Digging the VitaMix

The other day I got home and saw a Vita-Mix Super 5000 sitting on the counter. Shirley had taken a little jaunt to the local Costco and saw a gent demonstrating one of these babies. So US$359 later, it was ours. Man, I first started thinking about getting one of these about 20 years ago! Well, I dropped Shirley and Ben off at the airport today (they're heading up to Vancouver USA to see family and friends), so I'm bach-ing it for a bit. OK, so let's see, what's easy to prepare foodwise? How about just taking whatever fruits and veggies are laying around, and dump 'em in the VitaMix and have a smoothie ready in about one minute!

Here's the before picture. The ingredients included an apple, an orange, a lime, a banana, some strawberries that we bought fresh and then froze, some blueberries, several baby carrots, a slice of cabbage, and a slice of pineapple (and I tossed in a few ice cubes). I did wash the apple and pull out the stem, and did peel the banana, orange, and lime, and cut the rind off of the pineapple. So there was some prep (very fast).

...and here's the finished smoothie (actually, this made two very full glasses). This was very, very tasty! It amazes me that I didn't taste the cabbage nor the carrots at all. What I'm discovering here is a very easy way to have extremely healthy drinks (we've also made soup, salsa, ice cream, nut butter, etc. using the VitaMix). Most of us do not take in nearly as much fresh fruits and vegetables as we should for optimum health. I wish now that we'd bought a VitaMix years ago. I am definitely sold on this machine!

Comments

[Terry]

Thanks for the reviw! I just bought a Vita-Mix and was googling around for opinions and recipes and your site came up. I'll probab;y be writing a review of mine in the next week or so. Do you still use yours much?

[Janet]

Hi. I stumbled upon your site while doing research on Vita-Mix. I am on the verge of buying one. Do you think the Vita-Mix was a good investment? Is it still holding up 2 years later? Did Costco offer the same 7 year warranty that the Vita-Mix website does? Thanks.

[Joe litton]

Janet,Yup, the Vita-Mix has been great. We've used it twice (so far) just today :) We have had absolutely NO problems at all and it is an incredible device. We toss in prety much *anything* ...vegetables, fruit, protein powder, ice, ...just depends what we're making. And my wife makes some soups in there as well ...and nut butters ...and pastry flour. Our Champion Juicer now sits unused in the garage. I've no idea about the warranty, but I would expect that it would be the same. Cheers,Joe

[Lea Ann Savage]

Hi, I'm a Vita-Mix sales demonstrator and it was great to see this post! I couldn't imagine life without mine... I had chronic fatigue syndrome and after reading the book, "Green For Life" by Victoria Boutenko, I started drinking "Green Smoothies" (Google those terms and you'll learn a LOT!). The Green Smoothies "cured" my need to take a daily nap. I now have more energy. I also lost weight and my cravings for carbs and processed sweets!

Before I got my Vita-Mix, I had to "chew" through my smoothies that were made with a regular blender.

I loved the machine so much I contacted the company and asked how I could become a sales demonstrator!

Congrats to you for embracing your wife's purchase!!!

[Roger]

Well, I've thought about a Vita Mix since 1971 when I first came across and ad in Mother Earth News. Finally, today, I am ordering one - no time like the present, right?

[vita-mix18]

Hey All !!!There is nothing like the Vita-Mix you are so right.

So glad you guys love your Vita-Mix. I can’t say enough about this amazing kitchen tool. Find out more on the Vita-Mix website.Just posted a blog site to bring the whole Vita-Mix community together….It’s called Vita-Village.http://community.vitamix.com (also found on the Vita-Mix Website)

[Danielle]

This was great! I've owned my VitaMix for about 3 years now and thought that it might be helpful for everyone to know....USE THE 2 YEAR WARRANTY! I absolutely LOVE my VitaMix (could not live without it!)and use it just about daily. It has it's very own house in the cupboard as well as on the counter. I've made soup, gelato (very awesome), juice smoothies and my own yummy version of "Shake and Bake". About a year ago, I heard a grinding noise as the motor was shutting down and called VitaMix to inquire. The customer service lady who answered was amazing. She asked me for my serial number on the unit and stated that it was still under warranty. That surprised me because I hadn't filled out any registration card, etc. when I received it as a gift. She also informed me that my warranty was about to expire and "to be save" she was going to send me various parts incase it ended up being a serious problem. She offered a few ideas on things to check and it turned out that it was just a loose bolt (from so much use I imagine). Well, about a month later I received a huge box from VitaMix corporation with what seems like enough parts to practically build another machine! If you're on the fence about a VitaMix purchase, I have to say this was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received! Little Joe...this was a great post. I hope more people jump on the "bandwagon".

[Dave Morawski]

I will be developing an ad campaign for Vita-MIx in a few months. The price is rather high, what about the product convinced you to make the purchase?

[Sam]

I bought a refurbished Vita-mix Super 5200 and it was delivered on March 2nd, 2009. By March 20th, 2009 it already stopped working. It acts like Christine, the possessed car; it turns on if it wants to; other wise it keeps mum. I have used it for about 10 days to make veggie smoothies. Has anyone had this experience?On a positive note, the Vita-mix corporation has agreed to replace the unit without any shipping charges for me. But I still would like to know others experiences.

[Carl Jason Thomas]

I'm selling the Vitamix in the UK but I'm also thinking of buying one myself. The question I have is how does it compare with the Blendtec? They both seem like good blenders but they both have a lot of hype surrounding them. Anyone tried both? Thanks in advance....

[Zorah]

Hi,We just bought the old style Vitamix and are curious about the blades. Is one set supposed to be sharp? I was making a green smoothie the other day and the banana did not get blended smooth. Perhaps I didn't let it run long enough. Any thoughts on this?

[Joe Litton]

We've had ours now for 6 years and the blades have stayed sharp enough to easily chop / shred / blend whatever we throw in there. I don't even know if it's the sharpness of blades or power of motor that does it, but ours has been wonderful. And it is used almost EVERY day - sometimes multiple times. So daily use for 6 years and no problems.

After my daily workout, I'll usually throw in some hemp protein powder, flax seed, banana, orange, and some frozen fruit (2 cups) and water. It is all blended to a very drinkable shake in about 30 seconds.

I suggest contacting VitaMix and asking them!

[Zorah]

I'm still confused about the blades issue. I read a comment from a fellow that sells parts for Vitamix blenders that the blades are NOT supposed to be sharpened and they are called "hammer mill" blades. We bought a 2nd hand 3600 Vitamix and when I made a green drink with bananas, frozen blue berries, kale and collard greens, and ran the motor for a little under a minute, I still had chunks. Am I running it long enough? I don't want to ruin the blades by sharpening the two on top. I owned a viamix in the mid 70's but it's long gone and I don't remember much about it. Any help with this blade issue is greatly appreciated. Perhaps the newer, all plastic models, have sharp blades and the old 3600 models had the unsharpened blades. Help!

[Joe Litton]

Oh gosh, I'm not at ALL a VitaCost rep or technician. We bought one and love it, but we have never done ANYTHING to it in terms of maintenance. Looking at the blades, they don't appear to be sharp, so I suspect it is the power of the motor that takes care of blending everything up. I'm afraid VitaCost support is probably your best bet. But as stated, we've had ours for YEARS and even with daily use, it continues to perform wonderfully. Maybe the previous owner of yours had been hard on it? Hope it works out!