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Choosing the right blender (HELP)

rawmaidenrawmaiden Raw Newbie

I am ready to purchase a good blender. Ebay has the older vita mix 3600 with the stainless steel container that I am looking at, also looking at the other new models, like the 4500, 5000, or the Vitamix Vitaprep blender (commercial model) that is brand new for $330.00 Check it out here, http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Vita-Mix-VITA-PREP-Blen…

The commercial one normally retails for over 450 bucks.

My question is which one to buy the vintage vs the other models. I like to juice lots of root vegetables so I need something powerful. It’s just so confusing which one to buy.

Any advice would be great…Thanks!!

Comments

  • greeniegreenie Raw Newbie

    rawmaiden,

    I have the K-Tec and love it. I have friends with the Vitamix 3600 (it was gifted to them) and they are thinking of buying a K-Tec. It’s more powerful and a lot easier to use.

    Just my 2

  • I second that greenie. Blendtec home blender is fantastic. You can ground grain in the same container… you don’t have to buy 2. It is more powerful and quieter. And it is quite light and not so tall. I have never had the vita-mix but I am very pleased with the Blendtec. It is also cheaper… I really wanted the vita-mix but it was super expensive in Europe because Vita-mix stupidly made agreements in Europe allowing them to set different prices. So even though it doesn’t cost anymore to make they charge over 3 times the price for it. Blendtec was only 50 bucks more for the European version and that is why I ended up with it. Huge blessing in disquise. I love it. Google search “will it blend” or watch the “will it blend” videos on youtube.com to see it in action.

  • I have used the older stainless steel Vita-Mix. I wouldn’t suggest it unless you can get it for real cheap. The newer is certainly improved. I haven’t used the BlendTec / K-Tec so I can’t comment on it.

  • rawmaidenrawmaiden Raw Newbie

    WHOLY S*#%T!!! I watched the youtube video on the blendtec blending a ipod to powder! I think I am sold on the blendtec. I am going to research on prices, thanks guys!

  • Wheras for me, I would fall apart without our Vita Mix. It’s incredible, the only drawback is it’s noisy, but really, it’s just music to my ears. :0)
    It makes hot soups, salsas, chunky avacado dips, smoothies, doughs, sorbets, ohhhh, sigh, juices! EVERYTHING!

     

  • My daughter, Eliana, showed me this post as we too have been looking at a new blender, and she wanted me to write some of our findings. We had the older vita-mix with a steel container and it had to be 30-40+ years old. My parents had it when we were growing up and when I married my mom gave it to me and we have used it for approx. 15 years. We’d probably still be using it but it was shooting out sparks when it ran so after fixing it a few times we decided to retire it. I loved it! The only thing I didn’t like was the spigot on the container. When grinding grains or nuts the spigot would get packed and I’d have to use tooth picks or a small wire to try and get everything out. You never felt like you or got it totally clean, yet we never got food posioning so that says something. I also have to say that Vitamix was a great company. One time years ago we wore out a part (can’t remember what it was) and my husband called Vitamix and they were so helpful and wound up sending us the part for free! Anyway, as much as I loved my Vitamix the thing that keeps me from ordering another one is the polycarbonate container. I know many of you are rolling your eyes at this point and I have done so much research the past month I know it is a divisive issue. I know the blind guru states on his site that they are safe and there are others who say they are safe but the thing I find interesting is that most of the info that says they are safe are people or companies selling/promoting these high-power blenders that have polycarbonate containers, so it makes one wonder. Last week though I almost gave in and bought a Blendtec as they were on sale the month of January at everythingkitchen.com but the last day of the sale I did a final search on Lexan (the polycarbonate they use for their container) and after reading more warnings I decided definitely not to get anything with polycarbonate. Here are a couple of websites (out of many) that talk about the downside of Lexan.

    http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/nalgene This article concerns the Nalgene bottles which are used by hikers, bicyclists, etc. They are made from Lexan so a lot of the studies concerning the downside of Lexan are done on these bottles.

    http://www.answers.com/topic/lexan This site from answers.com explains exactly what Lexan is.

    From what I have read the more you use Lexan as it gets older the more it leaches out the chemicals. Maybe if you could afford to get a new container every few months it would be okay. In my search I have read other raw forums and it really is a half and half split. Some people think it is crazy and others like me are cautious. Since there is such a division you

  • What about a blender for us poor folk who don’t have $400 to spend on a blender? Any suggestions for something in a $100-$150 range? Since I’m new to the applince side of raw food preparation, and most of my ‘cooking’ is for one or two people, whatever I buy isn’t likely to have the heavy-duty usage of a full-sized family. I wonder if there wouldn’t be a restaurant supply business that carries used/refurbished?

  • We have a Tribest personal blender, its not a blender that makes smoothies super smooth, super fast, but it works pretty good. and you can buy a $7 jar adapter so that you can use regular mason jars when you are blending. It can be under $100, depending on where you look. We have had the same price problem before.

  • rawmaidenrawmaiden Raw Newbie

    Dear Eliana and Graham, I wouldn’t worry too much about the Bisphenol A since the chemical leaches out only when heated.

    For those who can afford it, Vita mix make a new blender with a safe container, the 5200 model. You can read the specifics at this link here.

    http://www.eastman.com/Company/News_Center/News…

    Otherwise, get the stainless steel older models sold on ebay. but if you think about this too much it can drive you crazy, you drink from plastic cups at times and the air you breathe probably has more chemicals then the container would put out anyway.

  • rawmaidenrawmaiden Raw Newbie

    Another idea for people concerned about the container’s toxicity can order the new container (the 5200) for $129.00 but I am wondering if it would fit on the older vitamix models? anyone know? its an idea for those who already have a vitamix or you can purchase an older vitamix like the 4500 or 5000 and buy the 5200 container.

  • I’m just going raw – and don’t own a blender or food processor. I am leaning toward the Vita-mix although cringing at the expense; wondering whether the Kenmore Elite (now on sale at Sears) will also double as a food processor? What is the difference between a blender and a food processor – does one need both? THANKS.

  • I upgraded to a BlendTec from a Black and Decker blender that cost 50 bucks—there is a photo of the Black and Decker on the cover of “Raw food made easy”. The BlendTec is superior, no question, and I love it, but the Black and Decker was fine too, just not nearly as powerful. If you are just using your blender for smoothies and purees and soaked nut pates, a cheaper blender will work fine. I upgraded because I got a generous Christmas check from a relative that paid for about half the cost of the BlendTec. I used the Black and Decker blender with no problem for all the stuff in ‘Raw food made easy” that called for a blender. It didn’t get the smoothies and purees as smooth as the BlendTec.

    So no, an expensive blender is NOT a necessity. I love mine, but my other blender was fine for my purposes.

    I opted for the BlendTec for space reasons; it has a smaller footprint and the jar is shorter and more efficiently designed than the Vita Mix.

    I read somewhere (perhaps here) that VitaMix and BlendTecs have the polycarbonate jars because they were originally designed for commercial restaurant use, and the restaurant people did not want glass blender jars because of the problem with breakage. If a glass blender jar is important to you, you’d need to buy a “regular” blender, or the VitaMix with the new container. The Black and Decker has a very heavy glass jar. I have to say that the BlendTec jar is so much lighter and easier to handle.

    To Nergee: I think you could use a high-speed blender like the BlendTec or VitaMix for at least some food processing tasks. The BlendTec has food processing settings and a “pulse” setting. I’ve not used mine as a food processor, as I already have an old Cuisinart. What is nice about a food processor is that it comes with different blades—there is the “S” blade that I use for the majority of processing chores, but it also comes with a shredding blade and a slicing blade, neither of which you can do with a blender. I’ve had my Cuisinart for over 10 years and it is still going strong; it was a really good investment. I use it several times a week, and I use the blender twice a day.

    What I almost never use anymore, though, is my juicer … I’d much rather blend fruits and veggies than juice them, because I like getting the fiber. So the juicer is banished to the basement!

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