Vitamix blender

[Tondi G]

Does anyone have one? Are they worth the price tag? Do you find you use yours a lot?

We went to the county fair here and they had the whole display thing going... the guy made soup and ice cream and sorbet..... threw spinach and cabbage inside and the kids had no clue. My DH was seriously considering buying one but the price kept us from handing over our credit card and taking one home. My Dh has been thinking about it and asked me to look online and check my boards... to see what people thought of it and if we could find a better price than at the fair.

[baymom]

My parents have one and absolutely love it. I *think* they got theirs at Costco. They waited for months to take the plunge, because of the price, but it was worthwhile for them since they use it a lot. My mother even grinds her own fresh flour in it.

[Dr C]

DH gave me one for Xmas last year and we use it all the time. My personal favorite is homemade hummus. Don't even need Tahini--just throw in sesame seeds. It's pretty awesome. Worth the pricetag? I dunno.

[Tanya]

It's a freakin expensive blender!

My mom and I bought one at Costco to "share". You know how you get a new gadget appliance and use it for awhile constantly and then it gets put away and you rarely use it? That was the idea...switch back and forth to get more use out of it.
Then my dad went to the demo at Costco and insisted that they have their very own.

With that said, my parents don't use theirs very often. We've used ours a lot. I've tried a few recipes, but we pretty much just always use it for "fruit drinks" or "smoothies". I make a blender completely full (and it is bigger than my old blender) and two adults and a 7 year old and a 4 year old finish it all off. I think I spend a fortune on fruit. I'm really enjoying our fruit drinks while pregnant too.

I think you need to be realistic about what you'll use it for and how often. I eventually donated my old blender to a charity because the Vitamix is much more powerful. It's better at crushing ice for strawberry daquiris too (ours are non-alcoholic).

We tried the "ice cream" with the veggies, but none of us wanted that every night like we do our fruit drinks. I tried a couple soups, but they were just so so.

Anyway, we got ours at costco, especially since they have a great return policy and offered a longer warranty I believe.

[lovebebes]

We have a Blendtec which would be the Vitamix's main competitor I guess. I wanted to have it mainly for making green shakes (kale+spinach+banana+oranges etc). Also Im trying to learn how to make quick pureed soups in it, because we love them and I want to be able to make a natural one, quickly.
So far Ive made tomato soup and cauliflower soup and both turned out amazing. For the tomato soup all I do is throw in tomatoes,celery,garlic,onion and a bit of basil and then blend. Thats it-soup done. Heat it for a minute and garnish with some garlic rubbed toast. My kids ate it-so I was happy. The soups definitely take some experimenting with and I have a ways to go until I perfect each recipe-but once I do, its so fast. I have a bag of squash sitting in the kitchen that I got at farmers market today-I want to try sauteing it with some onions and garlic and then blending into a soup. The experimenting is fun for me.

So basically for us the purchase is justified because the blender is used to make healthy and wholesome things that we would otherwise not eat (like kale and squash for example).
And I can easily add things like flax seeds to the kids smoothies-it blends them so well that the kids dont know they are there.

[3emm]

i have one too and i really like it! don't use it as much as I should but just today made salsa and it was so worth having the vitamix. i was talking about it so much that two of my friends got one. and they love it too!

[thelilprincess]

i got the Blendtec when Costco had the roadshow for it. Blendtec is what they use in Starbucks.

Vitamix are used in Jamba Juice.

I never tried the Vitamix one so i can't comment.

I've made knock off Jamba Juice in my Blendtec though - Orange Dream Machine, my friend made me Strawberry Whirl, etc.

[lucybabymamma]

My mom bought us one (it is good to get one as a gift), and we use ours a lot! My DD loves making smoothies with it and even enjoys throwing in lots of spinach (which blends so fine you can't even taste it)!

When I have lots of random things in my fridge, I make soups with it -- some leftover chicken, leftover veggies, few spices -- and yummy soup is done in a few minutes. The recipe book that comes with the Vitamix has some good ideas.
I would say the only downside is if you want to blend a small(er) amount of something, it's hard to get the food out -- I don't really use it as a food processor unless I want things completely blended up.

[Melaine]

We used Vitamix exclusively at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, where I worked for awhile. I have to say, I can replicate every ingredient exactly but the smoothies are NOT the same with any other blender. The Vitamix truly is MUCH superior, IMO. My parents have one and they love it and truly do get their money's worth from it, making many of the recipes they demo, even soup.
The only thing I am not a fan of, is the plastic canister. I wish it came with a glass one (it's been years, maybe it does now?). I know that my parents are buying a new BPA free pitcher now (they have had their's for maybe 5 years?). I have to say that if you are using it daily and really plan on going the healthy route (blending veggies in your smoothies, vitamins, etc.) then I think it would be worth it. It really isn't for us at this point because I don't use a blender that much.

[wellyes]

I make green smoothies every day in my regular old Waring blender. Spinach/kale/ any kind of greens + fruit + flaxseed. I can believe the Vitamix creates a smoother consistency. But what I make is so delicious I can't justify spending an additional $400-$500 to make it slightly better.

However if you want to make pureed soups, I think the Vitamix might be worth considering. So cool how it blends so powerfully that the soup comes out hot!

By the way, it's true what they say about green smoothies. They're awesome. They make you feel fantastic. And they really satisfy me. I honestly don't want junk food anymore. My theory is that if you get lots & lots of vitamins and minerals and good stuff from greens you don't get the cravings that we're all conditioned to fill with salt and sugar.

[Melaine]

By the way, it's true what they say about green smoothies. They're awesome. They make you feel fantastic. And they really satisfy me. I honestly don't want junk food anymore. My theory is that if you get lots & lots of vitamins and minerals and good stuff from greens you don't get the cravings that we're all conditioned to fill with salt and sugar.

See, that sounds so great! And I definitely can't make green smoothies with my blender. Good for you for going "green"! I'm so impressed.

[zoestargrove]

I've borrowed my parent's old vitamix from the 80s. It has the stainless steel pitcher instead of the clear plastic. I also use it every day for green smoothies. I have to say a big ditto to what wellyes wrote. Green smoothies make me feel so happy.
They're delicious.

I didn't have much luck with the icecream we tried and I agree that I still prefer my food processor for some tasks.

I made salsa verde easily with the tomatillos from our garden this weekend. I'm going to give that tomato soup recipe a try for sure.

Seeing there are quite a few of us with vitamix/blend tec type blenders maybe we could start a thread in cooking to share our favorite/ most successful recipes.

[nellonello]

I've borrowed my parent's old vitamix from the 80s. It has the stainless steel pitcher instead of the clear plastic. I also use it every day for green smoothies. I have to say a big ditto to what wellyes wrote. Green smoothies make me feel so happy.
They're delicious.

I didn't have much luck with the icecream we tried and I agree that I still prefer my food processor for some tasks.

I made salsa verde easily with the tomatillos from our garden this weekend. I'm going to give that tomato soup recipe a try for sure.

Seeing there are quite a few of us with vitamix/blend tec type blenders maybe we could start a thread in cooking to share our favorite/ most successful recipes.

I love this idea. I could use some ideas for our Blend Tec.

[hellokitty]

My mom got one from costco. It was like she joined a cult. Every other word out of her mouth was, "vitamix," and she would go nuts on that thing. Then of course my dad (who eats an unhealthy diet in general) started complaining about GI distress (probably couldn't handle the fiber) and of course blamed it on the vitamix. So, my mom has pretty much stopped using it (why she can't still use it for herself, I don't know, probably b/c my dad bitches every time he sees it on the counter). This happens a lot. My parents have a very short attn span, using something like gangbusters for a month or two and then it just sits and gathers dust. I am thinking about asking her if we can borrow it. We make a lot of fruit smoothies for our kids, but the blender sometimes doesn't work that well.

[zoestargrove]

haa haa! you just described my parents! Definitely ask if they'll loan you the vitamix for awhile. My parents were happy it was finally getting some use because it was sitting in a box for over 15 years before I asked about it.

[lovebebes]

I make green smoothies every day in my regular old Waring blender. Spinach/kale/ any kind of greens + fruit + flaxseed. I can believe the Vitamix creates a smoother consistency. But what I make is so delicious I can't justify spending an additional $400-$500 to make it slightly better.

However if you want to make pureed soups, I think the Vitamix might be worth considering. So cool how it blends so powerfully that the soup comes out hot!

By the way, it's true what they say about green smoothies. They're awesome. They make you feel fantastic. And they really satisfy me. I honestly don't want junk food anymore. My theory is that if you get lots & lots of vitamins and minerals and good stuff from greens you don't get the cravings that we're all conditioned to fill with salt and sugar.

Have you tried adding Spirulina to your green smoothies? If not, you should check it out-so good for you!!

If you buy the Blendtec from Bed Bath and Beyond using one of the 20% off coupons you get it for $320 instead of $400. And they have a great return policy so you can easily return it if you ended up not liking it.

As far as blending powerfully so the soup comes out hot-yes, it is true that you can do that, however it is not the best way to go about it. You have to keep blending for a long time- in my experience, a lot longer than the ingredients would really require and so what is making your soup hot is the blender's blades spinning. It is not the most economical way to heat up the soup-in my opinion its much better (and a lot less noisy!) to just warm up on stove for a minute.

I love something small and silly about my Blendtec- the buttons. They are not raised above surface and are easily wipeable. Which comes in so handy when you drip some thick fruit smoothie on them. Im not sure if Vitamix buttons are like that but I do not believe so.

Also I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the actual blade is not sharp at all. Like, you can put your hand inside and touch it and wash it kind of not sharp. Which is just awesome for me, I can have it sitting on the kitchen table and the kids help load it up and im not worried about blade.

Also, the jar is made of great quality BPA free plastic-do never scrub that thing so it doesnt get murky. All I do is rinse it with hot soapy water immediately after use. So easy.

[chottumommy]

Has anyone successfully made pesto and chutneys with the vitamix/blentec. I would love to buy one but if it couldn't make those, I probably wouldn't right now. We eat tons of fruits and greens but my husband doesn't like them raw in smoothie form I'm not sure if it would be worth it for the occasional smoothie.

[amoonmama]

Super easy to make pesto in the vitamix.

I bought mine at costco in July, then saw the blendtec there at the end of August. The blendtec has a smaller profile and I was tempted to exchange my vitamix for the blendtec, but then I read this review in cooks illustrated:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Vita-Mix 5200
The Vita-Mix 5200 will pulverize anything it touches—but its steep price will also do the same to your bank account. Still, thanks to an extra-large capacity, it’s ideal for big jobs in the kitchen. This blender performed perfectly to crush ice, blend hummus, and churn frozen fruit into smoothies, and its dial precisely controlled speed. Additional functions, like making ice cream and heating soup, were less successful: We wound up with tepid soup and runny ice cream. But we didn’t downgrade this powerful machine because it excelled at core tasks.


NOT RECOMMENDED
Blendtec Total Blender
With too many function buttons, piercing noise levels, and an inability to crush ice, we were disappointed with this pricey blender. It had too much power, turning a smoothie into thin juice, yet couldn’t break down ice cubes. With only two blades and a jar with limited tapering, this blender’s design created air pockets between the blades and the ice so that no matter how fast the blade spun, the cubes remained out of reach.

[zoestargrove]

I just started a thread over in cooking. So, post your recipes.

[calebsmama03]

When you buy from costco, what is their price and is there anything extra included over buying it elsewhere? Seriously considering but balking at the price.

[wellyes]

See, that sounds so great! And I definitely can't make green smoothies with my blender. Good for you for going "green"! I'm so impressed.

I seriously think it's something everyone should try once. I love getting credit for eating healthy when I'm having something so sweet and yummy :) But it's true that not all blenders are up to the task. I tried one in my MIL's cheapie blender and it was just not good (and made an awful burning smell). I have a Waring Pro.


As far as blending powerfully so the soup comes out hot-yes, it is true that you can do that, however it is not the best way to go about it. You have to keep blending for a long time- in my experience, a lot longer than the ingredients would really require and so what is making your soup hot is the blender's blades spinning. It is not the most economical way to heat up the soup-in my opinion its much better (and a lot less noisy!) to just warm up on stove for a minute

I know what you mean. I saw youtube video that showed how, if you blended eggs for 10 minutes, they'll come out as scrambled eggs. I thought "yeah, or you could just cook and EAT the eggs in 10 minutes without running the equivalent of a small boat motor for that whole time!"

[jeno]

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