New Blendtec~ What went wrong??

So I got a Blendtec for my birthday :D I hit the supermarket for some fruit & veggies & open up Blendtecs recipe book... I follow the instructions to make a broccoli/tomato/grape juice except I also added one apple. I quartered the apple, skinned & quartered the tomato, coarsely chopped the broccoli & left the grapes whole. The blender was 3/4 full when I put the lid on... recipe book says use the "Whole Juice" setting so I do... hit start and it take off but after 10 seconds or so I see that only the very bottom is getting blended... I stop the cycle and go in w/ a spoon a toss things around... start it again and the same thing happens... I add a 1/2 cup of water which helps a bit but still nothing from the middle up is getting blended... so I go back in with a spoon and toss things around... and go for a 3rd round... no dice, and now when I take the lid off it is STEAMING! I'm making friggin' soup! I mix it AGAIN, toss in some ice cubes and decide to try the smoothie setting... in under 10 seconds, it pulls everything together and I stop it brofre the cycle runs the full course.... great consistancy but I had to refridgerate it because it was warm. So what gives... is the "Whole Juice" cycle just not worth using??

You always need to use liquid to blend things properly. Also helps to chop everything well, which you can do some in the blender if you want.

Thanks Diamond... I initially did not use water because it was not listed in the recipe and actually in the juice section of the Blendtec book, many of the recipes don't say to add water or ice. I guess I will just automatically have to add water.

First of all, you got the wrong machine ~ shoulda gotten a Vita-Mix. :p

Since the BT is supposed to be able to blend all kinds of metal stuff w/out fluid, one would think...

O.k., being sincere now ~ Not knowing how you did this, put the fruits in first. Can maybe liquify them, then add drier ingredients. With grapes, tomato and apple you "should" have been able to do it without extra water. I always add fluid before dry. Then add dry a little at a time if necessary. *whispers* I can take out the center of the top so I can other stuffs while my blender is going. * :D 's and ducks out before getting hit with a tomato.*

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Originally Posted by Revvell

First of all, you got the wrong machine ~ shoulda gotten a Vita-Mix. :p

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:D

If you really don't want any water, then using water-based foods like cucumber or fruit can work well. Blend them first and then add the other items.

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Originally Posted by Revvell

ducks out before getting hit with a tomato.

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One should never waste precious tomatoes. :p

Did you have the grapes and apple on the bottom of the BT? I agree that you need the 'juicier' items at the bottom. You have to give the blender something to juice up and work with to get the whole thing a-going.

I hope you love your BT as much as we do!

Just tossin' this in - I just found out today (called BT and spoke with customer service) that if a BT is bought at Costco, it's warranted for 7 years - whoo hoo.)

B/T or V/M they are practically the same. It is all about physics You have stuff with other stuff on top of it. Imagine stuffing stuff (stuffing stuff?) into a funnel. Its hard to get stuff to the bottom. Smaller and less dense first. Then the hard stuff (ice broccoli etc) on top. If it isn't all moving within a few seconds, stop the machine and move stuff around then restart until you get it going. Maybe add a little water here and there to help it out.

Lots of dry stuff will not provide a lot of liquid for blending.

surfsup,

Agree both are high speed blenders, but having been an owner of both, they do operate differently. BT is pretty much automated--several functions may be keyed into the machine to assist with moving the contents at variable speeds, etc. I prefer the VitaMix as I'm able to adjust manually to suit the job at hand. I guess it's just preference--they are both great machines.

2fat2fast,

Maybe try one of the variable blending options on the sheet/booklet.
Hope you find a workable solution.