Fruit smoothy

March 5, 2016 7:56 AM

I want to start making my own fruit smoothies and need hardware recommendations.

Just returned from Costa Rica where I lived on tuna, ceviche and fruit smoothies for 2 weeks. I've decided that making my own smoothies would be a healthy addition to my diet, replacing coca-cola. The recipe seems to be 3/4 fruit, 1/4 ice. My favorite was 1/2 pineapple, 1/2 papaya. Can't get papaya where I live.

Anyway, what can you recommend for a machine to make smoothies? Easy cleanup would make it more likely that I would make them.

posted by falsedmitri to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

I bought this recently and I"m pretty thrilled with it. It's strong enough to crush ice. I actually make smoothies, freeze them, and then re-blend them when ready to eat, so they end up with an ice-cream like consistency.

To clean up, I put some hot water and dish soap in the empty container after I eat the contents and then blend that. The mixer comes out clean and I just rinse it off.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:03 AM on March 5, 2016

Vitamix or Blendtec. Whichever strikes your fancy.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:06 AM on March 5, 2016

If you're willing to spend a pretty penny but want something that lasts years with crushing ice into smoothies, consider a Vitamix or a Blendtec. Ice and whole fruit blend up effortlessly, as well as kale and other vegetables.

I bought my vitamix a 8 years ago after throwing out $20 blenders that would burn out after a year or two and make smoothies and shakes almost daily.

Cleanup is easy - just rinse out right after, or you could also just fill with hot water, a little dish soap and set it on blend again.
posted by Karaage at 8:07 AM on March 5, 2016

My strong recommendation is to spend less than $100, possibly even less than $50, until you get into the habit of actually making smoothies. There's this weird cult of blender fetishization that happens, where people think they're gonna get all aboard the smoothie train, shell out a car payment for a Vitamix or whatever, and then quit making smoothies after a couple weeks. (See also: gym memberships.) Get something cheap that'll do an adequate job, see if you're still interested in making smoothies every day a month or two from now, and then treat yourself to a fancy machine.

Personally, my inexpensive Cuisinart immersion blender does just fine (and dead easy cleanup) for my now relatively infrequent smoothie needs (and soups, etc). I got it when I was in a YAS SMOOTHIE ERRDAY phase that lasted about a month before I lost interest.
posted by phunniemee at 8:25 AM on March 5, 2016 [12 favorites]

I bought a Blendtec about 5 years ago, and it sees daily use, and is still going strong. Like Karaage says, I just put some water in the bottom, a little soap and blend to clean it.

As far as deciding between a Vitamix and a Blendtec, for me the decision was on height. The Blendtec could slide back on the counter under the upper cabinets with the jar still on the base, the Vitamix could not.
posted by antimony at 8:27 AM on March 5, 2016

Ninja.

Any of the Ninja blender/Nutri-Ninja range will do the job. Ninja products consistently come out on top in consumer tests - even compared with Vitamix or Blendtec - and are excellent value for money. I have an old-style Ninja Master Prep which makes great smoothies, but I'd recommend the Kitchen System or the Professional Blender as a more up-to-date option.
posted by essexjan at 8:28 AM on March 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Seconding Ninja, we've had a Ninja Pro for about 3 years now and still going strong. Crushes ice quickly and evenly and cleanup is dead easy. Even if you don't end up making smoothies every day forever, it's a good quality blender for your other blending needs. We burned through several supposedly decent brands and this one hasn't let us down yet. The only annoying bit is the suction cups on the base, but YMMV.
posted by Koko at 8:36 AM on March 5, 2016

I use a Ninja and it is great. I second the above recommendation to spend less than $100 until you really know that you're doing smoothies all the time.
Tips:
- Make sure you have multiple pitchers to reduce washing.
- My daily smoothie deal now involves essentially making 2 days worth of smoothies in one pitcher.
posted by k8t at 8:47 AM on March 5, 2016

Nth the recommendation not to drop $500 on a Vitamix. You don't need a $500 machine to make smoothies; you need a $500 machine to make stuff you really need puréed totally smooth, like baby food. I use the Nutribullet and have made smoothies with it nearly every morning for about a year now; it does the job admirably even if it leaves the odd strawberry seed unsmooshed.
posted by holborne at 9:15 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah, nobody needs a Vitamix, but Mrs. Jeffamaphone swears by it. It also makes soups!
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:52 AM on March 5, 2016

I used an original type Ninja for a year, almost every day, for blended drinks making. It worked well enough but was hard to clean, and by the end of the year the seals were failing and never smelled clean. I think I got my $80 out of it.

Then I bought a Vitamix. The plain one from Costco. $375. 4 years ago. So much easier to clean and it will last a lot longer. Chose Vitamix over Blendtec because the Vitamix has no electronics, and all Blendtecs I've seen do. Electronics tend to fail before mechanical parts, and it is a lot of money to spend.

So I can recommend both. Depending on your personal financial situation, start cheap(er) with a Ninja or Bullet to see if you really like frequent smoothies, then move up to the heavy equipment when you wear the first thing out.

I do not recommend an immersion blender. They are not meant for ice crushing. For the same price as the first one mentioned, you could get something that is. My cheap Cuisinart stick is great for making mayo, but I broke one trying it on ice.
posted by monopas at 10:13 AM on March 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

I like my NutriNinja. Easy to clean (the blade mechanism rinses off or you can put it in the dishwasher, and you actually blend it in the cup you're going to use), fast RPM (key for ice and seeds), makes single serving size easily and you don't have to get another cup dirty.
posted by bluesky78987 at 1:01 PM on March 5, 2016

We make a lot of smoothies, and our Magic Bullet NutriBullet is easy to use, easy to clean, and doesn't take up much counter space. It also cost about $85.
posted by ottereroticist at 1:33 PM on March 5, 2016

LOVE my NutriBullet and recommend it to all my friends. I've made multiple smoothies a week for several years now, and it still chews up frozen fruit like it's nothing.
posted by storminator7 at 2:05 PM on March 5, 2016

All of these (NutriBulletullet, Vitamix, Blendtec, Ninja, etc.) are very common on all versions of Craigslist etc where I live. Craigslist is not a thing here but there are 9 listings for Nutribullet's on my local Adverts.ie starting at about 1/5th of the new ones. Several are still in their boxes.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:48 PM on March 5, 2016

Our Vitamix can pretty much crush anything you put it in. No need to defrost frozen fruit chunks, which is handy.

I like that it is made mostly in the U.S.A. and has a better build quality than most of the sub-100 blenders.
If you buy one of the mechanical models, they've essentially been the same forever, so spare parts are readily available.
If it breaks, you can fix it.

A downside is that it is loud, especially when grinding through something.
Some people don't like the plastic container, but metal and glass ones are available.

They are pricey, but you can a refurb for significantly cheaper.
(This is what we did, and have had no problems. You do get a slightly shorter warranty though)
posted by madajb at 3:25 PM on March 5, 2016

I agree that you do not need a $500 blender to do this. I have used my $40 vintage (1970s) waring blender (bought on etsy) for four years to make smoothies and juices. Just today, I used it to blend carrots, apples, avocado, kale, and ginger in a big splash of orange juice. I do not defrost frozen fruit chunks, though I might break up larger chunks. It handles most foods just fine and is not particularly difficult to clean--the same trick of water and a squirt of dish soap works just as well in it as it does in more expensive blenders.

I had a vitamix for awhile and hated the noise and the space it took up.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:05 PM on March 5, 2016

Just a run of the mill cheap blender will do fine for smoothies. You needn't spend on the trendy gear. An old Sunbeam will happily churn out smoothies as often as you want.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:53 PM on March 5, 2016

If you get a Fender Blender you can multi-task, get exercise while making the smoothie.
posted by Sophont at 4:58 PM on March 5, 2016

I bought a Hamilton Beach Single Serve on a whim at a thrift store about 6 months ago for $4, fully expecting it wouldn't last a month—and I've used it almost daily with ice and/or frozen fruit ever since. What it lacks in versatility, it makes up for in ease of clean-up. And, the blade is attached to the bottom of the cup, so it cannot leak at the base. It's available new, with 2 serving cups, for less than $20.
posted by she's not there at 8:25 PM on March 5, 2016

I love, love, love my Cuisinart immersion blender.
posted by bile and syntax at 8:01 AM on March 6, 2016

This is slightly off topic, but may be helpful. When I first got on the smoothie train, I was using fresh fruit and ice. Inevitably, the fruit would go bad before I could use it all, and I was throwing a lot of it away, which hurt financially. One day, it occurred to me to use frozen fruit. There is an amazing selection of excellent quality, unsweetened fruit, and it also comes in some blends of several kinds of fruit. I also use frozen juice, again, read label and get unsweetened juice. Have been having a big smoothie every morning with my breakfast, and I can attest to the benefits. I add Greek yogurt, as I need the calcium boost.

On topic, I use a cheap ninja/magic bullet knock off, cost about $25, and it works great.
posted by LaBellaStella at 8:28 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]