Vitamix

spring1onu · 01-23-2011, 07:24 AM

Just curious if anyone has one and what you think about it?

Worth the price?
How often do you use it and what for?

Thanks!

Saria · 01-23-2011, 07:34 AM

It's like I said in another thread, if you have the money, great, but I don't think most people need a restaurant blender at home. I use VitaPrep and VitaMix a lot at jobs, and yes, they are awesome.

blackguitargirl · 01-24-2011, 02:02 AM

My mom has one. She got it at the suggestion of a work friend and she loves it. I think she uses it almost everyday, but that is because she has very specific food allergies and is very particular about how things are made. She makes soups, smoothies, coconut milk, and rice milk ice cream. Mom also uses it to mix the batter for her carob brownies and her apple cake.

I've used it a few times to make ice cream, smoothies, and frappes every so often. I think if you are going to use it a lot, it might be worth the investment.

poisonivy · 01-24-2011, 05:33 AM

We've been juicing and I just told DH that I want to buy a Vitamix when we get our tax refund. I really want to start drinking green smoothies and try to get my kids to drink them. There are some really good ones out there. Very healthy.

Saria · 01-24-2011, 07:26 AM

By the way, my mom has this cheap Oster blender. It's cheaper than my Kitchenaid blender. It's way better, too. I was shocked by how good this cheapo blender is. I mean, I've abused this thing. I've used it for stuff I would in fact use a VitaPrep for. My mom of course yelling at me to not use the blender for those things and how I'm going to kill it. But no, it kept going. It got a little hot, but so do VitaMix/VitaPrep (and they do stop working until they cool down again). Heh, unless I win the lottery, I'll probably get myself the same blender and dump my fairly annoying and useless KitchenAid.
Anyway, if you're going to make smoothies, even if you're doing it every single day, you do not need a VitaMix. Any blender can make decent smoothies.

luvmylocs · 07-15-2011, 07:29 PM

so i was in whole foods. i sampled some chocolate drink that was dessert like (had cabbage in it and couldn't taste it). then i had some tortilla soup that was fabulous. then right in front of me he made a strawberry lemonade sorbet that had carrots and cabbage in it but you could not tell.

so....i'm now the proud owner of a red vitamix. it came with a big cookbook, a flexible cutting board, 3 spatulas, a 30 min cd that is supposedly like a cooking class and a book on juicing and veggie combinations. it was pricey but when i saw all the things you could make with it, heard the warranty and saw how easy it was to clean i bit the bullet. and all i was going in whole foods for was for some bottled teas and a few other small items. oh well...yeah vitamix!

spring1onu · 07-15-2011, 07:44 PM

Funny that you bumped this because as I was making my smoothie today and my blender sounded like it was going to blow UP I was trying to figure out what to get next. I really just want something that will blend a decent smoothie without sounding like it's about to die (it's also loud enough to give a jet engine a run for its money).

Enjoy your new toy!!!

That was some expensive tea.

luvmylocs · 07-15-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spring1onu

Enjoy your new toy!!!

That was some expensive tea.

right! i called my mother to talk me down and she really didn't. all she said was "you eat out a lot but if you're going to use it go for it". i plan to use it for breakfast for sure, no eating out. i'll probably do some sort of vitamix challenge where i use it every single day for a month or more just to get in the habit of using it. i saw him clean it. i really have no excuse not to use this thing.

ninja dog · 07-15-2011, 09:08 PM

A friend lent me hers a while ago and I dread the day she needs it back. I LOVE it. None of my other blenders have worked so well, nor so thoroughly mixed ingredients (including crushing ice).

If I could afford it, I'd spend the $ for certain.

Jess the Mess · 07-15-2011, 11:15 PM

I want one so bad. I have to ignore the demos in Costco. I keep telling myself I don't need it. Not that I have the money for it.

macluan · 07-15-2011, 11:57 PM

We've had one for about a month and we've made green smoothies almost everyday for breakfast. My 10 year old daughter loves it too. She makes smoothies for snacks with kale, spinach, cucumber, parsley~very exciting to see. She has always been a healthy eater but this has really helped her expand what she eats on a daily basis. It is so fast and amazingly easy to clean. I've also used it for some kitchen prep stuff. I make peanut sauce and in the vitamix it is perfect. I love it.

luvmylocs · 07-16-2011, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macluan

We've had one for about a month and we've made green smoothies almost everyday for breakfast. My 10 year old daughter loves it too. She makes smoothies for snacks with kale, spinach, cucumber, parsley~very exciting to see. She has always been a healthy eater but this has really helped her expand what she eats on a daily basis. It is so fast and amazingly easy to clean. I've also used it for some kitchen prep stuff. I make peanut sauce and in the vitamix it is perfect. I love it.

kale is delicious in the smoothies!!! glad to hear you and your family are enjoying it. i'm going to watch the video and go through my cookbook today and make a list of ingredients. the guy said carrots and cabbage or good adds because they don't change the color of many things and cabbage doesn't change the flavors much either. i know it was in that frappe type drink and i could not tell. mine is red too, just like my tea pot. i smile whenever i look at it

scrills · 02-09-2012, 04:34 PM

bumping....

I'm thinking about getting one. My current juicer is driving me insane. it spits out so much pulp (which is such a waste) and is a PAIN to clean.

I believe the company is based on Cleveland. There's an outlet store about 20 minutes away. I called and they start at $379.

Is there a middle of the road blender that does well with vegetables (carrots, beets, celery) like the vitamix or a juicer.

Right now I'm using a juicer for my veggies and my stick blender for fruit smoothies

Saria · 02-09-2012, 04:48 PM

A vitamix can't replace a juicer. You still need a juicer to get carrot juice. You'd have to add a water and strain to get juice, as opposed to a juicer giving just the straight up juice.

Stick blenders don't produce as fine a purée as traditional blenders. This is why I don't like recommendations to replace blenders with immersion ones. They do different things.

scrills · 02-09-2012, 05:05 PM

hmm, interesting. My friends replaced their juicer with a Vitamix and in fact are on a 30 day juice fast. I wonder how they are doing it.

ETA, ok, they juice and then strain, no water added

Saria · 02-09-2012, 05:19 PM

You'd get very little juice doing that and you'd be pressing against a strainer quite a bit. It's a waste. Trust me, we use our Vitapreps/Vitamix for a whole lot of things (they're the favorite kitchen tool of a lot of chefs), we'll push it, but they do not get used to juice because they're not meant for that and don't do a very good job.
The nearby health food store uses a juicer and a Vitamix to make smoothies that contain vegetables.

ninja dog · 02-09-2012, 05:20 PM

I don't make veg smoothies much, and I've revised my opinion about the Vitamix. Not because it doesn't work well --- it does --- but cleaning it is a friggin' bloody nightmare.

I returned the one my friend had lent me months ago.

Saria · 02-09-2012, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninja dog

I don't make veg smoothies much, and I've revised my opinion about the Vitamix. Not because it doesn't work well --- it does --- but cleaning it is a friggin' bloody nightmare.

I returned the one my friend had lent me months ago.

I find they're really very easy to clean. Everything comes off easily and when it doesn't, you just fill it with water and turn it on to swirl around anything that might be stuck. That's also how you clean an immersion blender easily.

misspam · 02-09-2012, 05:27 PM

Spring, if you just want to make smoothies with a blender, I don't think you need to spend several hundred dollars on a Vitamix - as nice as it might be.

And I agree with Saria, I had an Oster brand I bought at Walmart and it worked like a champ. I liked it much better than my KitchenAid. After I lost the Oster in the Great Earthquake of 2011, I replaced it with a Breville blender. I like it a lot. I make smoothies with fruits and veggies and it works great! It was on sale and I had a coupon, so I got it for just over $100 at Bed Bath & Beyond.

scrills · 02-09-2012, 05:28 PM

they use a nut milk bag to strain it.

They clean theirs by putting soap and and hot water and turning it on for 10 seconds. This is what has me wanting. My juicer has 4 or 5 parts it clean. so annoying