@deeageaux: I know you are looking between vitamix and blendtec but Breville has their new blenders that go head to head with these two favourite... i have not used it myself yet so cannot comment but i have heard they are a very good alternative to the Vitamix.

Die-Cast Hemisphere� Blender - 800BLXL
the Hemisphere� Control - BBL605XL

Breville is the one the the Sept. 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated installed as their latest "best buy" because they thought it performed almost as well as the VM5200 in their tests and cost about 1/3 as much. The article (linked previously) says they are continuing testing to determine durability of the Breville.

AFAIK, Breville products are "engineered" in Australia for manufacture in China. For deeagaux, that may put them in the same undesirable category as that range he mentioned a few posts back (i.e., one designed and engineered in California using US, Austrian, and Australian components for assembly in China with Chinese fabricated stainless steel).

As for the Vitamix motors, I believe that they are made in Sweden rather than Switzerland. I've seen postings that say various things about Blendtec motors being sourced from elsewhere, or using screws from elsewhere. Blendtec says they make everything in Utah.

I would hardly consider myself protective, lol. I actually dragged my husband to the demos with every intention of buying the 750, based on everything I had read, but the 5200 just performed that bit better.

However as others have said, you will be perfectly happy with whichever model of Vitamix you get - they are great little appliances.

I bought the 500 at the W-S sale last December. I love the performance, but dislike how tall it is. If I had known they were coming out with a model under 18", I would have waited. Now I am kicking myself.

I have not made up my mind yet on the 750 vis-a-vis the Blendtec but pretty sure I want it rather than the other VM models.

Breville 800BLXL is $268 or at least that is the best price I can find. Think I would rather take Blendtec Classic or VM 5200s over that.

I've read W-S and Amazon reviews from time to time and have read one or two complaints about the newer, shorter Vitamix pitcher--that it spills while pouring. I haven't used a VM since college. My retro Waring with its glass pitcher gets heavy use during the summers, grinds ice beautifully, and is used daily for about three months of the year. It is five years old. However, I do not drink green smoothies or grind grains. If I ever do pop for a mega blender, it will be a VM, just for nostalgia and cache. Just being honest.

Costco also sells a 6300 model during demonstrations. It is a Pro Series 500 labeled for Costco. Has 3 presets, same size jar as the 5200. We are loving it.

Went through 3 Kitchenaids in 16 years; we make lots of smoothies and the motors burn out. Jars will leak eventually and are not cheap to replace. My fav about the model we bought is the presets. If it was just me, I probably would not use them, but the kids can make smoothies using the buttons and the machine shuts off when they are done.

I'm not really concerned about height as I don't like keeping stuff out on counters. I limit that to microwave, toaster, and coffee maker.

I don't drink green smoothies at home because I don't have the ability to do it. I won't do it everyday. But if I can replace an eggs'n bacon type breakfast one a week I think I am ahead of the game.I will make jamba juice type smoothies much more often:)

Home made nut butters are coming. Blending harder sauseges like Spanish Chorizo are in the offing as well as grinding some grains and home made humus. I can't find a butcher that will grind prime chuck. Says large commercial machine will turn five lbs into nothing.

I don't have a countertop MW(drawer MW)nor a countertop toaster(stovetop),nor coffee maker(stovetop). Different horses for different courses.

KA stand mixer and VM/BT blender. The KA is as much kitchen sculpture as small appliance in my book.

Just for the record, I've never had any success grinding garbanzos for hummous in my Vitamix. The cheapo FP my cousin re-gifted me does a wayyyyyy better job.

Hummus may be a dish where the 750 does a better job than the 5200. See Williams Sonoma vid below.

Here is a link that might be useful: VM Hummus Video

>>>"Blending harder sausages like Spanish Chorizo are in the offing as well as grinding some grains and home made humus. I can't find a butcher that will grind prime chuck."Are you: (a) blending pre-made sausages into a recipe; or (b) blending meat for making your own sausages? If blending meat and spices to make sausages, I'd be concerned about the fat being blended so fine or getting so hot that the meat mixture "breaks." (Many sausages are basically emulsions and will get a grainy texture if the fat is blended out or separates. Dry sausages need a different technique that, AFAIK, would not be obtainable by chopping in a blender.) I think you will find that blending by using your KA mixer with the "paddle" beater would be a much better choice for mixing sausage meats.

As for grinding prime chuck, I would expect a Vitamix would turn it into pate. For things like burgers, meatlof, etc., I'd suggest a grinder attachment for the KA mixer (its about $50). A friend has one and it is fine for those uses. A food processor can work for chopping meat, although it requires a lot of vigilance to avoid going from from ground to pate. Also, from my experience with a Cuisinart, I'd say you want to work with relatively small quantities of meat at a time. When I started working with five and ten pound quantities after I started making sausages last year, I found a separate grinder worked far better and gave much better texture for burgers and such.

I have not tried grinding grain in my Vitamix 5200. Although some dry grinding can be done in the standard "wet" container that comes with the VM 5200, the company recommends using their "dry" container (a shorter container with a different blade assembly) for dry grinding "harder" grains. "Harder" grains include wheat berries, corn, and rye berries. (I have not had occasion to try any grain grinding in my VM5200 because my KA mixer came with a grain grinder when I bought it 15 years ago and that gives me the flours I want.) If you are considering grinding grains, I believe that there are numbers of how-to video on You-Tube which could shed some light on both the VM and Blendtec models.

As for hummus, I've only made it once with my VM5200. The instructions said to use the tamper plus I added some olive oil and the result seemed satisfactory to my guests. Apparently, one of the differences between the VM5200 and the VM750 is that the the latter seems to make hummus without needing any help from the tamper.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Dec 23, 12 at 14:57

FWIW I have the VM 750 and absolutely love it. It's shockingly powerful...

I am talking about grinding pre-made sausages in blender for recipes.

VM claims 750 replaces mixer and grinder among other small appliances. That it can make chunky style salsa not just a Mexican style tomato puree for example.

Will try in blender first to grind meat if not satisfactory will buy a KA attachment. Do you have the KA one or one of the "better" metal non-KA branded ones?

Not a lot of Blendtec fans selling me on the Designer Series?

>>>"Do you have the KA one or one of the "better" metal non-KA branded ones?I have neither. One friend has an older (ten-year-old) version of the KA branded one which I tried out when I was considering getting a powered grinder. She she can put most parts in the dishwasher. However. the DW is not good for the blade, plate and auger, which may rust. That KA unit was far better than the hand-cranked grinders I had used previously, notwithstanding it being rather small --- it uses #5 blades and plates. Grinding a full five pounds of chuck can take a while. If you put the unit in the freezer for half an hour before you use it for a bigger job, it can go through a grind or two of the five pounds of meat pretty well. Cook's illustrated thought the KA was a pretty good unit and recommended it for those with KA mixers. It was also recommended in Michael Ruhlman's book, Charcuterie. However, his web site expressed reservations about the build quality as of last year when he got a new one. Apparently, KA had a bad run of the units. Ruhlman withdrew his recommendation in a blog on the web site. Our local BB&B stopped carrying them for a while, too. Supposedly, KA fixed the problems and I see it is now back on the shelves at BB&B.

Another friend recently bought a non-branded Czech-made metal unit (which I think was about $150 from Chef's Catalog.) It is entirely hand wash -- and dry --- only. The times I have used it, it seemed to work as well as the Waring stand-alone grinder that another friend recently bought at Costco for $100.

I wound up buying an LEM grinder. That was because of the volumes of meat and game I have been working with and because some other friends now have me grind meat for them. Its a classic case of being the guy on the block with the power tools. :=)

>>>"Not a lot of Blendtec fans selling me on the Designer Series?"Well, apparently not here. There are plenty of them elsewhere on the web. The guy who runs the company has a series of amusing videos where he blends things like a pitcher-full of old cell phones.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Mon, Dec 24, 12 at 13:26

Thanks JW

Another happy Costco-vitamix purchaser here (with little time for chatting).

Very happy with mine.

I agree with all I read above and have little add except to the numerator of happiness. ;)

A couple points though: the deals available through the cc warehouse and online at cc and via vitamix directly can be considerably different. What is offered through the warehouse is usually via a "roadshow", at least in socal, and these are private vendors' actions. One misrepresented their product to me and when I informed the manager, well, I was reminded of Trevor's words once discussing the "tearing of a new one". It was clear this was an individual forced to deal with a separate entity that he wasn't wanting to at all. And the offering of that private vendor were different, again, from the cc online site (at that time).

As well, know that if you're interested in additional accessories than are available with whatever package you happen to buy, and you buy these through the VM Customer Reps -- who are very helpful IME, BTW - there is a certain amount of time after the purchase, regardless of from whom, that the accessories are something like half price. So, for example, I wanted a dry-blend carafe that wasn't present in my package (though I have since seen them sold through cc in different packages, so YMMV) -- one rep quoted me a certain cost and then when I went to buy it, the next rep said it was -50% b/c I had just purchased the blender. There was a time limit I forget.

vis-a-vis hummous and sticky sticky stuff (pesto, etc) - I think their specially-shaped hard-plastic spatulas are surprisingly helpful. I called peeved that it wasn't quite the miracle device claimed when I just couldn't remove the sticky glop at the bottom of the pitcher because the blades wouldn't come out. They sent me these spatulas and they were surprisingly affective. They sell them but they were kind enough to send them to me for free since I was peeved about the functionality of the blender at that point.

There is a slight learning curve to it all. I've had one for 9 months or so now? I absolutely do love it. And I've bought a couple blenders over the years at much lower cost but by the time it became necessary to replace them 3 times ... VM would have been cheaper.

I agree about blending cement. It would be my go-to appliance for this. ;)

As for comparison with blendtec, can't say from personal experience. But there is a yahoo group with this question chewed through ad nauseum. I ignore it. I think bottom line is they're both very good and unless you have a clear set of requirements not addressed by one type, you'll be fine with either. There is overlap on parameters between models. That is, some blendtecs may be quieter than some VM; and vice-versa. Some easier to clean -- and vice versa. So I don't think you can across-the-board say one is better than another for any given issue. But if one matters a lot to you, then check that the model you have in mind for the brand you have in mind actually does a good job at that particular thing.

Just so you know, and it is only on this forum I'd have the temerity to claim this, but I think the VM has been a real life-changer in our household. It's a different world crushing ice and fruit cores and skin all up together in seconds, effortlessly. Amazing.

If you can afford one of these machines, or if it is a slight stretch, I would urge you to make that reach. It's a great piece of equipment in your kitchen arsenal. =0.02.

Enjoy@!

Thank you all for this fall 2012 discussion.

Another penitent consumer ready to shove out the big bucks after too many failed attempts. Just checking to see what else might be new as of Spring, 2013.

Will the VM machines - any or all, the Blendtecs, and Brevilles - will they pulverize and emulsify fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds? The green drinks, pulp and all, along with turning ice to snow is my #1 priority.

Here are my failures:
Ninjas - the mobile, engine on top: probably was the most effective, but not convenient as I think I wasn't willing to retrain my brain on how I wanted a blender to work.

Ninja stand model w 2 size pitchers. Wide mouth short pitcher only good for soft items; big pitcher just wasn't emulsifying to the degree I hoped. Too many seeds and other items remained whole.

Magic Bullet - I will ALWAYS keep this on my counter as I use it for salad dressing, chopping herbs, spices; making soft fruit smoothies (frozen fruit and ice are great). For small quantities, oh my...happy happy happy, and I use it daily, but, impractical for the green drinks due to size.

Nutra bullet - thought I found nirvana being MB's big sister. Hoped it would do what the big buck models do, but tons easier / faster to clean. So sad that my first 5 or so tries did not emulsify AND leaked - and leaked regardless of amount and type of contents. I may have a defective model, but not willing to spend $ - or time - to figure this out.

Kitchen Aid - had one for years that sat unused as I thought it was fairly useless, a model that's about 10 years old now, so this is no reflection on today's models, but I have no interest in trying again.

Anything new to consider?

Thanks all

>>>"Will the VM machines - any or all, the Blendtecs, and Brevilles - will they pulverize and emulsify fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds? The green drinks, pulp and all, along with turning ice to snow is my #1 priority. "VM machines are indeed supposed to do that. Cooks Illustrated's recent (Sept. 2012) blender testing included smoothies made with kale and frozen pineapple, items notable for being fibrous and stringy. High marks for "little or no pulp."

As I stated above, I make a soup with garden peas and spinach and the VM 5200 produces a velvety smooth puree that I do not have to sieve before serving, just as VM claims.

Cooks Illustrated found that the Breville was not quite as good as the VM5200 for the kale & frozen pineapple smoothies. Apparently, a bit more pulp and stringy bits than with the VM although significantly better than the other blenders tested. OTOH, CI thought that the Breville wa a bit more adept at emulsifying hummus than the VM.

CI did not include a Blendtec model in the tests and I have no first hand knowledge of it. As you doubtless discovered from using the search engine, hardly anybody at GW seems to have Blendtec, so there is practically no info on it here. Try searching at Chowhound as I recall several long discussions there which included Blendtecs.

Thanks JWV. Based on this thread, and a # of video reviews I've been watching, from home consumers to CI, this seems to be what I'm hearing:

- Vitamix 500 and 700 series will do what I want. Just a matter of me sorting out costs and other differences of preference

- Breville - still no word on motor longevity, and yes, lots of demos suggest Vitamix may still (slightly) out perform on the nuts, seeds, fiberous/stringy, frozen item emulsion tests

- Blendtecs - just seems to be outperformed by the above machines

Thanks much!

I just made a smoothie this morning in my 750 including frozen banana, frozen pineapple, hemp seed and baby kale.

Smooth, Smooth Smooth.

Got on the 'bay in limited edition RED for $515 including delivery.

Love my Blendtec...and at least I don't need a 'stick' to tamp food down with as I saw with the Vitamix (if that's still required). When I bought the Blendtec a year ago, the necessity of that stick is what sealed my decision to forget about the Vitamix. I haven't regretted that decision.

You need to use the tamper on the VM as often as you need a spatula or the Twister jar on the Blendtec.

That is why Blendtec now markets the twister jar (with spatula) .

You need it when there is not enough liquid and creates air pockets. I did not use my tamper this morning.

What a great price deeageaux.

On a hunt for a 750. We'll see.

AnnaA wrote: "- Blendtecs - just seems to be outperformed by the above machines [i.e., VM and Breville]"

Are you perhaps referring to Cook's Illustrated's September 2009 blender shoot-out in which a Blendtec Total Blender fared poorly?

Those results did not seem to match what I saw in watching the Blendtec demos at Costco --- my only first hand experience with them, btw. As far as I could see, the Blendtecs seemed fully as capable as the VM units for anything they cared to demo. Karenlee and numbers of Chowhound posters seem to have very different user experiences than what turned up in the CI testing. Maybe CI's Blendtec Total unit was a lemon or a maybe it was bad design that has been replaced or updated? Or maybe there was some user error? Don't know.

To me, Blendtec and VitaMix just seem to go about things a little differently. Kind of Mac and PC thing, as near as I could tell.

Karenlee56:

As far as I could tell, the Blendtecs' wider and squatter jar design and its blade configuration are supposed to create a stronger downward vortex so that a tamper may be less helpful than with the VM's narrower jars. Most of the user posts that I've read elsewhere (e.g., Chowhound) seemed to bear that up. Still, I've seen folks touting aftermarket tampers for Blendtecs, so some Blendtec owners must like them for some things. (Probably stuff that folks would not have thought of blending until they got a very heavy duty unit.)

[EDITED TO ADD: Deeagueax posted while I was writing this, and I think that confirms my point.]
FWIW, I have found the VM tamper is not "necessary" or "required" for the blending I've done, but it can be helpful in speeding up blending of some larger or thicker thicker items. Say, making a smoothie with larger chunks of still frozen fruit. It just helps get things done faster in the taller, relatively narrower jar of the VM machines. We're talking the kinds of blending/mixing jobs where one otherwise miight be stopping a blender to scrape down the sides.

Now, according to the manuals and the promotional DVD that came with my VM 5200, the tamper does seem to be recommended by VM for particularly chunky or thick things like kale and chard smoothies and nut butters.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Mar 15, 13 at 18:07

After reading Chowhound and looking at professional comparisons (CI), I trust these top machines discussed here are all good. But given my own regrets over past purchases, and my #1 drive to emulsify whole foods as mentioned above, I was won over by consumer YouTube side by side demos that suggested the Vitamix handles that issue a bit more consistently. So I went with the V750 today.

Gave it a test run making a kale based smoothy with all the tough add ins - nuts and seeds. Smooth and silky! Made a carrot ginger (unstrained) juice - crisp, light, and no bits. And then made a roasted vegetable and lentil purée soup - fun watching it handle the hot stuff. I have some ingredients for a vegan ice cream freezing right now for tomorrow's new experiment.

The idea of a tamper was an initial turn off / concern. But I caught on to what it was doing, and am now very impressed and grateful I don't have to take off the lid and scrape.

Still choking a bit on the price, but I'm hoping this is the last blender I will ever buy!

Thanks everyone!

Whole foods is running a demo in our town right now - I am tempted but still not sure between the 2 models.
But plan to check CL and the Bay - you never know. Snagged a KA mixer for $75!
Help me make the jump!

I'm hunting the recesses of my refrig to throw everything I've got at this machine. Not disappointed yet! Made vegan ice cream today. Headed out to buy peanuts to make pbutter later.

The preprogrammed settings are fun - especially the cleaning cycle. Turns it into a mini washing machine.

I think I'm a happy camper.

Jump in A2 :-)

OK
DH is buying a TV stand that is in the same price range. Now have to find the right price.
Whole Foods only has the tall version

I don't know if this has already been said higher up in this great long thread, but want to add my experience that it really does matter what order you put things into the VM pitcher before you begin. The cookbook that comes with it gives lots of recipe examples, and I've learned that the order of loading really matters. Also, give the machine the time to pull down all the material, and it usually will, so that no tamper is needed. When I first started with my VM, I would stop the machine to push stuff down, then learned that when I went to the sink to do something else, I could return to see the VM doing just fine without my help. This appliance has changed my eating habits, too, and for the better. Throwing handfuls of fresh spinach and kale into my fruit smoothies every morning gets me some green veggies right off for every day.

smiling, that's exactly what I'm doing this morning! :-)

Yes, order is important. Have gluten free vegan muffins baking right now. I'm new to no egg cooking (due to sudden household dietary needs) and am still experimenting with just how to create the best mix of ingredients, whipped up just so. Today, the VM whipped and expanded my wet ingredients to heights I've never seen, and handled the addition of the dry, with VM chopped nuts and fruit (which I pulse chopped first) added last. Poured very nicely into mini muffin cups.

I can see how these machines - whatever brand and model - are life changers.

I can see

Told DH that GW says I need one of these. He didn't say no.. Didn't say much of anything other than listen to me say that WF has one on sale this weekend but I think I want the shorter model which costs a bit more....
So, now - just have to watch for the $100 off sale at a couple stores.

In honor of St Patty's day, a green drink in a pilsner and muffins, all made with the new family addition.

A2, yes, I went with the 750, rather than the 7500 or the 500-series as I wanted the shorter container. And since I was already paying premium, I wanted all the presets too.

When I recover, I imagine myself picking up the 32 oz wet and dry containers too.

I have gathered that you are a creative cook from previous posts, so I look forward to seeing what you create!

Happy hunting!

Thanks for your compliment Anna - wow those are pretty muffins. I was in Ireland for one St Patty's day - they advertised on the TV- Green Beer Imported from the states!
I am sure it will take me a bit to muster the splurge for the 750 - After reading the reviews - I am leaning towards 750.
I forgot how pretty your backplash is - thanks for sharing :-)

AnnaA - your backsplash is GORGEOUS, love the close-up.

Hearing about what everyone is making makes me hungry! I love the recipe ideas. I made a roasted sweet potato misc veggies with red lentils soup over the weekend, have been enjoying it for breakfast every morning this week.

I couldn't find Kale this weekend so here is my frozen pineapple, collard green, banana and OJ smoothie of the day:

OldBat - you are teasing me! Soon, I will be able to make those gorgeous green drinks and hide the Kale from my DH.......

A2, the 750 is calling you! :-)
And OB2 - wow - love the 3 glass line up. And the soup sounds wonderful! I bet you have a great reservoir of recipes!

Made a chocolate hazelnut butter. I was shocked how easily it melted and emulsified simply chopped unsweetened chocolate - no pre melting needed. Added a little bit of raw Manuka honey and stevia - the ultimate no guilt take on Nutella.

Trader Joes sells Tuscan Kale pre washed and torn into pieces - some of the freshest and easy to use. I see more frequent trips to TJs in my future. :-)

Thanks for the nods to the backsplash. I still have yet to do some nice shots.

A2, we will look for your inaugural experiments.

I think before I would buy a $500 blender I would opt for something like the Bosch Universal Plus mixer with a Blender attachment.
Not quite the power of the Vita Mix (Just over 1hp vs 1.9hp) but as much as I would ever need, plus for the same price as the Vita Mix I get a nice Mixer which also has attachments for pasta, meat grinder, etc etc.
Bit more bang for the buck.

well i would have to say go with VM. i have 3 of them at different houses and love them. as for as making hummus nothing does it better and more consistent then the VM. believe me i have tried. also my wife is Palestinian and her family has been making it for a long time.(actually born there) and when i started making it in the vitamix with using sesame seeds they love it. always the comes out the same. i have the 5200, 750 and i prefer the pro series 500. thats at my house i live at most of the time.

Nun - interesting idea - I picked up a Kitchenaid mixer on CL for $75 - I doubt that I will grind my own meat but the option is there for the future.

hjscm - I am watching for a possible deal but probably will break down before then...
Why do you like the 500 over the 750.

i don't know why. i like the taller container for some reason. i don't keep anything out on counter so don't mind the size. plus i have lots of cabinets so not a problem. has anyone tried scrambled eggs? i tried a couple of times and they were pretty fluffy.

a2gemini.
You might have a look at the 'Ninja System Blender"
Has the same 2HP motor, what appears to be a better blade design than the VM and comes with a lot more accessories.
Plus it only cost $160.

May or may not be as good as the Vita Mix but it cost $400 less.

Here is a link that might be useful: ninja Blender

I enjoy hearing everyone's unique perspectives on why they pick what they do.

Once I decided to splurge, I wanted to go all the way and get the presets that come with the 750, and I liked the idea of a shorter bowl. I am realizing how easily amused I am - I just love that clean function. I don't know why, but I get a kick out of watching it start out slow, kick up to hyper speed, then slow down to a stop. I've gone through my fair share of appliances (see earlier post in this thread), and I've never had a machine as easy to clean as this. Very happy here.

used to have blendtec, now a vitamix user. here is some info on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ac8u3ofZLc

Here is a link that might be useful: youtube video

this is such a loaded topic! Blendtec vs. Vitamix, vi vs. emacs, Boeing vs. Airbus etc etc etc.

Although this thread is full of Vitamix fans, I believe that it's an anomaly, the allegiance usually falls 45%-45% (to make room for the also-ran brands).

I have a Blendtec and am very happy with it. The wildside jar and lack of plunger use requirement steered me towards it. One difference between Blendtec and either Vitamix or Ninja is the construction of the blade. Blendtec's is not sharp, therefore it can't get dull! Something about its geometry and RPM makes it perform very well by just crushing things, not cutting them.

I have made a 24oz green smoothie every other day in the past 18 months with perfect, consistent results. Milkshakes, tomato soup, various purees etc. Zero issues so far (the count is at 483). Will it last to 20000? I don't know but am willing to test it.

To conclude, you can't go wrong with either one. Maybe flip a coin.

JWVideo (in 2012 December): "In September, Cooks Illustrated published its latest blender ratings. It gave highest marks to ability and durablity to the Vitamix 5200 but thught a substantially less expensive Breville was almost as good. They are waiting to find out about durability."

A few years ago, I triumphantly scored a close-out Bosch MMB-2000UC blender for a great price after Bosch discontinued the model. I was certain that, weighing a ton, and built like a Sherman tank (link below), the Bosch, the third blender we had bought since 1972, would be The Last Blender We Ever Would Need. And indeed, it served us well for several years; but last week, in the midst of a very simple task (converting two-day-old bread to panko), the motor ran, but the blades did not turn. Investigation revealed that the heavy glass container had been secured to the motor base ever so slightly askew and the mating nylon cogs between the two components had stripped each other of their respective teeth. We suddenly had a new doorstop and an unexpected immediate need for a new blender.

I had always assumed that in the (very unlikely, I thought) event that we should ever need a new blender, the VitaMix would be the only one that could be as good as our Bosch. But, in doing my due diligence, I read the Cook's Illustrated September 2012 article to which JWVideo refers, and the summary of others' tests at http://www.consumersearch.com/blenders/breville-hemisphere-control-bbl605xl; then I read (many, but not all, of) the 306 (of which 205 were 5-star and another 47 were 4-star) reviews of the Breville BBL605XL at amazon.com, some of which were written by consumers who alleged that they owned both a VitaMix 5200 and a Breville BBL605XL, and actually preferred the latter for most tasks. On the basis of so much praise. we took the plunge for the Breville.

Aside: it seems that of the 306 reviews, at least 305 of them mention kale. When I was growing up, if a farmer planted kale, then while he waited for it to grow in his field, he usefully could occupy himself by filling out his application to bankruptcy court, because there would be no market for the crop when it was harvested. Times have changed, it seems.

I sincerely hope that this time we have purchased The Last Blender We Ever Would Need.

Here is a link that might be useful: The beloved late departed

another convert from Breville to VM:
just threw my old Breville in the trash. It worked fine for a couple of years but then recently started smelling like burnt rubber when working.

Went with the VM 750 and so far so good. Like the preprogrammed settings. The tamper is a great thing if you're making something really thick.

HEADS UP:
VitaMix just issued a recall for the blade in my blender. I believe it's for certain blenders sold in the last year or so, including the 750. details are on the VM website. I linked to it through Consumer Reports

I just checked and mine is on the recall list. Be sure you get all 18 numbers into the verify recall. My phone was only taking 16 of the digits and it kept saying not a recall vs not a valid serial number.

Herring, how is the Breville? Any other Breville owners? I would prefer not to have the VM counter space concern. Breville with a 20% BBB coupon seems to be a possible solution. Are there things the VM or BT can do that the Breville cannot. Such as make soup? Do I need a blender that can make soup? Thoughts?

Loved reading through this thread. My trusty Oster of 10 plus buttons and 10 + years did not make it through the second can of garbanzo beans for hummus the other night and gave up in a blaze of glory (or at least a spark!) It worked so well and I keep wondering if I had just let it rest a little...My children keep telling me I should not blame myself but honestly who else? It feels like the end of an era but I amazed it has made it this far given what I put it through, weekly sometimes daily smoothies with any and every vegetable I could find. I tried a juicer but I the juice without the fiber made me too hungry. I still have the juicer which my kids actually like using for apple juice when they are in season. Supposedly I can make nut butters with it but I have never tried.

So now I seek an Oster replacement. When I first started emulsifying fruits and vegetables (I make a beet shake that I swear by during cold season) in summer 2011, I went to a Blendtec demo at a Costco an hour away. I really thought I would buy it. I went just for the demo. However, the one issue I had with the Oster was raspberry seeds. I was surprised that in theBlendtec sample they made, you could still feel the seeds. They lost me after that, plus I did not want the expense or counter space clutter. Especially when my $25 Oster seemed to do the job. My smoothies until two nights ago, were smooth!I have been expecting the Oster to give up eventually and I am surprised it took this long. If I had not done the garbanzos I think it would have been fine.

I originally thought of just getting a new Oster but I thought why not get something more. However, I am still not entirely sure what more I am getting.

I mostly blend whole frozen fruit like mango, leafy vegetables (yes the ubiquitous kale), and garbanzo beans for hummus. I was also blending sweet potato type soups however I will no longer need that I hope. To tide me over I have already bought a Breville immersion wand and chopper bowl (one limitation is it only has one blade so seems to chop everything one way!) Which I used to puree soup and make a smoothie yesterday. So far ok although the smoothie took longer than I would like.

One thing I am curious about since I have been making a lot of mung and azuki bean soups lately (feel free to put this in the kale category, I had never heard of either before a year ago!) I did try the Blendtec 3 ingredient soup at the demo. For those who own either machine, how often do you use it to make the type of soup they hype at the demos? Not to blend ingredients before or after but to actually cook the soup in a short amount of time?I would not imagine the Breville can do that or can it? Do I even need that feature?

Thank you for any thoughts and opinions

I struggled with the VItamix or Blendtec question for a long time. If I spent half as much time blending as I do researching, I'll be in really good shape :) Anyway, my mom had the 5200 from Costco and that really got me excited about the Vitamix. However, I really wanted the 750 and it is pricey. The Blendtec does offers a lot for a lower price.

What really sold me on the 750 were videos on youtube where they ran side by side. The ice cream videos weren't even close. The Vitamix blew the Blendtec away. Not that I will me making ice cream everyday, but it really highlighted the power and efficiency of the Vitamix.

If you're on the fence, watch the videos and see them in action. You can also check out my full write up posted on my blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://blendersmoothies.com/vitamix-vs-blendtec/

I'd definitely recommend investing in either a Blendtec or Vitamix over the other cheaper brands. There's a bit of a sticker shock... but I got so tired of replacing my junky blenders every few months/years that the Vitamix 7 year warranty won me over. I think Blendtec has a similar one.

I've never regretted it. Vitamix's are amazing machines. I've heard the same of Blendtec. Honestly, at that price point, both blenders are going to be amazing. I think it's just a matter of personal style.

You can save quite a bit of money buying a factory reconditioned model online. They come with new containers, etc. and I think a 5 year warranty. You can also get free shipping using a promo code from an affiliate like http://rawblends.com/vitamix-blender or http://boozysmoothies.com/blendtec-promo-code

Here is a link that might be useful: vitamix promo code