Soooo, I broke down and bought a 2HP Blendtec Total Blender yesterday. I used it for the first time this morning. I'm not sure I've made a good purchase, time will tell on that one. But anyway, here is my initial report on using it. This is done mainly comparing it to a $10 blender.

The first thing I noticed when taking it out of the box was how light it was, this got me a little worried that it would be kind of flimsy/weak, but once set up it was seemed pretty sturdy. I wash the jar and lid then set it up. I gave it a quick test by filling half full of water and pressed button "1". It burst into life for 15seconds, I had to hold the jar with one hand and cover the lid with the other to stop the water comming out the top (or atleast it felt that it needed it). Juiced a couple of apples and oranges, poured the juice in to the jar (after emptying out the test water), add some flax seeds, ginger and a couple of bananas. I pressed button "2", it burst into life again, more aggressively this time, I tried not holding the jar and covering the lid, it seemed ok. I don't like having to hold it since I want clean my juicer while blending my smoothy. The ginger and flax seeds still looked a little lumpy after the cycle had finished, so I pressed button "3" and continued to clean up. When it finished I didn't see any lumpy bits.

The first thing I noticed was the smoothy was a lot hotter for being blended for 30 seconds in the blendtec than 2 or 3 minutes in my old blender. But otherwise the results tasted great. I'll try it again tonight, this time making a creamy pasta sauce from brazil nuts, which I normally make in my food processor since my old blender didn't seem able to get all the lumps out when making a nut based things. Also, I'll probably read the manual at some point and see if I'm using the correct settings.

Anyway, that's my first impression of the Blendtec blender. I'm not sure it was worth the high price tag (thankfully I didn't pay retail or any shipping), time will tell with that. I'm also going to buy a replacement jar so I have a spare one on hand. I'll post some more impressions once I've prepared some different dishes.

Cheers,
Ian.

Ian, I know that you want to label the ktec as 2hp but the jury is still out on this. It is labeled as 3hp and I consider it to be just that. When that blender hits the higher speeds it shows double the ferocity and power of the last model vitamix, which I believe if the vitamix 5300. Contact blendtec and they will tell you that, with blenders, horsepower is measured differently. Call vitamix and they will tell you the same thing. Both vitamix and blendtec are power blenders and should be enjoyed and cared for. In return, either will give you some of the neatest foods. I can make hemp seed milk in seconds in my blendtec. Also, certain foods, like flax, should be blended with a small amount of ice. Flax is a very gelatinous seed that will cause any blender; blendtec or vitamix to heat up.

Play around with the manual and enjoy.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Sodoff,

One question for you. Did you buy a ktec champ hp3 or a blendtec total blender? Also, who did you buy it from?

My ktec is far from flimsy and is certainly not light. It doesn't take a crane to lift it but it rawks! Blenders don't have to weigh a ton to do the job. They just have to have the power and technology.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Hi Marcos,

I have the Blendtec Total Blender, on the bottom it says 1500Watts, which is where I get the 2HP rating. This is probably the normal duty cycle power rating, with peak power rating being much higher, although peak power rating would only be reached when something almost stops the blades. Maybe the Ktec champ hp3 has a different normal duty cycle power rating.

Thanks for the tip with the flax seed, I will freeze some rip bananas and use them rather than fresh banana when using flax seed.

So, on Saturday I made a brazil nut based Itlian pasta sauce. I normal make this in a food processor since my old blender doesn't do a good job of nuts. WOW, the results when making the sauce with the Blendtec left me feeling that my purchase was definately worth it. It took hardly any time to make the sauce, clean up was easy (some hot water, washing up liquid and run the blender for a little while) and sauce came out sooooo creamy after just one cycle (30 to 40 seconds).

Well, I'm happy with my new blender and looking forward to making some interesting and creative dishes with it. A powerful blender really does make a difference and I think if you can afford it, it's worth the money.

Cheers,
Ian.

Ian,


Yes, a power blender makes all the difference in the world. I make sauces, creams and even raw ice cream in my blender. Everything comes out beautiful. My Mum loves it so much that she is thinking about getting one for herself but I will probably surprise her and buy her one cause, after all, she's MoM and has sacrifised so much for me so the least I can do is give back a little to her. Anyway, enjoy. It's a rocker of a blender. I love making smoothies and throwing in ice. It turns ice to snow at the blink of an eye.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Ian,

Congrats on purchasing the K-TEC. I love mine, too.

Therese

A power blender really makes a big difference. They are not indestructable so take a little care.

A friend was making a smoothie in my K-TEC and broke a carrot in half and put it at the bottom. It just fit in the square base and jammed in the corner length way. When they turned the blender it went from zero into the carrot and jammed. I heard the motor straining and quickly turned it off. If the blades had been at full speed there would have been no problem so be careful and put large chunks on top so the blades have a chance to gain momentum. Be careful with ice cubes put them on top for the same reason.

The blender was not damaged but I am more careful now.

Have fun!!!

Galileo

Galileo,

Yes, I agree. This is the same for virtually all power blenders. They are able to blend hard and soft veggies and fruit. There's no need to use a plunger with the ktec, as we both know, because of how the blender works. However, you don't want to put small chunks of anything between the blades.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!