How to Choose a Blender
Types of Blenders
If you’re looking to whip up just the occasional milkshake, you won’t need the same blender as someone who’s into juicing whole fruit or making their own almond butter. Here are four categories of blenders, ranging from top-of-the-line premium machines to simple handheld appliances.
Premium
“Premium” (and “high performance”) are terms that manufacturers use to describe high-end blenders. These machines are typically designed to do more than conventional blenders, such as making nut butters or hot soup. The price is the tip-off—they’re the most expensive blenders we test, ranging from $300 all the way up to $700.
Conventional
This less expensive full-sized blender is best for lower-intensity tasks, such as making smoothies and milkshakes. You might not be able to power through ice to create the consistency of freshly fallen snow or make the smoothest frozen drinks, but you’ll be able to get basic jobs done. Conventional blenders typically cost $30 to $299.
Personal
This type of blender is designed for people who like to make smoothies and shakes on the go. Mixing containers double as travel jars. They’re not intended for tough blending jobs. Performance varies greatly in personal blenders, as does their price. You can find a personal blender for less than $20, but others, equipped with additional accessories, more power, and longer warranties, can cost up to $500.
Immersion
Submerge this cylindrical blender directly into the food or drink you’re preparing—say, vegetables simmering in a pot—to make a smooth soup. It can’t do everything a traditional blender can, but it can take on many jobs that a conventional blender can’t, like smoothing out gravy from scratch right in a pot on your stovetop. Immersion blenders aren’t as powerful as premium blenders or as quick as personal blenders, but they’re space-savers, and they’re less expensive. The ones we’ve tested range from $30 to $200.
How We Test Blenders
Consumer Reports tests blenders on how well they make icy drinks, crush ice, and purée, plus we evaluate convenience, durability, and noise.
In our lab, we make batches of nonalcoholic piña coladas and use a series of sieves (with diminishing mesh sizes) to evaluate smoothness and thickness. “When a blender earns an excellent score in our icy-drinks tests, the drinks have a smooth, consistent texture,” says Elias Arias, who oversees CR’s blender testing.
For our ice-crushing tests, we use a second set of sieves to separate the larger chips from the finer particles. A blender that garners a top-level score in our ice-crushing test serves up ice that looks uniformly like snow, while a very good score tells you the ice is more like a snow cone. (The lower the score, the bigger—and more irregular—the ice chips.)
In our purée test, we blend veggies and other ingredients in boiling water, operating on the manufacturer’s recommended speed (or high) for 15 seconds—three times per model.
We measure a machine’s convenience by how easy it is to use its controls, clean its base, and remove and replace the blade—among other factors.
Our durability test involves crushing seven ice cubes (four for personal blenders) without liquid for a minute on the highest setting.
To gauge the noise level, CR blends 1 cup of water and takes an average decibel reading over 30 seconds.
To see how well premium, full-sized, personal, and immersion blenders perform in our tests, see our blender ratings.
Blender Features
Decide which blender capabilities are most important to you, but keep in mind that paying more for a blender doesn’t necessarily get you more features. Here are the main ones to consider.
Container
Most of our top-rated blenders feature plastic containers, which are lightweight and less prone to breaking than glass containers. The downside is that plastic can absorb odors and stains, so you’ll want to clean it promptly after each use. Regardless of the material, look for a container with a wide mouth to facilitate loading and cleaning, as well as easy-to-read measurements.
Controls
No one type of control is best, so the decision is mainly about personal preference:
- Touchpad controls are the easiest to clean, but they can be a little more difficult to operate. (For example, you might have to press the button multiple times to turn the machine on and off.)
- Push buttons switch easily from one speed to the next, but grime can collect in their crevices.
- Dial controls wipe down easily, but you have to navigate through all the settings to reach your desired speed.
- A flip switch is easy to clean, but it limits you to just a few options.
Speed
Though three speeds are generally adequate for a blender, you’ll see that blenders can have as few as two or as many as 17 speeds. With a dozen or more, it can start to get difficult to distinguish one speed from the next. A pulse setting, which eliminates the lag time between when you push the button and when the blender starts or stops, allows for more precision when blending delicate ingredients. Some high-performance blenders also come with convenient programmed settings—say, for smoothies, whole-fruit juice, and hot soup.
Power
You’ll see anywhere from 300 to 2,200 watts, or even greater, as more manufacturers make the claim that higher wattage equates to better performance. But we’ve found that this isn’t necessarily the case because the design of the blade assembly and the shape of the container are also factors.
Warranty
As with any product, a blender’s warranty can be an indication of how long the manufacturer expects it to last. Some high-performance blenders may come with a 10-year warranty, while budget blenders typically offer coverage for only a year.
Ease of Storage
Some blenders are easier to store than others, which could be an asset if you have a small kitchen. With their super-compact design, immersion blenders tuck easily into a drawer. Personal blenders are also fairly compact.
If you’re looking for a full-sized blender and plan to keep it on your countertop, a model less than 17 inches tall should fit under kitchen cabinets. The height between countertops and the bottom of cabinets is typically 20 to 22 inches, so you want to have enough space to take the top off a blender and place or remove the jar (though it’s a good idea to take a measurement because some cabinets are lower).
Pay attention to the number of attachments and accessories that come with the blender. Some hybrid models feature multiple mixing containers, which may improve their versatility but also take up storage space in your cabinets.
How to Layer Your Ingredients
To achieve a perfectly smooth smoothie every time, layer your ingredients in the order outlined below, starting with liquids and ending with your heavier ingredients. (For easy reference, you can also download and print this PDF and keep it on your fridge.)
- At the bottom of your cup sit your liquids—milk, water, cold-brew, or whatever you’re using as the base of your smoothie. When submerged in liquid, the blender’s blades create a vortex, pulling the solid ingredients that come later into the base.
- Second, layer leafy greens and herbs near the blades so that they have more time to be thoroughly liquefied (and so you can avoid sipping stringy fibers). We recommend tossing in a handful or so.
- Third, nuts and seeds sit on top of your herbs and liquids. These hard ingredients need ample time with your blender’s blades to become thoroughly pulverized. Limit them to an ounce or a couple of tablespoons.
- Next, introduce soft foods like yogurt, tofu, or nut butter. You can go up to a half-cup with the yogurt and tofu. (Too much can make for a watery smoothie.)
- Fresh fruits and veggies—or nonstringy produce—come fifth because they liquefy quickly. Add a layer of 1 to 2 cups to prevent your soft foods (below) from clumping with your frozen ingredients (above).
- Frozen foods can be added to further press the previous layers into the blender’s blades. Limit these frozen fruits and veggies to 1 cup to avoid forming air pockets.
- We’re nearing the end: Start blending the previous six layers before you introduce powders like protein powder, fiber, or collagen. Powders are less likely to clump if you add them after the blender has started running.
- Finally, after blending for 1 to 2 minutes, assess the consistency of your smoothie and add a few ice cubes to the mix. Blend them until you can’t hear them hitting the blender’s sides.
If you’re using a personal blender cup instead, reverse the order because you’ll be inverting the container onto the motor base. For more on why placing ingredients in the order above is key to a great smoothie every time, see “How to Load Your Blender for the Smoothest Smoothies.”
Illustration: Rodrigo Damati Illustration: Rodrigo Damati
How to Stack a Blender for a Smoother Smoothie
For more, watch our video on the best way to fill a blender while making a smoothie.
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