Worth Every Penny

I'm a vegan and my husband is a vegetarian.  Since my diet consists of mostly raw foods, I make everything from smoothies to pates in the VitaMix and use the blender literally everyday--sometimes two or three times in a day. 

I've killed more than my fair share of blenders over the years and finally, after burning the motor out of yet another 'top of the line' blender, decided to plonk down the extra money for something I could use for more than a month or two.  Research--and asking a ton of questions of other raw-food vegans--led me back time and time again to the VitaMix. 

Warranty

First of all, the VitaMix offers a five year warranty.  This, to me, was fascinating, especially in light of my previous blender kills and the various attempts at replacements (one rep actually sounded mortified that I was attempting to blend soft soaked seeds in their blender.) For the price and the length of the warranty with the VitaMix, I figured I would be willing to put in the extra time to explain/complain/ship if necessary to replace.  

The VitaMix is reported to blend at 240 mile per hour.  It's certainly faster than the other blenders I've been through and reduces items such as red bell peppers to a very smooth juice in just a few seconds. VitaMix also has a patented design on the stainless steel blade assembly. I tend to just throw things into the blender in large chunks and use the longer plunger, which fits quite nicely through the lid, to move things around. VitaMix states the blades are designed to pull the food in toward the blades and that does seem to be the case.  Also, like many blenders, the lid had two pieces.  Unlike some blenders, however, the lid is flexible (which allows for expansion and contraction with hot or cold foods) and has a great locking system.  Soups, for example, will heat up considerably with the VitaMix, especially if you let the blender run on high for a few minutes.  Even heating soups up as I do, I have yet to blow the lid off (I'm a bit of a scientist and yes, have popped the lids on other blenders with my experiments.)

The container holds 64 ounces/2.0 liters, is made of clear polycarbonate.  The manufacturer states that the container is BPA-free (Bisphenol A, a compound suspected of being hazardous) and resistant to chemical and virtually unbreakable.  I've dropped the container (more than once) and it has not chipped or cracked.  It has a built in spout, and the calibrations along the side of the container are raised for ease of measuring ingredients in ounces, cups or metrics.

Tough Blends

Ice and frozen fruit were the demise of my latest blender and my husband is big on frozen fruit and/or fruit nut smoothies.  Frozen fruit is one thing to put into a blender, ice can be another.  VitaMix states that the 4500 can "crush a half gallon of ice in just a few seconds."  Needless to note, I was more than a bit skeptical and loaded up the container with full chunks of ice just to test the statement the very first time I used the blender.  It worked.  We use it routinely to pulverize ice now.

Frozen fruits are not a problem at all.  I make sorbets from just about every kind of frozen fruit--something that was next to impossible with the other blenders.  And it doesn't matter if I've got a cup of fruit to blend up or a mixture that fills up half the container.  The consistency is uniform and is not dependent on how full the container is.

Nuts and seeds:  Generally I don't end up jamming the unit if I remember to add the liquids along with the nuts in the beginning.  As noted previously, I tend to just throw things into the VitaMix.  As an aside, VitaMix offers two separate containers for wet and dry mixes.  I only have the larger container and use it for blending just about everything. 

A Couple of Recipes:

Date-Nut Smoothie

1 cup of coconut water (from a Thai baby coconut) or plain water
3/4 cup almonds
1 Tb cocoa powder
1-2 frozen bananas
1 Tb Agave or Maple syrup
6 dates (pitted)
1 1/2 cup ice


Raw Spinach Soup

1 pound of clean, raw spinach
1 avocado
1 Tb lemon juice
1/2 cup of raw pignolas (pine nuts)
2 tsp Braggs
1/2 tsp Cayenne
1/4 tsp ground Cumin
1/4 cup (+/-) water for consistency

Just leave the unit running to warm the soup up.  My husband, a once-confirmed "nothing but a carnivore" likes this soup as a dip.  Add more water if you prefer a thinner soup.

Two Speeds

The motor is super powerful and has two speeds.  Even as strong as it is, my VitaMix has stopped on me a couple of times (my husband comments that this seems to happen when I get a bit overzealous with new recipes.) This machine has an internal reset mechanism and starts right back up after a few minutes. 

In experimenting with how far I can push my VitaMix, I've found that actually using the longer plunger to move the contents of the container around while mixing will usually keep the motor from shutting down--I routinely make almond butter for example, and have not had any problems. 

The container is larger than most and holds 64 ounces--a wonderful size for making some of the meals that I do such as soups.  The VitaMix will also warm soups up a bit if left running.  This is just another plus as far as the raw vegan lifestyle is concerned. 

I've had my VitaMix for nearly two years now which is a definite record in my household.  It's as strong as ever, the container is still in great shape and the lid still seals perfectly. Insofar as cleaning, I usually just rinse everything or whirl a bit of water and soap in the container for the more stubborn cleaning jobs.  The container has been through the dishwasher quite a few times, though, when someone else has used it.  We did a quite a bit of entertaining over the summer and I truly didn't worry about anyone else using the blender.

Everyone that has used my VitaMix loves it and even my extremely cost-conscious Mom ended up buying one.

Size

The VitaMix is big.  The dimensions, according to the packaging:  7 1/4" x 8 3/4" x 20".  Not a counter friendly height in most kitchens.  Also, the VitaMix weighs in at 13 pounds, so not a machine that one is likely to move in and out of a cupboard to use.  If you can find a place to park it where you can get to it easily, I think you'll find that it becomes a piece of kitchen equipment you'll use on a very regular basis.