Total Classic Original Blender and 75 oz FourSide Blender Jar - Kitchen Blender Bundle - Black

I must give you a little bit of history before reviewing the Blendtec . . . Our local Costco was having a Vita-Mix road show and i bought it knowing that I really liked everything I had ever read about a Blendtec. A couple of my friends raved about the Vita-Mix, so I felt I needed to pay a little attention. A large purchase like this deserved a little research so that I wouldn't have any regrets. I watched the demo, was impressed and took home the Vita-Mix that day. I was anxious to make a smoothie with it because I had been using the Magic Bullet for five months. I made my first smoothie with it, and it turned out great but the "honeymon" didn't last very long. I did not like the sheer size of the Vita-Mix! It sat VERY high on my counter, wouldn't fit under the cabinet and it looked like it belonged in a commercial-sized kitchen, not mine. I absolutely disliked everything about the lid, except the ability to drizzle liquids in from the opening. The lid was not easy to put on nor remove. And the tamper!!! A good machine should not require a tamper to push the food around. The blender canister has these decorative grooves on the sides and oh what difficulty to "get every last bit out" with a a rubber scraper. I felt like I was wasting food! Then, I made a vegetable pate and the 4-pronged blade made it extremely difficult to get the food hiding below the blade. By this time, I had had enough and was only too happy to take it back to Costco. That same night, I ordered my Blendtec. It arrived promptly and have LOVED everything about it since Day One! It is so-o-o-o easy to "get every last bit out" because the sides of the blender doesn't have the unnecessary decorative grooves on the side. It makes a big difference if you're the type that doesn't like to waste. I feel that the Vita-Mix and Blendtec are equally noisy, but it does its job so quickly and efficiently that it really isn't on for very long. It is so efficient and powerful that it doesn't need a silly tamper to get everything blended well. It fits under my cabinet where I like to keep it and it is just perfect in every way. I make whole fruit and/or leafy green smoothies, sometimes twice a day, and it's always smooth and perfectly blended. As long as you add the proper amount of liquid, that "vortex" forms and everything gets pulled downwards. Everything i make just comes out absolutely perfect. I just can't say enough good things about this machine.

I waited a few weeks before entering this review to get a better perpective, and this blender does not disappoint! It is solid, simple, and does exactly what it claims to do. Cleaning could not be easier (use hot water to rinse out because of the sugars in fruits and my favorite sweetener, agave.) Every few uses put a couple drops of dish soap in with a bit of hot water and run the blender for a few seconds. This blender fits under my cabinets even when in use. The programs are good, but I find myself using the manual speeds just as much. *Weight Watchers* -- If you are in Weight Watchers, or are considering it, this is a great tool. I use this every day on the program, and sometimes twice a day. On the Points Plus program, fruit and veggies are not counted against you, so just toss in whatever you have, fresh or frozen, then some spinach, then some of your favorite fiber powder or protein powder, sweeten with splenda or my choice of agave, and finally add crushed ice on top. This gives you a large smoothie with between 0-4 points depending on how you sweeten it. Make sure to read the instructions, as this will give you great hints such as placing the liquids on the bottom, fruit/veggies in the middle, and ice chips on top. This blender goes through anything! Peel, core, seeds, ice, whatever. Don't bother doing too much prep, one of the excuses I used to have was that eating healthy foods took too much time. Just toss it in and turn it on then rinse it out. Hint: Buy larger, stronger straws. Sucking down a delicious whole foods smoothie is more fun with a proper straw. I use a Starbucks reusable cold cup with it's own straw. This (and any other high power unit) is quite loud. But most cycles last less that 40 seconds, and some are done in much less than that. To make great (and much cheaper) Frappacino drinks, buy some xanthum gum which prevents separation. Use Starbucks Via (iced variety), add cocoa powder and sweeten as desired. Add ice chips, skim milk, and xanthum gum. For weight watchers, the Via contains a bit of sugar, so beware of adding too much additional sweet stuff. Other stuff you can make include: healthy dips, soups, salsa, hummus and so much more. Yes, this blender is expensive, but it is of such higher quality that it is well worth it. Also, the money you spend on this is nothing compared to the expense of health related expenses of being like me: overweight, out of shape, and not eating fruits/veggies. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy mine. UPDATE 21 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE: Still going strong after 21 months! The counter reads 601 smoothies/sauces/soups and much more. This should give you an idea of how much we use ours... nearly every day. We have 'sneaked in' tons of veggie of all colors and types and our kids love it! Then we tell them there was spinach or kale in it and they shrug, and say 'well, I guess we like kale now.' As long as it's blended in this awesome blender anyway...

I’m surprised it has taken me this long to write a review. Sorry if this is a bit of a novel, but this blender has changed my life!! I’ve been using the Blendtec for the last two and a half years to make veggie shakes – it is an amazing machine. Some folks prefer juicers as opposed to a blender, but I find that you waste all of the fiber, which is good for you and fills you up as well (you get something that is a bit more like juice with a juicer, but the Blendtec does an amazing job at making it pretty smooth and you don’t waste any part of the vegetables/fruits). I’m sure the Vitamix works well also, but the Blendtec seems to be more powerful (plus the Vitamix looks like it was designed in the 70s). Quickly after I started juicing I started to lose weight, after 5 or 6 weeks I dropped 15lbs, while still enjoying what I wanted to eat for most meals. With regard to recipes there are all kinds of concoctions. I usually buy about 4 days’ worth of veggies when I shop. My concoction is very green and consists of the following: Kombucha (full bottle - as you need some liquid for blending). I’d recommend the one with Chia seeds in it as it adds sweetness, tastes great, and has no carbonation (and Chia seeds are really high in Omega 3). Fermented drinks are really good for you and help break down foods in your system. Whole Foods sells their own brand of Kombucha as well (at least in the Bay Area). Coconut water is a good alternative, but I don’t care for the taste. Everything organic (not necessary, just personal preference): Always 2 of the following (I mix it up): Kale, Dandelion greens, collard greens, broccoli, or watercress (I use half the bundle of kale, etc, that whole foods sells, except for the watercress which is smaller - I use the whole thing that Whole Foods sells as the serving). A roma tomato (cheaper than slicer tomatoes) 4 or so good size white mushrooms 2 medium size carrots or one large carrot 1/3 cucumber (I like the taste and it has some other benefits such as Vitamin E); I sometimes purchase red bell pepper in place of this (high in vitamin C, but I sometimes have a hard time finding the organic variety). Starting out, you may want to add fruit if it is too bitter for you – I typically added pears when I did, or sometimes strawberries for flavor (4 or 5 strawberries can impact the flavor quite a bit if you want it sweeter). Occasionally I also add some beets as these are really good for you (a great detoxifier as well). This provides for about 40-48oz of liquid goodness (I really do love the flavor - it never gets old). I usually drink this 5 days out of the week for dinner (Sunday through Thursday). It takes me 15 minutes flat to prepare this. I usually supplement it with something else - perhaps yogurt or a small serving of fish (I also like to eat a small piece of dark chocolate (70-80% cocoa). For breakfast or lunch, I eat whatever I want (although, I’ve cut back on dairy and eggs recently). On weekends I usually splurge as well (beers, pizza, etc). I actually eat more than I used to. But every morning when I step on the scale I am right at 160lbs (I’m 5’8” with an athletic build). The fiber likely has a lot to do with it. And I’m not a big exercise buff - on a good week I’ll run twice (3 miles each session), and I’ll do a couple of free weight exercises once or twice a week. I’ve always suffered from high blood pressure (always at the high-end of pre-hypertension since my mid-twenties). I’m turning 40 next month and my last blood pressure reading was 104 over 70! Although, I have to admit that I became a Pescetarian last year (cut out meat except for seafood (wild only as a preference)), and I saw my biggest drop over the last year, but it could also be from the cumulative effect of the veggies over the past two and a half years. I turned to the blender after feeling like I was running out of energy and was having a harder time getting through the week at a stressful job. I am glad that I did - physically, I feel great (no medication, ailments, etc). I grew up on the East coast eating processed foods - I always had a microwave hot pocket in my hand so it was a radical change for me. The blender idea got in my head after watching a couple of those juicing documentaries from a couple of years ago (“Fat, Sick, and nearly dead” was one of them). Anyhow, I’m sure I could go on and on (I know some of my co-workers would tell you the same, especially in the first year - although I’ve probably been responsible for over 15 Blendtecs sold among family, friends, and acquaintances - I should really start getting kickbacks from Blendtec). Admittedly it has not worked for everyone (can’t get into the taste or just can’t commit to it on a regular basis), but the majority of the folks have gotten a lot of benefit out of it and quite a few have become full converts like me. Anyhow, this has just been my experience with blending and I wanted to share it in the hopes it might help others with their health.

Wowza! This is an amazing blender. But then it should be for what you pay for it. It is really robust and has fantastic function buttons for things like "smoothies" and "soup" which makes it really easy to make them. It is very powerful and relatively easy to clean (read the manual -- you actually put water and a little dab of dish soap and then run it). A friend has one of these and making smoothies at her house convinced me I need one as well. It comes with a book of recipes and you can find loads of Blendtec recipes on the internet. It has a little counter that keeps track of number of uses at I just made it past 100. Another friend who has one is in the 900 range. This is the little engine that just keeps going!

I'm one of those people that usually has to learn something the hard way. Blenders were no different, apparently. I went through "a few of them", and luckily I was able to escape with my wallet relatively unscathed. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was going to need that wallet. Because what I needed out of a blender was apparently industrial strength. I make smoothies like a lot of people, but for some reason the mix of ingredients I use invariably "lets the smoke out" of 99% of the blenders out there. Now I'm a pretty simple person (if having to learn the hard way wasn't an anvil-shaped clue). In my world, if I'm not blending rocks (if I'm actually blending something edible) then a normal blender should be able to...blend. I don't know, maybe it's something about the name. So after learning the hard way, it took some coaching to make the leap to an even-more-serious blender than I had tried before...and I had tried some blenders. To be honest, after going through all of those inferior blenders, the opinion only solidified more. A blender should be able to blend. So if you have to pay $400 for one, it better do it perfectly, and for a long time. The choice for this model started with friends recommending it. Then it was onto the "Will it Blend" videos. They're pretty effective. Especially the one where he blends cubic zirconians into dust. I figured "okay, if it'll do that it should handle my smoothies". And it did, for the most part, and for a while. One problem is with certain ingredients. The unit will vibrate *very strongly* if you put certain food ingredients in together. No, nothing extreme like the blend videos. Normal food (okay, maybe "tricky" food). A blender like this shouldn't vibrate enough for an owner to have to hold it down with both hands so it doesn't vibrate off the counter. And there's apparently another problem when the unit vibrates with heavier-duty food ingredients in it--the digital display can flake out. Just like mine did. After over a year of use, the display lights up basically whenever it feels like it. Yeah, that's not good. The other problem is the "heavier food ingredients" I mentioned. In my case, it was a magic ratio of ice and...of all things...peanut butter. Warm peanut butter is nothing, I can blend that with my eyes. Cold peanut butter--made cold by ice especially--that's apparently a different story in the alternate universe of blending. PB and ice is no synthetic diamond, but apparently it's up there. With one blend, I could actually smell ionized air from the blender. Of course I stopped it immediately. And cursed at it to give me my money back. My final criticism (okay, no promises): the jar. I was very careful when I made the move to buy this. I read a *lot* of the reviews on here. (Thanks for those by the way, and yes they really do help.) One thing I saw a lot of was people complaining about the lifespan of the 2 quart jar. Most of the problems seemed to be caused by dishwasher use. Now for me, I'm thinking a $90 blend jar should be able to withstand a lifetime of dishwasher washes on heavy-duty wash using hot water and the strongest detergent you can get your hands on. I sort of refuse to change my mind on that, $90 is a lot of money for questionable engineering. I did manage to promise myself to only hand wash mine, though. And I have. It's been 14 months now. I've always used regular dish soap, warm water, and my hand. Seriously. And after 14 months, about 15% of the gasket that marries the blade mechanism to the jar has 'particle-ized' and deposited itself in a ring around the jar's base that surrounds it and forms the 'feet' it sits on when it's on the blender. And that material is apparently not optional because the blade is now noticeably harder to turn when you try to with your hand. Uh yeah, this shouldn't be. I don't know how much more life it has. I do know I could not have babied it more. And I know if it doesn't last at least another 10 months then what's wrong isn't how we treat them--it's how they're designed. Okay, enough of the criticism. I'll give the Blendtec this--it is extremely powerful for an appliance that takes power from a normal wall outlet. And it has blended some 250 44 oz smoothies (I do it in two 22oz batches, one after the other, so really it's 500 uses). It only faulted twice (once when it ionized air, and again when the display developed a mind of its own). That puts its performance in a world of its own. If I had to bet, I'd bet this thing will last another 4 years. And I understand who I am--I'm most likely a heavy-duty user. Still, if it doesn't last another 4 years I'm going to be getting on the phone with someone, and they're either going to correct the problem or I'm going to make my own video with my own blender, complete with its level of performance. And then I'm going to turn right around and try the competition. This is a seriously good blender for the money...but for the money we're talking about, we deserve excellence.

Our BlendTec blender rocks! Super easy to clean, operate, and does such a super job that I can't stop telling people about it. It took less than 3 seconds to completely shred 2 large boiled chicken breasts for chicken salad. I have used it to coursely chop celery and carrots to use for stuffed bell peppers. We've made salsas using all sorts of veggies. At first it intimidated me. I did not want to waste my expensive organic fruits and veggies making wierd concoctions. But I have learned to keep it on low, pressing the ^ button only once. That way it does not whir everything into a liquid until I want it to. I can actually prepare recipes so much more quickly. The only thing it does not do is SLICE. Cleanup is a breeze and it is attractive enough to leave on the kitchen counter...but not too tall that it couldn't be put in a cabinet. Amazon mailed it to me within days. It is VERY UNCOMPLICATED to use and comes with a small cookbook. It is less expensive than the Costco Blender and easier to clean. My daughter has the Costco blender. I've used them both. Following the directions to put wet/liquid items in first, then the chunky things and Ice on top makes smoothies very easy. I did blend some roasted nuts into Cashew Butter and had to stop, poke the sides with a spatula a couple of times to get the butter to move so that more nuts could be ground, but it was so simple and easy...just use a long spoon, or spatula. This would make a very good gift for someone who wants to incorporate more fiber, fruits and veggies into their diet. Unlike a juicer, the whole piece of fruit or vegetable is used. Dr. Oz has convinced me that eating lots more green, leafy vegetables is good for us. Put some seedless organic grapes (resveratol), frozen peaches, carrots, and baby spinach leaves into this blender...add ice and even a sprig of mint and Voila!! Delicious and healthy drink. My husband made an iced coffee drink one morning. Making baby food from leftovers would be a great money saver for young families too. The list is endless! No blender is quiet.. this one is very tolerable, so the loud noise is not an issue.

SEE WARNING AT END OF REVIEW ABOUT WASHING JARS WITH SOAPY WATER! 651 uses, now dead. Jar wore out at about 500 uses. The square jar sucks, don't buy any unit that doesn't come with the wildside jar. Frankly, with these jars wearing out so fast and at these prices, Blendtec should offer a lifetime warranty on the machine just to get us to keep buying jars. UPDATE 3/7/2013 (See below about the jars): I ponied up another $450 to buy a new designer series with a 7-year warranty. Didn't want to bother with Costco, which offers 8 years! The new one is slick, with a very nice control panel. I got it with the big jar, and I noticed with the small jar it makes 3 times the noise! Seriously, do not buy with the small jar! I use this thing many times a day, and I though that the jar had gone out already after just a few months. I called Blendtec and they sent a new one. Turns out that the jar is fine, it was just a little water dripping on the machine and getting sucked in under the jar due to the high speed. IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE JARS: Be sure to clean the jar with soapy water at high-speed blend for maximum life. According to the Blendtec engineer I spoke with, sugars can speed deterioration of the rubber seal. See below for more update info. The bottom line? Don't get this version, buy the Designer series. For $50 bucks it is worth it. Take care of your jar correctly, and then it is a good deal if you use it a lot. UPDATE AGAIN April 7, 2013: The run count on the new blender is already almost 600. That is because I use it a lot and I wash it every time. However, I do not use soapy water every time, and now I never fill it more than 1/3 with soapy water. SOAPY WATER WARNING: Never fill more than 1/3 with soapy water! The lid blew off and sent soapy water into my cups full of smoothie, and drowned many cardboard packages on the counter top, and finally soaked the wall behind the counter. Although they redesigned the lid to have a large opening to prevent blow-ups, soapy water can produce so many bubbles that they can't get through the opening fast enough! This blended soapy water is great for washing dishes, by the way. It looks like high-quality Italian frothed milked, ready to make a top-flight cappuccino!

Just received my Blendtec and I am so pleased with it! Other reviewers said that it was LOUD. While it is loud, it's just as loud as any other blender. I did not find it especially disruptive. The noisiest part was at the beginning of the cycle when it was blending the frozen fruit. Also reviewers said that the lid flew off when blending. I'm guessing they did not have the lid fastened on properly. On the four sides of the lid are little lips that click onto the jar to keep it in place - which is why it takes me a second to take off the lid in the video. I used the smoothie setting and it made a very consistent and delicious drink! I could still feel the texture of the raspberry seeds, but I think that's to be expected. I was skeptical that a drop of dish-soap and water would clean all the seeds off the side of the jar, but it WORKED! So happy to have such an easy clean-up! I also used the hot soup setting with some lentil soup I had in the fridge. In 3 mins that soup was steaming! I'm not much of a fan of pureed soups, but if you do like them that setting is awesome! I'm looking forward to making hot cider! It fits perfectly under my kitchen cabinets! Registering the blender was super easy on the Blendtec website. I simply had to find the serial number on the bottom of the blender and fill out a form. Amazon is one of their registered stores, so the warranty is effective for 8 years! The user manual is less than terrific - it includes very basic instructions and only a few recipes. I checked out their website though and there are TONS of great looking recipes! Very happy with my purchase! EDITED AFTER 1 MONTH: I wanted to add a couple things I've noticed after some use. First, make sure to always clean it RIGHT AWAY otherwise things get stuck on and it isn't pretty. Sometimes I still need to use a sponge to get some seeds off. Also I've found it has trouble with too much frozens, so try to use a mix of frozen and fresh items! If you found my review helpful, please click Yes below!

La verdad es que pensaba gastar un poco menos para comprar una de otra marca, pero no me arrepiento para nada haberme decidido por ésta. Es sencillamente la mejor licuadora que he tenido en toda mi vida- pulveriza el hielo en segundos y hace unas margaritas y frapuccinos deliciosos, ya probé la función de helado y lo dejó cremoso y con la textura perfecta. Los smoothies los prepara a la perfección sin ningún grumo y puedo ponerle frutas enteras lo cual reduce considerablemente el tiempo de preparado. La licuadora se limpia trabajando el motor durante 10 segundos con agua y jabón, y vaya que se limpia. Es sencillamente perfecta.

I am so happy with this Blentec blenter. My wife and I had been looking for a replacement (and improvement) for my Oyster blender (6 years old) for quick sometimes and were saving for a Vitamix pro 750 until one of my friends showed me the 'will it blend' videos. The guy was using a Blentec blender and it was quite impressive. Amazon had this Blentec TB-621-20 on promo during Boxing Day 2016 and that' s all we needed to make this investment. Pros: - powerful engine - blends everything (so far) - awesome built quality - the jar design (square) makes it easy to pour and clean - the preset modes handle your desired blend mode (try the soup mode, you will be amazed) Cons - a bit noisy, especially with frozen fruits or veggs - the absence of recipe book (my friend got one with his Vitamix and I have been using his recipes) - would have been nice if it came with a mixing temper (for a machine worth over $700 it should be included) We could not be happier, this blender is a real powerhouse!! So far we have used it 30+ times making morning shakes, smoothies, frozen drinks, and soups. No matter what we throw at it, the results are always spectacular. Kale (comes out super smooth), raw carrots (blend in seconds), frozen blackberries (can hardly feel the seeds), ...

This blender works very well.

El vendedor es súper atento y el precio está muy bien. Lamentablemente la licuadora salió defectuosa pero se puedo pedir el reembolso sin problema. Son licuadoras muy buenas la pediré de nuevo ya que es un buen producto y vendedor de primera.

This blender is amazing! I haven't tried everything on it but am very happy so far. It is on the loud side but that isn't an issue for me. Totally recommend Blendtec