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Jug blender reviews: FAQs

Should I buy a jug blender or a smoothie maker?

Smoothie maker taps can be hard to clean

These two machines are very similar; in terms of style, smoothie makers can be shinier and sleeker, and may appeal to younger buyers. They might also encourage children to enjoy making their own healthier drinks.

However it it's the unique features of the smoothie maker that are swaying your preference, such as the tap dispenser, then it might be best to steer clear - we found the taps were slow to pour from and meant that the whole appliance took longer to wash up. Also, the stirring stick some smoothie makers come with appears to have little bearing on the quality of the finished drink - we got great results without using them.

Overall, basic jug blenders are more versatile and generally performed better in our tests.

Blueberry and raspberry thickies - one bottled, the other freshly-made in a blender

The fruit smoothie (banana and strawberry plus grape, orange and lemon juices) worked out 34% cheaper, but had a different taste and texture. The strawberries alone made up half of the £1.17 cost, and that was when we bought them from the market where they were half the price of supermarket.

We saved even more by making a thickie (dairy smoothie) ourselves - 46% when we blended yoghurt, blueberries, banana, oats and apple juice. This was delicious too, but we only managed to make it so cheaply by using the cheapest bio yoghurt we could find.

So overall, if you shop around to take advantage of fruit stalls and supermarket seasonal special offers then you can make great savings, but if we'd tried to make some more exotic recipes with passion fruits, pomegranates or boysenberries, we'd have struggled to beat Innocent for value.

For both recipes, we needed a juicer as well as a blender, although if you can juice oranges by hand, and perhaps use ready-made apple juice, you could manage by just buying a smoothie maker.

What are the other benefits of homemade smoothies? 

Pros

Fun to make, freshly-made smoothies are the healthiest. Shop-bought drinks are often gently pasteurised in order to extend their shelf life, which means some of the goodness is lost. 

You can devise your own recipes and save money - see the table below to compare the cost of shop-bought and homemade smoothies.

Cons

Have you got time to blend them and wash-up? Fruit availability can be seasonal, and supermarkets can be expensive. You’ll need to buy in bulk to get the biggest savings.

Smoothie and frozen cocktail recipes

Cooling drinks are simple with a blender – just pop all the ingredients into the jug then whiz together until smooth. Below you'll find some of our favorite recipes. 

All recipes shown are for guidance only, as are any measurements. For best results, play around with the recipes until you find the one that tastes best to you. 

For ingredients with no given measurements, add these to suit your personal preference and taste.

Frozen strawberry daiquiri

Large shot of rum
30ml lime juice
Ice cubes
Strawberries, cleaned and de-stalked
Sugar

Frozen margarita

1 shot of tequila
1 shot of triple sec
60ml lime juice
Ice cubes

Serve in a salt-rimmed glass.

Frozen Bloody Mary

1 shot of vodka
Tomato juice
2 drips of Tobasco
5ml Worcester sauce
Salt and pepper (optional)
Lemon juice
Ice cubes

Serve with celery.

Strawberry smoothie

75ml milk
Strawberries, cleaned and de-stalked
1 scoop of vanilla ice cream
Sugar (optional)

Berry smoothie

250g mixed berries
300ml fruit juice
1 tsp honey (optional)
Ice cubes

Chocolate milkshake

250ml milk
2 scoops of chocolate ice cream