I tested a blender called 'The Obliterator' — here's my verdict

There are hundreds of blenders on the market, each one claiming to be the best blender for your money. Despite Chefman's lesser-known status in the blender market, can the Obliterator truly compete with more established brands like Vitamix or Ninja?

To find out, I tested the Chefman Obliterator for over a week, putting the blender through its paces, making a variety of recipes, including smoothies, hummus, and soup. My taste testers (i.e., my kids) told me the smoothies were the best I’d ever made. Although I’d like to take full credit for this victory, I know the Obliterator played the biggest part in pleasing my kids’ picky taste buds.

Find out how this mid-range blender performed in multiple tests.

Chefman Obliterator review: Specs

Chefman Obliterator review: Price & availability

The Chefman Obliterator is available on Amazon for $129.99, as well as at Target, Walmart, and Chefman’s website.

It also comes in two color choices: Midnight (black) and Concrete (matte white). I tested the Concrete blender, which is a neutral matte off-white color. I liked the color, even though I typically prefer the look of black appliances. The blender comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Chefman Obliterator review: Design

The Chefman Obliterator arrived in a simple white box with basic product information listed on it. Inside, I unpacked a blender base, two different-sized blending jars, a tamper tool, and the product brochure.

The blender was easy to put together — the jar simply pops onto the base, and it’s ready to use. I flipped through the brochure and noticed a QR code that led to an online recipe book with recipes for muffins, smoothies, sauces, soups, and even frozen hot chocolate.

The blender comes in two color choices: Midnight and Concrete. I tested the Concrete blender, which is a neutral matte off-white color that I found attractive.

It comes with a 48-ounce blending jar and a 20-ounce travel jar, ideal for smaller portions. The controls on the blender base are simple. There’s a dial that lets you choose between three preset modes (clean, ice crush, and auto blend) and five speeds. Once you’ve selected your mode, you simply press the button in the middle of the dial to start it.

I appreciated that the Obliterator has an on-off switch on the side of the blender base. If you use your blender a lot and leave it plugged in, this feature lets you switch it off to save energy and prevent kids from accidentally switching it on. There’s also a pulse switch underneath the dial in case you need to use it.

Chefman Obliterator review: Blending performance

I tested out the Chefman Obliterator in my kitchen for a full week to see how it performed. I started out making smoothies as a basic test, then graduated to hummus and soup. Here’s how it performed in each test.

Smoothie

I often make smoothies for myself and kids (gotta get those vitamins somehow), but my old blender sometimes struggles with frozen ingredients. I set out to see whether the Chefman Obliterator could handle the task better than my old Ninja.

I started with a basic mixture of almond milk, a banana, and a cup of frozen mixed berries. The instruction booklet recommended the auto-blend setting, so I poured the ingredients into the 20-ounce travel jar and started the machine. Chefman claims that the auto-blend setting detects the ingredients and optimizes blending, and that worked well for my smoothie.

It started out at a low setting and gradually increased the blending speed. At certain intervals, it slowed down, detected whether the mixture was adequately blended, and ramped the power back up if needed. I did need to add in a little more milk and tamp down the ingredients to help it along, but the result was a creamy smoothie that everyone in my household enjoyed.

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After that first test, I made a strawberry smoothie with almond milk, a banana, a cup of frozen strawberries, and a dash each of honey and vanilla extract. This was a good test for the Obliterator because I used whole frozen strawberries — some of which were quite large. Auto blend handled them in the 48-ounce blending jar with ease, and the strawberries were truly obliterated by the time the machine finished.

Overall, smoothies took between 45 seconds and a minute to blend, which was comparable to the time with previous blenders I’ve used.

Hummus

Hummus is a staple in my household — I eat it with carrots or pretzel chips as a snack and often make Greek-style bowls with rice, chicken or tofu, cucumber, feta, hummus, and tzatziki as a healthy dinner. So I wanted to see how the Chefman Obliterator would handle my homemade hummus recipe.

The ingredients are simple: a can of chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and ice water. I tossed everything into the blending jar, attached it to the blender base, and hit auto blend. The Obliterator made short work of the ingredients, though it did struggle a little at first. I turned it off, added another tablespoon of ice water, and restarted auto blend mode. This time, the blender had no trouble whipping the ingredients into the smooth, creamy goodness I know and love. The entire process took around a minute.

I was left with a super smooth hummus, and everything blended perfectly. I love a smooth hummus, and with other blenders, like the KitchenAid Top Down Chopper, I’ve been left with more texture than I would like — the Beast gave me store-bought results.

Soup

It’s been chilly lately, which has me craving soup. I opted to make my favorite staple — leek, onion, and potato soup — and blend it in the Obliterator to give it that smooth texture that instantly warms me up.

I made the soup — which consists of four leeks, an onion, two potatoes, veggie stock, and milk — in a large pot, then let it cool for about 30 minutes before ladling it into the blending jar. My recipe made quite a lot of soup, so I had to blend it in two batches. The Obliterator handled the soup with ease, blending it to a silky smooth texture in about 45 seconds.

Crushed ice

The Obliterator has a special setting called “Ice Crush” that does exactly what you’d expect. To test it out, I added large cubes of ice from my freezer to the blender jar, then selected the correct setting and hit start. After 25 seconds, the cycle was complete, and I was left with shaved ice just waiting to be drenched in flavored syrup.

The ice-crush cycle was loud but extremely effective. I did notice a few larger chunks of ice left in the bottom of the blender jar, but most of the ice was soft and powdery.

Chefman Obliterator review: Ease of use and maintenance

I found the Chefman Obliterator extremely easy to use. The blender itself is quite self-explanatory, though there are instructions on use if you want to be certain. The jar sits on the blender base easily, and the display in the middle of the dial will let you know if the jar isn’t properly in place by displaying a message stating “Fix Jar.” When that happened, I would simply lift the jar and reposition it until the message disappeared.

Starting and stopping the blender is as simple as pressing the large, round button in the center of the control dial. If you need to add more liquid to the jar, you’ll see a message on the button that says “Add Liquid.” To do so, you simply twist the stopper on the blender jar lid and lift it off — no need to remove the entire lid. The temper also fits through the hole in the lid, so you can tamp your ingredients while the blender is on.

Cleaning the blender is easy, as well. Simply fill it with warm water to the quarter mark, add a couple of drops of dish soap, and use the “Clean” setting. The cycle takes one minute 15 seconds; once it’s done, you just remove the blender jar and rinse it. The first time I ran this cycle, I noticed bubbles leaking out of the lid, so the next time I used a little less water and dish soap, and the issue was resolved. You can also put either blender jar in the dishwasher if you prefer.

Chefman Obliterator review: Comparisons

Compared to our top blender pick — the Vitamix Ascent X2, which costs over $500 — the Chefman Obliterator is better suited to consumers with a smaller budget. Bear in mind that the Vitamix is more powerful with 1,500 watts compared to the Obliterator’s 1,380.

If you blend daily, the Vitamix might be the better choice, but if you don't want to splurge on a blender, the Obliterator is a good budget pick.

Our top-rated personal blender, the Nutribullet Pro 900W, is smaller, cheaper, and less powerful than the Chefman Obliterator. But if you primarily use a blender for smoothies, sauces, and dips, it's a great option.

Additionally, the Chefman Obliterator has both a 48-ounce and a 20-ounce blending jar, which can take up a lot of cabinet or counter space, while the Nutribullet is more compact, which is suitable if you have a small kitchen.

Chefman Obliterator review: Verdict

After putting the Chefman Obliterator through its paces, I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an affordable, powerful, and versatile blender. The auto-blend setting takes the guesswork out of blending smoothies, soups, and dips — simply add your ingredients, hit start, and the blender will sense the right speed and duration at which to blend everything.

Plus, the cleaning setting is simple and eliminates the need to scrub the blender jar. Overall, I would recommend the Obliterator as a solid option for most kitchens.

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