Which blender? | Imamother

seeker

Fri, Jul 10 2015, 12:44 am

(for some reason, I can't help but think of "Which Broomstick." LOL

)

I noticed this on Target's "black Friday in July" sale, which is over, and then looking for reviews saw that Amazon and Walmart.com are matching the price and it's still low - but could change any time. (though in retrospect I could have saved 5% at Target with my redcard. Oops.)
http://www.amazon.com/Ninja-QB.....ender

So I'm very tempted because my old blender died, I have borrowed my mother's even older blender for our summer smoothies but the base is very heavy, and, well, it's old. It was a great blender in its day but it seems to be showing signs of age and definitely doesn't crush ice. It's a classic Oster and it looks like I could replace the blade pretty cheaply, but I could also let my mother have her blender back and buy my own. $40 isn't nothing to me but it's not so super major either. Smoothies are such an easy healthy treat that my kids really like.

But while for the most part the ratings are good, it's a Consumer Reports best buy, and a Amazon #1 bestseller, a lot of reviews say the smoothies come out grainy and not perfectly blended. Personally I don't mind a little texture, but I'm not sure whether this would go over well with my kids. So #1: Does anyone have experience with this blender and can confirm/deny smoothie smoothness? (e.g. frozen berries + yogurt)

Then because I was suddenly thinking of buying a blender, I started looking at other blenders (now you know why I am up so late every night...) and see that there are others running around $20, including one by Oster (does a cheap blender by an expensive company mean it's good or bad?), Hamilton Beach, and a couple of "personal size" ones. Curious if anyone has experience with these brands/products and can tell me if they are a better choice for blending smoothies which may or may not include ice or frozen fruits, or if it's worth paying twice as much for the metziah on the more expensive one even though numerous reviewers say it doesn't make smoothies the smoothest.

Does anyone know if "personal size" blenders do the same job as full size ones? Because that sounds like a good option given my generally low budget and serious space constraints, especially since I only occasionally make smoothies for the whole family at once - my main customers eat small portions. Though that sort of neglects the future, it may be a better solution for now. But only if they're worth anything, if they're wimpy as well as small then it's no bargain for me.
e.g. see here: http://www.amazon.com/Oster-BL.....ender
or here: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton.....ender

Their star rating is lower than the Ninja but they are half the price and even the 4.5-star Ninja says it doesn't do smooth that well... it does chop and stuff but I already do have a full size food processor, which is a bit of a pain to drag around and clean but just saying I was't desperate for a chopper, what I do lack is a blender.