One Blender to Rule Them All

I’ve always had blender envy. I’ll admit it. I’d eye those blenders out there that could puree a diamond, and then I’d look at mine. It wasn’t a bad blender. I mean, it cost like $60. It could get through ice cubes if it tried hard, and it made a decent milk shake. Cleaning it was a beast, and it was really big and bulky, but it was okay. It wasn’t my first blender, either. That was a $20 model that hadn’t lasted me more than a year before I was trading it in. Upgrading.

And still, I had a wandering eye when it came to blenders.

The problem was those top of the line blenders were just too expensive. Vitamix and Blendtec. $400 for a blender? $600? I mean, mine was okay, but did I really want to spend that kind of money just for something I wouldn’t use every second of every day?

But just look at this, people. Look at it!

How can you look at that and not want it? Not need it with the same urgency you need air, or water, or ice cream?

And then I discovered Blendtec was based in Orem, Utah. My friend bought one. My sister bought one. My own father bought one! It was taunting me. Testing me. But let’s face the facts: there was no way I was going to be able to justify dropping four hundred on something like this. Not without the right sort of groundwork. Because one does not simply make a purchase of that magnitude without telling one’s wife, and my wife is ever watchful and vigilant against a husband who makes rash purchases.

And so I waited. I plotted. I schemed.

Denisa makes smoothies every morning for breakfast, and she’d been using an immersion blender for the trick for the last long while. But that blender was getting tired, and so perhaps I had a shot there. The only problem was that she still needed that blender for other purposes likes soups, which she also makes a lot of. A Blendtec would be too big of a stretch. But it was Christmas shopping season, and I kept my spirits up. Maybe something would happen to make it all possible.

And then it did: an awesome deal. A Grinchy good deal. The $600 version for $200, and it still came with the 7 year warranty? I pulled the trigger faster than an iPhone could disappear in a cloud of blended dust inside one of those smooth machines of mayhem.

Merry Christmas to me!

A month into my life with a Blendtec, what do I think?

Totally worth it. It makes smoothies with ease. Crunches through frozen fruit and ice cubes alike. It’s not a wonder machine–it doesn’t magically transform carrots into smooth pulp free juice or anything–but it totally gets the job done. It’s smaller than my old blender, so it fits under my cabinets, on my counter. Denisa and the kids use it all the time, and I can rest assured in the knowledge that any time I want, I can make an orange juilius or an ice cream shake with a practiced flick of a switch.

It’s a cinch to clean–the jar doesn’t come apart, so there’s nothing to dismantle to clean. You just put in some soapy water and hit blend for 5 seconds. It’s got a huge jar, so it makes plenty of smoothie for everyone in the family without needing to make a second batch. It came with a handy recipe booklet.

I’m a happy camper. Better yet, Denisa really likes it too.

Would I pay $600 for one of them? Not a chance. Though it looks like they actually have refurbished models like I bought going for $280 right now. It’s more expensive than what I paid, but I still think it’s a pretty good deal.

If anyone has any specific questions, I’m happy to answer them. But the basic one (Should I buy one?) is the easiest: I wish I’d done it earlier.