If you really want to make delicious drinks like fruit smoothies, then you need to have the best blender you can find for your home. So with your head spinning from all of the different brands and models, how do you find the best blender to invest in? Here are some tips to help you in your search for the best blenders.

Types of Blenders

First you need to decide how you’ll be using the blender. You'll need a standard kitchen countertop blender if you are going to be blending ice and tough ingredients and making thick smoothies. You'll find the containers of these blenders made out of three types of materials, polycarbonate, glass, or plastic. The motors on these blenders are also powerful, going from a couple hundred watts to over 3 horsepower. These also come with a variety of speed settings, up to 15 on some blenders. One of the top five best blenders out there is the KitchenAid 5 speed blender, which has 5 speeds and costs less than $100.

A personal blender or single serve blender is a great option for those busy folks always on the go, and those that just like smaller portions. These blenders, like the Magic Bullet Blender, use small single serve cups that you use to blend your ingredients and then take with you. You'll even find that these cups fit in you car's cupholder. Clean up is also a snap as you only need to clean one cup, not a huge blender jar.

Immersion blenders or hand blenders are great options if you're moving around the kitchen a lot, and need to blend ingredients in large pots. The KitchenAid Immersion blender is one of the best you can find and it has 9 speeds and excellent consumer ratings. Immersion blenders can be moved all around the kitchen and can be stuck down in boiling pots because of their long, thin shape.

Blender Features

You can start to look at blender features after you chosen the type of blender you are going to need. Capacity or the amount of ingredients you can fit into the blender container is very important. You can blend lot of ingredients if you get a large capacity jug like 64 ounces or so. The type of material that the jar is made of is also important. One of the best but most expensive materials in polycarbonate.

You also want to make sure your blender is dishwasher safe, which makes clean up a snap. Motor power is also a crucial factor to analyze. You want to be sure that your blender has enough power to get the job done and not leave any ice chunks in your smoothie. You want at least 450 watts in a standard kitchen blender to get the job done. You can get by with less power on a single serve blender because the container is smaller.

How expensive is the blender you're looking at? Expect to pay $400 or more for the best blenders like Vitamix or Blendtec. There are some quality models that you can find for less though, that work very well. The Oster Fusion blender is a great option for only $80 and it has many fantastic features.

Consumer Opinion

Reading owners reviews on-line is also a great way to help you make your decision. You'll find great reviews on sites like Amazon.com and GoBlendIt.com. If you really want to make sure you don't get a lemon, then you better take a look at some consumer reviews. Many marketers make blenders sound great, but consumer reviews will reveal if they really are that good. Owner reviews are a great way to find out about engine failures and other defects before you go out and buy a new blender.

When you read through reviews be sure you check out both the positive and the negative reviews. You want to check out owner reviews from those that have had their blenders for a while and been running them a lot. If a blender is going to fail, it often happens after using it for just a few months.