite common. If you don't plan on using your blender too often, you probably don't need the add-ons. But if you want to carry your morning smoothie in the car or have more storage space, smaller mugs or accessories are convenient.
However, our favorite accessory is the tamper , a plastic tool made to insert through the lid of the blender to help break air bubbles or other jams while the machine is still running and sized so they don't hit the blades. , which could lead to damage. If you don't get a vortex when mixing your thick smoothie, instead of stopping the machine, removing the lid, using a spoon, or adding more liquid to get things moving again, just hit the ingredients on the blades and voila.
Finally, a note about cleaning. After years of using blenders that need to be disassembled and hand washed or put in the dishwasher where they take up so much space, we have found that cleaning a blender couldn't be easier. Simply fill the bowl halfway with warm water, add a couple drops of dish soap, and mix. Rinse (if you were mixing something with oil, you still need to clean it up a bit) and you're done.
Note: The above prices reflect the price at the time of article posting.