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Blendtec Designer Series Blender, reviewed

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BlendTec Blender
A blender is an appliance that a lot of us have, but that a lot of us take for granted. Most of the time, it is used for making drinks and smoothies, although it can be used to puree just about anything and can actually take on many of the functions of a food processor. I know that I never used any of my blenders to their full potential and it was only when I started making Blender Waffle Batter on a regular basis that I started to see how great a blender could be. When my last blender bit the dust, I waited quite a while before replacing it because I wanted to make sure that I got a good one. The Blendtec Designer Series Blender was on my short list because I knew it was a powerful machine and I figured that it was time for an upgrade, even though my blending isn’t as intense as the hilarious and fun Will it Blend? video series that Blendtec puts out, but before I could make the final purchase, Blendtec actually offered me a blender to test out and review. And I have to say that it just might be the best blender I’ve ever had.

The Blendtec Designer Series Blender is a good looking blender with a very cool digital display that lights up at the touch of a button. The blender has a number of pre-set blending options and can also be operated manually, if you don’t want the presets or are only doing a very light blend. I noticed immediately that it was a lot “smarter” than the average blender because of the way that the settings work. For instance, on the smoothie setting, it starts at a low speed to break up your ingredients but increases the speed itself as the cycle continues to ensure that everything gets perfectly blended as efficiently as possible. It counts down the seconds until your blending is done (or counts up if you’re doing it manually) and so you really don’t need to check and recheck the way you might with other blenders.

BlendTec Blender Display

When working in manual mode, you can adjust the intensity of the blend by sliding your finger along the power bar on the main screen. The blender is very, very powerful. The motor packs 1560 watts – the largest of any home blender on the market. Most blenders are in the 300-500 watt range, depending on the price point of the blender you’re looking at, so it is easy to see what a jump up that is. That big motor is what makes the blender so efficient.

The downside of a big motor – and the only real downside to the whole blender – is that the machine is very noisy, especially at high speeds. Fortunately, it gets the work done quickly and the super loud noise of the blender at work only lasts a few seconds at a time. Compared to other blenders, this one is clearly on the noisy side, but I will note that when working with other blenders I usually heard ice (or other hard ingredients) crashing around in the jar and with this one I only heard the motor working away, so even the noise seemed to illustrate its efficiency.

The interface is very intuitive and the display is flat. Since the buttons are touch-activated, the whole thing is very easy to clean. The blender comes with a booklet of recipes that includes everything from smoothies and sauces to muffin batters and bread doughs that you can mix up with it. They’re not kidding when they say that the blender could potentially replace a number of other kitchen appliances – because I’m pretty sure that my old blender wouldn’t have been able to handle coarsely grinding coffee, pureeing soups, kneading pasta dough and mixing a margarita.

I highly recommend this model from Blendtec, even though it is on the expensive side, because you get a lot of bang for your buck and you will really want to use it as much as possible once you start. It’s addicting to have something work so well. I know that  I’ll be having a LOT more blended drinks (and other goodies) this summer. I also have a feeling that at least one lucky ready will, too, since I just might have a giveaway of Blendtec  Designer Series Blender coming in the next few days….

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4 Comments
  • Julie
    April 30, 2013

    Oh boy do I need a new blender. Lol, thanks for the great review.

  • Linda
    May 1, 2013

    I don’t have that model but I did invest in a Blendtec and I have to say it was a sound investment. I haven’t used it to its potential yet but as you noted it can do things so quickly and looks so much nicer than most blenders that might sit on the counter…it’s a great buy. It’s easier to get the blended mix out of it than most blenders I have used and of course goes in the dishwasher so cleanup is great. I like that it doesn’t leak like some blenders because the bottom part is sealed and you aren’t worried about seals. They aren’t cheap but I think anyone would love it after getting one.

  • Joanie from NC
    May 1, 2013

    Great info and recommendation. I haven’t had a blender for years, after my one and only cheapy Sears brand quickly died. I use the food processor and an immersion blender when I need to mush stuff.

  • Pamela
    May 2, 2013

    I would love to start juicing!

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