The Blendtec Chef 600 is a versatile full-size blender that Βlendtec markets as a less expensive option in their commercial line. It has three speed settings as well as separate low and high pulse modes that you can use in the middle of a blending cycle, which is a helpful feature if you want a lot of control over the blending process. Unfortunately, its main jar has a fairly small 32-ounce blending capacity, although its total capacity is 75 ounces. The motor base also feels flimsy, and the plastic cover for the display screen is easily damaged.
Our Verdict
The Blendtec Chef 600 is excellent for multi-purpose use. It's very well-suited for recipes like soups, smoothies, and sauces. It can hot blend and easily pulverize ice cubes. Unlike most blenders, you use pulse mode in the middle of a blending cycle. This makes it simple to switch between pulsing and regular blending, giving you lots of control over the blending process. Unfortunately, it's not well-suited for recipes like nut butter or hummus. While it's fairly well-built overall, some parts of the motor base feel cheap. The jar isn't dishwasher-safe, but its blunt blade design makes it very easy to clean by hand.
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Easy to clean by hand.
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Can hot blend.
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Versatile performance.
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Makes a smooth blend of fibrous ingredients.
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Not dishwasher-safe.
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32-ounce blending capacity.
The Blendtec Chef 600 is excellent for making single-serve smoothies. Using its main pitcher, which has a 32-ounce blending capacity, it easily processes small batches of fibrous ingredients, like kale, into a smoothie. It easily crushes ice, and it's very easy to clean. It's also very easy to clean by hand, although the manufacturer doesn't specify if it's dishwasher-safe.
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Easy to clean by hand.
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Makes snow-like crushed ice.
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Makes a smooth blend of fibrous ingredients.
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Not dishwasher-safe.
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32-ounce blending capacity.
The Blendtec Chef 600 is fantastic for multiple servings of smoothies. The main jar makes a virtually perfectly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients like leafy greens or blueberries and easily pulverizes ice cubes. It's also very easy to clean by hand. However, despite the jar's 75-ounce volume, its maximum liquid capacity is 32 ounces, which is a bit limiting if you're serving a crowd.
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Easy to clean by hand.
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Makes snow-like crushed ice.
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Makes a smooth blend of fibrous ingredients.
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32-ounce blending capacity.
The Blendtec Chef 600 is incredible for crushing ice. It easily and quickly makes snow-like crushed ice in its main jar using pulse mode. However, its build quality is just okay, and you might prefer a sturdier model if you do a lot of crushing ice.
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Easy to clean by hand.
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Makes snow-like crushed ice.
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Motor base feels flimsy.
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32-ounce blending capacity.
The Blendtec Chef 600 is fantastic for soup. It can blend hot ingredients right from the pot or pan for recipes like pureed soup, and it makes a smooth blend with fibrous elements like kale or broccoli. It's very easy to clean by hand. However, its maximum liquid capacity is 32 ounces, which is limiting for a full-size blender.
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Easy to clean by hand.
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Can hot blend.
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32-ounce blending capacity.
The Blendtec Chef 600 is great for professional use. It's versatile since it can hot blend, smoothly process fibrous fruits and vegetables, and make snow-like crushed ice. Its high and low pulse modes are helpful features since they allow you to use pulse mode in the middle of a blending cycle. However, it takes a long time to process thick mixtures like nut butter or hummus and doesn't produce the best results. Some parts of the blender feel cheap, like the buttons and display.
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Easy to clean by hand.
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Versatile performance.
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Makes a smooth blend of fibrous ingredients.
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Motor base feels flimsy.
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32-ounce blending capacity.
- 8.7 Multi-Purpose
- 8.9 Smoothies (Single Serving)
- 9.6 Smoothies (Multiple Servings)
- 9.5 Ice Crushing
- 9.7 Soups
- 8.2 Professional Use
- Updated Feb 28, 2023: Updated text to match TB 1.0.
- Updated Sep 29, 2022: Compared its noise level to the Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance's.
- Updated Sep 07, 2022: Compared its build quality with the Vitamix Venturist V1200's.
- Updated Aug 30, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Jan 13, 2022: Review published.
- Updated Jan 07, 2022: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Βlendtec Chef 600 comes with either a FourSide jar with a 32-ounce blending capacity or a WildSide+ jar, which is a newer design with a 36-ounce blending capacity. Our blender has a 'FourSide' jar, and you can see our unit's label here. The two jar types may perform differently, so our results are only valid if you're using the FourSide model. However, you can buy either pitcher separately on Βlendtec's website.
| Blendtec Variant Name | Jar | Blending Capacity |
| Chef 600 | FourSide | 32oz |
| Chef 600 | WildSide+ | 36oz |
If you come across another variant, please let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Blenders
The Blendtec Chef 600 is a versatile full-size blender that can hot blend, unlike the Blendtec Designer 725. However, it's not as well-built and only comes with one jar. Like other Blendtec models like the Blendtec Classic 575, it's well-suited for smoothies and soups. It struggles to fully process thicker mixtures like nut butter, but not as much as the 525 and 725, which may be because it comes with a 'FourSide' jar instead of a 'WildSide+' jar. If you want a similarly versatile blender that's more suitable for dips and spreads like nut butter or hummus, the Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance or the Vitamix Venturist V1200 do a much better job than any of the Blendtec models we've tested.
If you want to see more blenders, check out our lists of the best blenders for smoothies, the best blenders for crushing ice, and the best blenders.
The Βlendtec Chef 600 is better than the Blendtec Classic 575. They perform similarly overall, but the Chef is much better for recipes like nut butter and it's quieter when it's running. However, the Classic is sturdier and has automatic blending programs as well as speed presets.
The Vitamix Explorian E310 is better than the Βlendtec Chef 600 for most purposes. It has a significantly better build quality and can make a much smoother blend with hard ingredients like nuts. That said, the Blendtec's pitcher has a bigger capacity. Its ice-crushing performance is somewhat better.
The Βlendtec Designer 725 is better than the Blendtec Chef 600 for most purposes. The Designer is much sturdier and comes with a personal jar for smoothies in addition to its main pitcher. It has automatic blending programs and more speed settings. On the other hand, the Chef comes with a smaller main pitcher that does a better job with thick mixtures like nut butter. You can use it to hot blend, so it's much more suitable for soups.
The Breville The Q is better for most purposes than the Βlendtec Chef 600. The Βreville is much sturdier, has a bigger capacity, and is a little more versatile since it's fantastic for making recipes like nut butter. It's also quieter when it's running. However, the Blendtec's dull blades make it easier to clean by hand.
The Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher System is better for most purposes than the Blendtec Chef 600. The Ninja is sturdier and better-suited for making recipes like nut butter or hummus. It comes with a few extra jars, including a personal jar for single-serve smoothies. On the other hand, the Blendtec can hot blend. It's better at processing fibrous ingredients like leafy greens, so you might prefer it if you're looking for a smoothie or soup blender.
The Ninja DUO and the Blendtec Chef 600 have different strengths, and you may prefer either, depending on your usage. The Ninja has a significantly better build quality and comes with a pair of 20-ounce personal jars and matching lids that you can use to make single-serve drinks to-go. However, the Βlendtec Chef 600 is much easier to clean by hand, and it's safe to use for hot blending, so it's much better for recipes like soups and sauces.
Test Results
The Blendtec Chef 600 isn't an overly bulky blender, but its base takes up some room on your kitchen counter unless you have a spacious cupboard to store it in.
It has an alright build quality. The motor base has feet and doesn't move around when it's set on a counter. There are metal gears on the base and jar, and the jar is made of thick, solid-feeling plastic. There's an on/off switch on the back of the motor base, which can help prevent the blender from being switched on accidentally. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as well-built as blenders like the Vitamix Venturist V1200 or KitchenAid K400. The plastic used for the motor base feels flimsy, and the buttons don't provide good feedback. The cover over the digital display flexes back and forth when you press on it and seems easy to damage since our unit's screen was easily scratched just by a fingernail. Still, the display cover isn't peeling off of our unit, which we experienced with the Blendtec Classic 575.
The jar has a 75-ounce total capacity, but its maximum capacity (after blending) is 32 ounces.
The jar and lid are made of plastic, but the manufacturer doesn't specify if they're dishwasher-safe.
The Blendtec Chef 600 has blunt blades. The manufacturer doesn't specify if the jar is dishwasher-safe but recommends cleaning the jar and blades by hand, which is easy because of the dull blades.
Its lid is made of flexible plastic and fits securely on the jar. The clear middle piece has vents to let steam escape when you're blending hot food, and you can remove it so you can add ingredients without stopping the machine.
The Βlendtec Chef 600 has a long power cord that'll easily reach an outlet on your counter. Unfortunately, there's no way to store it except for a velcro tie to wrap it up.
- Blendtec Chef 600 motor base
- FourSide jar
- Two-part lid
- Owner's manual and user guide
It's fantastic for small batches of fibrous ingredients. You may need to use a spatula to clean the walls of the jar since ingredients can splash up when you're working with small batches. Otherwise, it's very easy to use and makes a very smooth blend with fibrous fruits and vegetables like kale.
It's fantastic for processing fibrous ingredients at full capacity. It makes a virtually perfectly smooth puree with fibrous ingredients, which is great for pureed soups and drinks like smoothies. Some blenders, like the Vitamix A3300, can produce a similar result a little faster.
It's outstanding for crushing ice. If you pulse at 'high' speed, it easily crushes ice cubes into snow. You need to manually push the pulse button for the blender to run, and you might find blenders with automatic ice-crushing programs a little more convenient.
It's alright for nut butter. It takes a bit of work to get the mixture moving in the jar, and you need to remove the lid to scrape the sides of the jar and stir the ingredients, especially at the beginning of the process. The low pulse and high pulse buttons can also help avoid jams, though. Once a paste forms, you can blend constantly at low speed without stirring. Even after nearly 10 minutes, it can't completely process the nuts and makes crunchy nut butter, but it's easy to spread.
Like most full-size blenders, it's loud when it's running. If you're looking for a quieter option, look at the Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance.
The Blendtec Chef 600 has three speed presets for manual blending. You can't fine-tune the speed to suit a recipe or start at a very low speed to avoid splatter.
The Βlendtec Chef 600 has buttons for three speed modes, 'Low', 'Medium', and 'High', which each run the blender for 90 seconds before stopping it automatically. It stands out from other full-size blenders for its two separate pulse modes, 'Low' and 'High'. You can press and hold either pulse button in the middle of a regular blending cycle to pulse continuously. When the button is released, the blender continues to run normally. It also has a switch on the back that has to be flipped on for the blender to run, which is a good safety feature.
This blender is easy to clean. The manual recommends filling the jar to one-third full with warm water, adding a few drops of dish soap, running pulse mode for about 10 seconds, and then rinsing it and the lid with hot water. This process works very well after making something liquid like a smoothie. If you're working with sticky food like almond butter, you need to scoop out the extra ingredients with a tool like a spatula and rinse the jar a few times before adding soap and water and running pulse mode. Unfortunately, that doesn't eliminate all the residue behind the blades. Unlike the Blendtec Classic 575, it doesn't come with a spatula designed to reach under the blades, and we had to use both a sponge and a brush to get everything clean. However, you don't need to scrub for too long, and the process is easy.
Please note that the manual says not to keep the jar submerged in water for more than five minutes because it can damage the seals, so don't let it soak in the sink for long.