Does it take a special type of blender to make smoothies?
Or am I just doing it wrong? I have what I consider a typical blender that you might find in any American kitchen. It's a glass container with a cross shaped blade. The problem I have is that pieces often get underneath the blade and don't get blended at all. With smoothies in particular as well, if it's too thick the blade tends to spin too fast and keep everything pushed out to the sides and not actually blend. This is mostly a problem if trying to make a thick milkshake.
I have tried adding in thing like fruit while the blender is going in hopes that it wouldn't make it to the bottom without being blended but that doesn't seem to work really well. I've been reduced to blending multiple times (starting with a small amount of well blended material and slowly adding in the "chunks" from the previous attempt while the blender is running), but that is fairly time consuming.
Best Answer
Ahh, the complexities of blending. Have you tried pulsing the smoothie? Short bursts tend to stir up some of the stuff that sneaks below the blades.
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Can you use a regular blender for smoothies?
The Ninja Fit is the best budget blender for smoothies we've tested. This compact personal blender doesn't take up too much space on your kitchen counter and comes with two 16-ounce personal jars with matching to-go lids. It has decent build quality and a straightforward design, like most personal blenders.What kind of blender do you need to make smoothies?
At least in terms of basic function, there is little difference between a blender and a smoothie maker. Both are kitchen appliances capable of pulverizing and crushing ingredients, and both can be used to make \u201csmoothies\u201d \u2014 a broad name for fruit-based juice drinks.Is a smoothie blender different than a regular blender?
While they're delicious and easy to make, people sometimes put fully frozen fruits in the blender. This can result in lumpy smoothies and, in some cases, can cause the sharp blades to crack and break. Leave frozen fruits out in the fridge to thaw or put them in a Ziploc bag and thaw in a bowl of water before blending.The Easy Guide On Making Just About Any Smoothie
More answers regarding does it take a special type of blender to make smoothies?
Answer 2
I find that I can great smoothies with a small stick mixer as it gives me better control. If you don't have one you also try pulsing to mix things up
Answer 3
I make a smoothie every morning for myself and my wife to take on the drive to work, and I've yet to have anything get caught under my blades - so although I don't have a specific answer to your question, I'll relay my process and see if it helps :)
Night: Take out 20oz fruit and put in fridge. Generally, 2 fresh bananas and a couple large handfuls of pre-bagged frozen fruit from our local warehouse store. Allow to defrost overnight.
Morning: Put 10oz vanilla soy milk, 3oz yogurt, 3oz greek yogurt into blender. Pour defrosted fruit on top. Blend on lowest setting for about 15 seconds, then increase speed every 5 seconds until I'm at the top speed. It takes me about 3 minutes to get my dogs' food ready, so I just let it run the whole time I'm doing that. Pour, enjoy!
I forget our exact blender model, but I know that it's slightly squared off, not completely rounded, and it also came with a food processor attachment so it's decent with a relatively strong motor, but far from professional or Blendtec-quality.
Even though I'm not working with frozen fruit, the smoothie is plenty cold between the dairy ingredients and the refrigerated defrosted fruit. But, if I want a thicker/colder smoothie sometimes I'll throw a little ice in as well.
Answer 4
I had the same problem, and found that if you freeze the fruit beforehand it doesn't mush itself under the blades as much. I also generally start blending on high and, as the smoothie gets more blended, work down to lower and lower speeds.
Answer 5
I have an Oster blender, and bought a special ice crushing blade for making smoothies. Stuff seems much less likely to get caught; the blade that came with it was almost useless as it would just cavitate under the food and spin uselessly.
Answer 6
Maybe you need to invest in one of these: Blendtec :)
I have a Kenwood Smoothie 2GO. It's pretty effective and I don't find ingredients getting stuck under the blades. Make sure you get one that has one of the blades that points down, this catches ingredients that sit below the blade quite well.
Answer 7
It's best to add the juice before the frozen parts so that you prevent that the bottom gets icy, cold and sticky.
Answer 8
I tip the blender over at an angle and shake vigorously giving a pulse of power when stuff has moved around enough. It works well. I should probably add that I am using a stick type with a bowl attachment but I would do the same with a table top blender.
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