How to Choose the Right Blender

Blenders are for crushing - ice, that is - it's the one thing a food processor just can't do. The function people use their blenders for the most is making drinks: smoothies, margaritas, milk shakes, and other cold beverages. A lot of those drinks require ice, and that means you need a blender that won't wimp out under the cold pressure of a jar full of it. At the very least your blender has got to be able to smooth out chunks of ice cream and reduce cubes of ice into a drinkable slush. In addition your blender should be able to make a nice puree, as that's another thing it does better than a food processor due to its four blades that create a vortex.

So, now that you've decided it's time to replace the ancient blender hiding in your cupboard what should you look for?

Consumers frequently take a quick glance at the side of the box, check out the wattage, and conclude that more is better, especially when it comes to crushing ice, but this isn't necessarily so. The wattage listed is simply a measurement of the power used up by the blender; it won't tell you how much ice-crushing power it puts out. In fact, what makes the biggest difference between a blender that'll whip up a chunk-free daiquiri, or smooth out your creamy tomato soup is the design.

The best designs incorporate a tapered jar. A jar that's smaller at the base than at the top encourages the substance within to slide down toward the blades so that nothing gets missed. It's this feature that is most critical to how well a blender will work - not price and not wattage!

Another feature that often indicates you've got a blender that will hold up over the years is the inclusion of a heavy glass jar rather than a plastic one. Plastic tends to crack after many runs in the dishwasher and it's also harder to eliminate odors that seep into tiny scratches and cracks.

Lastly, the controls are important. I prefer a dial over buttons - with a dial you can't immediately punch the "pulverize" button and be jolted by an accidental eruption. A dial encourages you to work your way up to the speed you want, which also gives you a better end result with fewer air pockets as you blend. Having a pulse feature is also nice for basically the same reason; getting the food working and crunched up into smaller bits makes it easier for the higher speeds to do their job.

It's likely that you won't have to spend a lot of money to find a blender that meets these major criteria, maybe 45 or 50 dollars. So shop around, look closely at the jar, and make sure it's dishwasher safe - you're gonna be making a lot of smoothies!