I finally got a vita mix

It does not live up to all of it's claims however it is one hell of a blender. It can't really 'cook' a soup but man it purees the hell out of anything. Juicing is really bad and unhealthy, but this puppy pulverizes whole peeled oranges into a nice bit to pour into a glass. Waring...you just can't live up anymore.

• I like the BlendTec much better. And it actually makes piping hot soup.

• NOW you tell me.

• I love my vita mix! It pulverizes everything. It is more than just for soup. It can also make flour since it will pulverize any times of grain.

• R3...have you used it to knead bread?

• Can it core a apple?

  Chef%20of%20the%20future

• So juicing is now considered unhealthy?

  I can't keep up

• [quote]Juicing is really bad and unhealthy whaaaat?

• Juicing has ALWAYS been bad and unhealthy. You take away the fiber and get sugar water with much of the nutrient left behind.

• Isn't juicing supposed to give an overload of sugar, or something?

• Or something? Are you twelve?

• r4, It does not knead dough. Kneading is totally different from blending. You could make your own flour with the vitamix, but you need to knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer with a dough hook. WHAT IS THE VITA MIX GOOD FOR? Now, what the Vita Mix IS GOOD for is a list that follows: ~SOY MILK and NUT MILKS ~Mixing cake batter with rice flour or other denser flours ~OK at grinding grains- does stick to sides more now than ever and leaves some grains unground at times. We used ours for grinding all of our flour for years. IT IS BETTER TO BUY GRAIN GRINDING CONTAINER IF THAT IS ONE THING YOU REALLY WANT TO DO WITH THIS MACHINE. IT IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY. ~Making cream sauces and soups. ~grinding tomatoes with skins to can sauce for winter or to freeze. ~making sesame butter and nut butters ~making mayonnaise ~grinding herbs and spices into powders ~making bean dip mixes and soup mixes powdered

• Vita-Mix or Slap Chop?

  Veg-O-Matic

• r10, my 'or something' is intended to convey the ennui towards health warnings about foods these days, or something.

• R8, The VitaMix and BlendTec do not "juice" per say. You throw in the WHOLE fruit, so you *do* get all the fiber.

• I've made a few of the soups without a problem. Make sure you turn the dial to high for 5-6 min

• Is it good at mixing?

• Juicing does not give you sugar water without the vital nutrients. It gives you water and the vital nutrients without the fiber. (You can get fiber elsewhere. Or you can save the pulp and bake it into something else.) And juice from a juicer doesn't have to be loaded with sugar; its sweetness depends on what vegetables and fruits you use.

• R17, but what is the purpose of removing all of the very healthy fiber? I put a peeled grapefruit and peeled orange into my simple blender and it makes delicious fresh grapefruit-orange juice with all the fiber. And one can add kale or lettuce or spinach to the above and have a green smoothie.

• R14 I know dummie...I am the OP. I said juice was not healthy not that whole fruits blended were not healthy.

• But you're talking about removing the fiber and baking it into something else at R17. That is what is ridiculous about juicing.

• R10 drinks prune juice.

• OP, I think the confusion comes in the way you chose to explain juicing being bad. Should've used "so" instead of "but."

• The point is a simple $99 KitchenAid blender pulverizes a peeled orange into a nice orange juice with all the fiber, so one doesn't need a $500 or higher Vita Mix to do what a simple $99 blender will do. The OP is acting like one needs an expensive Vita Mix to pulverize a peeled orange into a nice orange juice with all the fiber. I do it every day with my simple inexpensive blender.

• Is that with a juicer attachment, r23?

  Anomynous

• No, R24, as I said, I use a simple $99 Kitchen Aid blender to pulverize a peeled orange. No, of course not, there is no 'juicer attachment'. The idea is to get all the fiber in the resulting orange juice. I combine a grapefruit and an orange (both peeled) with a tiny bit of grapefruit juice and turn on the blender. What could be more simple?

• I'm just glad they're all made in the USA... I hope

• The 99 dollar KitchenAid blenders are prone to leaking around the blade assembly. They don't all do that, but there are many complaints online about the problem, and the one I returned certainly did. But if you get one that doesn't leak, they are a good blender for much of the stuff that people buy Vitamix or BlendTec machines for, like green smoothies. I wouldn't expect it to be very good at grinding flour, but maybe someone else has better experience about that.

• No, the Kitchen Aid $99 blender does not leak at all. Acting like most $99 Kitchen Aid blenders leak is ridiculous. Very few people want to grind flour. I certainly do not. If you do, then you would most likely want a Vita Mix.

• Vita Mixes are too noisy. It's like having a jet take off in your kitchen.

• Silly R28, I didn't say that most KitchenAids leak. I said that they can be prone to it, as I came to expect before deciding to try one myself, by some simple online research. When the one I bought turned out to to leak, as so many others apparently have as well, I returned it and am still debating my next blender purchase. To say that the KitchenAides don't ever leak is simply false. If the copy you have doesn't, well ... count yourself among the other fortunate buyers who managed to get a copy that doesn't. Without the leakage I and many others have experienced, it's a quality blender.

• I've had two Kitchen Aid blenders and neither leaked. Trying to say that you are likely to buy one that leaks is very far from the truth. But enjoy the wonderland of your feeble mind, R30. I read all the reviews online too and my conclusion is about any leakage does not match yours, R30. You sound like a dainty nancy boy.

• This bitchy over blenders? Really?

• If one is not smart enough to make sure the glass container of the blender is tightly screwed in, there is no hope for that person. And always buy the blender with the glass container, not the plastic container.

• [quote]Trying to say that you are likely to buy one that leaks is very far from the truth. Since I didn't say that at all, your comment is baseless, as are your fanciful, if childish, insults. Congratulations on purchasing two of the leakless examples of the many, many hundreds of thousands of blenders that they have manufactured. Again, if you do manage to get one of the leakless ones, they are indeed a quality blender. It would seem that they are particularly good at blending excellent ... and irresistible ... margaritas.

• R33, there is no screwing in the base of a KitchenAid blender. It is a single piece assembly. And it is a glass container.

• R35, the glass container can be removed from the bottom plastic part - I never remove the glass jar from the bottom plastic part, but it can be removed. I put the entire glass jar with the bottom plastic part attached in the dishwasher.

• [quote]Vita-Mix or Slap Chop?

  I%20still%20love%20your%20nuts%2C%20Vince

• If we are talking about the bade assembly mounted within in the base of the glass carafe, yes it CAN be removed, though it is not designed to be removed in the normal course of operation and cleaning. It is around that assembly that KitchenAid blenders can experience a rate of leakage that is unusually high. KA blenders are in a mid-range of power and price. They are lower in power than the Vitamixers and Blendtecs, and certainly higher than the Warings and Osters, et al. The are priced at the same strata. All very straightforward from a marketing standpoint so far. But they seem to have a statistical anomally of a higher percentage of defective carafes, that are not intended to disassemble, that leak, as mine did. If you have had a wholly positive experience, well that is wonderful for you. But it certainly isn't the whole story.

• VITA MIX? When did this become 1950?

• Don't worry about it, R38. I suspect the KA defender is one of those posters who enjoys a dispute for the sake of it. I posted on DL once about a used car I bought that quckly fell apart. I went online afterward and found out that particular model was known for disintegrating around a specific mileage. Of course the next post was a defender of the car saying that was untrue. Either they enjoy conflict, or they don't get that when there are norms there are also exceptions to the norm. Generally the people I've known who buy KA appliances believe that brand has a certain cachet.

• Sensible advice, R40. Yes, I do know that type of poster, and that they might well turn up as a much more sensible poster after they've, well ... had a rest. People are human after all, and It's no big issue.

• My god, this thread makes me embarrassed for gay people.

• You are 100% right, R42. GAY PEOPLE SHOULD NOT TRY TO BLEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• You can pulverize an orange and then drink it? Doesn't it turn into a thick sludge??

• The point of the VitaMix is that its blades are so fast & sharp that you will have all the fruit (fiber and all) in your drink, and it won't be sludgy. I have yet to really explore ours, but I can throw together a mean smoothie in the morning, and plan on trying some green drinks this summer. Juicers where the fiber goes to another area (I used to have one of those, too) seem to me to be beside the point if you want the whole food.

• Being gay I have the Vita-Mix Vita Prep 3. My lights dim and I wear acoustic earmuffs when I use it. But DAMN, it's good at what it does.

  http://www.vitamix.com/foodservice/products/vita_prep.asp

• [quote]Juicing is really bad and unhealthy Yes, it's right up there with freebasing cocaine or super-sizing your Big Mac value meal.

  rolls%20eyes

• Is this the "Will It Blend?" blender?

  Brick%2C%20waiting%20to%20be%20pureed

• I got it for 10 bucks at an estate sale. Less than your 99 buck kitchen aid.

• My god, I am soooooo very scared that a few Kitchen Aid blenders out of 100's of 1000's of blenders produced by Kitchen Aid might, just might, leak. And many people in online reviews do not exaggerate and inflame and are not flakey. BEWARE readers, you have been warned by the pedantic scaredy cat dainty professor on this thread!! Scaredy cat professor has warned you that you CANNOT TRUST a very long standing reputable brand that has satisfied millions of customers. (there are also different models of Kitchen Aid blenders)

• Mmmmm, that's good bass!

• Hippie pigs.

• [quote]And juice from a juicer doesn't have to be loaded with sugar; its sweetness depends on what vegetables and fruits you use. All fruits are loaded with sugar, ie fructose. THAT is the basis behind the claim that "juicing is unhealthy". It's not so much that it's unhealthy, as that it's not as healthy as people think. Yes, there are vitamins in fruit juice, but also calories and sugar. A nutritionist told me that a glass a fruit juice is pretty much equal to a glass of soda pop, in terms of nutritional content.

• OP, why didn't you use an exclamation point at the end of your thread title?

  Elaine%20Benes

• I have a Blendtec, which is in the same class as Vitamix as far as "super blenders" go, and sorry KA lover, your blender is probably perfectly adequate, but simply does not compare to the performance of a Vitamix or a Blendtec. If the blenders were the same, then Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Robeks, etc would save hundreds of dollars and use mid-range blenders in their establishments. But they don't. They use Vitamix and Blendtec blenders. Juicing is not bad for you, it just depends on what you're juicing. I chose a high powered blender over a juicer because I want the fiber, and it's really difficult to juice hard greens like kale and spinach without spending an exorbitant amount of money on a high end juicer. At the end of the day, I can make so many things in my Blendtec, but I can only juice with an equally expensive juicer. I start off every morning with a green smoothie made from green veggies a bit of fruit for sweetness and have never felt better.

• R55, the point is that a $99 Kitchen Aid blender can make the green smoothie you had this morning just as well and as perfectly as your $500 or $600 Vita Mix. One does not need a Vita Mix to make the things an average person uses a blender for. And Starbucks, Jamba Juice, etc need commercial grade blenders because of the high use, extensive use, frequency of use - the average person does not use their blender anywhere near the number of times a commercial establsihment does.

• Of course you can do a basic smoothie in anything but as the owner of both my vita mix blows your blender out of the water. HOWEVER you needs and mine might be different and your blender might be exactly what you need.

• What's wrong with using a whisk?

• What's the one that Montel Williams sells? Is that any good?

• LULZ @ R59. Sylvia Browne says it's good, so it's GOTTA be!!!

• Wait…wait…… It's….wait…..maybe this is….. Nope, sorry. I just could not come up with a fuck to give.

• Question for ya'll: When I was a kid, my parents always insisted that we could only keep the blender on for maybe 1-2 seconds at a time, because to do otherwise would burn out the motor. We'd press the button, let it run for a moment, then press another button to stop it. Stop, start, stop, start, ad infinitum. Is this still true (that it'll burn out the motor)? Was it ever?

• For what it's worth, I also had a $99 Kitchen Aid blender that started leaking after not very many uses. I thought it was just bad luck. This thread is the first place I've seen that says KA blenders are known for that deficiency. I have a $50 Oster that, while slightly less powerful, has stood up to much more overall than the KA blender.

• R63, check out the KA reviews on Amazon.com. Many reviewers complain about their KA blenders leaking. Most of them are satisfied with getting a quick replacement, but what do you do when the replacement starts leaking too? It's obviously a design problem.

  http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KSB560MC-5-Speed-Polycarbonate-Metallic/dp/B000CSRKI0

• oh for christ sakes, if you are so worried about a KA, don't get one. It is not a design problem. Millions of the KA blenders work perfectly fine. Reviewers on many products on Amazon often run amouk in over criticism. If you're so worried, just simply don't get one.

• Thanks, R65. I won't.

• It's been funny watching the meltdown of the strange KA defender troll. Who knew Datalounge would have one of those? Anyway, when I returned my leaking KA blender to Bed Bath and Beyond, the sales clerk mentioned that they get quite a few returns of them for the same problem. It's too bad. I liked the blender otherwise, and thought it would suit my needs well without having to pop for a BlendTec level price.

• [quote]And one can add kale or lettuce or spinach to the above and have a green smoothie. This is what I would do all the time if I had a decent blender ... green smoothies every day! Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. Link goes to nutritional info on kale (also, this website is amazing for nutritional info for all vegetables and fruits).

  http://whfoods.org/genpage.php%3Fdbid%3D38%26tname%3Dfoodspice

• R68, while kale is pretty tough and needs a powerful blender, the bagged baby spinach is very tender and blends easily at much lower power. I can make a green smoothy using it in my cheap old Oster.

• What is funny is the justifications and great lengths the BlendTec promoter at R67 and the Vita Mix susceptible posters (including OP) up-thread will go to to try to justify their expensive, unneeded purchases which they were duped into buying.

• Sorry, KA troll at R70 but that doesn't work. I have a Vita Mix but I got it at a huge discount. Some of us don't pay retail prices. I make a green smoothie every day in my Vita Mix. I throw in such things as whole apples, root vegetables, kale, whatever I have around. I never worry about whether the Vita Mix can handle what I throw into it.

• Actually R70, I didn't get the BlenTec, or the Vitamix. I think they are more than most people will ever need. The KA was the best choice for me if not for the leaking issue. But go right ahead and keep making those wild assumptions. You're amusing.

  R67

• The KA blender which R64 uses as his example of being problematic is the one NOT to get. It has a plastic carafe. Anyone with any acumen would know not to get the plastic carafe model and that apparently is the model that has had some problems. Any smart shopper would know to get the model with the glass container. As pointed out up-thread, the KA model to get has the glass container/carafe. The link below is the one with the plastic carafe and NOT the one to get. I don't care whether you get an Oster, a Waring, or a Kichen Aid, the point is you don't need an expensive Vita Mix or BlendTec to make green/vegetable smoothies, even using root vegetables and kale. By the way, where does one not pay 'retail prices' and buys with large deductions?

  http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KSB560MC-5-Speed-Polycarbonate-Metallic/dp/B000CSRKI0

• [quote]Scaredy cat professor has warned you that you CANNOT TRUST a very long standing reputable brand that has satisfied millions of customers. No I didn't. That's just more of your faulty reasoning. I like the KA brand in general. I own a KA food processor that works well and is all the power I need in one of those. It seems to be built very well. Same for the KA mixer. Others have complained about the durability of the gear box in the newer machines, but so far I've have no problems. I have owned a KA dishwasher in a previous residence, and would happily recommend them to others. In spite of your juvenile name-calling, I mostly believe that the KA brand is a high quality mid-range choice. It's a pity they haven't yet solved the leak problem that many people have experienced with their blenders.

• It is the glass carafe model that I returned because of the leak problem.

• Wait, you throw in whole apples? As in, literally the ENTIRE apple, without coring it beforehand? That's crazy, man!

• And can some of you please answer R62's question: when you use your blender, do you stop and start on the buttons, or just run for a full 10+ seconds without trouble?

• Yep, it was the glass carafe model that was leaking for me. The KA troll is having a bad day.

• The KA troll is determined to defend his appliance choice, R75. Logic has nothing to do with it. I bought my Vita Mix from a friend who was going through a breakup and needed some quick cash. He was selling a bunch of nice stuff; I got some good deals and he got some cash. It had been a badly chosen Christmas gift for a person who doesn't cook and it had never been used. I bought it for about what a KA would cost at retail.

• [quote]The point is a simple $99 KitchenAid blender pulverizes a peeled orange into a nice orange juice with all the fiber, so one doesn't need a $500 or higher Vita Mix to do what a simple $99 blender will do. The OP is acting like one needs an expensive Vita Mix to pulverize a peeled orange into a nice orange juice with all the fiber. But tell us, can a KitchenAid blender pulverize a peeled orange into a nice orange juice with all the fiber?

• r77, r62 must have grown up in the Dust Bowl and had cloth covered two-wire electricity in the cabin. Those silly people made the food processing designers put that pulse feature on as standard. Unless you are mixing cement, which I HAVE in a Vita-Mix, there is no reason to do that to ANY blender.

• r80, the Vitamix will turn an Orange, peel and all, into a perfect orange puree, that with a little sugar, will freeze into a perfect orange sorbet.

• [quote]What is funny is the justifications and great lengths the BlendTec promoter at [R67] and the Vita Mix susceptible posters (including OP) up-thread will go to to try to justify their expensive, unneeded purchases which they were duped into buying. Hey dummy, If you had read the thread you would know OP paid 10 bucks for his. He has nothing to justify.

• I want to try your sorbet r82. Hook a bitch up.

• There's no stopping and starting with the Vitamix blender. You run it for several minutes at a time at different speeds.

• I rwsearched blenders extensively prior to purchasing a vitamix. Indeed the KA gets awful reviews all over the web, not just on amazon. I wasn't willing to gamble with a $100. I wanted a blender id never have to replace or worry about. I'll have it for 30-40 years so the per use cost is minimal. The company is phenomenal. I felt good supporting their business.

• [quote]while kale is pretty tough and needs a powerful blender, the bagged baby spinach is very tender and blends easily at much lower power. I can make a green smoothy using it in my cheap old Oster. Good to know! I love, love kale, but didn't realize it's that hard on a blender.

• Funny that out of the two Vita Mix owners, one claims to have bought it for $10 at an estate sale and one claims to have bought it from a friend for $100 or so. quite a an extraordinaryily cheap estate sale item

• Enjoy your Vita Mix's and BlendTec's! I was just pointing out that an average person can get along without one. Especially for veggie drinks and smoothies with vegetables and fruits. But if you get enjoyment out of your Vita Mix or BlendTec, alll is well.

• I paid my friend $150 for the Vita Mix. He was glad to be rid of it. It was a reminder of how little his ex knew about him.

• sorry, extraordinarily

• You're right of course, R89. I got along for years with a series of blenders that either wore out or broke. I didn't realize how much time I spent stirring up the ingredients because the blender either bogged down or didn't do a very good job of incorporating the ingredients. I could have bought several Vita Mixes at full retail price for what I've put into crappy blenders.

• Many people by things at full price like a Vita Mix as an impulse item. Though this one was the cheapest and therefore the one I bought (It is also a pretty old model) I have seen them at a lot of garage sales for about 100.

• My Vitaprep 3 was a gift but I know it was purchased for about $400. $400 if you can find the professional kitchen version, like the ones you see on PBS programs. NSF Certified is stamped on my machine.

  r46

• Costco sells vitamix and blendtec blenders. I've also seen them pop up on craigslist.

• Have you guys tried the dildo attachment? WOW!!

• r96, that attachment is for a Hobart / KA stand mixer. Where have you been?

• Would it not be better for the dildo to go in and out vs. just spin around?

• [quote]But if you get enjoyment out of your Vita Mix or BlendTec, alll is well. I like the Vitamex where the pulp go up into the man.

  I%20have%20purchased%20a%20Turnip.

• Which is why the appropriate attachment is for the Hobart/KA stand mixer with PLANETARY motion, r98!

• "the point is that a $99 Kitchen Aid blender can make the green smoothie you had this morning just as well and as perfectly as your $500 or $600 Vita Mix." Just as well and as perfectly? Sorry r56, no, it can't, and no matter how many times you insist that it's true doesn't make it so. Do you think we all just rolled out of bed one morning and said, "hey, I think I'm going to go and blow $400 on a blender!" We've all used Osters, Hamilton Beach, Kitchen Aid Blenders, and they just cannot compare to Vitamix and Blendtecs. If the end result was the EXACT SAME, then the Blendtec and Vitamix would have been shipped back to the store within the return period. No, we don't NEED them. Yes they are luxury items. But the general point of luxury items is that they're better made and give a better user experience. I can make green smoothies in my old Kitchen Aid, but they don't come out as smooth and uniformed tasting as in my Blendtec. Nor can I make them as fast, and clean up is a breeze because everything ends up in my cup, not splattered in chunks inside of the carafe. I bought my Blendtec from Costco for $329 and I have an eight year warranty. What kind of warranty do you have on your KA?

• Does anyone have the Ninja? Does it worth the same as the Vitamix?

• I wanna kiki. Lock the doors, tight. A daiquiri kiki, motha fucka Vita-mix me through the night...

• R102, The Ninja is a fine mid-range blender and people who own them generally like them, but they are not in the same class as Vitamix or Blendtec blenders, which are high end.

• OP = Too poor to buy Juice at the store. Steals the grape he picks at his day work job and juices them.

• A Vita-Ki-Ki!!!

  r103

• I have an old Vitamix but can't seem to get it to do anything but PULVERIZE whatever I put into it. Sometimes I just want it to be gentler, you know?

  it%27s%20soo%20harsh

• The Vitamix and Blendtec work at a much higher speeds. The result is clearly different. That speed breaks down the produce at the celular level. The result is creamy and smooth as apposed to grainy and gritty. No matter how much I tried and how long I let them run, the lower speed blenders never achieved that consistency. Very different and one would not know till they actually tasted it.

  Eating%20for%20Health%20first

• Vita mix is for elder gays who can't chew anymore

• Can someone please tell me how a vita mix blender is different from a Kitchen Aid blender? The Vita mix blender is more expensive so must be better, right?

  TIA

• The Vitamix is more powerful mechanically with a high capacity container.

• I use a Vitamix for Smoothies. Yogurt, non fat milk, whole peeled orange, whole apple, a carrot, frozen zucchini pieces, frozen grapes, a banana, sometimes a little vanilla, frozen strawberries, ice. Mix on high for two minutes. Serves two people a healthy meal in the morning. The fiber is great. "Smoothie" is a very appropriate name.

• how does the vita mix compare to the thermo mix or the thermo chef? TIA