Can a smoothie maker crush ice?

No. A smoothie maker is built to blend soft ingredients in liquid, and the makers of the ice-crushing machines this site compares publish dedicated appliances with blades and motors for turning cubes into crushed ice. If you want crushed ice for a drink, the figures below come from machines whose makers describe them as ice crushers, shavers or presses, not from blenders.

This site has not tested any of these products. Everything here is what the makers state in their published product information, and where a maker publishes nothing, this page says so.

What an ice crusher is built to do

The five picks in Best Ice Crushers for Cocktails Snow Cones and Home Bars are all machines or tools whose makers describe ice crushing as the job. The Hurmovae Electric Ice Shaver Machine uses a dual-blade system driven by a 300W motor running at 2200 RPM, and the maker states it crushes up to 178 lbs of ice per hour. The VIVOHOME Electric Ice Crusher Shaver uses an upgraded dual-blade design that the maker states produces 173 lbs of finely crushed ice per hour, with an adjustable blade distance for coarse to ultra-fine texture.

Those two are electric. The other three picks are manual: the GARUET XI HOME Manual Ice Crusher with a hand crank, the Westmark Manual Ice Crusher in a tong format, and the Winco Manual Ice Crusher. The Winco maker states the manual mechanism allows control over ice consistency and produces fine or coarse ice chips. None of these makers describes a blending jug or a smoothie program.

The electric crushers and their published figures

The Hurmovae maker publishes a 300W motor, 2200 RPM, and 178 lbs of ice per hour. It also lists a food-grade 420 stainless steel blade, a stainless steel ice bowl and a rust-resistant ABS housing, and states the machine works best with plain ice cubes. The published dimensions are 6.7 inches wide, 12.6 inches deep and 9.3 inches high, at 7.7 lbs.

The VIVOHOME maker publishes 173 lbs of ice per hour and an IPX4 water-resistant switch, plus a 360 degree rotatable stainless steel bowl. Its published dimensions are 6.0 inches wide, 14.0 inches deep and 7.0 inches high, at 9.2 lbs. Both makers state the blades stop when the lid or hopper is opened, which is a safety feature a blender lid does not necessarily share.

What neither maker publishes is a smoothie function, a blending jar or a claim that the machine handles fruit, yogurt or liquid. The Hurmovae maker states the machine is designed to work best with plain ice cubes. That is the scope of what these machines are stated to do.

Manual crushers for small amounts of ice

The Westmark Manual Ice Crusher is a tong-format tool made from die-cast aluminum with a food-grade protective coating. The maker states it uses the classic nutcracker principle: fill the tongs with ice cubes and press firmly. Its published dimensions are 3.0 inches wide, 10.0 inches deep and 3.0 inches high, at 0.41 lbs. The maker describes it as suited to small amounts of ice for iced teas, cocktails and long drinks.

The Winco Manual Ice Crusher publishes dimensions of 4.88 inches wide, 6.5 inches deep and 9.5 inches high, at 1.5 lbs, and the maker states it works without electricity. The GARUET XI HOME manual crusher publishes a size of 6 x 10 in and a weight of 1.0 lbs, with a chrome-plated finish and zinc alloy frame, and the maker states it includes an ice bucket and scoop.

For a single drink, a manual press or crank does the job the maker describes without a motor. For a bowl of crushed ice, the electric machines publish hourly output figures that the manual tools do not.

If you want nugget or clear ice instead

Crushed ice is one texture. The guides on this site also cover machines that make other kinds. In Best Nugget Ice Makers for Countertop and Under Counter, the Typhur Nugget Ice Maker publishes 35 pounds of soft, chewable nugget ice every 24 hours, and the maker describes the output as crushed pebble ice. The Frigidaire Gallery unit publishes 33 lbs of ice per day with a bin that holds 3 lbs at a time.

In Best Countertop Ice Makers for Bullet, Nugget and Cube Ice, the NewAir 50 lb. Countertop Ice Maker publishes 12 bullet cubes in as little as 7 minutes and up to 50 lbs daily, with three ice sizes. The Silonn maker publishes 9 bullet ice cubes in 6 minutes and up to 26.5 lbs of ice per day.

In Best Clear Ice Makers for Whiskey Cubes and Spheres, the Luma Comfort maker publishes 40 lbs. of ice in 24 hours with the first cubes in 15 minutes. The True Cubes mold publishes 4 large 2 x 2 x 2 inch cubes per freeze. These are ice makers, not crushers, and none of their makers describes a crushing function.

What to check before you buy

Read the maker’s stated ice type. The Hurmovae maker states the machine works best with plain ice cubes and includes an ice pick to break large blocks into smaller pieces. The VIVOHOME maker publishes an adjustable blade distance so you can set texture from coarse to ultra-fine. Those two statements tell you more about the crushed ice you will get than any general claim about crushing.

Check the published dimensions against your counter. The electric crushers publish heights of 9.3 inches and 7.0 inches, and the manual tools publish heights of 3.0 inches and 9.5 inches. Check the published weight too: 7.7 lbs and 9.2 lbs for the electric machines, 0.41 lbs and 1.5 lbs for two of the manual ones.

Where a maker publishes nothing, this page does not fill the gap. The Westmark maker publishes no motor or output figure because the tool is manual. The Winco maker publishes no output figure. The GARUET maker publishes no height or depth. None of the five crusher makers publishes a smoothie or blending claim, and this site has not compared any smoothie maker against them.