I like to make fruit and veggie smoothies in my blender. For many years, I had a Vitamix, and that blender was SO powerful that it would have made juice out of rocks. I loved it ! Unfortunately, things happened in my life, and I had to sell it when I moved, and I have missed it ever since. I have a Ninja, which is also a powerful machine, but the blades go all of the way up, and it is designed more for crushing ice than chomping up carrots. I looked on Amazon and found a cheaper blender, and it blends smoothly; but does not have a powerful motor. What I have been doing now , is processing everything with the Ninja, and then once it is thoroughly chopped up, I put some in the new blender and add water and fruit juice to make my veggie juice smoothie. It is a complicated process; but short of buying one of the expensive brands that are designed to work like the Vitamix did; I don't know what else to do. What kind of a blender does anyone else recommend for blending veggies and fruit ? If all you are doing is making a smoothie with a banana or other soft fruit, most any blender will do; but it takes more power to blend up things like carrots and beets, even when they are cut up small.
If I made smoothies, they'd be the kind with bananas and berries, so I don't have first hand experience with this. My current blender is on its last legs, and I'm hoping it holds out for a while. Have you considered getting a food processor? They're designed to chop things like carrots, so something like that might be more along the lines of what you need, and you may be able to get a decent quality one for cheaper than a heavy duty blender. Since they're used for making food, such as soups and other items, I would think your type of smoothies would be easily accomplished in one.
Thank you, @Diane Lane . And I actually do have a food processor, and it will definitely chop up everything into fine bits to use in the smoothies. It is a Kitchen Aide, and it weighs a ton. Since I do not have to use it a lot, I keep it in the spare bedroom that we use for a store room. The Ninja actually does the job of a food processor, and I was using it for that when I make coleslaw, or needed something chopped up in small bits. The Ninja also has the smaller serving cup, which does have the right cutting blades, and I was suing that to make my smoothies until recently. Somehow, it started getting hard to seat onto the motor properly. I cleaned everything out, and tha thelped a little; but it was still a struggle each time I tried to use the blender cup. Then I tried just making the smoothies by letting the large blade run longer; but t still leaves chunks in it. Small ones; but still chunks. That was when I decided that I needed a second blender that can process the smoothies after I have purreed them up in the Ninja. So far, that is working, and I have a bag of chopped carrots in the refrigerator that I can use for the carrot juice smoothies.
I used to have a blender which was manually operated. Such hand operated blenders are very strong and durable. In this era of mass production, you will have to window shop for a while to purchase a reliable blender. I would recommend you purchase a Lakeland Stick hand blender from Amazon and it costs around 60£ pounds so it is reasonably priced. It is strong and hardy and can perform additional tasks.
@Happyflowerlady How many carrots go into a carrot juice smoothie for one person? I love carrots, and have been eating them raw lately, and I've been noticing how filling they are. I've never had a savory smoothie, so I have no idea whether or not I'd like them. I have been considering making a carrot cake or carrot cake muffins from scratch, though, but the thought of having to chop or grate all of the carrots is daunting, since my hands have been really hurting lately.
I usually use about 1-2 carrots for the smoothie, @Diane Lane , depending on the size of the carrots. Mine is more of a sweeter smoothie than a savory one, although I have mixed tomato juice and a carrot sometimes in the summer when I want a cold drink but not a sweet one. When you add the canned pineapple juice to the carrot, then it becomes a delicious drink, and other things (like bananas or strawberries) can be added also. I usually use the Ninja to chop up carrots for muffins , or even soup sometimes, and it does a great job of that. I make coleslaw that way, too. Unless I am going to chop a lot of something, I do not drag out that heavy food processor anymore. I think that any blender that has a pulse mode will chop up carrots and other veggies, it would not have to be a Ninja. The Ninja can just chop more at once time because of the tall blade in the large blender jar.
Well, I have a nutribullet. It wasn't difficult for me to find it. I saw it advertised on night time television, and then I started to see it being advertised everywhere, in stores and everything. It sounded like a good investment to make, so I purchased it. It has been the best blender that I have had so far in my 'blender life' lol. It gets through everything, and in seconds. It makes amazing drinks and smoothies.
Is it now? I've never had trouble finding a blender. Maybe because we're not so big on making shakes and smoothies. In fact, the family has basically settled with one of the cheapest priced blenders in the department store. Because we seldom use it, say once or twice a month during random detox days, the blender, which has been with us for 2 decades now, continues to be in great shape.
I guess the Nutribullet is different from the Ninja, but similar? I'd like to get one, but it's down on the list of things I need, with others as a higher priority. I've been entering to win one, so who knows, maybe I'll end up with one sooner than expected. One to two carrots sounds manageable. I thought you were making 'green' type smoothies @Happyflowerlady, I guess I missed the part about the pineapple juice. Do you buy canned (or jarred) juice or make your own from fresh? Pineapples are expensive here, and are only available at certain times of the year. I will have to keep this in mind for when I have a more substantial blender than my current model.
@Happyflowerlady I’m not sure is the one I have in the stores because I purchased mine at a health food place. The one I have is called Hurom. It’s actually a juicer and it can make smoothies. It works really well and it’s easy to clean. It is a masticating slow juicer. The downside is that you really have to make sure you are cutting up your veggies pretty small or it will get struck. This has happened to me and I had to press the reverse button. It’s expensive too. Mine cost me about $400.
I make my green smoothies with a mixture of fruit and veggies, @Diane Lane , and the way I am doing it now, you can do with any kind of blender you have, I would think. The one I just got was $15 from Amazon, so not an expensive one at all; but it is a full-size one and not one of the little ones like they seem to be promoting everywhere. I use canned pineappple jiuce, which is about $2.50 a can here . What I am doing is essentially grinding/shredding up the carrots first, and then storing them in a container in the fridge. I used the blender to shred them, just pulse it and don't add too much carrot at once, and no liquid. To make the smoothie, I use whatever fruit I have, such as papaya, strawberry, banana, apples, pears, just whatever you like. Then I add in the greens. I suggest starting with just a small handful of greens at first, until you get used to the flavor. Put in the carrots and the pineapple juice and blend, adding more water or ice cubes as needed. Make a small one first, and then experiment until you find the taste that you like.
Mine is an old second hand blender that's on its last legs. I was using it to blend homemade cat food made form very soft ingredients, and it was struggling with that. I have set it aside and only use it for very gentle occasional use. It's full size, and that's what I'll replace it with when I get some money. For now, I received a decent quality hand mixer for Christmas, and it has a stick blender feature, so I can use that for something lightweight and liquidy, if need be, although I haven't used it to date. I have a sort of allergic condition to many fruits and vegetables, so I have to be careful, particularly if I'm going to mix several together, because then I won't know which is exacerbating my condition. What sort of greens do you add to your smoothies @Happyflowerlady? I'm really unfamiliar with the concept, since I tend to eat my fruits singly and raw, unless I'm making a fruit cocktail with fruits I'm very familiar with, so I know how my body will react. I have had reactions to papaya, and have to watch pineapple and strawberries even, although I have always loved them.
There is a great movie on netflix, and it is called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", and watching it will give you a good idea of what to put in the smoothies, @Diane Lane . He actually had an expensive juicer and made extracted juice, which wastes all of the wonderful pulp. I don't have a juicer, and probably would not use one anyway, because I hate to waste an important part of a fruit or veggie. I use spinach the most, because it is soft and easy to blend, it is very nutritious, and its bland taste "hides" well when you add the fruit. The combination of fruit and greens makes a wonderful drink; but if you are not used to drinking green things, it takes a little acclimating to that. I had some that tasted great; but were some shade of army green, and looked horrible. I had to close my eyes and not look when I drank that one. It had fresh pears in it, which tasted and smelled delicious; but that COLOR was just awful ! Now, I try to blend things that come out a prettier shade of green, plus I am used to drinking it, and it doesn't upset me like it did at first. I am now using some kale in my smoothies, and I like that, too. I think that the spicier mustard greens (especially the red ones I just ordered) will go great with some tomato juice or V-8; but I haven't tried that one out yet.
I never even thought about this until recently. The blender we had was one that my parents got at their wedding nearly twenty years ago, and I was the only one who ever used it. I never thought about brand or anything. When it burnt up, I went looking for a new one and realized how expensive a good one is. I haven't had a smoothie since, sadly.
I've had my Ninja forever and I love it, but I only use the smaller of the set.. the big one's blades are too separated and as you said, go all the way up, so doesn't do much unless it's full. The little one does a great job, but then I have to make a serving at a time, if that. I also have a nutribullet (I think that's what it's called) and it does better for smaller portions. I really like it, but need something bigger and haven't yet gone shopping for one. I make do with what I have, I don't NEED anything lol. All I know is that when I'm ready, I'll be looking at the motor specs, which is going to make or break the blender.. and then blade placement, now that I know better.
My Ninja has the smaller portion blender, too, and that one is totally perfect for making any kind of smoothie that i want because it has that powerful Ninja motor and the smaller blades that chop things better. I think that tall blade is mostly meant for pulverizing ice or something, but certainly NOT for blending. It looks wonderful in the Ninja comercials, but not in practical use. Anyway, for some unknown reason, the smaller blender container will no longer lock into the base like it should. I have to fight with it every single time, and uually end up grumbling so horribly that Mr. Bobby has to come and fix it for me. I guess I just need to examine it closely and see why it won't lock on any more.
I agree. Aside from the commercially popular ones like the magic bullet I think the more heavy duty blenders are really difficult to buy and compare since if you buy one you're pretty much stuck with it for a long time until it breaks down unless you are really that unsatisfied with it that you would consider returning it and replacing it with another, at which point what you replace it with might also be subpar. In these situations I think is where endorsements come in handy since I'd sooner trust what the top chefs are using even if they turn out to be expensive, and also reading about feedback which thankfully is now available to us, helps a lot as well.
The best blenders are made of stainless steel. These are guaranteed to last longer and do not rust or break easily. Some companies have a good reputation when it comes to household appliances though they could be a bit expensive at purchase point but cheap in the long run . One such company is Samsung. Second hand blenders in good condition am also be acquired from online sites like Amazon. These have the advantage of proof of durability and are cheaper.
