Throughout the month of July, Blendtec is offering a free shipping code to all Blendtec Web Affiliates.

The free shipping code is: JULYSHIP

Just visit the Blendtec website via my link here and enter the code “JULYSHIP” during the checkout process to receive free shipping.

Feel free to share this with anyone you know that is thinking about buying a blender.

The free shipping code for July is only valid for shipping within the U.S.

Happy blending,

April Jones

I was on Blendtec’s Facebook page and read about a customer’s Blendtec overheating when used. This is not a common problem so I was interested in what to do. The response to this problem was to call Blendtec and they will take care of it.

Interestingly enough, the next week or so I was using a friend’s Blendtec when this happened to me. While I was blending, the machine stopped and would not start again. I also smelled something ‘hot’ or ‘burning’ from the inside of the base. This was not good and certainly not normal. Read more

Free Shipping For July 2011

During the entire month of July free shipping on all purchases from Blendtec.com.

It’s that time of year again; it’s time to celebrate Mothers!

Blendtec is offering FREE GROUND SHIPPING to the continental United States (Excludes Alaska and Hawaii) on all products purchased from their website starting today Fri April 29th and running through Sunday May 8th.

Simply visit Blendtec.com with this link.

There is no coupon code required; the free shipping promotion will automatically apply to all products in the cart.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thank you,

April

P.S.  I will get paid a commission if you purchase through the link above or the one below to help support my site.  So if you don’t want this to happen, just visit blendtec.com via another route.

http://www.blendtec.com

From my Mother's Garden

I just got notice of Blendtec raising their prices…today! I am sad to say they gave no forewarning of their price increase to their affiliates. This is the first increase in over a decade, according to Blendtec.

Blendtec has already adjusted the prices on their site but Amazon has not yet changed their prices.

I am not aware how long Amazon with hold to the old prices though. So, if you are thinking of purchasing a Blentec Blender, Amazon will be your least expensive bet, by $35 to $40.

The Blendec Total Wildside Combo, which I recommend, was $489.95 and is now $524.95 on Blendtec.com.

This same blender is on Amazon for $489.95. As of this post. Read more

For many years I have been using my little Mr. Coffee coffee grinder for grinding my coffee. It does the job…1/3 cup at a time.
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Recently I was beginning to grind a huge bag of Sumatra …1/3 cup at a time. For a while I had been putting off opening this bag of coffee beans because I knew it would take me a while to grind the whole bag. I know, I know,  it’s fresher to grind just what I need at a time…but I live in the real world and wake up too early to get my children up by the grinding of coffee.  I knew I could take the bag by Starbucks and they would grind it for me…but when would that be??? Read more

Today, one year later:

I have had my Blendtec Total Blender for 1 year and I am loving it. It is by far the best blender I have ever used. Listed below is my honest review of this high-powered blender after one year of service.

My Blendtec Total Blender

Read more

One year ago today I received my Blendtec Total Blender in the mail. I was so excited and anxious about getting it. That feeling of excitement has not changed at all.

Before purchasing my Blendtec, my “team” and I researched extensively which blender to buy. As we looked at one blender we thought it was ‘the one’ until we found the next great one in line. Then there was the next and so on. We hit a wall when we came across Blendtec and Vitamix. We knew it was between these two. A face off.

We chose, obviously, Blendtec. Not easily. We went back and forth many times and I do not regret making the Blendtec choice at all. I don’t think I would regret making the Vitamix choice either.

Here is the post from one year ago about the first week with my Blendtec Total Blender:

Well, my children and myself, we did receive the much awaited for and admired Blendtec Total blender right on schedule. We were eager to pull it out and start blending, but we did keep self control and watched the video that came with it, looked over the very nice and informative cook-book and scanned through the instruction manual.

So, It’s time to start blending… We, of course, started by making a green smoothie.

I had not planned very well and was out of fresh bananas so I used frozen ones I had put up weeks before awaiting this exact moment…drum roll please…. Read more

While traveling in Texas this past week we happened upon a neat frozen yogurt shop, Red Mango Frozen Yogurt.

The sign on the door caught my attention. It read:

• All Natural
• No Artificial Sweeteners
• Gluten-Free
• Probiotics

Wow! We had been half way looking for an ice cream shop for the kids (and us) a treat. This shop made us stop in our tracks and enter. Read more

Ten reasons why I choose Blendtec vs Vitamix:

Some of the items below were gained from personal experience and others just from doing an obsessive amount of research on the Internet …  and of course everybody knows everything on the Internet is true .

1. Having a Blendtec blender in your kitchen really makes it easier to eat more raw fruits and vegetables.  There are just some foods that require a professional grade blender to create a smoothie without waltzing chunks.  Also, having a professional grade blender allows you to blend more frozen food without fear of doing damage to your blender.  To be perfectly honest, either one will get the job done but keep reading below to understand more about my choice.
2. The BlendTec vs Vitamix is smaller in height (15″ vs.  17.4″)  and weight (8 lbs. vs. 10 lbs. 9 oz.), so it’s more convenient to stored on your countertop and not as heavy to move around the kitchen.
3. In my opinion the Blendtec is easier to clean than the Vitamix.  To be honest, I don’t own a Vitamix, but looking at all the reviews this is a common issue since the Vitamix has more nooks and crannies to remove food from.
4. Only the Blendtec has the large flat sided carafe, which they call the wild side pitcher. this larger pitcher really does seem to do a better job than the smaller ones and decreases the blending time.
5. Automatic settings, one of the nice features of the BlendTec is that it will automatically turn itself off when the cycle is finished. This option is not available on the Vitamix.  This makes it easy for my young children to help out in the kitchen.
6. I know this isn’t really a buying decision, but Blendtec has the coolest videos.  I mean how many times have you seen someone try to blend a broom with the Vitamix.
7. Customer service, since I have never had to use the Vitamix customer service I have to say they’re both probably equal as far as I know. But the one time I had to call BlendTec their customer service people did a great job making me happy. Since this first incident with my leaking picture I have called for friends over temperture issue and they continue to stand behind their product and have satisfied all of the claims I have submitted.
8. Fast food, this is another one that doesn’t matter whether it’s a Blendtec vs Vitamix, but you can really make some fast food with any blender.  But I think we tend to use the Blendtec more because it’s easier to clean up, easy to move around the kitchen and has lots of horsepower.
9. Wet and dry blending in the same container. That’s right with the Blendtec, you can use the same container to blend both dry foods such as flax whole-wheat grains etc. and smoothies.  The Vitamix has a wet container and a dry container, so you have to purchase the dry container separately for milling seeds and grains.
10. Less oxidation – Yeah I know you’re probably thinking what oxidation?  That was my first response to some of the reviews on YouTube.  But here’s the deal, with some combinations of the foods tested in the Vitamix and Blendtec, it tended to take less time to blend them in the Blendtec than the Vitamix, which resulted in less oxidation.  How do you determine there was less oxidation?  For instance, when they blended avocado …  the avocado blended in the Vitamix was noticeably darker than the avocado blended in the Blendtec.  So the conclusion was the avacado oxidized less because it did not take as long for it to blend therfore it was exposed to less oxygen and temperature.  The temperature of the food in the Blendtec at the end of the cycle was also noticeably cooler than than the Vitamix.

I recommend purchasing the Wildside Combo directly from the Blendtec website to insure you get the latest model and the full 7 year warranty.

I hope you find these 10 reasons helpful in your research process.  Please post your questions below in the comments and share your reasons for choosing Blendtec vs Vitamix or Vitamix vs Blendtec.

Either way you go have fun blending,

April

These were the tips sent to me from Blendtec after I had my jar/pitcher replaced, due to the stiffness of the blade turning (would not turn freely by hand).

1. The more you use your jar, the longer it will last you. When the jar is used frequently, it self lubricates the bearings inside keeping them intact with the vegetable based oil that is located within. If you go a while without using the jar (1 week or longer) it is recommended to dab on a little bit of vegetable oil on the seals.

2. Twisting the blade 3-4 times using the drive shaft below before you use it each time with break away any microscopic sugar seals that build up between the blade and the bearings. This can cause stress on the seals if you put in on the motorbase and have it shoot up the cycle speed rather than doing it by hand. It’s much more gentle.

3. The way you clean it makes a huge difference. It is suggested using 2-3 cups of hot water, a drop of dish soap, blend it up using a cycle and rinse it out in your sink. When you rinse it out, try your hardest not to get the underside seal wet. If this seal gets wet, it tends to wear down sooner than later.

The unwrapping  my new pitcher … shipped under warranty with no issues from Blendtec.

In Summary:

-Oil the seals between each use with vegtable oil.

-Turn the shaft by hand before each use to make sure it’s not stuck

-Use lot’s of hot water when cleaning, but don’t get the bottom seal wet.

Hope these tips help extend the life of your blender jar.

April

My First Blendtec Warranty Claim

So, it was  a very disturbing day when I discovered after only  487 cycles, one of my two pitchers was leaking from the bottom seal around the blade pinion.

So, I grabbed the file full of my purchase information and compiled the email below to the Blendtec customer support staff to start my warranty claim.

8/8/10

Dear Customer Support,

I ordered my Blendtec total blender on 02/01/2010. WebOrder: xxxxxx, Customer # xxxxxxx

Very recently I noticed my large pitcher, with the 4 in (blendtec part no. 40-508) has the following issues:

• leaking from the bottom seal
• blade does not turn freely by hand

If someone could please get back with me as soon as possible I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,
April

8/10/2010 Update:

It has been two days and I have not received a reply from Blendtec regarding my warranty claim. I am sad indeed … but, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and picked up the phone and called their 1-800 number. So glad I did.

I talked to Kristen, who was very nice and very helpful, and she informed me their email was down and since I did not get the quick response I deserve she waved the $17.95 I was expected to pay for a replacement pitcher (shipping) and is sending me a prepaid label along with my new pitcher! That just made my day.

My new pitcher should be here on Tuesday. The call took just a few minutes and once she found out the reason for my call, she immediately processed my replacement with absolutely no problems.

I was also sent some tips on keeping my pitcher in tip top shape that will extend it’s life. I’ll be posting them soon.

Wonderful customer service! First rate.

8/17/2010 Update:

I received my new pitcher today and it came with a return label for my old pitcher. Things are looking up in the blending arena again. It has been a juggle for me to blend using only one pitcher, but I did it … I just washed alot!   I did not realize how much I used both of my pitchers until one was out of commission.  If you have any experience with a Blendtec warranty claim please post a comment below.

9/17/2011 Update:

Since this original post I took care of a Blendtec warranty claim for a friend and I am happy to report Blendtec customer service was very prompt and resolved the claim to my satisfaction .

When you think of the ultimate kitchen accessory what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think about some expensive food processor? Maybe you think about a set of supposedly ultra sharp knives. When it comes to the true multi-tasking king of the kitchen you might be surprised to learn that it is actually a blender. The right one can help you perform a wide variety of tasks. Now there is a company bringing just such a blender to you. Read more

Would you believe someone if they told you to throw away your food mill, mixer, grinder, and several other appliances and make one simple purchase? Depending on the quality of the appliances you currently have, the truth is you can do this quite easily.

There is one company that offers the finest kitchen appliance you could imagine. This little beauty will not only make your life so much easier it will also help you beautify your kitchen at the same time. The company is Blendtec, and its name says it all.

Read more