****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
If you own a Blendtec (and you should!), this is a must-have. We gave our old, still running V---Mix to a relative when we purchased a Blendtec, and don't regret it at all. Once this jar was marketed, we checked with relatives that already owned one and the reviews were outstanding. [Disclaimer: one of our daughters is married to the brother of one of the lead engineers on the development of this particular jar. However, we don't get discounts, we just happen to be fortunate enough to get "inside" information about the development process, etc. - nothing that helps us, just interesting info.]Our very first "project" was almond nut-butter. It turned out great - no wasted food trying to learn how to use this. We put a cup of raw almonds in this, used the twist-top to keep the sides clean and all the emerging nut-butter down in the bottom so it would continue processing, and in just a couple of minutes or so, we had delicious, fresh almond nut butter. It didn't need ANY additions, though I suppose one could add salt to taste, or other flavoring - we just didn't think it needed it.There is so much more you can do with this, including single-serving smoothies, and much more. Clean up was amazingly simple - the spatula is designed to get almost every bit - and I mean almost EVERY bit - of things like thick nut-butter out of the jar so there's no waste. Then simply put a little hot water in it, a drop or two of dish detergent, put on the top that seals (not the one used while making the nut butter), run it a few seconds, and it's clean! Rinse, dry, and you're done.The "Twister Jar" name comes from the other top that has two blade-like projections down either side. While the blender is running, you just slowly twist the jar top and the "blades" keep wiping down the sides to keep everything blending instead of sucking air down into the bottom and over-speeding the motor with nothing to blend. It really works - great engineering innovation! And the fact that our son-in-law's brother is on that team is of no consequence to us - it's just a well designed unit we're glad to have purchased at full price through Amazon.Price? A bit pricey, but I have no doubt that over time it will be well worth it. It can be used as a single serving "regular" high-speed blender that merely has a smaller jar. Or it can be used as the specialty item it's particularly suited for. Instead of using the regular sized Blendtec jar (that would take many starts and stops, having to keep pushing the substance being blended back down into the blades every few seconds), this does the job in perhaps 1/10 of the time with a whole lot less work. Our daughter had made nut-butter previously in the regular full sized jar, and it took her over 20 minutes and a lot of work. This took maybe a couple of minutes, plus a minute or two more to do clean up, with almost no waste stuck in the bottom! Go price nut butter in a health-food store, and you'll be sold on this. And in addition to the convenience, what you get is as fresh as it gets with no preservatives or other additives.In short - we LOVE this device! What a great idea to make a very difficult blending task very easy (and quick) with minimal clean up.P.S. If you've never seen the Blendtec "Will It Blend?" videos on You Tube, they're not only a great advertising gimmick, they're absolutely hilarious. You can watch the company's owner blend everything from cell phones to the plunger attachment from the competing V___Mix blender, and the motor just keeps on running - amazing, but also a great laugh. (We're told they have a lot of fun at the company. :-) )
