Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I love the Vitamix! I use mine at least once and usually twice a day -- green smoothies, nut butters, cashew creams... amazing. I dithered forever too but it really is a miracle machine. I thought my old blender got things plenty smooth enough, but I had no idea... Totally worth it.

I just rinse mine out immediately with smoothie stuff -- if it's goopy, I fill it about halfway with water, add a little dish soap, and whiz it on high for 30 seconds to clean it out.

It makes super blended and smooth smoothies really fast (some under 30 seconds) and it's easy to clean. I also use it to grind oats for oat flour and have used it to make gazpacho and hummus. There's a bunch of soup recipes in the recipe booklet that came with the Vitamix that I haven't tried because I live in a hot state but will when it cools down. It's way better than any blender I've ever had and I need to start using it more, maybe I'll make sorbet or ice cream tomorrow.

Has anyone tried grinding dry things in the wet container? I'm not planning on milling my own wheat flour or anything, but with things like flax seeds or quinoa, will I scratch up my container? I've been too nervous to try it.

it's not a scratching issue. it's an effectiveness issue. the dry blade moves the stuff differently (and i think is less sharp? pulverizing instead of cutting.) maybe you would have luck with a small amount.

I've made oat flour without issue. I hope it hasn't dulled the blades at all. I've done it maybe twice.

Did you use rolled oats? Those are so soft I'm sure the blade would be just fine.

Maybe I'll just save up for the dry container. I'm not sure I'd use it enough to justify it, though.

I've use it for rolled oats and didn't even know there were different blades or dry containers though. I was going to use it to grind buckwheat, now I'm thinking that's not a great idea if I need to buy another blade or container.

Thanks, Supercarrot.

Another question - I've been trying to use my dry blade to grind chocolate, to no avail. I've frozen the chocolate, i've pulsed, I've run it on high, I've run it on low - no luck. No matter what I do, the chocolate just melts before it's uniformly smooth. Any tips?

Have you frozen the Vitamix container first?

I just got a coupon in the mail today for 10% off at Williams-Sonoma, just weeks after I bought my Vitamix there. WELL PLAYED, W-S. WELL PLAYED.

Also, I am eating my first hot soup out of it - a beet-coconut soup from Celia Brooks Brown's Vegetarian Party Food. It's way less purple than normal (???), but I made it with the Melissa's precooked beets from Costco and it took just a few seconds to throw everything in. It doesn't have the depth of flavor of the cooked version but it is so smooove and heated up nicely!

You know, on second thought, this has too much raw garlic to work. Maybe if I kept a lot of roasted garlic, caramelized onions, that sort of thing on hand I could do more pureed soups quickly.

Good idea! You could make those things in large batches and freeze, since they are fairly time consuming.

Run it for a few seconds, then leave it in the fridge for an hour, repeat until desired consistency? I haven't tried it personally but I know that's how some raw people make nut butter.

thanks dropscone. I'm sadly thinking it's much easier just to make in my spice grinder.

Does anyone else out there have a dry jug? So far, I've found *nothing* that it does well, or even acceptably. Chocolate, it melts, and leaves clumps. Almonds - I wanted meal, it turned 1/4 of it into nut butter, and the rest was still in large chunks. Oat flour - lumps. Chickpea flour - lumps. Icing sugar - lumps. Is it a con? Or am I just using it wrong?

I have the dry container and mostly use it to grind flax and nut flours. The trick is NOT to turn the speed up to high. For flax, I usually go to 7 and for softer nuts and seeds maybe 5 or 6. That way, the seeds and nuts have time to get ground up evenly. On high, the bottom section is liquefied before the nuts at the top even reach the blades.

Also, it helps to grind only small amounts. The guidebook says 2 cups max, but I've found that flax does better when you add 1,5 cups and for soft nuts, 1 cup works best.

I haven't tried wheat, oat or beans yet, but I imagine grinding a smaller amount should help with the clumps. Hard materials like beans probably do need the high speed.

I just made my first green smoothie in this. Mmmmmm.

ETA: The fact that you can clean it by blending water & soap is pretty much the best thing ever. I rarely used my other blender just because I hated how much room it took up in the dishwasher/sink.

The real reason why I love my vitamix.

Thanks Cornelie. I'll keep tinkering! The people on the Vitamix phone line told me to drop things in from above while it's running.. Let's just say - that didn't work out well. Chocolate all over the room, half melted.

My friends chipped in and got me a surprise Vitamix for my birthday!!!! What should I make first?!

did you have the entire lid off or just the little bung out?

Those are the kind of friends I like!

I made hot chocolate first using nuts, water and some chunks of chocolate and letting the machine heat it up for the novelty value, but I also like that when I bought my Vitamix the promotional stand had bags of soup ingredients to give out so you could get started. If I remember correctly they were a couple of cloves of garlic, some cashews, a carrot, a slice of lemon, some cilantro, half an apple, a slice of root ginger and a vegetable stock cube.

Just the little middle bit. Stuff just flew right back out at me!

Well I haven't tried any Vitamix novelty recipes yet, but I've made Baba Ganoush, Started some cashew cream cheese, and made a walnut "bechamel" for my lasagna...And an amazing smoothie. I'll never spend $8 on a smoothie again! HOOORAY!

Are there big differences between the different vitamix models?

Amazon has the "1782 Turboblend 2 speed" for 'only' $379. Is there a reason this one is a hundred dollars less than any other vitamix I've seen? I know the one at cost-co comes with the wet and dry containers, and this one doesn't, but can't figure out what else is different.

Didn't know this thread existed! I made another post, but the new Vitamix 7500 is the Today's Special Value deal on QVC! Vitamix is charging $559 (+ tax) for just the blender. QVC has a deal with the blender, two of the smoothie bottles, and a drinks recipe book for $469 + tax and a 5-payments plan option! Just thought I'd share since so many people would LOVE to have a Vitamix, but can't necessarily shell out $500+ at once. I think this is a great deal, especially since I'm not a Costco member lol.

I have wanted one of these for ages (like ads in old Mother Earth News magazines).

I have a question for those of you with one already, can it pulverize the seeds in raspberries and blackberries? Or are they still noticeable? I love the taste of those fruits but my hubbie refuses to eat them because of the seeds.

Thanks for the info! :)