Although I am often approached about endorsing various products, I haven’t until now. I want to tell you about the Cleanblend blender. Not because the company asked me to but because I own one and love it!
I had an ancient Osterizer blender for many years. I got it used and I think it was made in the 1950’s. It was a little powerhouse for most everything you would expect from a blender. Even when I started making breakfast smoothies, it did a nice job. It blended greens and fruit into smooth, creamy drinks.
The inevitable day came when my old Osterizer began balking at the tasks I was asking of it. I began looking at some of the high end blenders built for blending a lot of raw vegetables and fruit. The Vitamix seems to be the creme-de-la- creme for everything imaginable but is expensive. I decided on a Ninja because it was much less expensive than the Vitamix and claimed to be a good competitor. The Ninja’s performance was so poor I returned it. No matter how long I blended the smoothie ingredients, the results were too lumpy. I had to pour it all into the Osterizer to finish blending it before I could drink it! Unacceptable.
I put my blender needs out on social media and a friend told me about the Cleanblend. It was the exact same machine as the Vitamix, she said, at a fraction of the cost. I was skeptical. There was scant information available in regards to reviews or performance comparisons. But I saw one video demonstration on Youtube done by an everyday couple that impressed me. They seemed familiar with the Vitamix and confirmed what my friend said; it is hard to tell these machines apart. So much so that the container is interchangeable with the Vitamix. I was still hesitant because they weren’t blending anything particularly rugged. Youtube has dozens of videos demonstrating Vitamix’s capabilities. But I still wasn’t ready to spend the big money on the Vitamix.
When I started using the Cleanblend, I began to understand Vitamix owners’ life-changing claims. The Cleanblend pulverizes anything and everything with ease. My breakfast smoothies have carrots, celery and raw beets. I blend bananas with the peels on them. Even chia seeds are obliterated. As one reviewer on Amazon said, “This thing would chew up my Toyota if I could fit it in there”. No matter what you throw in it, what comes out is smooth, creamy goodness.
I’ve had the Cleanblend for about 5 months and it gets a workout every day. My dog has a condition where he cannot eat any solid food. His food has to be made into a slurry that he can drink. So, twice a day the Cleanblend blends his kibble, and various other things I throw in, into a doggie smoothie. Most every day I have a breakfast smoothie filled to the brim with raw veggies and fruit. It turns apples (with the cores and seeds!), unpeeled bananas, nuts, seeds, kale and more into a gourmet drink. It makes ice cream and sherbet from fresh ingredients in minutes. Pureed soup? Piece of cake. In fact, you can make soup from fresh raw ingredients with nothing but the Cleanblend. It will grind nuts into nut butters and whole grains into flour.
The drawbacks of the Cleanblend are that it is loud and too tall to sit on most countertops. I have the container sitting beside the base. I find the noise tolerable because most everything gets done so quickly. It is not louder or taller than a standard Vitamix. The Cleanblend does not come with a recipe book. Perhaps because it is a newer company, there is little instructional material available on their website. Fortunately, the recipes and videos for the Vitamix are transferable. So, Youtube is your friend if you have one of these blenders. Cleanblend has a 5 year warranty compared to Vitamix’s 7 year warranty.
It appears the Cleanblend can do anything the Vitamix can do. Cleanblend’s 3 horsepower motor is stronger than most Vitamix models. Vitamix offers machines with around 2 horsepower until you get into their commercial machines. The Vitamix 3 horsepower commercial machines will set you back about $750 or more. The Cleanblend is a much more modest $199 with free shipping. The Cleanblend makes nutrition from fresh, whole foods fast and easy. I’m a fan of anything that makes eating healthy food easier and less expensive.
I didn’t even know you could eat banana peels. New info for me!
I only recently discovered it myself! I only use them if they are organic however. Non-organic bananas are sprayed with a lot of pesticides. The peels have a lot of nutrition including potassium.
Is it still working just as well?
Yes! It is a work horse. I use it several times a day. When I make breakfast smoothies I use celery, raw beets, whole apples, seeds and all – no matter what I put in it, everything comes out thick and smooth, smooth, smooth. You can make anything in it. And their customer service is top notch. All of my children have them, use them a lot, and love them too. My daughter’s carafe broke recently. She called customer support and they were wonderful and had a new one shipped out that day. It’s 100% covered for 5 years. Hope that helps.