The 801010 Appliance Upgrade ?

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Permalink Reply by Chris P. on June 22, 2012 at 2:49am

I got a refurbished BlenTec for father's day and comparing it to my $90.00 "regular" blender is like a night and day difference! The BlendTec makes smoothies smooth and quickly! And it cost us $199.00, which is down from it's $1000.00+ new pricetag. You can do a search for refurbished blendtec on Amazon.com to see them.

I plan to do a write up, including how I reprogrammed a couple of the buttons so I could have a high speed option to pulverize seeds from raspberries and strawberries, mine cam programmed at 70% max I think. Anyway, It was simple to do.

The company gets the blenders from closing coffee houses, etc,sends them off to a 3rd party refurbisher and then sells them at crazy-low prices. You don't get a guarantee that the blender you end up with will be your kitchen centerpiece, looks-wise, but they work great, at least mine has so far.

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Permalink Reply by magicreative on June 22, 2012 at 3:41am

Well, sounds like you did good on Father's Day Chris !  Ya - a lot of folks here on 30Bad ( Freelee + ) claim that a Blen Tec is great - I'll look into the refurbishes on Amazon.

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Permalink Reply by dangermouse on June 22, 2012 at 3:13am

You can get an Oster Beehive for 60 bucks on Amazon.  I've had mine for years and it's used heavily - 2 to 5 times a day.  It's built well with all metal drivetrain and blade assemblies.  Nothing on mine has worn out yet - and if it does, Oster parts are cheap, easy to find, and almost always interchangeable.  I bought a different blade for mine with 6 knives instead of the original 4.  It handles thicker liquids much better now, so I don't have to limit the amount of frozen fruit I put into smoothies.  I soak my dates for a couple hours usually before making datorade and it's fine.  Obviously it's not going to be as smooth as a Blendtec or VitaMix.  If you want a high-speed blender, you have to get a high-speed blender.  If you want a good cheap blender, get an Oster.

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Permalink Reply by magicreative on June 22, 2012 at 3:52am

Ya - I have an Oster - they're the best as far as your standard home blenders go.  I notice that it takes a while for mine to blend through a big carafe of date-o-rade and then - if I want it really smooth - I have to strain it - using one of those wire mesh strainers folks use to wash green beans and whatever.

I'll look into the Oster 6 knife blade.  I hope they come out with a blade set that has flatter edged blades that "mash" instead of "cut".  Oster seems to not have caught onto that concept yet as they only use the sharp blades.  Supposedly the flat edge blade makes better smoothies ?? - although the new "Ninja" brand of smoothie blenders uses another type of "sharp" blade system.

Thanks for your reply - it's kind of fun getting into this !

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Permalink Reply by dangermouse on June 22, 2012 at 7:28am

I find keeping the smoothie as thick as possible until the very end helps get it smoother.  That's why I like this blade - it sucks down really thick liquids.  I never have chunks or anything in mine, but it's still a bit pulpy - not totally emulsified the way a high speed blender would get it.

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Permalink Reply by magicreative on June 22, 2012 at 7:31am

Cool tip - thanks ! - So keep the amount of water low until everything is blended well - ya - cool.

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Permalink Reply by Esperanza Vite - The Raw Monkey on June 22, 2012 at 4:02am

I have a tribest personal blender and it's great! It works fine for datorade, green smoothies, regular smoothies etc. It is small though so you have to use a few jugs per meal. But its size does mean it's good for transporting around, as it fits easily in a bag and the jug doubles as a drinking cup. It's also BPA-free which is an added bonus! I got mine quite cheap, and chose it because of having celiac disease - I don't want to have to spend loads replacing the jug if i get any gluten on it (you never know when 'friend' is going to come round and drop their biscuits all over the place!!!) and you can buy additonal jugs fairly cheaply here in the uk. But to get back to the point...if you want something a bit cheaper that still works well the tribest is a good bet. Though I'm now very tempted by the BlendTec after Chris's response! ;)

Esperanza xxx

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Permalink Reply by Richard on June 22, 2012 at 8:05am

I'm renovating an old house in France and I haven't built my kitchen yet. I've been getting all kinds of advice from friends and family about what appliances to get - ie. ovens and hobs etc. but I've got no reason to buy those things and I doubt I'm going to take my dehydrator over there either. I think the money spent on ovens and hobs could be better invested in a good blender and a good electric slicer / grater for making salads. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a Vitamix or Blendtec for the blender, but what about the slicer / grater - can anyone recommend a good one?

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Permalink Reply by magicreative on June 22, 2012 at 8:23am

Sounds awesome - where in France ? - I would love to live in Provence.

Anyway - my experiences with slicers has been such that I just go back to my knives and bamboo cutting boards - although a Cuisinart is great if you have major food processing to do.

There are some good mandolins out there that slice and dice - sushi bars use them to make all kinds of intricate cuts - but I haven't gotten one of those yet either.  I do have a spiralizer that makes "pasta" styled cuts - but I don't use that very much.

Also - I would at least prep the houses' wiring for stoves and such in case you sell the place - and the buyer wants that kind of kitchen.

Bon chance -

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Permalink Reply by Richard on June 22, 2012 at 9:04am

Merci,

My place is near to Mayenne. I guess it's towards the north west of France. 

I don't use my spiralizer either. I should make a note to take that to France with me.  And I bought my mum a mandolin slicer, but I didn't have much luck with it - I guess it takes more practice than I have the patience for. 

I agree with what you're saying about prep'ing the wiring and it's something I've thought about.

On Amazon (UK), I found a "1500W Commercial Grade Blender" - which, according to the description is comparable with a Blendtec or Vitamx and the reviews are good, but I'm a bit hesitant to buy it. It's a good price if it's as good as they say, but it's not cheap enough to gamble on. 

I also went looking for a commercial food slicer / chopper and came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNf_Az1EhKQ

Don't laugh! I know it's expensive and people might think it's odd to have something like that at home (but then I think people who cook meat in ovens are odd!), but if it's commercial it's built to last and designed to process large quantities of food. Again, it's all a little bit of a gamble for me because I have no idea what I'm buying and I'm reluctant to buy these things without knowing for sure they're good quality.

Richard

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