With Blendtec, you don't need a spout.

Blendtec jar is square. A square has four corners. It uses one corner for a handle. The other three corners are like having three spouts.

dcarch

I have a Vita-Mix. It has a spout, and since I haven't taken notice of it, I infer that it doesn't overflow or drip. But as Dcarch said, the BlendTec is designed that way. It's used a lot in commercial appliactions, so I'd think they'd design it differently if it didn't work well.

You might want to get ear protectors with either.

Yes, Blendtec has three spouts. I'm left-handed so I pour from the corner directly on the right of the handle. Works like a charm. This photo shows the pour directly on the box.

If you decide on Blendtec, I highly recommend the added 'twister' small jar. I use it 2-3 times a day. New in box image is from e-bay. Comes with the twister jar. It has two lids. One is heavy duty silicone and fits tight. The other spins on top and has two arms that scrape the sides for nut butters, hummus, etc.

I have an Oster Pro 1200 here in Cathedral City, and it is much less expensive at $70, and it has three programmed settings, which I like. It does as good a job of crushing ice and making smoothies as well as my Vitamix does, and it has a 10 year warranty on the metal parts plus a 3 year customer satisfaction warranty. It only holds 24 oz., however, and you may want something larger, but this is a good option for a 24 oz. blender.

I have my Vitamix in Los Angeles, but I also have a smaller blender that I use exclusively for making Habanero sauce, and I keep that one in the garage, as I only use it twice a year. I do wish the Vitamix had the preset functions like the Oster has. The Blendtec looks very nice if you want to spend that much money.

I can't quite get my head around spending $500 to liquefy. Just my opinion.

I have an 35 yr old Oster that works fine and have used it perhaps weekly over all that time. It probably cost $15 new, amazon has similar ones for $40-$90. My blender can use an upside down canning jar for the small stuff, no adapter needed.

Older kitchen appliances were made better years ago. My wedding gift Oster did service me fine for a dozen years or so. Three or 4 since the Oster burned out burned, they all burned out. The last one was seldom used but maybe for pesto. Motor blew after 3 or 4 uses. (over a few years).

Never used a blender much but my cooking style changed. So yes, I had a hard time wrapping my head around the expense as well.

I make my own nut butters, spice blends, thick sauces, etc. Frozen Fruits and greens, seeds. Whole grains. Not just for liquids.

Re-furbished are 150 on e-bay but you need to be a risk taker. Only 30 day return.

My commercial Blendtec is from e-bay. 6-7 years now and going strong.

I bought a refurbished Vitamix from Amazon, and it came with the same warranty as a new one. They might have a similar offer for refurbished Blendtec. The Blendtec 675 is only $269

In buying a high power blender, make sure you understand that they are extremely noisy.

dcarch

I’ve got a Vitamix 750. I like it just fine, but aside from the power itself I don’t see anything particularly special about it. If I had to buy a new blender today I’d try to give a Blendtec a trial run. Just to see if there’s anything more “special” about those. Immediately after buying the Vitamix I began noticing how much more commonly I see Blendtec used at smoothie bars, etc. Don’t know whether that’s indicative of anything more than sales and marketing.

FOAS, it's a blender!!! I've seen pretty blenders, cute blenders and ugly blenders. I've had underpowered, adequately powered and overpowered blenders. I've never seen a special blender.

BlendTec and Vita-mix are in the same class, designed for commercial use and super-performers at home. You might like the shape of the jar or the way the controls work on one or the other. One might wear better or have a better warranty. It's features that distinguise them. I think BendTec's knife assembly comes out, whereas Vita-Mix is integrated, but I find it easy to clean, even so, because the bottom of the jar is flat.

What a high powered blender has over an adequate one is that the liquify is really liquid. Like watery liquid. No "texture". I've never had an emulsion from my Vita-Mix break apart again. It stays emulsified, even in the fridge over time. Merely adequate doesn't do that, but for most blender needs it more or less gets it done.

Michele, I think you'll be fine with a BlendTec, or a Vita-Mix if you really prefer the spout and find a deal that's in your budget (besides the refurbished there are plain 'ol sales). The next rung down, better than adequate, but not commercial quality is Ninja. Many people really like Ninja.

Cooks Illustrated July 12019

UPDATE Midpriced Blenders

Breville recently discontinued our winning midpriced blender, the Hemisphere

Control, and replaced it with a new blender, the Fresh & Furious. We ordered the

new blender and made smoothies, mayonnaise, and almond butter. We also used it

to crush ice, comparing it to the Hemisphere throughout. We’re pleased to report

that we like the new model even more than its predecessor. The Fresh & Furious

has more power—1,100 watts versus the Hemisphere’s 750—so it gets smoother

results. The Fresh & Furious also has a “green smoothie” button that works like a

charm; we made 50 smoothies in a row and had no problems. But if an issue were

to arise, this blender has a three-year warranty, compared to the Hemisphere’s

one-year warranty. In light of these improvements, we’re naming the Breville Fresh

& Furious our new winning midpriced blender. –H.C.

I also have a refurbished vitamix. It’s wonderful and it was like brand new.

The Vitamix blade assembly can be unscrewed, e.g. for pitcher replacement. We got a Vitamix because it was available refurbished and I like knobs/switches. I think either brand would work fine.

It's "wild-side" jar design means that you don't need to stamp down ingredients when they don't mix well, whereas with the Vitamix you might have to do so. That's also one less thing that needs cleaning.

Exactly why I’d look to test drive a Blendtec. More often than not I’m using the tamper that came with my Vitamix. I don’t mind the extra effort itself, but given the noise I do prefer to walk away while it’s running.

I've never used the tamper with my Vita-Mix. Sometimes I do have to clear the blades when I'm doing something not recommended (like not enough liquid to actually allow the blades to move), but I have the wide jar model. It's fun watching the stuff on top being pulled down into the blades. Not tamping is a great reason to choose BlendTec.

We also have a Breville (just couldn't justify a Vitamix or similar). The Breville is light years ahead of our old cheaper blender (maybe was an Oster?).

Do you all use you blenders that often? Mine comes out maybe once a week?