Blender opinions

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Ninja, I love my Ninja. I tried the bullet but like the Ninja better. I actually am a fan of a lot of Ninja's products. I have their professional blender, and their slow cooker, and I'm looking at the vacuum and the deep fryer, YEP I'm loving their products.

It's an investment, but I seriously love my vitamix. Best money I've ever spent for an appliance or gadget for my kitchen. I make all sorts of stuff in it, too. Think beyond the smoothie! Nut butter, hummus, soup, smoothies, ice cream (using bananas) and oat/nut flours. I have a bullet as well and it just isn't the same. I also like that I can make up a single serving, or a batch of something. I often make a batch of green smoothies - they keep for several days in the fridge.

My favorite green smoothie right now - makes 2:
1 1/3 c water
2 stalks celery
3-4 big handfuls of spinach
2 handfuls of romaine or kale
juice of a lemon
banana
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 c frozen mango

Super yummy!

Ninja, I'm telling you and I make everything in it that she does the vitamix and waaaay less money.

I love my Ninja :-) It's a beast! But I haven't tried any of the ones other people mention, so I can't compare. I'm thrilled with what I selected, I also needed a food processor so it's great for that also.

It's an investment, but I seriously love my vitamix. Best money I've ever spent for an appliance or gadget for my kitchen. I make all sorts of stuff in it, too. Think beyond the smoothie! Nut butter, hummus, soup, smoothies, ice cream (using bananas) and oat/nut flours. I have a bullet as well and it just isn't the same. I also like that I can make up a single serving, or a batch of something. I often make a batch of green smoothies - they keep for several days in the fridge.

My favorite green smoothie right now - makes 2:
1 1/3 c water
2 stalks celery
3-4 big handfuls of spinach
2 handfuls of romaine or kale
juice of a lemon
banana
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 c frozen mango

Super yummy!

I second the Vitamix. I spent a pretty penny on the big fancy one, but that's because we're hard on blenders (they don't tend to last more than a couple of years in our house), and so far it's worth every penny.

In fact, I'm drinking a green smoothie now that consists of avocado, bok choy (stalks and all), kale, and strawberries, and you wouldn't know it from the texture (well, except the smooth creaminess from the avocado).

And yeah, a Vitamix goes way beyond smoothies and into soups, slushies (seriously, ice? It laughs at it), nut butters, and pretty much anything else you can imagine (and probably some things you can't).

Thanks for the responses! I've looked into the Nutribullet, but I read a few people saying it's not good for using ice in them, & I love my Smoothies cold! So I wasn't sure if that was going to be a good blender for me. And the Vitamix? Yeah, I know those are amazing & well worth it, but way out of my league money wise. Lol I've read the Oster ones are good, but I want to make sure they pulverize everything!

Seriously, save up for a little Vitamix, then. My last blender was an Oster and it did okay, but it took a while to break up more heavy-duty things, and it died after about two years. I'd personally rather pay more up front for an appliance that can stand up to our usage and work well for more than a year or two, than to pay to buy a cheap one every year or two and have it good enough.

Oh, and two words -- self cleaning.

Thanks for the responses! I've looked into the Nutribullet, but I read a few people saying it's not good for using ice in them, & I love my Smoothies cold! So I wasn't sure if that was going to be a good blender for me. And the Vitamix? Yeah, I know those are amazing & well worth it, but way out of my league money wise. Lol I've read the Oster ones are good, but I want to make sure they pulverize everything!

We have the ninja in my office and use it everyday! It literally turns ice into "snow" The vitamix does a few more things, but about 5x the cost.

And just a tip for your smoothies. If I add ice to them I notice it cuts the flavor of my smoothie, however if you actually freeze the items you put in the smoothie, it makes it cold but FULL of flavor. I freeze everything. The fruit and veggies keep longer, so you aren't running to the grocery store every other day for fresh fruit/veggies, and it makes it cold :flowerforyou:

+1 Vitamix

Vitamix all the way.

We invested in a Vitamix a few years ago and I love it. You can't even tell that flax seed is in the smoothie if I add it. I also don't miss ice cream as much, because like others have mentioned, if you freeze fruit to start with, it will blend it all together until it's like soft serve.

I bought a reconditioned one for slightly cheaper. No problems with it (directly from the Vitamix site).

I can understand it still being a little too expensive though, so my advice would be to make sure whatever blender you get has metal "teeth" (the things that catch on the motor part and make it spin) on the bottom of the canister. The problem I kept running into with previous blenders was the plastic teeth would break one at a time until it would no longer spin. If you only make thinner consistency things it might not be an issue, but if you like ice to the point that it is a thick drink then you might have problems. Maybe the Ninja brand has metal? If they do, then it sounds like a more affordable option...