For people experiencing touch-screen fatigue, manual blenders are the way to go. They let you more precisely control the texture of your smoothies and soups, without overwhelming you with extra features. The Vitamix Explorian, our favorite manual blender, was already one of the more affordable Vitamix models, and now it’s nearly 50 percent off. Ksenia Avdulova, founder of Breakfast Criminals, uses her Explorian every day, and so does culinary artist Maryah Ananda, who finds that “the strength is unmatched” for seamless emulsification, even with fibrous produce like ginger and galangal.
The blender has three settings for smoothies, hot soups, and frozen desserts, plus ten speed settings. It also has an easy self-cleaning feature that doesn’t require disassembly: Just add hot water and a drop of soap, and blend at the highest setting.
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