Do Ice Cubes Sharpen Blender Blades?

Ice cube crushing is a tough procedure but is easiest if you are using a kitchen blender. As much as it’s fun to do, it comes with a lot of consequences like reducing the life span of your blender as well as affect performance level.

Crushed ice cubes make our food drinks enjoyable. The chill feeling ice cubes bring, is soothing. Fruit blends are most sumptuous when frozen or mixed with crushed ice. A good way to chill in summer/ hot weather is to take chilled smoothie, a glass of ice tea, cold lemonade…

Do Ice Cubes Sharpen Blender Blades? No, it doesn’t. Looking at how hard ice cubes are, one will be wrongly deceived to think they are capable of sharpening blender blades. The truth is that they are far from doing that. Ice cubes do not sharpen blender blades in any way.

Also, crushed ice, chills things faster because it has more surface area compared to when in its cube shape. But just as it chills faster, it also has a disadvantage of making things watery faster too.

You can choose to use your ice in its cube shape if you do not want to alter the consistency of your food/drink. Another remedy is to quickly drink up before it melts in totally.

The weight of ice cubes alone can bend blender blades if not permanently destroy it. That is why we are advice whenever we go on such a cruise, to put little at a time. Well, life is about wear and tear right?

Feel free to take the deep whenever you feel like crushing ice for your enjoyment. After all, that’s what you got a blender for in the first place. They are for use and should be used.

Umbrellas are designed to shield our head and shoulders from rain but not strong enough to withstand the winds. Do we now decide to go into the rains without it because of the dangers the wind posses? Of course not!

Deciding not to use your blender to crush ice because of the danger it poses, is like avoiding your umbrella because of the wind. Blenders make delicious smoothies worth taking risks for. All you need is to know how to get it back in shape. Stick around a little more and I’ll show you how.

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Do Ice Cubes Dull Blender Blades?

Contents

Before we go deeper into the maintenance of blades in order to put them right back in shape, let’s quickly answer a lingering question concerning the effect of ice cubes on kitchen blender blades, since we have outrightly said that it does not in any way sharpen them. If ice cubes do not sharpen blender blades, what then does it do to it?

It is right to say that blending ice makes kitchen blender blades dull but, that does not mean that it’s totally a bad practice. People buy blenders to serve their purpose and one of these purposes is to make smoothies either by crushing ice itself or crushing frozen fruits.

A way to save your blender blade from damaging so soon is to add little water or any liquid you intend to use to mix it with and carry on to pulverize. You should consider putting little ice cubes into your blender at a time, leaving a lot of space for the cubes in the blender. It gives room for air and ensures excellent crushing.

Crushing ice in a regular blender not only dull blades but burns out the motor. It even destroys plastic jars as well.  That is not in any way saying that there are no blenders out there for this purpose. Blenders like Vitamix A3500 Ascent Series Smart Blender can undergo such a task because it is designed specifically for such.

You should count yourself lucky if you have crushed ice in your regular blender before and the motor didn’t burn out. Amidst surviving great damage,  will notice that the blades over time will become dull. This will greatly affect the performance of your blender.

No good blend is dull and no dull blade is good. general blending task will become a futile journey because it will take the blades longer time than usual to slice or puree food. Honestly, we don’t need that.

Blenders that can be used to crush ice are high-performance blenders with glass jars. The blades are built to cut through the ice and crush them to the desired state.

The glass jar is designed to withstand the impact of the ice cubes during processing. Plastic jars scratch in the process and even tear with time. Try using glass jars instead.

Blender blades do a lot for us and blenders are almost if not totally useless without it. Therefore it is right to say “no blades, no blender”. The blades get the work done. It is powered by the motor, housed in the jars, and does the real wonders that we all crave. If the blades are dull, the whole process becomes frustrating.

Imagine spending an hour to process what used to take just 10mins? This is how bad the effect of dull blades can be and even gets worse with time. Time is not all that is affected, the end product too will be altered. What used to come out smooth and silky might disappoint you with textures you never would have imagined.

Do Ice Cubes Sharpen Blender Blades-FAQ

Can Blender Blades Be Sharpened?

What do you do if you notice that the blades of your kitchen blender are dull? Can blender blades be sharpened? Well, all hope is not lost. Dull blades are not dead ends.

Yes, blender blades can be sharpened. If you have a blender with dull blades, don’t abandon it or opt to buy a new one because it can be sharpened.

Read on as I walk you through the steps you can follow in order to revive your dull blender blades. Knowing these tips and tricks will save you a great deal.

First, I want you to know that sharpening blender blades requires a lot of caution. If done recklessly, it can lead to serious injuries from cuts.

The blades might be dull but not too dull to cut through the skin. Be careful whenever you clean or sharpen your blender blades.

How To Sharpen Blender Blades

Want to know how to sharpen blender blades at home? Here are steps to take home in order to get it right. Before we get started, note that only the blades facing upward qualify for sharpening. Start the process by:

  • Separating the blades from the container/jar.
  • Rinse to remove leftover food items from the previous blend
  • Rinse or scrape off any food debris hanging on the blades
  • Feel the tip to know the present state of the blades. It will help you identify if you are making progress or not during the sharpening process.
  • Get an iron filer, a filing stone or grits. Try SHARPAL 181N Dual-Grit Diamond Sharpening Stone

 Procedure 1- Metal or Stone Files

  • Gently scrub the loosened and washed blades on the filling material. (depending on the one you have- filing stone, metal file etc)
  • Feel the edges at intervals to know if you are making progress
  • Apply care as you carry out this task.
  • Avoid damaging your blades by not pressing the blades too hard against the stone/ file and vice Versa.
  • Rinse again to mark the end
  • Check at intervals if it’s sharp enough for you or sharper than it was when you started.

Procedure 2- Sand Paper

You can sharpen your blade with sandpaper. Ask me how? Just repeat the same process of detaching your blender base from the jar. Once the blades are revealed, gently scrub the sandpaper in a straight form.

You do not want to also bend or break the blades in the process so, do it gently and consistently too. Try no to press down the blades as you scrub. Repeat for as long as possible.

Cautiously feel the tip to know if you are making progress. Scrub more if there is a need to and rinse the specks of dust that must have accumulated during the friction. Dry and assemble your blender for next use.

Do Eggshells Sharpen Blender Blades?

Aside from stones and files, do eggshells sharpen blender blades? People often wonder if there are other ways or medium to enhance the sharpness of blender blades.

Yes, it does and the option of using eggshell is worth trying out. Eggshells are very valuable and can be used to do a lot of things but I’ll focus on how to use it to sharpen blender blades. It contains a lot of calcium. Eggshell is the hard, outer covering of an egg. It serves as a shield for the yolk and albumen.

Eggshells contain the most common form of calcium which is calcium carbonate. Studies prove that eggshell is easily absorbed when taken as a food supplement.

A factor that makes it unique is the fact that it is a semipermeable membrane that allows air and moisture to pass through its pores.

Emphasis is on the calcium content of the eggshell. As we know Calcium aid the formation and maintenance of bones and tooth.

Haven established what calcium is, it’s important to know that eggshell contains about 40% of this strong element. That’s the little intro we can take about eggshells. Let’s get down to the day’s business.

Procedure 3 -Eggshells

To use eggshells, adhere to the instruction bellow

  • Gather enough eggshells (5–10 is not bad). This is a good way of recycling kitchen waste if you ask me
  • You can blend wet but I prefer it dry. So dry all the shells from your used egg
  • A way to avoid smell is to wash the shells whenever you remove the content. To avoid worms and bad odour in your cooking space. Don’t just dump it aside after all it’s just a waste. The stench will irritate you if you do that.
  • Store dry in a dry place till you are ready to use it or until you have gathered enough.
  • Get your dull blades dull ready for rebirth
  • This time, you won’t need to separate it from the jars or expose the blades.
  • Just like the usual grinding, crushing, and pureeing pattern, throw the dried eggshells into your blender
  • Cover the lid and blend dry.
  • Start the speed level from low and gently increase to high
  • Pulse and continue
  • Blend till it’s crushed and forms a powder.
  • Pour out the powdered eggshells and rise your container
  • Do a thorough rinsing of your container to get the particles out.
  • You can now detach if you feel your container needs more attention.
  • Another way to get the particles out is to blend warm soapy water in the container after removing the eggshell powder.
  • Dry and keep aside for next use
  • If you are anxious to know if there has been a change in your blades do a quick blend of veggies or nuts to confirm.

What Else Can I Use To Crush Ice?

Kitchen blenders are not the only means to crush ice.  There are other means to carry out the ice crushing task. Try using a Canvas Lewis Bag and Ice Mallet from Amazon but it’s a manual process unlike the kitchen blenders, which are motorized.

If you do not have a Lewis bag, go for a piece of canvas cloth or better still use a lint-free towel that is clean. All items listed above(Lewis Bag, Canvas cloth, and a clean Lint-free towel) will do an excellent job in crushing ice. Try whichever is within your reach.

Get your cubes out of the freezer, place them in any of the material listed above, make sure the surface you are working on is strong enough to withstand hard impacts and hammer on.

Keep hitting till all the cubes are crushed. Why Lewis bag will be a good choice is because it comes with a wooden mallet for ice crushing and it has a rope that can easily be pulled to cover the tip.

You can even use a cocktail maker to crush ice as well. Pour in your ice cubes and smash with a spatula. Pound till the ice is crushed then cover and shake well. That’s it!

Useful Tips:

  • It is advisable to crack ice cubes of the same size and shape at a time. Whether in a kitchen blender or any other medium.
  • If you observe little water in ice at the end of the crushing, sieve it out. If not drained, it will make your crushed ice defrost fast before you even notice it.
  • You can store crushed ice in a bag and return to the refrigerator awaiting use

Do Ice Cubes Sharpen Blender Blades -Conclusion

Blades are very vital as far as blending is concerned. There is no blending without blades. They need to be as sharp as can be in order to get the work done.

Blenders have the magical ability to process food to our desired smooth state. It saves time too. So what’s the use of having a machine lacking such ability and quality?

Hence there is a need to revive the blades if we notice that they have suddenly lost their sparkles. We have talked about some objects and methods to sharpen blender blades at home. Filing stones, mills files, sandpaper files, eggshells, and even cocktail maker.

Remember that you must remove the blender base from the jar to reveal the blades and aid easy access when sharpening the dull blades. Caution should be paramount for the purpose of safety. Hope I was able to help out? Good luck!

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