BE does so well at bringing peoples opinions about appliances to the surface - apart from the obvious 2 current threads, in recent memory we have covered hoovers, toaster ovens, microwaves, TV's, and I am sure there must be more.

So I thought I would try to solicit some advice about blenders...or more specifically, Blendtec vs Ninja. Both seem pretty pricey appliances for what they are - my current is a BB&B special that cost less than $30, but frankly, it doesn't do a very good job, so am looking to upgrade to something a bit more substantial. Before I drop $300 on the Blendtec in Costco, I wondered if anyone had any views, preferably first hand, on the 2 brands mentioned? I really only want them for smoothyfying stuff - not particularly interested in the "hot soup in 90 seconds" type hype, just fast blades converting big squishy things to little swallowable things. Or liquid.

Anyone?

NutriBullet

We have a Breville, a Ninja and a Hamilton Beach. I would put the Ninja#1, closely followed by the Breville, and the HB trailing. I do like the glass jugs, but the ninja only has a plastic one. Ninja is good for smoothies, both the others are good for soups and bread crumbs. Hope that helps.

Blendtec or Vitamix.

I have a $30 special from Wal-Mart, Sun Beam or Oster or some cheap end brand. But its used like once or twice a year, so no need for something fancy, and probably would handle being used daily or multiple times a week very well.

Vitamix.

Love ours, gets things super smooth.

We have this Ninja and love love love it. https://m.bjs.com/product?url=/ninja...698%3FdimId%3D

Great for frozen drinks and smoothies, have also made frozen desserts with it. We don't use it to its full potential but I'm very happy with it plus it was on offer when I got it with an additional $50 off with a coupon.

Almost 7 years in my Kitchen Aid is still going strong. Can't remember what I paid but I had a 20% of BBB coupon. I use it for smoothies and soups and whizzing up fresh breadcrumbs, that's about it. It's got several speeds including pulse and crush ice!

I am on my second jug (first one got a crack) - if I was replacing I'd get Kitchen Aid again but would like the glass jug rather than plastic.

Thanks all.
My main complaint from my current one is that it can't handle the skin on grapes, blueberries etc. Wife picked up a Blendtec from Costco (so easily returnable) and I've used it for a couple of things so far - it does a fantastic job of liquefying everything - even apple cores, carrots, strawberry stalks etc, and totally pulverises the skins of everything,which I think is going to mean I use it more as a) prep is a lot quicker, b) less waste and c) the fussier kid is more likely to drink whatever comes out. So from that point of view it looks good, but the price is still chunky!! I'll take a look at a couple of the other suggestions and see if I can't get a trial somewhere..I'm sure I've seen ninja in Costco before, but they don't have it at the moment.

I have a Vitamix from QVC. Cost a lot but makes a great smoothie! Cleans up easily too.

I just made a smoothie from a banana, handful of strawberries, watermelon, an orange and 2 handfuls of kale, a blob of honey and some almond milk. It was so delicious I fear I may have to move to California

So, it looks healthy, but am I kidding myself? Lots of fruit/veg in there, but does the smoothifying remove any of the goodness? I am assuming not, as I consumed everything, unlike juicing which leaves a mass of pulp/fiber unused.

Nutribullet's main marketing ploy is that you still get all the goodness in the smoothies as pulp/fibre (note spelling of fibre?? ) remains in there, in fact they say it breaks down the seeds in the berries and you get even more goodness!! They lie though, it doesn't break them all down and they get in yer teeth!

Kale?? yuk - I can stomach spinach in them, but not kale

To be honest, I really really couldn't taste the kale. It did turn it fluorescent green though! I've done one with a whole apple in (including skin and core) and there wasn't a single crunch - everything was gone. In the store, they were doing them with the pineapple core in, and again, everything gone. I'm guessing there is more of the F stuff in the core of a pineapple than the flesh. They also did a "lemonade" that was actually just grapes and a slice of rind on lemon and ice. It tasted really good, and again, no rind or pips or anything.

1)You're removing the fibre from the sugar, so you'll get a blood sugar spike since the fibre is no longer slowing down the absorption of the sugar. Pretty much the same as drinking normal orange juice.
2) you're giving your teeth a massive hit of acid produced by sugar in one go - smoothies cause dental decay.
3)You'd never eat a whole banana, then strawberries, then watermelon, then an orange and then the kale......in your smoothie, the sugar content is:
Banana - 14g
Orange - 9
strawberries (?6) - 3g
Watermelon (avg serving size is 280g) -17g
Honey - tbspoon - 17g
total of 60g of sugar

What about the almond milk? Sweetened - vanilla flavour? = another 13g of sugar per cup measure of milk..

Don't forget that the sugar from fruit is primarily fructose which if not used for energy immediately is stored as fat.

Cant say I agree with this? My hubby is Type 2 diabetes and we started having smoothies 2 or 3 years ago made with berries, spinach, almond milk, yoghurt/cream and his sugars never spiked. We do miss out the sugary fruits like bananas, orange, melon etc and honey though.