Mine just has a dial and an on/off lever, whereas the Blendtec has fancier pre-programmed settings. The tamper is designed so that it’s impossible to jam it into the blades, as long as you use it through the opening in the lid. To solve this problem, the Vitamix has a great tamper which allows you to push on the blender contents without removing the lid. If you put tons of frozen stuff into a blender, it’s easy for it to get sort of stuck (especially if you make the mistake of leaving liquid and frozen fruit in the blender for a few minutes before turning it on!). They tested the two side by side and said the Vitamix did a better job of crushing ice and complained that the Blendtec design created air pockets (which kept things from being blended evenly). Cook’s Illustrated liked the Vitamix better. A couple of things tipped me slightly toward the Vitamix, though, despite its higher cost. Honestly, I think the two blenders are both pretty great pieces of machinery and I’d probably have been totally happy with either option.

So, I pretty much wrote off the whole lineup of cheap blenders, which meant I was left looking at Blendtec and Vitamix blenders. I use a blender to make smoothies multiple times a week (sometimes daily in the summer!) so I needed something that could stand up to more than just occasional usage. I really, really hate buying things that will need to be replaced in short order, and I try to apply the, “Could this be an heirloom?” mindset whenever I’m faced with a purchase.

My main goal in buying a blender was to purchase one that would last. Plus, that blender had some struggles when I loaded it up with frozen fruit, so I was starting to get kind of annoyed. I replaced the bottom part of the blender eventually, but the new teeth started to break off too. The blender I had before the Vitamix was a $40 blender which had a pretty major design flaw…the teeth on the bottom gears were made of plastic. I waited until now to review it because I wanted to be able to give an experienced opinion, rather than a just-out-of-the-box opinion.Īs many of you know, I hemmed and hawed over a blender purchase for several years. I haven’t posted about it, but it is true: I finally forked over the cash for one. Those of you with eagle eyes have seen a Vitamix show up in some of my kitchen pictures.

Costco vita mix blender