Blenders?

I just spent $20 on a Black + Decker blender in October. I have used maybe a dozen times for smoothies and once for soup. It works well and appears reasonably well built.

I enjoy occasional smoothies and they are also a way for me to get my 2 year old to consume at least a couple leaves of spinach once in a while. My only opinion regarding smoothies vs. eating fruit and veg other ways is that it depends on what I'm in the mood for. Raw vs. roasted vs. grilled vs. steamed vs. pureed all have different textures and flavor profiles depending on preparation method and ingredient combination. Do what you enjoy.

I have a pricier Ninja and I love it. Not only does it make smoothies well but it grinds things like coffee beans and flax seeds. Worth the price.

However you choose to get your fruit and veg is great. Doesn't matter if you blend them or not.

I wanted a Vitamix but it was out of my budget. I got a Ninja and love it.

I had an older, standard blender before and I had to keep stopping and stirring things as it would jam. My new blender is a good investment because I make smoothies often.

I spent $200 on the Breville Fresh & Furious. Stupid name, amazing blender. I made my friend a smoothie with it last week and she texted her husband that she wanted one as a Christmas gift. I've never been unhappy with a Breville kitchen appliance.

After years of use our Nutribullet Rx went kaput, so we just got a new Nutribullet Blender/extractor for $100. We use it every day plus I make green "juice", a gallon a week for me & husband. I don't always cook veggies but do drink them every day

I love my Vitamix and would choose any good blender (Ninja included from what I've heard from people I know who have them) over my Cuisinart food processor any day. At least in terms of smoothies, blending soup, and doing various other things. Mind you, there are also multiple areas where I'd prefer to use a food processor - both appliances are very useful.

As to the question about drinking smoothies vs eating non-blended food, there are very few occasions when I would prefer or want to use a smoothie as a regular source of getting "enough" or an extra serving of produce. There are significantly more tasty (to me and likely many other people) ways to eat fruits and vegetables. The only major and perhaps common exception is soup. That, depending on the type of soup, is essentially drinking your food. I typed most of this while eating a cup of potato soup and I've made blended soup at least twice over the past one month time span (carrot and butternut squash).

I recently got an Oster "pro" 1200 to replace a leaky Bausch and it works the best of any blender I've had. HOWEVER ... my cat fished the rubber gasket out of the dish drainer and dropped it down to my dog, who wrecked it. I thought replacing it would be easy (it's an Oster not some weird brand) but it turns out this particular size gasket is almost impossible to get, even from the company which apparently hasn't had it in for a year. I found one on eBay which obviously was cut out of a piece of silicone but it works (and I'll get a silicone mat and make a spare or two). So that's my cautionary Oster tale

I've had two reconditioned vitamixes and the only reason I got a new one a few years ago was that the old one from the 1980s refused to die and I wanted something more powerful, smaller footprint. and with a clear spoutless container.... (I just didn't have room for the old one any more and it was a pain to drag it out for use.) So per year they are actually a bargain. Made in USA, customer service is reliable, long warranty.

I tried a friend's juicer but it was difficult to clean and the waste was incredible. High power gadgets like the Vitamix make juice out of all the edible parts of the fruit or veg, no need to strain and you don't lose anything. Just prepare as you would for normal eating. The Vitamix cleans up easily.

When looking for a new one, I checked out others and the Blendtec sounds comparable in performance, no experience with cleaning it. I went with a Vitamix because it has a slight edge in my basic criterion: can it pulverize blackberry seeds into a smooth drink? The answer is probably sufficiently yes for both if you start it off by grinding the berries with minimal water and then add more water and other ingredients for another run.

At the time, I was needing to avoid seeds and really needed something to annihilate the seeds in everything. With blackberries and raspberries, pulverizing the seeds releases the nutrition better for humans anyway. When #2 arrived, I was overjoyed to have my first strawberries in 2 years - I blended up a thick drink with strawberries in it. I keep experimenting with frozen fruit and veg (room temperature with ice works also), haven't found a bad combination yet. I like it thick like a milkshake. Sometimes add vegan protein powder, depending on what else I'm eating that day.

The first thing I made in my old Vitamix was a honeydew melon "shake" just from honeydew and ice. It was wonderful. Closest thing to ice cream I had had in years (dairy allergy). I had hoped it would help me get more fluid and nutrition to help deal with a bad pollen season and bad congestion, and it definitely did. I also was more ambitious in those days and used it sometimes to make peanut butter and cashew butter, really simple to do. I even ground flour in it sometimes. This was the old one with a steel container. It can make soup out of veg and water pretty quickly also, heated by the blades.

For #2, I got a "personal size" Vitamix S30 series that came with a tamper and two containers: one 20oz travel container that seems very well sealed and supposedly fits in car beverage holders and a 40oz container. I think the full size one has a 64oz container or thereabouts. Both containers use the same blade unit with gasket that screws into their base. I had thought I would mainly use the 20oz but soon discovered the 40oz works better for me. My office is about 20ft from the kitchen...

A more recent full-size one has an adapter for really small blending containers.

I was really happy with my first Vitamix (only regretted not going into debt for it earlier). Likewise with the second one. They have a five-month installment plan (about $50 per month for mine plus tax) and it's easy to find free shipping codes on the net for both Vitamix and Blendtec (usually at smoothie recipe sites). You have to watch their site for refurbished bargains or deals on new ones if money is an issue. They have a real 30 days money back guarantee for any reason, so it's safe to try it. And they last so long that they are cheaper per year than units that conk out in a year or so (usually after the warranty has expired!). The Vitamix warranty is 5 years nowadays. Pay attention to warranty periods for any blender because they are a good indication of how durable it is likely to be.

I also happily used (and sometimes still use) a Tribest personal blender that also lasts a really long time and has an adapter available for wide mouth mason jars. This is particularly handy when I need to purée cat food for an ailing cat - I bought a separate blade unit and adapter for that purpose, clearly marked for the feline staff... It has a 20oz normal container and a smaller one and two blade units (for dry and wet). The footprint is much smaller than Vitamix's idea of a personal blender and so is the price, but the power is much less and I can see a real difference when blending certain things. Both are easy to clean, but the Vitamix is easier.

I had a Nutribullet several years ago, but not for long...it burned out. So I got a Vitamix and I love it. It can do so much more than your typical blender. It was well worth it and I got it at a good sale price and could spread the payments over a few months. I use it for smoothies, shakes, soup and peanut butter just to name a few. I did get an adapter and cup to do single servings of smoothies/shakes. Glad I did.

I’ve had a vitamix for about 6 years and I really like it. It’s pricey but it’s never given me any problems. (I’ve had nutri-bullets, etc and they had a shorter lifespan.)
I like it for cooking soup in the heat setting and ice cream or sorbet on the frozen setting.

I have a green juice or shake most mornings. It’s the only way i get so many greens in my diet. I wouldn’t eAt a salad that big. I just don’t. 🤷‍♀️

One of the benefits of the vitamix is keeping the fiber in the juice rather than a traditional juicer.