So, What is a Vitamix?
That was my question, when watching a demonstration in Costco around 8 years ago.I quickly discovered that the Vitamix was a multipurpose machine you can use to make a range of things including;
smoothies, soups, ice cream, sauces, bread dough and fantastic cocktails!
The vitamix comes with a 2 litre jug, an instructional DVD and a cookbook with different recipes in. The rubber lid has a plastic 'stopper' which you can remove during use to either add more ingredients, or use the tamper to push down ingredients if they are getting a little stuck!
It has a variable speed control, with 10 settings, and can go on high, low or variable, so in effect there are 30 variants, although in reality I normally just put in on 10 and high. The machine has a 2 horsepower motor.
The blades rotate extremely quickly, which cause friction heat.
You can put cold ingredients in such as vegetables and a little water, leave it running for around 5 minutes and have steaming hot soup! The blades are actually built into the bottom of the jug so there is no real assembly required; you just pop the jug on the base, make sure the lid is on and turn it on. There is a thermo heat protection cut off so that it does not overheat - however it has never cut out on me.
Normally gadgets such as this are a pain to clean - not the Vitamix! you simply half fill it with water, add a drop of washing up liquid and turn it on for a couple of seconds, then rinse it out and leave to dry....how refreshing!
Product specifications
Platform: C-Series
Dimensions (L x W x H): 22.2 cm x 18.5 cm x 52.0 cm
Blades: Laser-cut, stainless-steel hammermill and cutting blades measuring 7.6-cm diameter
HP: 2.2-peak
Watts: 1380
Voltage: 220-240 V
Weight: 4.79 kg
Design Feature: Radial cooling fan and thermal protection system
Cord: 1.8 m
Use: Household
Manufacturer: Vitamix - Cleveland, Ohio USA
What I use it for most
The thing I make most often has to be smoothies. The fantastic thing about this machine is that it blends things so well that little preparation is required. If I am making a smoothie I tend to throw in a range of fruit from the fruitbowl, a handful of frozen fruit or ice cubes, pop it on for a minute and have a nice jug of nutritious smoothie. Because it blends so well there is no need to peel fruit or veg if the peel is edible (even kiwi for example - you cant tell you are eating the peel) and you dont have to chop things up particularly small - i halve apples and pears, throw kiwis in whole etc.
My second favourite thing to make is soup - it is so easy to do. I literally put the vegetables in the jug, turn it on and 5 minutes later I have a nice hot soup - because it gets heated through friction, you apparently keep more of the nutrients. Whether this is accurate or not I do not know, but it is what we were told at the demonstration. One thing I quickly realised is that because the veg is not cooked in the conventional sense it tends not to lose its flavour - this became apparent the first time I put a whole onion in my soup - it was overpoweringly strong, so now I just put no more than a 1/4 of an onion in and its fine.
You can make Ice Cream - although in reality it tastes a little more like sorbet. This is a very handy feature when my friend comes round with her children who are allergic to dairy. To make the sorbet/ ice cream you just need frozen fruit (peaches are fantastic) milk (normal, soya or almond all work) and honey for extra sweetness if required. You put the ingredients into the vitamix, turn it on for a couple of minutes and have a lovely sorbet - If you add cream then this does turn out more like ice cream and you can substitute frozen milk / cream for the fruit, add chocolate powder etc and make more traditional flavours.
Cocktails are fantastic made in this, as the ice gets crushed to perfection, I have also made sauces, pesto, peanut butter and even bread dough as per the recipes in the book provided. When i first got the machine I used it to make my sons pureed fruit and veg whilst he was weaned.
The Astronomical Price
I purchased this when my son was weaning around 8 years ago, and paid £425 from Costco. It is currently on sale for £459 - £559 (depending on any extras) from the Vitamix UK website.
You do get a 7 year warranty with the product; and whilst this has now expired, my machine is as good as the day I got it; I have used is almost daily so do feel that it is very good quality.
Pros
I love the ease of this machine, I do use it a lot, probably because it is so quick to use and to clean - I also like the fact that because you include edible peel you don't loose the nutrients contained within this. Its uses are versatile and it doesn't take up too much room in the kitchen.
Cons
The biggest negative is the price, this is not cheap - although the amount I have used it I am sure I have more than recouped my money. The other downside is the noise; it is very loud - however as its never on for more than a few minutes it really isn't a huge issue.
Overall Opinion
I love my vitamix, I use it a lot, and feel that it is worth the money, it helps me ensure my son has his daily fruit and veg, including the fibre. When it does finally break down I will not hesitate to buy a replacement despite the price.
On the vitamix website WWW.Vitamix.co.uk it is classed as 'The Total Nutrition Centre' - in my view it does go some way to living up to its name. The brand has been around since 1921 - which does provide me with confidence that they know what they are doing.
