To buy or not to buy???
Pros:
Great for grinding and mayonnaise
Cons:
Not a great juicer
The Bottom Line:
If you need all of the features this model has it is well worth the price and has a 7 year warranty.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
You have probably seen the Vitamix at County Fairs or Home shows. That's where I saw my first one and fell in love with it! I have owned a Vitamix for almost 20 years. It is probably the most heavy duty blender/appliance on the market today.
What makes a Vitamix different from normal blenders?
The motor has a 2+ peak horsepower and comes with a reset switch in case it shuts off from overheating.
At one time we grew wheat in a patch of our garden and the Vitamix worked great to grind the wheat kernels into flour for home made bread.
I still use it to make terrific homemade mayonnaise. The Vitamix comes with a wonderful 240 page cookbook which explains some uses of the product that you may not have even thought of.
The Vitamix can even be used to make soft ice cream that my kids were crazy about. On the opposite side, you can make hot soups too!
How can you do both? For frozen items you add ice cubes or frozen milk cubes at the time of mixing and the speed of the blade allows the cubes to blend and create great smoothies or soft ice cream. As for hot recipes, if you let the Vitamix work for 6 minutes or more anything you have in it will be hot from the friction.
My kids use the Vitamix to make Orange Julius's all of the time. They are so good! Here is the recipe we use:
ORANGE JULIUS
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1 sm. can orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1/4-1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 trays ice cubes
Optional: Add 1 banana.
Put ingredients into blender and blend until ice is chopped up finely and mixture is thick and slushy.
I also use my machine to grind round steak into hamburger that is virtually fat-free. It makes delicious meatballs.
I have never been too thrilled with the results of the juicer from fresh fruits or veggies, but I imagine some people would be satisfied with it. It is perfect for creating your own fresh baby food, though.
If anyone else makes a machine that can do all that Vitamix can, I would be happy to look at it. As far as I know Vitamix is the most versatile machine available.
My own experience with the company is that they have always been very easy to deal with. My 7 year warranty has expired a long time ago, but they are very knowledgable and prompt in their service. The company now offers a 10 year warranty for an extra $75.00. You can even try it for 30 days with a full money back guarantee.
It is expensive, but if you bought a blender, food processor, juicer, meat grinder, coffee grinder, etc. etc. etc...
My advice is if you have the money and not enough space to have all the gadgets, the Vitamix is the right choice.
