Vitamix blenders have been the brand of choice by professional chefs and do it yourself home cooking enthusiasts. For more than 90 years, Vitamix has been the first choice in professional grade blenders.
It is perfect for recreating store-bought smoothies from your own kitchen as well as for making award winning homemade soups or even restaurant quality margaritas.
Affordable on most any budget, Vitamix blenders start around $249 and can go as high as $700+. It is capable of creating a variety of textures from coarse textures to fine, creamy textures and everything inbetween. It comes with hardened steel blades, a high performance precision motor, and variable illuminated controls. It’s easy to clean, and dishwasher safe.
Vitamix has earned several awards in part because of its’ ease of use, online recipes, and instructional DVD that comes standard. In addition to ease of use, the fruit smoothies and juices retain all their nutrients directly from the food. While store bought drinks are often made from concentrate and contain a lot of added sugars and unhealthy additives.
Blendtec Blenders
For over 40 years the Blendtec blender, a family owned American company, has been making one of the most durable blenders money can buy. It comes with the longest and most comprehensive warranty for both new and refurbished models.
Blendtec is notable for its “will it blend” marketing campaign, where the founder of the company demonstrated its strength by blending marbles, cell phones, golf balls, and even turning a garden rake into sawdust.
Blendtec boasts 9 different home blenders and 10 different commercial blenders, they come in 7 colors and they were the first to patent different sized square jars. It also boasts a 3 hp motor, with pre programmed cycles for smoothies, ice cream, whole juice, and hot soup, and with its illuminated touch controls, it takes out all the guesswork as to which setting to use. Some models can even knead dough and turn off automatically when finished.
People all over the world use the blendtec blender in their homes, restaurants, smoothie shops, coffee shops; for blending solids, frozen ice, greens, vegetables, and the patented jar is dishwasher safe.
In 2013 the Blendtec won the Gold Innovation Award for innovations delivered by Blendtec Signature Series and Stealth Lines of Blenders. Blendtec is the parent company of a nutrition company called Blend Fresh…further demonstrating Blendtec’s commitment to providing the most nutritious juices, smoothies and so much more.
Blendtec vs. Vitamix
The biggest difference between the two blenders is the initial cost, but keep in mind that both offer a less expensive refurbished option and they both offer free shipping.
New Blendtec blenders start at around $250 up to $1000 while you can get a refurbished Vitamix blender starting around $300. The newest Vitamix blender has a touchscreen control panel with 5 automatic settings – soup, smoothie puree, frozen treats, and cleaning. It is the most expensive line, starting at around $700. Recently the Vitamix has come out with the C-Series models which include 3 automatic settings and can be found on the Vitamix 500, as well as the G-Series Next Generation models which have a more powerful and quieter motor and come with the shorter compact 64 oz jars. These include the Vitamix 7500 and the Next Generation 750. The Vitamix 750 includes the same G-Series features except it has 5 automatic settings. The most recent model is the Vitamix S-Series personal blenders starting at $400 new.
Both blenders are about 5 times more powerful than ordinary kitchen blenders, and they are both quite loud. Blendtec is slightly louder when at full speed, and when making ice cream, and keep in mind that they both work quickly so the sound doesn’t last for very long.
The Blendtec Professional 800 boasts that it is the quietest blender in the world, and pound for pound the Blendtec is slightly more powerful as demonstrated in the popular “Will it blend” campaign, but each blender has plenty of power.
They both have 10 speeds, however, the Vitamix can spin up to 37,000 RPM which gives it more control at slower speeds which is better for chopping. Both blenders’ variable speeds allow the user to achieve different textures with a variety of different ingredients.
Both blenders can fit underneath most kitchen cabinets while the Blendtec blenders are easier to move around or take to different locations. With its lighter weight, the Blendtec can move around on the counter top when making ice cream, and the heavier Vitamix will not.
Both have easy to operate controls that are flat and easy to clean, and both offer either automatic or manual controls. The Blendtec has automatic controls that will actually stop automatically and is known for their patented “smart-touch tec-nology”. The Blendtec Designer 725 has the most features with 6 pre-programmed and 100 manual settings. It also has a built in computer which can detect overheat, overloaded, and jammed blade events, while the Vitamix does not. The vitamix will however automatically shut off if the thermal protection turns on to prevent overheating.
Both come with a sturdy 64 oz plastic container that are easy to clean and do not absorb odors. That being said, the Blendtec does have a 90oz “Wild Side” container which is said to be the “best” due to its superior size and blending capacity. Keeping in mind that it may not fit under most kitchen cabinets.
Both the Blendtec and Vitamix blenders come with gripper lids that allow the user to add ingredients while blending is going on, while the Blendtec blender does not operate as well when filled to the top. The Vitamix blender comes with a tamper to push ingredients closer to the blade, while the Blendtec operates better when ingredients are halved or quartered.
The Blendtec and the Vitamix blender are extremely good at making smoothies and it is difficult to make any comparison, yet neither are true “juicers”. They both make excellent whole-food juices which allows for ALL the nutrition of the ingredients to be included in the smoothie.
They both make hot soups and can chop small foods. The blades however are not designed for aesthetic chopping, but chopping can be done and they can both grind grains and nuts. They are both excellent ice cream makers and both are easy to clean.
The Vitamix comes with a complete 7 year full use warranty, while the Blendtec blender comes with an 8 year (7 for refurbished models) warranty. Both are American Made.
In conclusion; the Blendtec blender is a more economical all-in-one blender, the replacement or additional jars are less expensive. It comes with lots of 100% automatic pre-programmed cycles, it is easy to move around, has digital displays and optional “Wild Side” 90oz jar. It is dishwasher safe.
The Vitamix is better for people who prefer the manual controls, it is heavier so it won’t rock when blending ice cream and is more difficult to move around. The Vitamix is more suitable for small jobs and thick purees, and comes with a tamper which makes it easier to add ingredients during blending. It is also dishwasher safe.