I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about whether it is best to get a plastic, glass, or stainless steel blender.  Does it make much difference?  I plan on using it a lot (I am a smoothie fanatic) and need something that can handle large quantities (I play hostess often). Suggestions?

Don't get plastic if you like to crush ice in it. 
Get glass that can withstand the crushing of ice.
Or opt for stainless steel, which is always a safe bet.

Now my pet peeve with the Cuisinart that I bought:  It is the same diameter on the bottom as it is at the top.  It is too wide on the bottom, and therefore does not create a strong enough vortex to mix the ingredients in the bottom into the rest of the items you put into it.  You have to blend it for a much longer time, and even then some unmixed powder, etc, will be at the bottom.  Very poor design. 

Always get a blender that is much narrower at the bottom.  That way the vortex is greater and blends everything from top to bottom, and pulls everything from the bottom up again. 

Manufacturers seem to think that "new" designs is what it is all about.  They don't really look at the functionality of their "new design". 

I don't particularly like Cuisinart products anyway.  You really have to pay attention to: is the design really that functional?", and some are far inferior in many ways to some other products out there.  And much too expensive for what they do.

Hope this helps.

Doreen

hey,

i have a cuisinart blender and its starting to die on me. i seem to need a new blender about every year (right after the warrenty expires). i eat through a tummy tube and can't use formula therefore i use mine twice a day every day. in the morning i blend 1 apple, 1 orange and a bannana with water as needed. for lunch and dinner i blend some baby carrots, kale and a grain mixture made up of cooked rice, lentles and millet.

i want something that does a good job and lasts more then a year. any suggestions???

I recently bought the  - Braun MX2050 PowerMax 525-Watt 58-Ounce Jug Blender which was highly reccommended by CR as their best buy. It was $50 and got great ratings. After having is less than 6 months I was making a smoothie and it started to smoke. Not a good blender for making smoothies! I am trying to find a new one now that will last longer and has better crushing power and that wont cost an arm and a leg!

That Braun blender seems now to be about $130, not $50. Was that in response to being so well reviewed by Consumer Reports?

I'm guessing that it has been discontinued. It certainly deserves to be. The second time I used mine the motor burned out.

It seems to me like you need a good Blender with a good Warranty. Try the KitchenAid blenders (KSB560 or KSB580). KitchenAid has a great warranty. If it breaks in the first year they will replace the jar or the entire blender (and they are quick about it since they are located in the USA and have an 800 number you can call). However, since you use your blender a lot, you might consider going for Vita-Mix or Blendtec. These are louder blenders but they seem to be more durable but expensive. I am not sure what the warranties are, but you can check them all on the internet. Before you buy a Vita-mix or Blendtec however, go and look at one. They are bigger and noisier and I don't want you to be surprised.

You can also take the other approach. Just buy a cheap blender every year. Since some of the ones mentioned above are expensive.

Another good choice for you might be using a stick blender (immersion blender).

Unfortunately, you won't find a blender without something negative about it.

Happy blending...

I asked my self the same question a while back. The answer is it depends what you like.
I researched the Internet. This is what I found.

Stainless Steel (SS)
SS is good and durable. It is easy to clean. For hot liquids the sides of the jar can get really hot.
It is usually more expensive. If it is from China, check for Lead in the metal. It is somewhat louder when blending Icy drinks or crushing ice. If it is thin metal, the edges can bend if you drop it.
I prefer a stainless steel metal ($). Metal jars usually pour well.

Plastic
Polycarbonate (PC) is very strong and looks great. Usually thick plastic won't break if you drop the jar accidentally. It won't break if you leave your spoon inside thought it might get scratched. In general, plastic jars can get scratched if you wash them with an abrasive pad. They also scratch if you crush hard nuts in them. Otherwise plastic will last a long time.
If you are health conscience, PC jar might leach BPA especially if you blend hot soups for your kids.
Some of the plastic jars are dishwasher safe (so they claim), but nobody could tell me what dishwasher safe was. It seems to indicate you can wash it inside the dishwasher but it will eventually develop cracks and leak. So, I wash mine by hand to avoid this and once in a while in the dishwasher.
Stay away from the thin plastics. I have a KitcheAid blender (KSB560) with a thick PC jar. I have had it for two years. So far, the plastic jar looks great. It has some minor abrasion but you can hardly tell. Ice will not even scratch it. I can crush Ice (without liquids) and it works beautifully. And if my jar becomes too old, I can buy another jar without having to buy a new blender.
Some blenders have accessory jars (other jars made of different materials) you can buy.
Plastic jars are lighter than Glass.
Most plastic materials can retain the odor of foods (like garlic and onions) for a couple days...
Plastic jars usually pour better than Glass jars.


Glass
Glass looks great. It is very hard to scratch it.
It will break if you drop it. Some of them break with usage (so buy a thick one made from Boro-Silica glass that can withstand thermo shock, hot and cold liquids).
Glass jars are usually quieter than other materials (since they are made of a denser material).
You can wash it by hand or in the dishwasher.
You have to treat it gently of it can break.
Glass jar is usually heavier than plastic, so if you have a problem with your wrist stay with lighter materials like PC jars.
The lip of the glass jar is not as defined as plastic jars, so liquids and smoothies will drip down the side (some people don’t like this).
Usually glass is more expensive than plastic but less than metal.

Have you decided? Are you more confused? Well, go to a store like target and go to the blender section and do a “feel and touch” study on all the blenders. You will get a better idea of what you like, dislike.

 

Happy blending…

 

I politely disagree about the deduction made that just because a jar is wide at the bottom it will suffer in performance like your Cuisinart blender. I mean, just because the Cuisinart does not perform well does not imply other blenders will perform the same way. I believe you also have to look at the size of the blade and jar design. For example, my KitchenAid Blender (KSB 560) has a wide jar at the bottom but the performance of it is very good. But it also has a bigger blade than the Cuisinart blade. Most of the stuff I do in my blender is completed in a matter of 30 seconds of less on high speed.

Out of curiosity, what was the recipe and amount if ingredients you were using? If you can share it with me we can compare performance. I can also crush 14 ice cubes with my blender with the crush-ice button that automatically pulses the ice all inside the jar…

Happy blending…

 

Bosch MMB2000UC http://www.ikitchen.com/bo600wa56blm.html (and elsewhere).

Large footprint on the countertop, built like a Sherman tank, very powerful (noisy) motor, absolute simplicity in controls.  Unshakeable, unbreakable.  Performance:price ratio is very high. 

Oh my goodness, if you're a smoothie fanatic, go with the Blendtec Home Blender. All together, you will spend about $400 on the thing, but here's my top 10 ways of how you make out like a bandit:

1. Perfect smoothies, every time. One button to press for smoothies.... the Smoothie button. Ice and all.
2. Ice crush guarantee. This blender turns ice into snow every time. Just press the ice crush button. In no time, you'll turn a full blender jar of ice into fine powdered snow. Speaking of powder, this blender will also turn granulated sugar into powdered sugar--a product we no longer buy in the grocery store thanks to the blender.
   
3. Unbeatable warranty: if you find them at a Costco road show, you will get up to a 7 year warranty. 7 years?! I've never seen a blender company offer a warranty like that. That's unheard of.
4. Quantity. The standard blender jar holds 4 cups (32 oz) but of course you can blend more than that. If you go with their 64 oz blender jar, you can get 8 cups of blending bliss.
5. Quality. The motor base is solid and the front panel is soft push buttons that are easy to clean. The buttons are not mechanical, so there's nothing that will ever break off or get stuck. Get something on the front panel (or the sides or the back)? It's way too easy to simply wipe off and move on.
6. Ease of use. Cleaning the blender jar is easy; fill it with one cup hot water, add a few drops of soap, and hold the pulse button for 5 seconds. Rinse, and dry. 9 out of 10 times, no scrubbing of any kind required. The 1 out of 10 times I need to scrub is when I leave it out and don't clean it right away.
   
7. Smoothies aren't the only thing this blender does. Make soups, salad dressings, whole juice, bread, all kinds of things--there are buttons on the front that are one-push wonders, each programmed to spin at the right speed for the right amount of time, depending on which blender cycle you push.
   
8. Say goodbye to that annoying stir stick. A while back I had a crappy Hamilton Beach blender that came with a stir stick because it just wouldn't blend anything very well without it. It was a requirement if you wanted a smoothie or anything that wasn't water and ice. The Blendtec Home Blender puts that baby to rest by being perfectly engineered to create suction, sucking the ingredients down into the blades. If you get any kind of cavitation (common when blending thick things or very cold things... where you blade just spins and the contents are resting above on a cushion of air), just speed it up to Speed 10 and the force created by 1500 Watt motor will pull that stuff down in a hurry.
9. It blends anything. Don't be afraid to throw the entire banana in there (peeled, of course), whole strawberries including the tops, whole oranges (peeled, of course) ice, pineapple slices, whole carrots, etc. all at once. Without chopping everything into "managable pieces" so the blender can do "the rest of the job." The first time you see what this thing can handle in terms of whole foods, I think your jaw will drop. Especially when you see just how smooth the result turns out to be.
10. You'll never have to buy a blender for at least 7 years. At least, not if you get the warranty when you buy it while they're on their road show. I've owned mine for over 2 years now and it still performs like it's brand new. I'm coming up on my 1,000th cycle soon, and the counter on the front of the blender goes up to 99,999.

Added bonus: it fits perfectly underneath most countertops and looks great on the counter. It's a blender you'll actually use.

And no, they're not paying me to say this, though I wish they would give me some kind of kickback based on how many times I recommend them to friends. They should have some kind of referral program. ;)

I have had a Vita-Mix for 8+ years, and it has done a wonderful job on everything I have put in it in terms of making soups, purees, and smoothies. It has never given me a moment's trouble until [sigh!] I overloaded it with frozen bananas yesterday and burnt the motor out. My fault. It is a wonderful mixer, although it is very expensive. Now I am wondering whether to save up or to try a cheaper machine. I'd like to get another Vita-Mix, but I am not sure that my moderate level of use warrants it. Given your high usage and clear need, if you can afford the $400+ price tag, go to the website and order one.

Just for your information. The Vitamix 5200 is priced at $449, plus local tax, but you can get a coupon online for Free shipping. The warranty on the Vitamix is 7 years!!! The Blendtec Blender is priced at $395 from Blendtec directly, but you can get it as low as $354 from other sites, (NO TAX) it only has a 3 year warranty, but a lifetime warranty on the blade. Blendtec also makes the Conossieur priced between $554 to $799 depending who you buy it from, again NO tax and Free shipping on some sites. The vitamix seems to have the better reputation, but the Blendtec uses a 64oz pitcher as does Vitamix, but Blendtec's Blender will fit under MOST kitchen cabnits at 15.5" where the Vitamix at 20" will NOT.

FYI, If you buy your blender ONLINE at any store that sells them, or thru BLENDTEC directly online, THE WARRANTY IS ONLY 3 YEARS. You are being VERY misleading by saying this blender has a 7 year warranty!!! Only in "some" cases if you buy your Blendtec at Costco and only when they have Blendtec reps there showing off the Blender will the reps "sometimes" give you a 7 year warranty as a bonus for buying it then. At other times even at Costso the warranty is the standard 3 years. Vitamix is the ONLY Blender that offers a STANDARD 7 year warranty which is upgradable to 10 years for $75 extra if bought at the same time as you buy the Vitamix.$120 if you buy it right before your 7 year warranty is about to expire.

So right!  BLENDTEC is the blender to beat.  Check the type of blenders they are using in either you local Booster Juice or Jugo Juice stores and you'll find the same blender in a commercial version 'with less warranty'  al with Polycarbonite jars.  No glass or stainless.

 

That is a really clever recommendation!   I'll look at what they use in my local Jamba Juice store before making a decision...    Thanks,  from Reggie's friend Gail

I had the same thing happen and am now frustrated trying to find one that will make a smoothie.  Any luck?

 

 

Anyone tried the Montel Williams blender yet?