Blendtec Designer Series Blender Wildside Jar Black - My Personal Recommendation

Blendtec Designer Series Blender, WildSide Jar - Black - My Personal Recommendation

The all-new Blended Designer Series – engineered for a whole new level of beauty and functionality, without compromising the power and efficiency that made Blended famous. The control surface features illuminated, easy to read, universal icons that enable effortless selection of our signature blend cycles. These cycles are optimized to deliver great blends with a single touch. An exclusive new slider interface gives you absolute control over your blender's speed. Touch anywhere on the slider to jump right to any speed and slide your finger up and down to fine tune your blend. A revolutionary new air-flow design keeps the blender cooler. And a cooler motor means your Designer Series will last even longer. But cleanup with the Designer Series is a breeze, thanks to its flat, sealed, touch area and smooth motor base design. A quick wipe of a damp cloth and your Blended is as beautiful as the day you brought it home.The Blended Designer Series will be the most-used appliance in your kitchen because it can do the job of many appliances. It's a whole juicer, a meat grinder, a latte machine, a bread mixer, an ice cream maker, a grain mill, coffee grinder, milkshake mixer and a blender. Even in the biggest kitchens, counter space is limited. The Designer Series fits easily under most cabinetry and its slender design minimizes its presence while stealing the spotlight. The Designer Series' commercial-grade motor is the most-powerful motor available for home use. It's the only motor strong enough to drive the aggressive blade in our high-performance jar, so you don't need a messy plunger. Finely-balanced Direct Drive Our precision-machined socket connects directly to the motor, resulting in a finely-balanced motor assembly. This reduces vibration and noise, which is critical at our motor speeds. It also increases reliability, because the socket never needs to be replaced (unlike most other blenders).

Reviews of Blendtec Designer Series Blender Wildside Jar Black

The iPhone of blenders!
Rating by : Matthew Abell,

"HOW MANY TIMES HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU..."
After I was married I bought my wife a Kitchen Aid blender thinking I was investing in a quality appliance. It lasted barely a year. Our next blender was a cheapo Oster, and though it outlasted the Kitchen Aid by several years, it leaked oil and never really pulverized the ingredients adequately. I considered the Vitamix and even the Ninja, but hated the fact that they can't fit under an upper cabinet.

"THERE'S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY!"
After much research, I found the Blendtec, which had glowing reviews and an impressive seven-year warranty. Though there weren't many reviews of the Designer Series model, I took a leap of faith, swayed by the more cleanable controls and claims that it is quieter and runs cooler than the Total Blender.

"CAN YOUR BLENDER DO THIS?"
I wondered whether I was nuts for spending over four hundred dollars for a blender, but as I unpacked it from the box I could tell this is a quality machine. (As a bonus, it is mostly manufactured in the US.) It arrives well-packaged, with all parts individually protected and absolutely no assembly required. Also included is an instructional DVD and a spiral-bound recipe book (more on this later). The DVD includes operating instructions, a few recipes, and the original infomercial where they pulverize an iPhone and a 2x4 in the Blendtec.

"IT'S THE LAST ONE YOU'LL EVER OWN!"
This is a hefty blender, weighing in at about eight pounds, with a fairly large base, measuring about seven inches wide by nine inches deep by six inches high; with the blender jar in place, it's still only fifteen inches tall, so it will fit underneath an upper cabinet with no trouble at all. This baby draws 1,560 watts and 13 amps, so if your electric wiring is out of date don't run the microwave at the same time. The power cord is reassuringly thick and unusually long - about four feet - but thankfully it comes with a sturdy Velcro wrap attached to the cord. The blender base is mostly featureless - colored plastic sides (mine is cream) with a black plastic top and small silver Blendtec medallion near the bottom; there are no sharp edges and no small places for food to hide. On the underside, there are two molded "handles," a large vented center channel to keep the motor cool, and a continuous rubber foot.

My blender came with both the standard "Fourside" and "Wildside" jars. The Foursider has graduated markings up to 32 ounces and has a total capacity of two quarts (64 ounces). The Wildside has a fifth side and a longer four-inch blade for a better blending vortex, they claim; it can hold up to 90 ounces. Both jars are made of BPA-free copolyester plastic with rounded contours inside for easy cleaning (the jar and blade cannot be disassembled, so it should be cleaned after each use). The "wingtip" blade is unusual because it is very thick and not so sharp that you would cut your fingers while cleaning it. On three corners of the jar's square mouth there is a bevel that allows you to pour with minimal dripping. The lid has an oversize tab on each corner that makes it easy to remove (even if you're arthritic); it's made of some kind of rubber with a plastic insert that lets you add liquid while the blender is running without removing the lid.

"SO EASY A CHILD CAN DO IT!"
Except for the lighted power "button," the entire control surface is glossy black like an iPhone until you turn it on. The capacitive touch interface makes it easy to keep things clean; when it's off it has a sleek, understated look that blends in easily (no pun intended). Turn it on and it lights up like a Christmas tree. There are presets for batter, frozen drinks, smoothies, ice cream, whole juice, and soups, plus a pulse function and a manual mode with eight different speeds. When you select a preset, the blender will ramp up and down in speed for the optimal blend.

The first time I made a smoothie I was shocked by how much this blender skipped around the counter; despite having an eight-pound base with rubber feet, this baby moves! After one month of use, I still don't trust it enough to let go while blending, and sometimes it will even make nearby vitamin bottles dance across the counter. (It only does this when blending frozen ingredients.) Fortunately the lid stays tight no matter what. I will probably try placing it on a rubberized mat in the future. That's the power of a 1,560 watt blender. Despite some reviewers' complaints about the Total Blender, the Designer model was no noisier than you'd expect a blender to be. My first smoothie was amazing - every bit as smooth as the ones you can buy in a bottle. Now I make a double portion (approx. 40 ounces) every morning to share with my wife, using 8 ounces of juice, 6 ounces of greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, a cup of frozen strawberries, a banana, a dozen grapes, a cup of cantaloupe, a cup of pineapple, 1/2 cup of kale, 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, and a whole sliced apple or orange. When I make a shake this large, I find I need to run it on high in manual mode for another 15 seconds after pressing the smoothie setting. Delicious, and no more chunks!

"NO FUSS, NO MESS!"
Clean up is surprisingly easy - I just pre-rinse the jar and then wipe it out with a sponge; the lid pops apart and rinses clean. As with any blender, the ground flax and strawberry seeds tend to stick to the sides; if I didn't use flax or strawberries I probably wouldn't need the sponge at all. Other reviewers recommend not putting it in the dishwasher because the jar will become cloudy over time. I only do so after grinding raw meat and turn the heated dry option off.

"BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!"
When I read that the Blendtec came with a recipe book, I figured it would end up in the trash like the pamphlet-sized "cookbook" that comes with a George Foreman grill. Little did I expect that it would make me think about what goes into all my food. This spiral-bound book is a great companion piece to the blender; the recipes really demonstrate the diverse capabilities of the Blendtec, including invaluable information about ingredient substitutions, grinding your own flour from whole grain, how to peel a mango, get meat from a coconut, and more. After hearing so many news reports about "pink slime," I now buy fresh or frozen meat and make ground meat in the blender - it's actually cheaper and I know exactly what part of the animal I'm eating. I have also followed the recipes to make soups, dry broth powder, hummus, salad dressings, homemade brownies (baked in the oven, obviously!), fresh ginger ale, and carrot juice (though it's no replacement for a juicer.) Everything has been delicious, but most surprising is the soup function of the blender, which actually heats the soup using friction from the powerful blades alone! (This makes it kind of frothy, however.) I am looking forward to making my own bread dough, almond milk, peanut butter, tahini, apple butter, ice cream, sorbet, and even whipping up a facial mask for my wife! Who knew a blender could do all this?

"NOW HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY?"
There are very few products in this world that, besides being thoroughly well-designed and functioning as intended, change your lifestyle. For me, this was an investment not only in a quality-made product but in my health. I cannot recommend it more highly.

Great blender... Stellar juicer
Rating by : Bob Tobias "Robert Tobias",

We got this blender as a gift about six months ago and have used it to... blend stuff. Then, a little while ago, a bunch of cosmic forces came together and convinced my wife and me to "start juicing". (Almost simultaneously reading articles on juicing in several magazines, watching an episode of Dr. Oz and a documentary on healthy choices including juicing, and several conversations where the topic came up.)

That's when we discovered the true power of this blender. I already knew that the 4" blades meant it could whip up a smoothie in nothing flat, making short work of ice cubes in the process. Also, we found that the lid design allows a lot of air into the container so it can mix with whatever is being blended. What I didn't realize is that the "smoothie" setting is *ideal* for breaking down leafy greens, chunks of fruit, and hunks of vegetables as well. It seems to "know" when to speed up, slow down, and pulse, all during the preset 45 second program to produce a blended, liquefied, and still textured beverage regardless of the ingredients we've tossed in.

I did some research after the fact (it's easier that way... no decisions to make) and discovered there are three, no make that four, camps in the juicing world. Hope you don't mind and as long as I'm already typing I figured I would share:

- There are people with "real" juicers. For me, I like the idea of consuming everything (instead of throwing out pulp).

- There are people with "normal" blenders. I guess they work for juicing. I haven't tried. However, in the past I tried using a regular blender to make milkshakes and they didn't come out anywhere near as good as with my Blendtech.

- The last two camps are the Vitamixers and the Blendtecers. Both are expensive. Both are powerful. (I've seen Vitamix demos and read a lot about them.) The difference to me, aside from Blendtec's snazzy appearance :) , is that it has the built in programs to mix, crush, whip, and whatever else with just the press of a button. And, best of all, from our experience it's not a gimmick and they really work.

Simply Amazing!
Rating by : John Marrow,

Ok, after hearing about the Blendtec for so long, I finally had to check it out and see what all the hype was about. So I purchased this blender last week, and I am just completely blown away by it! So far I have made a couple of hot soups (and I never thought I'd care if a blender could make hot soup, but it is so easy to make such a great and healthy soup that I'm never going to buy canned soup again), green smoothies, fruit smoothies and almond milk just to test its capabilities. And the smoothies turn out nearly perfect every single time. Every once in a while, there will be a small chunk left over from the pre-programmed cycle, but it's nothing that pulsing for another 5 seconds or so won't take care of.

But honestly, making hot soups, green smoothies, and almond milk were not the true test I wanted from the Blendtec. Yes the Blendtec does these things unbelievably well. But the true test for this blender for me was whether or not it could blend blackberry seeds. I have avoided blackberry seeds like the plague with other blenders because I hated always having to chew those darn seeds. I even avoided those "mixed berry" frozen fruit packs because they always seemed to either contain blackberries or raspberries. So one of the first thing I did was load up my Blendtec with blackberries and let it go to see what would happen. I am happy to report that it can blend blackberry seeds! Every once in a while in my smoothie, I might get a "piece" of a blackberry seed, but it's definitely not whole, unlike any other blender I have ever used.

This is by far the single most powerful blender I have ever used. Before this blender, I've only used $20-50 blenders and the $129 Ninja blender w/single serve. I thought the Ninja was fantastic, and for its price, it is a good machine. But it really doesn't compare to the Blendtec.

The pros of the Blendtec so far are:

-The pre-programmed buttons take away the guess work in knowing how to make the perfect blend.

-It works fast, so it doesn't need to be on that long, which is good because it can get very loud. But like I said, it doesn't need to run long to do its job (unlike other blenders, including the Ninja, that I had to let run for at least 2 or 3 minutes in order to get something drinkable, and even then it was no where close to the Blendtec's quality).

-I like the Designer series layout. It makes it very easy to clean, as there aren't any buttons for liquids to get stuck in.

-Very stylish and it fits under my cabinets (even my Ninja couldn't do that).

-It can blend blackberry seeds!

-Made in the U.S. and comes with a 7-year warranty.

The cons are:

-It is very loud. Supposedly the Designers series is quieter than the original Blendtec models, so I'd hate to hear how loud those were. But at least it doesn't have to be on long.

-The price. Yes, I love my Blendtec and I am now using it daily, but make no mistake about it: it is expensive. I try to look at it as an investment for my health. Because before I owned the Ninja (and now Blendtec) I rarely ate vegetables. But thanks to owning good blenders, I am now having around 15 servings of fruits and veggies per day.

-Grinding grains apparently scratches up the pitcher. K-tec recommends that Blendtec owners purchase a second pitcher for grinding grains, which means an additional $100. Keep in mind, it's not that the Wildside pitcher can't grind grains; it's just that if you want your pitcher to remain aesthetically pleasing, it is recommend to have a separate pitcher for the grains.

All in all, I would recommend the Blendtec to anyone who is serious about their health and serious about green drinks. I have never seen a "cheap" blender that has both quality/durability (in this case, time will tell, but I'm judging by older Blendtec reviews) and the ability to blend greens smoothly. I've heard one reviewer once state that if you're serious about blending, then you'll end up at the Blendtec or Vitamix eventually. I didn't think that would be me, but in my case he was right. I became unsatisfied with the quality of my other blenders, including the Ninja, so I wanted to check out the Blendtec and never have used the other blenders since.

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