There are blenders out there and most of them work perfectly fine. If you have a narrow view of what a blender should do: make smoothies or thin down small batches of sauce or soup.
But then there's the Vita-Mix.
Ever since I went to culinary school and got my paws on a Vita-Mix for the first time, I've been in love. A lot like finding your mate, or driving a really fast car, or wearing a pair of fancy heels: oh, this is love can be, this is how a car can drive, this is what strutting down the street can be like.
This is the Vita-Mix.
I don't mean to sound like an ad-copy writer here, but it's hard not to when I'm so in love with this machine.
Okay, one critique: the pour spout kind of drips a bit after you've righted the container, but it's nothing that a sponge can't tidy up.
Now for some praise. Obviously, the machine is good at making drinks. Smoothies are as smooth as you can imagine. Smoothie-shop-style. Because of it's insane ice-crushing ability, it also make icy cocktails well. And according to the Times, Blender Drinks Are Back.
But the Vita-Mix makes ice cream, whole fruit and vegetable juices (with out and stringy much to get stuck in your teeth), breads, cakes, hot stuff (without it exploding all over the kitchen) and cold stuff. Check out the Vita-Mix company's Professional Series recipes here.
Take Ice Cream, for example: the Professional Series works so fast that mixtures have no time to melt. When used with the accelerator tool, the mixture instantly refreezes itself. With the right ingredients in your kitchen, you can literally decide to make ice cream and be eating it in a few minutes. Dangerous. Maybe I shouldn't have told you that.
Oh, one more thing I have to tell you: the price. I should mention that the Professional Series Vita-Mix retails for around $500. However, if you intend at some point to have a blender, an ice cream maker, and a juicer, this could solve all three desires in one fell swoop. Three lovers in one.
• The CIA Professional Series By Vita-Mix website.
• Professional Series Vita-Mix available from Buy on Amazon ($499 plus free shipping)
Related: Good Product: Immersion Blender with Whisk
Related: Product Review: The Magic Bullet Blender
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yeah... right... $500 for a blender... wutevah...
i grew up with a vita-mix. i don't know if it was professional grade, but it was amazing. it was all chrome. i know it was purchased new in the seventies. it finally gave out in 2000. i'd say that's a pretty good machine. i don't know if it could make ice cream but it could grind wheat. it was fantastic!
http://threadtrace.wordpress.com
I was thinking of getting one of these for my partner for her upcoming birthday, and saw one that appeared to be a previous model for only (ha!) $350. My understanding is that this could be the last blender I'd ever have to buy, so at 27 y/o that would make at least a little more worth it. Anyone know about the different models? Anyone had one for more than a decade that can speak to their lasting power? cassiopia, your parent(s) still have?
I would like to hear comments from peeps who have owned/tried both this and the Blend-Tec, which is another supposed super top of the line brand. I've been about to pull the trigger on one for a year or so because I'm so sick of the constant parade of cheap-to-not-so-cheap blenders that croak every couple of years at my house.
My friends have one of these (the vitamix 4000) and it is AMAZING. You know what else you can do with it? You can grind grains in it! Frozen yogurt, hot soup, mix dough... Theirs has a stainless steel pitcher instead of the new polycarbonate ones and it is very retro looking but also industrial. The last one they had lasted them almost 20 years! We are getting one as soon as we find a good used one.
I bought the all metal one in 1975. It finally gave up the ghost in 2001. Best darn blender in the world. I ground flour, made soups, made 1000's of smoothies, and made apple cider with the accessory press.
I loved that blender.
I have a 70's or 80's model as well. Only problem is that it is made for the UK. I have to convert it to 110 v. somehow.
I bought one a few weeks ago for my wife. Every day she tells me about the fact that it was one of the best gifts I've ever given her. She raves to all of her friends and family about it.
i have a vitamix 5000, bought last spring because i was tired of buying craptastic blenders that don't last. it is, without a doubt, a godsend and worth every single cent. i have used it every single day, multiple times a day, for the year and a half i've had it, for a plethora of tasks. i have never experienced even a tiny hiccup in performance. there is very little it can't do and the things it can do are limited only by your imagination. yes, it is that awesome.
Too many models, my head hurts. Which one is best? Anyone?
CIA
4500
1319
1363
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Oh my god!!!!
So, I went for it and bought the 5200, as it is the latest (thus best?) model for home use (you'll see at their website they only sell the latest at any time). It has the new container that doesn't leak plastic into your food. I looked a lot at the difference between that and the CIA model, and as it turns out the only difference is that the CIA model is sold through luxury retailers, like Sur la Table, while the 5200 is sold direct from Vita-Mix. For that marketing, and the little CIA label on the front, you pay another $50.
It's a gift, yet to be given, so I can't give any reviews yet, but I hope it will be an amazing blender for many years to come.
I don't know about the Vita-Mix, but I'm pretty sold on the Blendtec. Anything that can chew up and spit out an iPhone will handle anything I can throw at it.
Oh my - you sound like my sister -she is a big smoothie maker/drinker what not and after much research bought the vitamix 5000 (or some such number), I promise you - she should be their spokesperson - as she has nothing but rave reviews about it - for making soups, cookies, smoothies everything.
Another friend of mine has an old 3600 from the 70's...and the thing is in AMAZING condition - she uses it to make her almond milk - as in grinds her almonds in it to a POWDER to make the milk -- its insane - I have been courting the 3600 on ebay for a while but wonder if it is really worth giving up my 'much cheaper' blender that works in favour of this..i'm told it is the only thing I will need in my kitchen..slight exaggeration of course. haha. But seriously these things seem to last forever and blend, mix, anything but concrete!
saer
http://cravenmaven.wordpress.com
The Vitamix 5200 blender is off-the-charts incredible. It even blends fruit and vegetable rinds and peels with no problems. I've had mine for a couple years and haven't had any problems with it.
I've had enough of the $50-$200 blenders that break after a 6 months to a year, or don't do what they're advertised.
http://amzn.to/vitablend