7 Foods You Should Never Put In Your Blender

I love my blender. It is my most-used small appliance. I worked at the smoothie bar in college, and my family even once owned a frozen yogurt and shake shop, meaning that for years I nearly always had a blender in at least one hand. I am a true believer, a worshiper at the altar of an ultra-smooth mix.

But this essential tool needs to be cared for in order for it to remain useful for years and keep your food safe. Here are some things you should definitely avoid putting in the blender—no matter how powerful your blades are.

Foods to Keep Out of the Blender

Super Frozen Fruit

Fruit is obviously a staple in smoothies or smoothie bowls, but make sure the fruit isn’t so excessively frozen that you risk damaging your blender’s blades. I find that most frozen prepackaged fruits such as strawberries and blueberries are fine to go straight in, while others I froze myself are often a harder texture.

Extremely Hot Foods

On the flip side, don’t put anything piping hot in a blender, especially one that doesn’t have anywhere for steam to escape. In severe cases, steam will build up and can cause the lid to fly off and liquid to splatter everywhere. It’s messy and unsafe, so don’t do it.

Bones

This is probably obvious, but make sure that any meat you add to your blender is free of bones, or you’ll be rendered with either a broken blender or something that’s totally inedible.

Meat

On that note, should you even put meat in the blender at all? Most would argue no, unless you’re seeking to achieve a mushy consistency. The blades will rip up most any cut of meat, and it’s hard to ensure you’ll get the texture you’re after. Some meat, like bacon, also doesn’t vibe well with the narrow bottom of a blender. When I need to decimate some bacon to fold into a burger or other ground meat, I opt for the more spacious food processor to minimize the meat wrapping around the blades.

Nuts

Nuts that aren’t soft enough to blend risk dulling or damaging the blades of a blender. Softer nuts like cashews can often be blended, but many advise softening them first by soaking them overnight for an ultra-smooth texture.

Dough

A blender’s size and shape makes it hard to process dough. You’ll probably need to mess with the dough a lot to get the blades to fully reach all of it and risk over mixing. Instead, opt for a stand mixer with a dough hook or even a food processor that can more evenly mix your dough in a larger space.

Ginger

Ginger is hard and can easily get stringy. If you must put the root in the blender, cut it into small pieces first—but it is a better fit to pulverize in a juicer.