Vitamix

[VeryBerry]

Hi Everyone!

I am considering buying a Vitamix.
How is it different from a regular blender? Is it really a lot better? What extra features does it have? Can it also be used as a food processeor or a cofffe grinder? How big is it? (I have very limited counter space) What is the best place to get it?

Please share your thoughts.

[VeggieMel]

Hi VeryBerry,

The Vitamix is much better than a regular blender. It's almost indestructible. It can handle very hard vegetables. On the rare occassion that it overheats, it just shuts itself off, and in 15 minutes or so, it works again. The Vitamix is pretty simple. It doesn't have a lot of features. It has a tamper and a rubber lid with a hole in the middle. It has a high speed and a variable speed, and a dial to adjust the speed. I use it instead of the food processor a lot. I believe it would grind coffee, but you'd need to dry blade container which costs extra.
Vitamix does traveling roadshows at Costco. You might call your local Costco and see if they can give you the roadshow schedule. You get a great price on them there.

I love my Vitamix. I use it more than any other piece of raw food equipment I have.

[VeryBerry]

Thanks VeggieMel,

I am going to go but Costco this weekend. I am so glad that I do not have to buy it online. Does it come with a warrantee?

[micki]

Help! I have this wonderful older Vitamix (3600 plus) that I inherited from my folks, but they lost the pamphlet (intructions/recipes) that comes with it. Can anyone tell me where I could get one or download a pdf version of it??

[VeggieMel]

Hi VeryBerry,

I believe it comes with at least a 5 year warranty, but if you buy it as Costco, it's good for life. Just keep the receipt and you can return it any time if you're unsatisfied. Costco has an incredible return policy.

[VeryBerry]

Thanks again. I did not realise that my post got moved.

[rawpriestess]

www.vitamix.com they can sell you any part, recipe book etc that you want

[rawpriestess]

Veggiemel, you do not need the dry container to grind coffee, I grind coffee, flax seeds grains into flour in my wet container, no challenges what-so-ever.

Just thought you might like to know.****************

the Vita Mix is extra tall, so won't fit under a regular counter, as the container is huge.

So, most people just don't place the container on the base when it is under their cabinets.

thought you might like to know that.

[heabrook]

Hi all,

I am in looking into purchasing a Vitamix. Does anyone have any experience with the Vitamix 3600? I can purchase one for about $120. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this..... I have never had a Vitamix before but I just used one yesterday and liked it (it was a newer one, plastic base).

thanks!

[ShantiDass]

That's a great price. My mom just bought the Vitamix 5000 at Costco earlier this week and loves it. She's whipping up all kinds of stuff. I haven't tried it yet as no one else can get near it.

[Shivananda]

Does anyone have any experience with the Vitamix 3600? I can purchase one for about $120.I owned a VitaMix 3600 for a long time, but I was honestly never crazy about it and sold mine maybe 10 years ago. But at least they were built like a tank, and relatively indestructible compared to the current models.

The going rate for them today on eBay seems to be about $100 - 120 or so now, so the price you found is fair IF it does what you want it to do and IF you get one that has been lightly used, not bashed to death. They were made from the 70's to the mid 90's, as I recall, when they were replaced by the current line with 1000 watt (2 hp) motors and large lexan carafes.

Basically it's what I call a "brute force" appliance, using a honking big motor to spin a flat blade at very high speed, doing its work by smashing and pulverizing whatever gets in the way. Since the blade is not aerodynamic, it does not pull the contents of the jar down the way modern designs do, so you need a tamper or "pusher stick" to work frozen fruit drinks down into smoothies, etc. And the non-removable blade and flat bottom of the stainless steel jar (plus the side serving spigot) are notoriously hard to get really clean.

It also heats food up pretty quickly... Vitamix used to advertise how you could make hot soup in minutes just by throwing a bunch of vegetables in and letting it run for several minutes... so I personally question its value to raw foodists, but some people still like them and use them. Different strokes, eh?

If you are trying to save money, as I've posted in previous threads, the L'Equip RPM blender has very similar specs and performance to the Vitamix 4500 and has been selling on the net recently for about $120 (or about 1/3 the price of the VitaMix). Truth be told, a fair price for the Vitamix would probably be about $200, but it had a niche market to itself for a long time and takes full advantage of that.

On the other hand, if you want the best high speed blender, I still suggest the 3 hp K-Tec Total Blender (or any other K-Tec or Blend-tec blender for that matter) over the VitaMix brand. At nearly the same price ($399 vs $369), it has 50% more power than the VitaMix (1500 watts vs 1000 watts), and has preprogrammed speed changing cycles that allow automatically incorporating frozen fruits into blended drinks while you do something else, etc. And their blenders are much better made, and they have much better customer service than VitaMix, which is why they are the leading blender used in Starbucks, smoothie bars, etc. And their spare carafes are half the price of VitaMix ones. The price of VitaMix parts, frankly, is a gross ripoff, which is one reason I don't recommend them any more.

And I do understand the appeal of buying something locally at Costco vs. ordering online or from a specialty dealer, but compared to other easily available choices I don't find VitaMix to be a good value if you take the time to compare. They've just been the best at marketing what they make.

[Shivananda]

Interesting coincidence... as I was waiting to check out at Whole Foods tonight I browsed the new issue of Cooks Illustrated, in which they report on their tests of a bunch of high end blenders, including the L'Equip and the Vitamix, on a variety of different common tasks.

On the basis of their tests, regardless of price, they ranked the L'Equip #1, and the Vitamix #4.

Like I said... :)

[Halo Aglow]

On the basis of their tests, regardless of price, they ranked the L'Equip #1, and the Vitamix #4.

I'm curious, do you remember what #2 and #3 were?

[Shivananda]

I'm curious, do you remember what #2 and #3 were?Aw heck, you got me there. The checkout line moved and I put the magazine back... since I'm personally overstocked in blenders and juicers it was mostly curiosity for me anyway.... what I do remember was their #2 choice was only $50. They rated it better overall than the KitchenAid and Waring Super Pro, and yes, better than the $400 VitaMix.

It's what I've been saying for a long time... the VitaMix is seriously overpriced and overrated, but they undeniably have the best marketing campaign in the business. Look how many people think they're great!

[rawpriestess]

I love my Vita Mix, and it's not because of advertising, it is because it works great. I don't ever need to use my plunger, although it's nice to have one, and it doesn't heat up the food, unless you let it run for 7 minutes, when they make soup at the fairs and in demos, they start with hot water, and then let it run for over 5 minutes. where as I've never run mine for more than about 30 seconds to make anything, almond milk, shakes, creams, sauces etc.

Yes, it is expensive, but it has a wonderful warantee, they replace stuff for free, pay the postage, and it's overnight, or at least mine was that way.

maybe things have changed, as I've had mine for 10 years

[Lady Green Jeans]

I saw the Vitamix at the county fair for years before I bought mine. They touted it was a juicer, made hot soups, etc......anyway. I decided a hight speed blender would help me stay on track with raw. I absolutely love it! Purchased it at Costco and saved a little extra--always looks better in my pocket. Just about every morning I use it for making green smoothies or a mock mocha. Truly a workhorse. I have also used the K-Tec at a coffee bar I co-owned. Personally, both are nice and do the job, but I chose Vitamix for my consumer dollar and have no regret over any other blender choice out there.

[Vegan Diva]

I purchased a used Vita Mix 3600 off of Ebay. I received it yesterday. I’m loving it so far it blows my previous much-loved blender out the water. It’s a lot faster at liquefying ingredients. I chopped an entire pineapple and added to the Vita Mix. The entire pineapple was liquefied in less than six seconds. I didn’t have to use the plunger, another bonus! My cabinets are high so it fits perfectly on my countertop.