Smoothie Makers: The New Age Blenders
Smoothies have easily captured the hearts of many. Fruit drink lovers or health buffs easily got hooked. Smoothies are basically thick and smooth versions of your favorite fruit shake, which gets its consistency from other additional ingredients such as yogurt and even milk or ice cream in some experimental cases at home. Back in the day, the ever reliable blender is what we run to for a quick shake fix. But with modernization comes more and more innovations, such as the different types of juicers and smoothie makers in the market today. While you used to need a heavy duty carrot juicer or a similarly strong machine to chop through ice and hard vegetables like carrots, these days a powerful blender can do the trick.
A smoothie maker exactly resembles the usual kitchen blender on the outside. Practically a mirror image, the difference lies in its machine and blades. Ice being a major component of a smoothie and taking into consideration the thickness of the resultant drink, it is just imperative to have a machine that could perform a heavier load. Although a regular blender could serve this function well, if you just love the drink and do not grow tired of preparing a smoothie every single day, you are just putting the blender at risk and possible retirement. Ice has to be totally crushed and the fruit has to be liquefied to produce a perfect smoothie. A rather smooth result with bits and pieces in between slurps is just as good as a shake.
Other differences of note are the usual presence of a spout at the bottom of the canister and a stirrer stick or spatula. The Back to Basics smoothie maker is a good example of this design. The spout is your smoothie’s exit point, unlike that of a regular blender, which has a common entry and exit portal. You need to lift the canister, take off the lid and pour the drink. Care must be taken though with regard to the spout, as it can get jammed with leftover smoothie, un-crushed fruit fiber or even tiny seeds. You have to double check before keeping it to ensure proper functioning and longevity. The stick aids in mixing and pureeing the fruits while doing your own smoothie concoction.
There have been incessant comparisons and debates over which is better between a smoothie maker and a regular machine, such as a Cuisinart blender. Although many would attest to the versatility of a blender over a smoothie, it still cannot produce a drink that lives up to its moniker. That is the reason why it was called such, and here you are, claiming to be gulping down a smoothie that does not happen to have the smoothest consistency after all. Maybe it is just a matter of perception, but smoothie makers were not invented without a purpose. If a blender could do so well in coming up with a smoothie, then smoothie makers would not have made it to the sales racks. Of course there will be endless comparisons, but what’s important is, as long as it lives up to your expectations and yields good results, then there is nothing wrong with it.
One final note to keep in mind is that a smoothie maker, like any other appliance can break sometimes. If this happens, the best thing to do is to execute an internet search for blender parts, along with the brand name of the machine you have. For example, if you have a Kenwood smoothie maker, either look directly on their website, or do a search on a shopping site like Amazon.com.


