I like contradictions. 

Sneakers with my black tights and pencil skirt for a walk to work.

House music and show tunes on the same playlist.

Chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and cilantro.

Bananas, soy milk, and hemp seeds.

I am a bona-fide expert at sticking things into my blender.  It’s a true cooking skill.   I use my blender several times a week, mostly to make salad dressings, hummus, smoothies and juice. 

In my quest to blend everything in sight, I’ve managed to break two food processors and one blender – in the past two years.  I’m really kind to my blender.  I don’t put rocks in it, for example.  But since I use my blender about two times a week on average, it’s one hard working kitchen beast. 

My blender broke about two weeks ago while making hummus.  I removed the container from the engine and found half my hummus makings had leaked out.  Then a day or two later, bits of rubber appeared in my smoothie.  My poor blender was a mere sixteen months old, but it’s time had come to an end.

I knew I would have to replace my blender with something a bit more hardy.  I was originally using a heavy-duty KitchenAid model.  (It’s no longer available, but something like this baby.)  I’d heard about the fancy blenders like the Ninja, Blendtec, and Vitamix but their high price points really had me scared.

However, in over two years, I’ve proved to myself that I am a blending fool.  It’s a staple “ingredient” in my kitchen and I need to have a good quality tool.  But I didn’t just want to purchase the “best” one when something else would do.

So I decided to do a little analysis.  First I read lots of reviews on Amazon.  I cannot believe the detailed reviews people write.  Sometimes I have problems composing emails, and these people are writing full-out dissertations on blenders.  Bravo to you people who do this.  Where do you get the energy for this?

The reviews narrowed down three super blenders: Blendtec, Ninja, and Vitamix. All had great reviews.  So I compared a few key features. 

First I looked at warranties:  Blendtec and Vitamix offer 7 year warranties.  Ninja has a 2 year.

Then I looked at engine size: 

Blendtec – 1560 watts, Vitamix 1380, Ninja 1100. 

The blender I was using was about 720 watts, $129 ($99 on Amazon) and offered a one year warranty.

Finally, I compared prices.  Vitamix and Blendtec are about the same at around $450 for a base model.  The Ninja is $160. I broke the prices down into replacement costs per year.  I analyzed them based upon price per year of warranty, because any breakage during warranty was free.

The numbers worked out like this:

Blender	Cost	Warranty	Cost per year
KitchenAid	$    99.00	1	$                99.00
Blendtec	$  456.00	7	$                65.14
Ninja	$  160.00	2	$                80.00
Vitamix	$  449.00	7	$                64.14

Then when I re-did the numbers, assuming that I’d only need to buy my KitchenAid every year and four months, I came up with this:

Blender	Cost	Warranty	Cost per year
KitchenAid	$    99.00	1.33	$                74.44
Blendtec	$  456.00	7	$                65.14
Ninja	$  160.00	2	$                80.00
Vitamix	$  449.00	7	$                64.14

The Vitamix and the Blendtec were clearly the best deals based upon price, and although the Blendtec has a better engine and could be the better buy here, I wasn’t just trying to optimize blending power.  I had my wallet to think about too.

Ultimately I went with a refurbished Vitamix, which costs $329 and has a 5 year warranty.  The Blendec offers a refurbished model at $385 with a 3 year warranty as well.  The refurbished Vitamix has almost the same value as the brand-spanking new model. 

Blender	Cost	Warranty	Cost per year
Blendtec	$  385.00	3	$              128.33
Vitamix	$  329.00	5	$                65.80

It was a no brainer.  So now, I’m the proud owner of this beautiful blending machine. 

It looks like brand new to me.  It even came with a handy-dandy little tool – the plunger. 

Buying a fancy, expensive item is never an easy decision.  Even if I know I will love it and use it, I always have to do the math to make sure it makes “cents.”  Reading reviews and, if you are lucky enough, testing out the product are always a good idea.  I try not to spend money without thinking about its “value” to me.  I don’t have cable because I can just watch every thing online or stream it live by connecting my television to my computer with an HDMI cord.  I’ve lived without cable for about two and a half years now, and I haven’t gone crazy yet.  For me, cable just wasn’t worth it. 

But some things are worth every single penny.

Now I’m off to blend up some things…produce drawer I’m coming for you.