More often than not, multifunctional kitchen appliances do an average job executing their full arsenal of tasks, but rarely do they do any one task exceptionally well. But if you’re anything like me, that just won’t do. You want it all and are willing to invest in something that can slice, dice, and cut tin cans in half. Well, you’re in luck. While BlendTec Blenders can’t cut through tin cans (or can they??), they take chopping, churning, pureeing, and everything else that comes with blending very seriously.
When I say that BlendTec take blending seriously, I’m not kidding. Not only does their Designer Series Blender make easy work of smoothies, sauces, and margaritas, it can knead dough, make ice cream, juice whole fruits, grind meat and coffee beans, and even turn Justin Bieber into mush*, which is something that has very likely crossed all our minds at one time or another. I’m not kidding! Watch this video from BlendTec’s Will it Blend? series.
*Justin Bieber was not actually blended by BlendTec. He is alive and well and likely concocting his next shenanigan.
Design & Function
BlendTec’s engineers thought outside the box with the BlendTec Designer Series by incorporating touch activated controls. These days, touch screen technology is prevalent in everything from smartphones to thermostats, but BlendTec is one of the first to introduce capacitive touch into a blender’s control panel. When plugged in, all you’ll see is a power button, but when tapped, six single-touch icons will appear, making it easy to select the ideal blend cycle. The benefits of this touch interface are two fold – first, it allows for far more functionality than your standard push-button blender, and second, a lack of buttons means a more streamlined and aesthetic design, and a much easier clean up.
The BlendTec also comes equipped with a variety of pre-programmed blend cycles, which will shut off automatically when the contents and blended to the desired consistency. Plus, it’s optimized airflow technology keeps the motor cool, which means you can blend for a longer period of time. It’s also shorter than your typical blender, allowing it to fit easily under most cabinetry to free up precious counter space.
Power
The BlendTec Designer Series Blender is powered by a commercial-quality 1,560-watt, 3 HP (Peak Horsepower) direct drive motor and a 2-prong stainless steel blade that spins at up to 29,000 rpm. In layman’s terms, what that means is that the Total Blender has the most powerful motor available for home use and, really, there’s almost nothing it can’t blend.
Square Jar
One of the differentiating factors of the BlendTec Designer Series is its square, 2-quart, BPA-free blender jar. This is not just for aesthetics, people. There is actual science behind BlendTec’s decision to buck the trend and go away with the typical round jar that comes with most blenders. With a round jar, ingredients are pushed to the top where they often remain … unblended and alone. With a square jar, ingredients are forced to bounce off the sides and move back into the blade where they are sure to meet their wrath. To see the square jar’s engineering in action, check out the video to the right.
Twister Jar
If you’ve ever tried to make guacamole, hummus, or baby food in a blender, you know how difficult it can be. You blend, stop the blender, scrape the sides of the jar to push your ingredients closer to the blades, and then blend again. And repeat. It’s a frustrating exercise. But with the BlendTec Twister Jar, even nut butter is a breeze. The lid features tines that rotate and push the jar’s ingredients off the sides and into the blending vortex, essentially eliminating the need to manual and spatula intervention. See how the BlendTec makes spatulas obsolete with the video the the left.
Cleaning
As previously mentioned, the touch control panel eliminates the ability for blending ingredients to get stuck in the push buttons typical on most blenders. A simple wipe with a rag, and the base of the BlendTec Designer Series blender is clean. As for cleaning the jar, all you need to do is cover the blades with water, add a drop of dishwasher liquid, put the lid on, hold the pulse key for five seconds, and then rinse. That’s it. You can also put the jar in the dishwasher if you’d like, but cleaning it the “pulse” way is much more fun! Check out the “pulse” cleaning in action by watching the video to the right.
To be perfectly honest, my initial reaction to the price of the BlendTec Designer Series blender was one of disbelief. But when quality meets function at this level, it is well worth the price. I mean, c’mon it grinds meat!
For more information about BlendTec products, visit the BlendTec product page on Best Buy.
