Is a Vitamix REALLY worth it?

[MommaJayla]

My oh-so-romantic dh has told me to go ahead and order a vitamix as my anniversary present. I have been asking him for one, but I can't bring myself to actually spend that much $$$ on a blender, yikes.

I currently have a random Walmart $30 blender, but it has held up over 2+ years. We make mostly smoothies - at least 2x a day, sometimes many more. Although it's a pain because I have to wait for frozen fruit to defrost mostly, even though it supposedly crushes ice. And I personally don't drink as many smoothies as I should because there are always little green floaties, ick. But I'm thinking just a slightly better blender would solve those problems, yk?

Am I really going to be that impressed by the Vitamix? Anyone bought one and not understood the hype?

[Arduinna]

I want one too, but I'm not quite convinced yet. I like it for all the other things it does, like making tahini and grinding grain.

I wouldn't buy it if my primary use was to make smoothies. You can get the margaritaville frozen concoction maker that actually shaves the ice and makes awesome smoothies for less than 1/2 the price of the vitamix. I have one and I really like it for what it is.

[dmpmercury]

I have a blend tech blender and I really like it. Maybe you can look on craiglist or ebay. I think it is worth it because it will last a long time and it does do a better job than a regular blender. Eventually you could grind grains, make nut butters or nut milks or do other things with it. Since you already are using your blender twice a day I think you would appreciate it and probably start using it even more.

[MommaJayla]

well...I ordered one. They had refurbished ones on their website (not sure if they always do) and that was cheaper so i went that way. I have plans to use it for things besides smoothies that my current blender cannot handle (nut butters/sauces/milks, some bean-y dips) & I think it will be worth it if I follow through with that, otherwise I may return it and just upgrade blenders.

[Arduinna]

Let us know how you like it.

[JudiAU]

It is pretty awesome. I kick myself all the time that I turned one down as a shower gift from my mom and sister. We have an expensive blender that is...nothing...compared to a vitamix.

[mom61508]

I LOVE my vitamix! I make smoothies almost daily, use it for salad dressing, salsa and all kinds of stuff. It's really awesome! 

[star792]

I recently got one and LOVE it. You will not be able to go back after using a high speed blender. My DH uses it everyday for his protein concoctions. He grinds whole oats in there and then adds other stuff(coconut oil, almond milk, protein powder) and it blew his mind when he started using it. He had been using like three different things and now just uses the blender. I got mine off of ebay. The price is off putting but it will last a long long time.

[askew]

My Costco has them for $399 this month!

[Arduinna]

Is it the 5200 one alone? I know Costco had the 5200 with the wet canister and the small And large canister plus some other things for 600ish.

[applecider]

I just got one at Costco. It was a bit of a splurge, yes, but it makes the BEST smoothies. No chunks or seeds left. I LOVE it.

[Shantimama]

 I have had a Kitchen Aid blender for a few years and I love it for making smoothies and pureeing soups. It even does a good job with frozen fruit. I hope it lasts several more years. When the time does come to replace it I will look into a Vitamix from all I have read about it.

[Arduinna]

I ended up buying one and just got done watching the video. Wow the cookbook is huge! I'll come back and post how I like it after I make something. I bought some nut milk bags off ebay too. I used to make rice milk and almond milk back when I was vegetarian and then vegan but I just made it in a regular blender. I read something recently about how the vitamix breaks down the cell walls more so you get higher juice extraction and nutrients than from juice extractors. So I'm planning on using it for my carrot juice and just straining.  I don't feel bad about possibly retiring my juice extractor since I've had it for almost 20 years and I've gotten my money out of it.

[Arduinna]

Ok I've had it for almost a week and I love this thing. I've used it every day. I'm not a fan of their method of making ice cream by using ice so I've just been using whole milk and frozen fruit. It's so thick I can't even pour it, I'd never be able to make something that thick in my old blender.  I haven't ground grain in it yet though. Waiting for my nut bags to arrive too.

[doxiemomma]

Yes, it is worth it. We got ours at Costco a few weeks ago. Amazing! The consistency of the green smoothies are so smooth and easy to drink. No green specks, no chunks, etc. You can also use it for so many other things. I have recently started a Green Smoothie group on Facebook, the link is on my blog. And if you know anyone that is going to be buying a Vitamix, they can use the link on my blog to get free shipping. I seriously love our Vitamix. To see my kids drinking kale and spinach every day makes me a very happy mom. :)

http://threebeansandgreens.blogspot.com/

[MusicTMama]

We've had our Vitamix for 5 years and it's still going strong. Lots of smoothies, baby food, soups, nut butters, wet and dry blends (it comes with 2 different pitchers), great for chopping up barley or rice for a faster cook time and for starting solids. It really does make things smooth. We put in frozen blocks of acai and acerola along with soft fruit and it all comes out nicely. It does not "juice" things, we use a juicer for that (such as ginger, fennel, apples, lemons, etc) and add it to our smoothies. I would buy it ten times over, but they seem to have a pretty long life. My parents have had theirs for over 10 years and use it daily.

My favorite feature is the variable speed. I start things slowly and gradually increase the power. This also helps move things around so that you don't end up with half of the mixture getting blended while the rest sits on top. It has a tamper, so you can also move things around if it is thicker (like hummus- yum!). I say, it is a good investment.

[Momsteader]

LOVE my Vitamix!  Glad you got one :) You won't be sad about it :)

[seashells]

I never had a blender until I got a Vitamix (and never used one before). I've had my Vitamix for 8 years now. It gets used maybe 5 days a week.

A few days ago at my mother's house, I used her blender (which she boasted was a good one) to make a banana-strawberry smoothie (with crushed ice cubes). Let me just say I was underwhelmed at her blender's performance. The ice cubes were already crushed, it should have been no problem. But it took a lot of grinding, stopping, stirring, grinding, pulsing, etc. to get the thing to make a smoothie. And even then it was chunky (but I didn't mind that too much, I actually like chunks). I like to blend things a little less to retain more nutrients, so having the blender just whirring away on the already blended part was not ideal for me.

So, yeah, I'm spoiled for Vitamix. You just can't go back. I make nut milk with it, soups, whatever - it just rips right through them. You get this vortex going on in there, and everything gets blended evenly.