Nothing cools the body faster while giving it the necessary nutrients like an ice-cold protein shake, especially after a high-intensity workout or on a hot day. So often, when you hear a blender being mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is the joy of frozen drinks, like smoothies and shakes. However, buying frozen drinks may seem expensive over time, especially if you can make the same drinks at home while totally controlling the ingredients used.
When you are making ice and frozen drinks at home, using a normal blender may result in pieces of unblended fruit in your drink. To avoid this, you need to use the best blender for ice and frozen ingredients. There are many blenders on the market, but not all can crush ice. To help you narrow your choices, we have compiled a list of the best blenders for blending ice and features you ought to look out for before buying.
What is An Ice Blender?
An ice blender is a specialized machine that primarily deals with ice crushing. It is similar to the normal kitchen lender, only that it has a more powerful motor and an automatic overheating feature to cool it down during or after use. In addition, an ice blender has angled blades to crush ice.
An ice-crushing blender is suitable for making smoothies and other frozen drinks at home. Unlike most blenders, they can blend ice and frozen ingredients like berries and fruits efficiently. In addition, some blenders have preprogrammed blending cycles to make it easy to use the machine.
With this in mind, let's look at the best blenders in this category.
1. Ninja BL610 Professional Blender
- PROFESSIONAL POWER: 1000 watts of professional power can crush...
- XL CAPACITY: The 72 oz professional blender pitcher is excellent...
- INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY: Total Crushing Technology delivers...
- ICE CRUSHING: Blast ice into snow in seconds and blend your...
- RECIPE INSPIRATION: The included recipe guide provides drink and...
The Ninja Professional blender has a motor power of 1000 watts for crushing ice and breaking down frozen or hard ingredients. It has a 72 oz.* blender pitcher with a *64 oz. maximum liquid capacity, making it an amazing choice for making creamy smoothies and frozen drinks for a complete family. *64 oz.
This professional blender utilizes total crushing technology with powerful blades that crush through ice in seconds. The blender also features five easy to comprehend settings, on and off, low to high and pulse. This makes it an easy-to-use machine.
If you are looking for an ice blender that is affordable and performs effectively for its price, then the Ninja BL610 professional blender will work for you. The pitcher is BPA-free and dishwasher safe to make cleaning easy. In the package, a recipe book is included to provide more food and drinks alternatives.
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2. Vitamix 5200 Blender
- Variable Speed Control: Easily adjust speed to achieve a variety...
- Large Batches: The size and shape of the self-cleaning 64-ounce...
- Hot Soup: The blades in the Vitamix container reach speeds fast...
- Hardened Stainless-Steel Blades: Our aircraft-grade stainless...
- Self-Cleaning: With a drop of dish soap and warm water, your...
The Vitamix 5200 blender features a variable speed control option that makes it easy to adjust blending speed. This helps to achieve a variety of textures. In addition, the variable speed dial can be easily rotated at any time during the blend, giving you total control.
This blender has a powerful 1500 watts motor. This guarantees its ability to crush ice and frozen ingredients. If you are looking to make a large batch of frozen drinks, the Vitamix is an excellent choice. This is because the self-cleaning blending container has a capacity of 64-ounces.
The construction of this blender features a radial cooling fan and thermal protection system to prevent damages caused by overheating. The blades are aircraft-grade stainless steel, which handles even the hardest ingredients to give a consistent blend. In addition, the blades in the Vitamix container reach speeds fast enough, creating friction heat that brings cold ingredients to steaming hot in a short amount of time.
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3. Blendtec Classic Original Blender
- Elevate Your Blending Experience: High quality blender for...
- Patented blade/80% thicker stainless-steel forged blade with...
- Large batches BPA-free four-sided jar is a 75 ounce volume jar...
- Warming Soup Blendtec blenders heat soups and drinks through...
- 2 Year Warranty/American Company: Family-owned and driven to...
The Blendtec original blender offers a high-quality blender for ice and frozen beverages, such as shakes, smoothies and cocktail drinks. In addition, the Blendtec blender has a very powerful 3-peak horsepower motor that is equivalent to 1560 watts. This ensures that it performs efficiently to crush frozen fruits.
This blender is easy to assemble and use. It features already programmed blending cycles, an automatic shut off and digital touchpad controls. If you don't like overwhelming interfaces and control features, you will love this blender. This blender allows you to select your preferred blending speed and automatically shuts off when the process is done.
The Blendtec classic original blender has a sleek and modern design that makes it attractive on the countertop. It has 2 stainless steel prong blades that spin fast enough to crush the hardest ingredients. In addition, the BPA-free plastic jar is shaped to allow ingredients to drop towards the blade, hence eliminating any need for a tamper.
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4. Ninja BL660 Professional Blender
- Ninja professional blender with Nutri Ninja Cups has 1100 watts...
- 72 ounce total crushing pitcher pulverizes ice to snow in seconds...
- 2 16 ounce Nutri Ninja cups with to go lids are perfect for...
- XL. capacity to create creamy, frozen drinks and smoothies for...
- Dishwasher safe and BPA free parts single serve blade assembly
The Ninja BL660 Professional blender comes with three programmed settings speeds, a single-serve and a pulse function. It has a 72-ounce pitcher that totally crushes the ice into snow in seconds to make cold, creamy drinks and smoothies. In addition, the blender comes with2 16 ounce Nutri Ninja cups with lids to take on the go.
The BL660 blender has a powerful motor of 1100 watts to deliver professional performance with the crushed ice. The BPA-free plastic pitcher has an XL capacity to make healthy creamy drinks for the whole family.
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5. Hamilton Beach 58148A Blender
- 700 watts: Peak blending power for powerful ice crushing.
- Wave action system: 700 watt power blender continuously pulls...
- 12 blending functions: Multi-function blender with only 5 simple...
- Easy to clean: Blades remove for easy cleaning. Jar, blades, and...
- Clean, easy pour: Multi-function blender with unique, no mess...
Last on our list is the Hamilton 54220 blender. This machine has a less robust motor of 700 watts compared to other ice blenders on our list. However, it crushes ice effectively and is super convenient, especially if you don't want to spend a lot on a blender.
The Hamilton blender utilizes a wave action system to pull the mixture of the ingredients down into the blades hence preventing unblended chunks in your drink. In addition, this multifunction blender has 12 blending functions merged into 5 simple buttons. This makes the blender easy to use for power blending.
The blades of the 54220 blender by Hamilton are removable to ease cleaning. The jar and the lid are also dishwasher safe. Furthermore, this blender has a patented mess-free spout and convenient cord storage that makes assembling easy.
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How Do You Choose the Best Blender for Ice?
Given the many blender options available on the market, it may be challenging to narrow down to the best blender for ice. To help with that, below are a few essential considerations that you should look at before buying an ice blender.
1. Powerful Motor
Motor power is important when looking for a machine that will crush ice effortlessly. A motor with 1500 watts or higher wattage is more suitable in the best blender for crushing ice and frozen fruit. However, a low-wattage motor is more pocket-friendly, but it will not get the job done unless you leave the frozen foods out to thaw first.
Safety is also important to consider when plugging the blender into the power socket when looking at the motor power. Because of the high heat involved when crushing ice into fine snow, some blenders have a cooling feature that allows the motor to cool down during or after use. This prevents the motor from burning out due to overheating. It also ensures your safety in case of any electric hitch.
2. Blades
Blender blades are an important feature of any blender as they determine the consistency and texture of your blend. The design and material used to make the blades determine the blender's capability to crush the frozen ingredients. In addition, stainless steel blades are more durable than their counterparts.
Sturdy blades are essential since they can withstand frozen ingredients and won't break easily. On the other hand, sharp blades are more suitable if you want a multipurpose blender. In addition, you want to buy a blender whose blades are located at the bottom of the jar. This will ensure that ice and frozen fruits won't pass through without being chopped.
3. Design and Material of the Jar
The design of the blending jar is equally as important and determines the overall performance of the machine. During the blending process, food contents are constantly sucked down through the blades to being pushed to the sides of the container until everything is fully blended. A blender with a wide pitcher allows the food contents to fall to the blades easily, while narrow jars might need you to use a spatula to push down the frozen ingredients.
4. Durability
The best blenders for crushing ice should be durable to last a long time in the kitchen. As such, the overall materials used in the construction will determine the longevity of the machine. For example, a good blending jar should be made of impact-resistant glass or dense polycarbonate material. These materials allow the jar to withstand the pressure of crushing ice cubes, increasing durability.
Other durable materials like stainless steel and shatterproof Tritan plastic are great when used in blenders. In addition, features such as motor cooling fans and automatic overheating protection ensure that the blender works effectively and lasts long.
5. Ease of Use
Usability is an important feature of any kitchen appliance as it removes all the guesswork. Therefore, the best blender for ice and frozen ingredients should be easy to assemble and disassemble. In addition, it should have an easy-to-understand interface, such as dedicated presets or buttons.
If you prefer an easy-to-use blender, you may consider one with simple and automatic features like a smoothie button to do away with the guesswork. However, a feature-heavy interface will work well if you don't mind the long manuals and control processes. In addition, the best blender for crushing ice should be easy to wash.
6. Capacity
To get more out of your blender, you may consider getting the size that will accommodate the exact food size you wish to prepare. For example, a blender with a greater total capacity would be best if you have a large family. On the other hand, if you would want to make just enough for a single serving, you may consider getting a personal blender.
7. Functionality
A powerful blender will often have the capability to perform other tasks. This can be extended by using extra accessories that either come with the purchase or are bought separately. Such accessories include grinding cups and self-serve cups. To get the most out of your blender, you may choose to get a multifunctional blender for crushing frozen fruits rather than have several blenders that perform different tasks.
8. Price
Ice and frozen fruits blenders have varying prices depending on the features that have been incorporated and the manufacturer. Therefore, it is recommended that you check through different blenders to see the features that you prefer and your budget before settling on one. In addition, some manufacturers offer discounts and warranties as a means of protection for your big investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can blenders blend ice?
While normal blenders try to shave ice, they do not completely crush it. Therefore, if you wish to blend ice, you may want to invest in an ice and frozen fruit blender since it is more specialized to crush and blend ice.
2. Can I blend frozen fruit?
Putting completely frozen fruits in the blender will result in lumps in your frozen drink. In addition, the long-term effect of this is cracking the sharp blades. To go around this, you can leave your fruits out to thaw or put in a ziplock bag then in water to thaw. You may also consider investing in a blender that crushes frozen ingredients like fruits.
3. What wattage blender do I need for ice?
It would be best to have a blender with a powerful motor whose ideal wattage is between 1000 to 1500 watts to crush ice efficiently.