[JackiG]

Hello,

Anyone have the Vita-Mix blender? I saw it at Sam's Club over the weekend, and fell in love. I am thinking about buying one. If you have one, how do you like it? Thanks!

[Gourmet Bean]

It was seen on the Martha Stewart Show according to the ad on the side of the page.

I just bought a new blender, a cheapy from Wal-Mart for a little bit less than 20 bucks by Hamilton Beach. It's fantastic. But that's just my two cents.

[Suzanne 3FC]

I considered getting one, but when I took a closer look I realized I wouldn't need something to grind grains or cook hot soup. What I wanted was a blender that wouldn't choke, no matter what I put in it. I chose a Breville Ikon Hemisphere for around $200 (currently $166 on Amazon) and I think it's amazing! Almost everyone that has seen mine in action has bought one as well.

We had a $20 Hamilton Beach at work and it was fine for banana smoothies and maybe a few cubes of ice but choked on hard frozen strawberries. It also required stopping to scrape larger bits of food from the sides. (I should also note that we threw it away after we became spoiled by the Breville)

My $50 Oster Beehive, though very loud, was much much better but still retained a few chunks of frozen strawberries and required occasional scraping.

Breville - Anything I put in it is instantly liquefied into the most perfectly smooth mixture you could hope for. It's quick and I don't have to stop midway and scrape anything down. It has a unique blade configuration for more thorough blending and I really do notice a difference.


Good, better, best. I'm sure the VitaMix is better than the Breville, but how much better and does it equate into a couple hundred dollars more? It really depends on what you plan to do with it when you get it home.

I know there are quite a few Vitamix owners here (topic has come up before) so hopefully they will pop in with their opinions after having had it a while. If not, a forum search might be helpful.

Please let us know what you choose and if it lives up to your expectations

[astrophe]

Yep, I have one, but I do plan to grind grain and other stuff. Primarly I whole juice in it and it replaced my juicer and broken blender. I love it, though I warn people it's a lot of horsepower there.

I think it really all boils down to what exactly you are going to do with it and how often you use it. Because if you are a lightweight user, then a less expensive blender may very well do just as well and save you the bucks.

I had a $50 one through college and the first few apartments. My mother has stuck to her Oster for DECADES.

My previous blender, which motivated me to change when I broke it by accident, was this one. Back then I was doing more baby foods and the immersion blender and mini blender tools were excellent. It lasted almost 6 years before the accident and I felt it was well worth it.

http://www.amazon.com/Braun-MR5550MB.../dp/B00007E9GU

But I'm happy having upgraded and expect it to last me yonks with daily use.

A.

[thistoo]

I have my mom's old hand-me-down VitaMix and I love it. It's amazing and always blends well. I make everything from protein shakes to pancake mix in mine. You can make ice cream in it, for the love of Mike! And it's nice to have the dry container for grinding flax or coffee beans (yes, coffee beans) or whatever. I don't eat grain so I don't grind it, but I have found tons of uses for my VitaMix.

[BurnRN]

I love mine. I've had it since January. I make mostly smoothies and soup. Making the soup is great because it's so quick and virtually no clean up. The only drawbacks for me is the noise as it is very loud....but this doesn't stop me from using it!

[AR4life]

My mom bought one over 20 years ago, all she's done is bought the new canister for it. She loves it.
I bought mine 5 years ago, it's excellent. I also bought one for my Home Ec class and it's a wonderful workhorse. I have the grain grinding canister as well, I show the students how to make flour.
It's not cheap but it will last for a very long time and it grinds ice to slurpee consistency!

[astrophe]

To lessen the noise, put it on some mousepads.

A.

[MomtoThree]

Ours is 2 years old and has been put through about everything. DH thinks it is the best investment we made.

[JackiG]

Thanks so much for all of your comments. I use my blender every day, making shakes/smoothies for my family. It does a pretty good job, but I have to put 1/2 of my frozen fruit in at a time, doesn't take long, but I would love something stronger. Watching the demo, I couldn't believe how easy it looked, and everything it does. I plan on using all of the features.

Once again, thanks for all of your responses!

[momof5k]

I love mine! The best thing? Frozen yogurt made from nothing but frozen berries and fat free yogurt! Tastes like I'm cheating but I'm not

[AR4life]

During my vegetarian unit I make the students a strawberry shake made with Tofu. They are surprised they like it, of course the Vita-Mix blends it up so well they wouldn't know if they didn't see me add the ingredients

[starfishkitty]

Okay.. now I'm curious. How much does one of these babies cost?? hehe

[Michelle1210]

It is on my reward list,....I have googled it a few times and drool over the product. I have told my husband I would like one, I wonder how it will handle on the Truck, when I go on the road with my husband.

[astrophe]

Vitamix has different models, packages.

http://www.vitamix.com/

But you are looking at $450 for the basic package. I'm sure Sam's is cheaper though.

A.