Consumer Reports pureed soup and made pina coladas in a quest to find the best blender.
The put more than 50 through a battery of tests. Among the brands tested were Cuisianrt, KitchenAid, Ninja, Bon Appetit. They also tested some pricey models from Blendtec and Vitamix.
The Bon Appetit did not deliver on frozen drinks because it left chunks of ice. Far worse, however, was the Food Network Sanda Lee's blender. It could barely crush ice.
"It had the lowest overall score out of every tested model," said Consumer Reports' Dan DiClerico.
The $450 and $600 Vitamix blenders did an excellent job in all of the tests.
"People are really passionate about these blenders," DiClerico said. "But, you don't need to spend that much to gt a really great blender."
The super-versatile $60 Ninja Master Prep Professional aced the tests, too.
Consumer Reports also recommended the $100 KitchenAid KSB565.
It wasn't as great at pureeing as the Ninja, but it has a glass container instead of plastic, five speeds and sleek touchpad controls.