About this Recipe

Blenders are so handy that every kitchen should have one. Whether you use your blender to puree, chop, or blend if you have a blender, you probably can't imagine preparing certain recipes without it. But making all of those smoothies, shakes, soups and sauces can create a big mess in your machine when all is said and done. Plus those messes can be even trickier to clean up because of the sharp blades in the pitcher. The biggest mistake most people make is to leave their blender in the sink to wash it later. This makes your job a lot tougher because you'll be stuck scrubbing off all of the stuck on food that's had a chance to cling to the inside of the pitcher. Even when you're just leaving your blender to soak, you could be ruining the blades since their not meant to sit in water for long periods of time.

Long brushes may come in handy to clean your blender, but you may find it difficult to get into the little nooks and crannies under and beside each blade. It's very important to keep your blender's pitcher clean to preserve the blades and the pitcher itself, and it's also a great idea to clean it immediately after you're finished using it so that you can have your blender pitcher ready to use whenever you need it again. Also, it's never a good idea to put your blender pitcher in the dishwasher unless the manufacturer tells you that it's dishwasher safe which will usually be on the container itself.

Blender pitchers that come with the Vitamix for example, are not dishwasher safe and the company advises owners of this blender not to put the pitcher in the dishwasher. It's a good thing there are some easy cleaning tips you can learn to keep your blender clean. With a simple cleaning tip, you can clean your blender's pitcher out faster than you'd ever be able to scrubbing it the old fashioned way. All you need is just a couple of drops of your dish soap and some hot water.

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Get your water running hot in your sink and then fill up your blender pitcher halfway with the water. Now, add a drop of your favourite dish soap, you can really use any dish soap you want, but using a natural soap will be better for the container, and it's also better for the environment too. Once you have the water and a drop of dish soap in the blender pitcher, place it on the motor base and remember, this step is very important, always put the lid on your blender tightly before you start it up. Otherwise, you could end up with an even bigger mess on your hands with soapy, dirty blender water sprayed all over your kitchen. Hold the lid on your blender down (just to be sure) and turn the motor on high for 30 seconds. Pretty soon you'll see those suds forming from the soap, and the pulsing action plus the warm water will work wonders on your pitcher doing all of the scrubbing work for you.

When 30 seconds is up, turn the blender off and then rinse it out in the sink a couple of times to get any soap residue and food out. Give the lid a good rinse as well. Then lay out a fresh dish towel on your counter and place the pitcher and lid upside down on the towel to dry out so that the blades don't rust. Another great cleaning tip you can use when it comes to cleaning your blender is to use natural cleaners like vinegar to help remove some of the film and residue that builds up on plastic blender pitchers. Fill the pitcher halfway with equal parts water and white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, whichever one you have on hand. Then let your blender run on high power for 30 seconds up to a minute to soften up stains.