The Blender That Actually Blends

The Vitamix 5200 Series is powerful enough to make a smoothy out of a log. Still, there are better uses.

Blenders, even the famed magic bullet series, often stumble when they’re confronted with frozen fruit or other hard, dense mixers. Getting that liquid to solid ratio just right becomes a sort of impossible scientific endeavor, a culinary pursuit of cold fusion. And nothing ruins a good dinner party like a smoking blender that reeks of burnt rubber. Enter the Vitamix 5200 series, which boasts restaurant-quality blades, a low-friction ball-bearing motor “designed to last a lifetime,” a high efficiency motor, and a specially designed tool to help with thicker soups and smoothies. When you think of high–efficiency, you think of extra power and that’s what this blender is: powerful. It can handle whatever smoothie or soup mixture you throw at it and keep chugging. So if you’re a guy who likes his protein shakes with frozen bananas or cut apples, there’s no worries, it’ll handle it. And making mixed drinks like margaritas will be equally breezy. This is a blender that has your back. [$465; vitamix.com]