Why is a Plastic Free Blender Better for your Health?
In a world where sustainability and health are becoming increasingly vital, the choices we make in our kitchen appliances like non-toxic electric kettles, non toxic coffee makers etc. do matter. The common household blender, a staple in many kitchens, has undergone a transformation with the rise of circular and plastic-free alternatives. This article explores the realm of blenders, with a focus on the pivotal shift towards stainless steel and glass jars. Dive into this comprehensive guide to discover the best blender for your needs, balancing performance, durability, eco-friendliness, and most importantly health safety.
The Blending Basics: What Makes a Great Blender?
Blenders have evolved far beyond simple appliances; they are now essential tools for creating a variety of culinary delights. A great blender combines power, durability, and versatility. The choice of materials, from the base to the blending container, significantly influences its overall performance.
When selecting a blender, consider:
- The power of the motor.
- The type of blades. Stainless steel blades, for instance, are known for their durability and sharpness. ensuring efficient blending of various ingredients.
- The design and the material of the jar.
- The blender base, that houses the motor and controls the blending process.
- The warranty provided by the manufacturer.
Stainless Steel vs. Glass vs. Plastic Jug Blenders: Weighing the Options for the Best Blender
The choice between a plastic, versus a glass versus a stainless steel jar is a crucial decision that impacts both health and environmental footprint. Here below we explore these materials and their pros and cons. Understanding your priorities, whether it’s sustainability, durability, or convenience, will guide your choice.
Tempered Glass Blending Containers
- Glass pitcher blenders are gaining popularity over cheap blenders that have plasticizers for several reasons. Tempered glass blending containers are resistant to odors and stains, do not leach harmful chemicals into your food, and are more environmentally friendly than their plastic counterparts.
- Tempered glass is strengthened through a thermal process, making it durable, resistant to thermal shock and less prone to breakage. This ensures that your blender can withstand the rigors of blending hot soups and icy smoothies without compromising its structural integrity.
- However, it’s essential to consider potential drawbacks. Glass jars are heavier and more prone to breakage if mishandled. If you are going to blend hot soups, be careful with glass because it can indeed crack due to thermal issues. To blend soups in a glass blender, it’s recommended to cool your soups down to room temperature before the blending process.
- Beyond its durability, glass is also non-reactive, meaning it won’t affect the taste or aroma of your blended creations.
Plastic Blending Containers
- Plastic containers, on the other hand, are lightweight and less prone to breakage, but as mentioned above can leach harmful chemicals into your food or drinks, particularly if they are hot. Even though the food is not hot, it heats up in a high-speed blender and it’s not a good idea to heat food in plastic. Also, over time plastic jars get very scratched and clouded which increases the migration of contaminants into food and liquids. It gets hard to clean and sometimes it retains some food colour. On the other hand, plastic is transparent and allows you to see the quantity of the liquid/food inside.
- The most common material used for blender pitchers is Tritan™ which is a proprietary plastic with glass-like clarity and unmatched durability commercialized by Eastman. According to a recent study published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal Food Chemistry, this material has been found to contain traces of BPA and benzylbutyl phthalate, but no endocrine-disrupting effects were found for the total migration.
Stainless Steel Blending Containers
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- Another alternative material used is usually food-grade 304 stainless steel, which is a very common material used in hospitals and kitchen tools. The difference with glass though is that it is not transparent, so you cannot see the quantity unless you open the lid. The advantage is that you can use them with hot liquids without the risk of shattering. If you blend a lot of hot food, this is our recommended version for safety reasons.
Related: Is Microplastics Leaching into Your Coffe?
The Environmental Problem with Plastic Blenders and eWaste
Blenders belong to the category of electronic appliances and can only be recycled by specialized electronic waste recyclers at the end of their life. Never place kitchen appliances in your landfill bin, as they include precious resources that can be recovered if disposed of correctly. More than 50 million metric tons of e-waste is generated globally every year, of which by weight, small equipment accounts for the largest share produced and includes products such as microwaves, vacuum cleaners etc. To solve our global e-waste issues, we need product stewardship or EPR Extended Producer Responsibility programs in place from the manufacturers that are willing to take back products at the end of their life cycle to allow the transition to a circular economy. Ultimately, products as a service business model, which encourages leasing instead of buying, will ensure that the materials used in the manufacturing of small kitchen appliances are fully recovered at the end of life.
BPA-Free: Unveiling the Health Impact of Blenders with Plastic Jugs
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in the production of certain plastics, including those used in blender components and it is the most famous among the family of bisphenols. The concern with BPA plastic containers lies in their potential to leach into food and beverages, posing health risks. However, opting for a BPA free plastic blender is not enough, as PBA is only one of the many chemicals added to plastic to make it harder. Many other bisphenols are harmful like Bisphenol B (BPB), Bisphenol C (BPC), Bisphenol S (BPS), Bisphenol F (BPF), and Bisphenol AF (BPAF). Therefore, be aware of BPA-free claims, for Tritan plastic and other types of plastic. All these get scratched over time with prolonged usage. Such materials are all deemed to be “food contact safe” but the scientific literature has confirmed the migration of microplastics from plastic packaging into foods and its potential threats to human health, and why should containers be different? When searching for a BPA-free blender, search instead for a blender that has zero plastic at least in the blending container. This adds an extra layer of safety to your kitchen.
Food Contact Safety: Ensuring Your Blender is Kitchen-Ready
The term “food contact safe” indicates that the materials used in the blender meet safety standards for direct contact with food. This is particularly important as the blending process involves the close interaction of blades and ingredients. Checking for safety certifications guarantees that your blender is designed with your well-being in mind.
Ensure that the blender components, especially the blending jar, are made from materials approved for food contact. This ensures that no harmful substances will migrate into your smoothies, soups, or sauces during the blending process.
Photo: Matcha Kale Smoothie
The 7 Best Non Toxic Blenders and Food Processors Brands that have No Plastic in Contact with Food
Have you noticed that there is no glass jug for any high-speed blender? The reason is safety concerns. They do not want the glass to shatter and then be sued by customers, and we do understand this risk.
The following list of plastic-free and non toxic blenders are designed innovatively to eliminate plastic parts as much as possible or avoid the contact of plastic elements with hot food and liquids. We will provide details of eight plastic-free blender brands that serve the purpose of a healthy lifestyle while allowing you to blend your food or liquid with peace of mind.
This post contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. This helps us continue the hard work we put into researching products and solutions.
Important Disclaimer: While we make our best efforts to scout plastic-free products around the world, we are also aware that electrical appliances that are 100% plastic-free do not exist. In this article, we are presenting the best versions of what is available on the market where the jug blender materials are not made with plastic, according to our values. So, the product has less plastic overall, but most importantly it’s better for your health!
Please note: the products are not ranked by any means. The lids in these options are made of plastic. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find other options.
1) Waring Commercial Xtreme Hi-Power Blender with Stainless Steel Container
Waring Commercial has been a worldwide pioneer in food service gear for over 80 years, and is dedicated to providing innovative, high value-driven solutions to the culinary community. The company is based in McConnellsburg, PA, where they still construct the iconic blenders today. This model has an electronic keypad with HI, LOW, OFF, and PULSE functions.
The jug is made of high-quality food-grade stainless steel, it’s heavy-duty, unbreakable, easy to clean, and yes, you can put it in the dishwasher. It’s safe for hot dishes like soups and sauces.
Tip: Please notify the seller to remove that enclosure for quieter operation, if you want to avoid plastic.
Watt: 1,560W
Jug capacity: 48 oz or 68 oz
Country of manufacture: Made in the USA with US and foreign parts.
Check the latest price on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
2) Oster Powerful Blender with Glass Jar
This Oster glass jar blender has a modern design with intuitive, easy-to-use pulse button controls. It’s dishwasher safe and therefore easy-to-clean, and comes with a 46 oz jar made of glass, specifically shatter resistant boroclass. The powerful 800-watt motor can easily crush ice and blend even the toughest ingredients. It offers 3 automatic food modes (Smoothie, Shake, and Food Chop), and 3 automatic texture settings (Thin, Medium, and Thick) making it very easy to whip healthy green smoothies (made of kale, basil, mint, you name it), as well as shakes, salsas, dips, and more.
We noticed several of the Oster blenders with a glass jar, but we highlighted only one in our review. Feel free to select the model that suits you best, provided it’s a glass one. Also, we loved that you can buy Oster replacement parts like blades, gaskets, parts inside the base, blending compartments etc. as this is great for the “right to repair”. These products have been created to be reused for a very long time!
Watt: 800W
Jug capacity: 6 cup – 46 oz
Country of manufacture: assembled in Mexico
Check the latest price on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
Related: The Benefits of Switching to a Plastic Free Electric Kettle: 13 Recommended Products To Consider
3) Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart Glass Blender
A super powerful blender made out of glass, the Hamilton Beach blender and smoothie maker brings you the perfect one-touch drink with your desired texture: it only takes 45 seconds to achieve the perfect one-touch smoothie when you select the auto smoothie feature. It will crush also tough ingredients like frozen fruits and ice, mix on low, then ramp up to high. This model has a patented waveaction system that is designed to pull ingredients down into the blender blades for smooth results every time. 5 blending functions including pulse, ice crush, and puree options that offer the versatility to craft recipes like icy drinks, protein shakes, and more. The patented stainless steel ice-crushing saber blades were tested for powerful performance by crushing two tons of ice, so they can stand up to large, frozen strawberries and other difficult-to-crush ingredients. Overall, a great affordable blender where food / liquids don’t come in contact with plastic.
Watt: 700W
Jug capacity: 6 cup
Country of manufacture: made in China
Check the latest price on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
4) Vitamix Stainless Steel Container
Vitamix blenders, for instance, are renowned for their powerful motors and variable speed control. Oster blenders, on the other hand, offer a balance of performance and affordability. Assessing your blending requirements and budget constraints will guide you toward the brand that aligns with your priorities. Vitamix has been a family-owned business since 1921, they manufacture their kitchen appliances in Olmsted Township, Ohio and they are fully committed to quality and innovation.
Unfortunately, Vitamix doesn’t offer a glass personal blender like Oster for safety reasons. Some people found that Waring stainless steel pitchers fit on current Vitamix models and use them this way, but we don’t recommend this as it is an off-label use and you’d lose the warranty of your appliance in case of breakages.
So, Vitamix has recently come out with their own stainless steel container as an alternative to their BPA-free Tritan containers. It is compatible with all full-size Vitamix blenders (not international models though) and has an ergonomic handle and non-drip spout for easy and mess-free pouring. The material is non-reactive, odor and stain-resistant: you can blend hot (using oven mitts!), cold, acidic, and more. The blades are laser-cut from hardened stainless steel that doesn’t dull over time and pulverizes ingredients for incredibly smooth textures.
Jug capacity: 48 oz
Country of manufacture: Vitamix products are engineered and assembled in the USA
Check the latest price on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
Related: The 17 Best Plastic Free Coffee Makers: Enjoy Delicious, Non-Toxic Coffee Every Morning
5) Nutribullet Immersion Blender with Stainless Steel Blending Arm
Years ago I had an immersion handheld blender made fully of plastic, just the blades were stainless steel! I guess at the time I wasn’t aware of the risks of exposure to microplastics … well this product by Nutribullet has a fully stainless steel blending arm, not just the blades! It blends ingredients right in your cup, bowl, or pot without the need to transfer them. Its button control with variable speed dial blends high, low, and every speed in between for ultimate texture control to make smoothies, whipped cream, eggs, soups, etc. with the perfect consistency.
I like also that you can buy just the motor body, the metal blending arm, and the whisk attachment without all the other plastic parts (less plastic!) .
Please note: the blade and whisk can’t go in the dishwasher, it’s recommended to wash them in warm, soapy water.
Watt: 300W
Country of manufacture: made in China
Check the latest price on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
Personal Blenders: Tailoring Blending to Your Lifestyle
Personal blenders have gained popularity for their compact size and convenience, making them ideal for individuals or small households. These blenders are designed for single servings and are often equipped with portable cups for on-the-go consumption. If you’re an avid smoothie enthusiast or someone with limited kitchen space, a personal blender might be the perfect fit for your lifestyle.
Despite their smaller size, personal blenders can pack a punch when it comes to blending power. They are versatile enough to handle various ingredients, from fruits and vegetables to ice and nut butter. Consider your specific blending needs and available space in your kitchen when deciding if a personal blender is right for you.
However, the issue is that they are all made of plastic! We struggled to find a personal blender that’s made at least of borosilicate, and the we came across these options!
6) Nutri Ninja Stainless Steel Cup Compatible with Ninja Blenders
We found this great high-quality double-walled stainless steel insulation cup that keeps beverages colder for up to 4 hours and it is fully compatible with the Ninja Pro Extractor Blades, making it the perfect stainless steel personal blender we have been searching for hours…
To use this cup, you simply attach it to Pro Extractor Blades included with your Ninja blender. The Pro Extractor Blades can crush through whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and ice. The cup is lead free, and the slim design fits in most car cup holders, making it an ideal commuter companion for your nutrient juices and protein shakes.
Please note N. 1: the sip & seal lid is plastic though.
Please note N. 2: the cup and the blender motor are sold separately.
Cup capacity: 24 oz
Check the latest price on Amazon USA – Canada – UK – Australia
7) re:Mix Circular Blender for Your Own Glass Jars
A high-performance, compact kitchen blender that is built to last and made to be repaired with a customizable and durable design. The casing is made of 100% recycled HDPE plastic. It doesn’t come with a glass jar because it has been designed to be compatible with the standard reused glass jars with a twist-off 82mm opening from supermarkets, making it a true circular appliance. The head is made of polylactic-acic PLA. Even the feet are made with 100% recycled plastic (TPE-V). You can use it to blend smoothies, nut butters and more.
Wattage: 1,000W
Jug capacity: the size of standard jars, 125-1,200 ml.
Country of manufacture: Made in Germany, Berlin.
Shipping: to the EU, Switzerland, and the UK only.
Related: Why You Should Switch To Plastic-Free Microwave Food Covers
Tip: Scout Vintage Blenders in Opp Shops or at Auctions
It’s nice when you stroll through opp shops and find “pre-plastic” houseware appliances, right? Blenders used to be made with glass containers and were very durable. These were produced and built to last forever while nowadays we’re supposed to throw away e-waste very easily and buy new again, typical of a linear society. Another way to find vintage home appliances is to go to auctions where you can still find metal hand-held mixers, and wood/metal coffee grinders. You can even sign up to be notified of upcoming auctions in your area.
Conclusion: Plastic Free Blending is Possible!
As we conclude our guide to help you chose plastic free blenders, it’s evident that the choices we make in our kitchen appliances can have a profound impact on our health and the environment. The paradigm shift towards plastic-free jar blenders reflects a growing awareness of the importance of sustainability, health, and performance in our culinary endeavors.
In the quest for the ideal blender, understanding the basics of blending, the nuances between glass, stainless steel, and plastic containers, and the key players in the market is essential. Some of the powerhouse brands listed above offer diverse options catering to various preferences, whether it’s raw blending power or a balance of performance and affordability.
In summary, when seeking the perfect blender, it’s essential to strike a balance between performance, material choices, and environmental impact. By embracing plastic-free, stainless steel or glass jar options, we contribute to a healthier and more sustainable kitchen. Whether you’re a health-conscious smoothie enthusiast, a culinary artist experimenting with various ingredients, or someone simply seeking a reliable kitchen companion, the world of blenders has evolved to meet your diverse needs.
Remember, the best blender is not just a tool; it’s a conscious choice for a healthier, more sustainable, and enjoyable culinary journey. Choose wisely, blend responsibly, and savor the delights of a plastic free blending experience. Cheers to a blend of health, sustainability, and culinary creativity!
Dhanashree
August 26, 2024 at 9:16 pmHi,
Just wondering if its possible for you to advise if breville 300W hand held mixer( BSB510WHT )with stainless steel arm is also a safe non toxic blender?
I'm Plastic Free
August 29, 2024 at 9:11 pmHi Dhanashree,
Thanks for your message. If I understood correctly this is the immersion blender you are referring to https://amzn.to/3MpV0SU
What I don’t like about it is that it seems to have plastic in the stick! That defeats completely the purporse of having a stainless steel immersion blender. Personally, I wouldn’t buy it. I’d chose this one as the stainless steel arm is plastic free! https://amzn.to/4dI0UL5
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Simona