How We Test Blenders

Transforming Data Into Objective Reviews

Product Selection

We continuously buy and test new blenders. We select products in several ways: most commonly, we purchase new, popular models as they are released. We may buy products specifically for a recommendation article as we did for the best portable blenders or best glass blenders. Finally, you can also vote for which blender we'll buy next. Anyone can vote once every 60 days, and our insiders get a vote every 10 days. You can also submit a suggestion if you don't see the product you want on the poll.

Philosophy

Our motto sums up our philosophy pretty well: "We purchase our own products and put them under the same test bench so you can easily compare the results. No cherry-picked units sent by brands. No ads. Only real tests."

Buying Products

We always buy our own products from major retailers, just like you would. While this means that we don't always get our reviews out as quickly as reviewers who receive early samples from manufacturers, it ensures that we don't get cherry-picked units. It means they'll perform similarly to the ones a normal person would purchase.

Standardized Tests

Each blender goes through the same set of tests, so you can easily compare between models, regardless of price or features. We have a few tools: the Table Tool can be sorted based on any result or score in the review. The Compare tool lets you compare and contrast the results of two or more blenders simultaneously. We regularly update our test bench to improve our testing. We're currently using Test Bench 1.0 for blenders, which is the second test bench for the product group. We can also perform additional testing if a blender has a specific extra feature or marketing claim we want to verify. For example, we might perform the nut butter test twice—once with the main jar, according to the test bench, and once with a jar that's marketed specifically for grinding and chopping.

Testing

Once we receive a product in our lab, it's unpacked and photographed before testing begins. Then, the testing team takes over. The tests for blenders are divided into two main sections, 'Design' and 'Performance.'

Design

The 'Design' portion of the review includes build quality and information about the jar, lid, blade, and power cord design. This section can give you an idea of how well or cheaply made a blender is, its dimensions, and the capacity of its main and any other jars. Most results in this section come from objective tests. The build quality score is subjectively assigned based on the materials used, ease of assembly, and general feel of the blender and its controls.

Performance

Testing for blenders includes fibrous ingredients (left), crushed ice (center), and nut butter (right)

Our main design tests, fibrous ingredients, crushed ice, and nut butter, show the blender's performance with a variety of recipes. The results are divided into two categories: processing and results. The processing score is based on the time and effort it takes to process the ingredients, and the texture score is based on the quality of the final result.

For the fibrous ingredients test, we test a blender's ability to blend small and big batches of fibrous ingredients. The small batch test is done with a set volume of ingredients, while the full capacity test is scaled to the blender's specific jar size. With full-size blenders especially, you can see a big difference in performance between small and big batches. The small batch test is a good indication of whether a full-size blender will be useful for making personal smoothies. Otherwise, the fibrous ingredients test shows how well a blender can puree fibrous ingredients such as fruits and vegetables in recipes like soups and smoothies. Ingredients like kale, blueberries, and pineapple are examples of tough fibrous ingredients.

The crushed ice test tasks a blender with crushing 12 ice cubes—all at once or in batches, depending on the blender type. This is a more difficult task than blending something like a smoothie, and some blenders aren't able to fully crush the ice. These results can give you an idea of how suitable a blender is for making crushed ice to add to cocktails, as well as for processing ice-heavy drinks like slushies and blended cocktails.

The nut butter test is performed last since it's the most difficult recipe to process. We make two cups of nut butter, either in one batch for full-size blenders or two for personal and immersion blenders. Most blenders can crush the almonds, but many struggle to continue to blend the mixture after that.

We measure a blender's noise level and blade speed range, which are recorded in Noise and Blade Speed. Under Controls and Programs, we list the number of speed presets and blending programs it has and check for features like an on/off switch, hot blending, and Pulse/Turbo mode.

Finally, the cleaning test shows the process of cleaning the blender after making nut butter. We start by running the blender with warm water and a bit of soap in the jar and then finish cleaning it by hand in the sink. A score is subjectively assigned based on factors like how sharp the blades are, how much disassembly is required, and whether any part of it is impossible to reach.

Peer Review

Before the results are sent to the writing team, another tester reviews them, double-checking that they're accurate and make sense according to our expectations. We may retest certain aspects of the review if we have any unanswered questions. Once the results have been reviewed, the review is passed to the writing team for the next step.

Review Writing

Before review writing begins, there's another peer review of the results, this time by the writer. The writer will research the product and check that the results answer the questions we expect you to have. Once the writer finishes their review, the results can be published in early access for our insiders.

So, what purpose does writing serve? We expect our results to stand on their own, but the writing in the review adds context, explanations for unusual results, and comparisons with similar products on the market. When writing the review, we rely on the results as well as the tester's notes, which can explain certain results or provide details about a certain feature or accessory.

Let's look at each part of the review in more detail.

Intro and Verdicts

The introduction provides an overview of a blender's features, design, and place in the market without going into how it performs. The Verdict section is the first place where you can see the results. You can see how a blender scores for different uses like smoothie making or ice crushing, as well as for multi-purpose use.

Test Results

The review's 'Test Results' section adds context to the results with comparisons and explanations. We rely on the tester's notes and our writer's research to include relevant information and answer questions you may have.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

This section includes a photo of our unit's label in this section. We'll list the model name and any variants for which our results are also valid, such as different color variants or slightly different jars and accessories that don't affect our testing.

Compared To Other Blenders

This section deals with how a blender fits into the wider market and how it stacks up against other blenders of the same type or in the same price range. We'll point out if a particular blender performs poorly and offer alternatives. Or, if it's a great option in its category, we'll say that here.

Peer Review

After the review is written, it's peer-reviewed again. The person who tested the product and another writer read the review, checking for accuracy, clarity, and completeness. Once changes have been made and both the tester and writer have completed their review, it's sent to the editing team.

Editing

Editors review everything we publish on our website. They check for accuracy, clarity, and formatting, ensuring our content is consistent and meets our style guidelines and standards.

Recommendations

With our blender recommendation articles, you can find recommendations based on use, type, price, and even brand. We update the articles regularly. Sometimes, that means replacing an old recommendation with a new, better product, but we also update the text and check that the products are in stock, even if the recommended products don't change.

The recommendations are based in part on scores. Still, we also consider price, availability, and sometimes features that don't affect scoring, like a personal blender's to-go lid design. We try to recommend the best options for most people, but just because a blender isn't featured in a recommendation doesn't mean it's not a good choice for anyone. These articles are meant as a starting point if you haven't shopped for a blender in a while or don't have the time or desire to look through the data on your own.

Also, while we endeavor to recommend products widely available in the U.S., we don't only recommend products that you can get from our affiliates like Amazon. If you can only get the product directly from a manufacturer or another seller we don't work with, it doesn't affect whether we'll recommend it or not—it just means we'll list where you can find it in the review and the recommendation.

Post-Review Process

We keep the blenders we test even after the review is published. This allows us to update our review and perform retests based questions raised by testers, writers, or anyone else and to answer questions from our users. The retest process is like a mini review process, with testing, writing, peer review, and editing steps. You can see if a product has been retested by checking the review, where we list details about any changes that have been made.

We keep the blenders for as long as possible, but since we don't have room to keep every product indefinitely, we periodically sell some models. The test development, testing, and writing teams are consulted about which products to sell and which to keep. We may keep a product if it's recommended, popular, or if it may be important for future test bench updates.

Videos and Further Reading

If you want a more thorough rundown of specific tests, check out our articles about our fibrous ingredients and nut butter tests. You can also check out our breakdown of the different types of blenders we test.

The RTINGS Home and Kitchen channel on YouTube features video reviews of blenders, vacuums, and other home and kitchen products. You can also check out the video below for a broader look at our testing process.

Conclusion

So that's how we test blenders! Our reviews are the result of collaboration between many dedicated teams, all with the goal of helping you find the best product for you.

You're always invited to comment and ask questions about anything we do. Feedback is always welcome and helps us improve. Send your comments, criticism, and questions to feedback@rtings.com or join us on the forums.