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VitaMix blenders... worth it?

Hey everyone,

I am confused. I have two centrifugal juicers, and am considering a masticating juicer as well… and I need to get a dehydrator. BUT I certainly cant get all of them at the same time due to the HUGE expense.

After reading some of the smoothie recipes, it seems like a VitaMix can take the place of a juicer some of the time because it so powerfully rips things to particles!

In your opinion, should I invest in a VitaMix first? Is it worth it? Half a grand is a crazy amount of money, but if it is wonderful, and lasts a lifetime, Ill throw one on a credit card. What do you all think?

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Comments

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    TOTALLY worth it! It does amazing puddings, thick sauces, etc. too – even nut butters. And if you catch the timing right, you can get one cheaper at Costco – they come & do demos & sell them for ten days at a time, a few times a year.

  • Hi I totally understand your dilemma. Coming into the rawfood lifestyle is having to create a whole new kitchen, it seems. So I am making compromises. I dont know where you are based, I’m in the Uk and just bought a Powermill blender which is listed for sale on a leading online raw food website at £275. I got it for £100 inc shipping from ebay, brand new. The guy has some more for sale.So far made hemp milk, tahini, pates and juiced hard veg quite easily. I figure that if I need to upgrade to Vitamix, then spending £100 for now is ok, and my machine may have some resale value. Hope that helps.

  • I chose a Blend-tek Home blender over a Vita Mix because I believe it is easier to use and more versatile, also less expensive and more powerful. A high speed blender can be used to make juice, smoothies, grind, and make cheeses. I wish I would have gotten the HS blender before my dehydrator but I am happy with both. Everyone has got their own priorities of what they need but I just thought that I would mention something you could consider and check out.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    Get the vitamix before the dehydrator. In many cases, you need the high speed blender in order to prepare some of the dehydrator treats! (like fruit rolls etc). I didn’t use my dehydrator much until recently, once I was 1.5 years into eating some raw, and 6 months into eating high raw.

  • YES!

  • jellibijellibi Raw Newbie

    So, so, so, so (to the one-hundredth-millionth power) worth it. I love my VitaMix. And yep, you can use it to make juices. Just blend everything up and then strain it through a nut mylk bag.

  • I agree with rosehebrew. I got the Blendtek after extensive research and it is about as crucial to my household now as running water!!! Mine was $320 new with free shipping. I got it last November and have used it nearly every single day since. I can try to dig up the website if you’d like. Everywhere else I saw it had it listed at $399.

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    I wholeheartedly agree with jellibi. It never made sense to me to juice and not ingest the pulp. The VitaMix reduces virtually everything to juice. Well, I do sometimes add a little liquid so it’s not so thick. But a VitaMix smoothie is very filling and satisfying.

    There are also some threads on here that discuss blenders and address the composition of the containers . . . BPAs in plastic, etc. You can do a search from the Forums screen to see all the comments that have been made that include the word VitaMix, or anything else you’re interested in.

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    So you think the Blendtek is pretty comparable? Can it do all the things that the Vitamix can do?

    Ill take that website if it’s not a problem.. or… I could just Google it too!

  • Blendtek has a hilarious marketing campaign called WillItBlend.com. You have to see some of those videos to believe it.

    Yes, the Blendtek can do all that a Vitamix can do, plus is it shorter (like me). Some people have one reason or another that they choose one over the other – controls, containers, etc. The best thing to do is to try each one out if you can.

    Sometimes brand names and celebrity endorsements are just reputation and not performance. Is Sony really the best electronics brand??? Are Bose really the best speakers??? Is Champion the best juicer? If you really research, the answer is that you can sometimes do just as well or even better for the top dollar that they cost.

  • the ONLY way to go !

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    sweet everyone, thanks for your input! BTW, if you ever wondered what a chihuahua-rottweiler wearing cow ears would look like…

  • I got my k-tec and dehydrator around the same time – and also find that with my busy schedule i much more often turn to my k-tec for my soups, live juices, smoothies, salsas, butters, and grain grinder (does buckwheat flour in seconds) – without a change in container. i have worked with the vitamix (my mom has) but after my research I chose the k-tec for its easier use (no temper needed) slightly more powerful blender = shorter blending times, automatic controls, VERY easy to clean, and fits easily on my shorter counter. LOVE IT – and yeah some websites also have $50-80 discounts with free shipping – look around.

  • beate64beate64 Raw Newbie

    Wow Annabelle, you got a Chihuahua-Rottweiler cross?? So I guess the dad was a Chihuahua? How did he manage?? And how big is your little guy (girl?) ?

    Thanks for sharing the photo :))

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    ha ha! Yes, well we HOPE that the mom was the Rott. We got him from the pound and got a DNA test to see if they were right about the breeds. Loopy is about 20 lbs. He is constantly mistaken for an overweight dog, but it’s just that his rib cage and shoulders and neck are massive, and his legs and head are itty-bitty! His shadow looks JUST LIKE a pigs!

    The best scenario we have come up with is a sleeping female rottweiler and a napolean-complexed male chihuahua… =)

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    oh… is the K-tek the same as the Blendtek?

    and it looks like there are many blendtek models… which do you guys have?

  • K-tec is the old name for Blendtec. I have the Blendtec Home model. The rest are really intended for bars. I think there is one that recesses into the countertop or something like that, but the Home model is the regular one for home or personal use.

  • i have the blendtec home model as well. totally worth it. i love that thing. and i definitely recommend investing in a vita-mix or blendtec before getting anything else. it’s really amazing the number of tasks these machines can handle, and my blender is the the one tool i use everyday at least once without fail. you’ll be happy with either make i’m sure. happy shopping!

  • SuzicalSuzical Raw Newbie

    I just got a Blendtec and it is awesome. Here’s where I got it:

    http://www.2-life.com/site/blender_reviews.html

    Great prices and great customer service.

    Here’s also a great article re: blending vs. juicing.

    http://www.aquarius-atlanta.com/feb06/youarewha…

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    I just ordered a Blendtek… yay! I am sooo excited!

  • I tried the Vitamix and the Blendtec and spoke with people who had used them regularly but finally ended up with this baby, which is the Chinese version of heavy duty industrial blenders called the JTC Omniblend blender. I bought mine in Hungary for about 250 euros and I love it, it knows everything the Vitamix does and it has an even stronger motor.

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JTC-OmniBlend-Heavy-Duty-...

  • Both Blendtec and Vitamix have polycarbonate carafes. That concerns me a bit, particularly at those prices. Does anyone know of a high powered blender with a glass carafe?

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Springfairy—The pictures on your link look remarkably like my VitaMix . . . base, controls, tamper and all.

    Mon46—High speed blenders do not come with glass carafes, because in the unlikely event that you dropped a spoon or something in while it was going at high speed the spoon could break the carafe shattering glass everywhere. According to VitaMix, their newest carafe is safe. I love my VitaMix, but I don’t leave food in the cafare any longer than necessary.

  • emtpdmom, thanks for the explanation. I think that taking the food out immediately would probably eliminate most polycarbonate leakage. Considering that I almost burned out my cuisinart making hummus the other day, I think a high power blender is in my future.

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Mon46—You’re most welcome. The absolute beauty of this website is that everyone is willing to share what they know, and learn from each other.

  • my blendtec is one of the most important things i own…how sad is that?! i love that i can leave it out on the counter because it slides under the uppers, and it’s so pretty. 300 uses and counting! now i have to go calm down my jealous excalibur…i love it too but there’s a bit of a lack of instant gratification!

  • greeniegreenie Raw Newbie

    Definitely get the Blendtec. I use mine almost every day. I chose the Blendtec over the Vitamix for a variety of reasons. (There are a couple of threads on the pros and cons of each on this site).

    I’ve had mine for about 7 years and it’s going strong.

  • emtpdmom, I believe the Omniblend might be a Chinese copy and the price is about one third of the Vitamix. It works like magic and I bought it from a guy who tries to keep raw stuff and appliances in his shop in Hungary where the market for this stuff is at best marginal.

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    I am having this problem too and I am looking for advice. The size and the presets are a huge advantage for the blendtec – other than that it seems they do pretty much the same thing. The price is also very good for the blendtec.

    But I am leaning HEAVILY towards buying a vitamix because of their new BPA-free container while blendtec goes out to defend how BPA isn’t bad for you rather than just changing its materials. They may do so soon, but they haven’t yet, possibly because they don’t have to keep their more moderately priced appliance ahead of the curve as vitamix does.

    Without the setting, the vitamix can still make ice cream, etc, right? Are the manual controls THAT hard to use? And what is your take on the BPA. I think I’ll pick the safer choice before ending up sorry – but I’m not sure.

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    I don’t find the manual controls hard to use at all. There are several video demonstrations on the VitaMix website that may help clear up any misgivings you have. The VitaMix makes very smooth ice cream and creamy soups. I know a lot of people are concerned that the VitaMix with the carafe will not fit under their kitchen cabinets. Because I most frequently use the smaller carafe, that’s not a problem for me.

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