I’ve had a ninja express chop ($30) food processor for over 10 years to make smoothies with frozen fruit. Still works like a charm. I love the wide opening and cleanability vs most blenders I’ve tried. It might be too small for a family.
this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
14 points (100.0% liked)
Buy it for Life
7487 readers
61 users here now
A place to share practical, durable and quality made products that are made to last, with an emphasis on upcycled and sustainable products!
Guidelines:
Things that are well-made and durable (even if they won't last a lifetime) are A-Okay!
Unlike that other BIFL place, Home-made and DIY items are encouraged here, as long as some form of instruction is included in the body of the post.
Videos links are not allowed as post titles, but you may use them in a text post.
A limited amount of self-promotion is accepted, IF the item you are selling aligns with this criteria:
- The item must be made with sustainable or recycled materials.
- If electronic in some way, the item must be open-source.
- The item must be user-serviceable (if applicable).
- You cannot be a large corporation.
- The post must be clearly marked with a [Self Promotion] tag in your title.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Cult Fav did a great head-to-head of a bunch of blenders. They weren't specifically looking at durability but it comes up when they cause a couple blenders to overheat or start smoking.
I used to buy about 800 pounds of salvage electronics a week which I would then resell. I've seen and evaluated many brands of used older electronics.
For a blender, I'd recommend a Vita-Mix (5200 / 5500), then KitchenAid. Third tier would include Breville or Ninja.
We use a Vitamix 5500 here. A few benefits of the simple design are that the lid has no moving pieces or hinges or locking mechanisms... It's just a flexible rubber dome that doesn't crack if you drop it. The blender jug has the blender blade and a very large sealed bearing. You can swap the entire item out as a future service. The motor bases are extremely high quality. I can't recall seeing any that were ever broken. They seem to rely on solid state electronics and big mechanical switches nstead of fancy displays and microcontrollers and LEDs -- most common points of failure on the competitor's products.
The biggest issue with most blenders is that they are overcomplicated. For example, a ninja blender has detection switches to ensure that the jug is correctly locked to the base and the lid is locked to the jug. If a tab or pin breaks it disables the blender. They could have just designed the shape so that you can't have the jug halfway installed instead of adding electronics that fail when they get wet or damaged... Bad design choices.
My only warning for Vitamix is to avoid the white color motor base. That color will take on UV damage and turn obviously yellow over the years.
I would not hesitate to buy a well used working Vitamix in the used market. I have seen many units from the mid 1990s and up that run like new.
Dude, you are exactly the hero this sub needs
Do you know if Vitamix motor units are relatively easy to repair? We have one that the speed control doesn’t seem to work consistently anymore. Even at low speeds sometimes it’ll randomly rev all the way to max, or if the knob is turned up sometimes it won’t actually speed the motor up. I think the model is VM0102D if that changes things.
We’ve been dealing with it as-is because the overall functionality isn’t terribly impacted, it just needs a little extra monitoring when it’s in use, but if I can fix it it’d be a much better experience.
I was lucky and got an old heavy as heck oster, all metal and glass, from an estate sale. Man that sale was a find. They sold a home made sewing kit the lady had made for a few bucks and she packed a bunch of stuff in it and half of it was thread.
I’ve had a Vitamix for the last ten years and it still runs great.
I have found two vintage Oster blenders at yard sales, each for under $10. They are from the 50s and 60s and are solid heavy metal things with glass pitchers. I needed to buy new seals for them and on one I had to replace the little star bolt that the pitcher locks into to turn the blades. Either of them will completely liquify things that my modern cheapo Hamilton Beach would meekly chew at. If you can find one online (ebay maybe) or better yet in person (thrift stores, yard sales), I can definitely attest they are built different.
Edited to add: a search on US ebay for "vintage 60s Oster beehive blender" turned up some results that look like mine between $40-50 plus shipping. It's an excellent machine.
Our household currently has 6 blenders, two Oster, a Breville, a Ninja and two Vitamix blenders. Hands down the Vitamix 5200 has been a keeper and gets used daily. The Vitamix e310 also does a great job for the price.
Maybe check thrift stores for ancient but functional blenders?
I really like my Ninja one but it's got some weird mechanical sensors in the base that tell it what attachment you're using (blender pitcher, food processor, single-serve cup, etc). I've had it for about 5 years now and use it regularly, and it's held up, but I always worry about those little sensor things messing up.
Im going to have to go with the Ninja here, had one for three years and I use it frequently with no problem. I might have an older cheaper one though as there's no magnets to worry about as others noted.
I know people with a lot of different ninja products and everyone seems to love them. I dont have anything beyond the blender but I am impressed. I personally will try other stuff from them.
Yeah, I really like mine and it's used pretty frequently. No complaints. I just mentioned those aspects as things that worry me but otherwise so far so good after 5 years.
I'm actually having issues with mine. It has a magnet sensor in the handle to tell if the lid is locked and the magnet has lost it's pull. Now I have to cram a neidemium between then to get it to register until I have the time to pull it apart and fix it.
Yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing I worry about breaking on it. I'm not sure about the blender pitcher, but the food processor attachment definitely has that.
Haven't had any issues, but I'm always just super careful with it.
It's not a hard fix if it does, infact anything you do yo fix it would probably be considered an upgrade. I just haven't gotten to it yet.
I'd look at whatever brand commercial kitchens use.
What professionals use is generally the answer for any tool and repeated use item. If professionals use it then is generally reliable because otherwise it wouldn't be cost effective to purchase and use. Kitchen equipment, painting, and power tools failing loses money on top of the cost to replace, so reliability is very important.
Frequently the commercial stuff is less complex because they aren't adding stuff to draw in the general public and not even a lot more expensive either since using more robust components only slightly increases the costs to manufacture.
From what I'm aware professional kitchens use Vitamix products for the most part.
That's what I've seen at Starbucks, Jamba Juice, etc.
Unfortunately their blenders are probably the most expensive you'll find anywhere.
Take a look in the kitchen in places that don't need to show off their equipment. The places you name want to show off the shiny expensive equipment and so cheap quality is a negative for them.
Plus it's gonna look cool as shit on your counter, most likely, compared to whatever EZ Bake+ plastic shit Target is peddling.
Personally I have a good knife and a nice spoon. I find for most kitchen tasks they work just as well as a machine, are easier to clean, and take up less space in my tiny kitchen. I would spend your money on quality hand tools first, and learn to use them. I'm rarely doing so much in my house that a machine is actually better.
You blend things with a knife and a spoon?
Kudos I guess.
Or a whisk. Manual egg beaters work well to for a lot of things.
I do own a blender, and use it maybe twice a year. There are somethings it does I can't figure out how to do by hand, but overall I'm not sure it is worth the space it takes up.
Sorry, I phrased that poorly by not being clear that I mean 'blend things like a blender does [post topic], which includes cutting the ingredients into extremely small pieces while mixing them evenly'.
So do you make a fruit smoothie with a knife, spoon, and a whisk?
I don't make fruit smoothies.
We actually have a blender in the kitchen - my wife and kids make fruit smoothies. Since we have it I use it for some soups - but this is only about 2x/year and I would eat chunky soups and do without a blender. This is the point I'm trying to make: you can do without things and live a satisfying life - so is it worth it to have the thing?