Nutribullet

[shaithis]

having now received my Vitamix Pro 300, I must say that my first couple of hours with it almost made me send it back...

The on/off button would not stay off (just sneezing near the machine turned it on) and an acrid smell was being released from the base while the motor was on....

After a fair bit of on/off toggling, the button rectified itself (oddly) and the smell seems to be a temporary thing.

So far I have made a fair amount of almond flour (and some almond butter by accident ), a few LCHF icecreams, herb crusts, some roast lamb soup (made from leftovers) and have also been mincing my own meat (considerably easier, tidier and better to clean then the Kenwood chefs grinder).

I can see it being the go-to gadget in time

I just wished I had watched one of their promo videos on youtube before wading in.....there are some really good tips in them.

[Saracen]

Mine gave that smell the first few uses but it didn't last long. I assume it was something like shipping grease on the gears that burns off any excess. Anyway, I haven't noticed that since. To be honest I'd forgotten that but, yeah, it did it.

As for the switch, that certainly doesn't sound right. The very last thing I'd call mine are anything but positive as hell. They're a very distinct, heavy "clunk", both in feel and sound. But if it really has resolved itself .... okay.

Keep an eye open for Vitamix days on QVC, too. They (Vitamix) periodically have one of their product demonstrators do an hour's presentation with everything from doups and hot sauces to ice creams snd frozen yoghurts, flavoured coffee to chocolate sauce, nut butters to nut milks, spice grinding to flour making, to salsas, guacamole, and so on.

I certainly keep finding new things. Some are obvious, some not.

Like sugar. Ever noticed that caster and icing sugar seem to be significantly more expensive, per kg, that standard granulated? So, a few seconds with the Vitamix turns geanulated into caster. A few more seconds and you have icing sugar.

TIP - Be VERY careful to ensure the top is propetly fitted, especially with icing sugar, or you'll be clesning fine dugar powder of everything in the room, for weeks. Snd no, I didn't, but I know someone that did.

Oh, and the same principle works, IMHO, for turning coffee beans into either coarse ground or fine ground depending on how you like to make coffee, like cafetiere or expresso maker. I find coffee stays fresher longer if you buy beans and grind your own than buying ready-ground.

[peterb]

Safety note...

Be careful grinding sugar as icing sugar suspended in air is explosive (classic fuel air mixture, and sugar is a hydrocarbon). The same is true of flour, fires and explosions in flour mills is well documented (although I appreciate that a vitamix is not grinding industrial quantities! )

[TooNice]

So while I was in the US, I got to try a low end Ninja blender (my sis and bro in-law also had a big Vitamix, but use the Ninja more often for a quick morning smoothies). I quickly became hooked by it's simplicity and ease of cleaning compared to blenders of the hold with their sharp blades. I wanted to buy it, but wanted a 220V one, so decided to wait till I am in the UK to buy it.

The Ninja I used is probably the BL-450 in the UK, which is a 900W, single speed blender that operates by the user physically pressing down the container on the base. I find that 10-15 sec is usually enough to make everything smooth, though I usually go for 30 sec just in case. The BL-470 which I think replaced it has buttons and no longer the person to hold the container down to blend, though TBH that never bothered me much.

Then for an extra 15 pounds, there is the slightly more powerful 1000W BL-480 which comes with some other fancy settings like regular / turbo / pulse mode, and a mode where it automatically decides how long and how fast to blend.

If the goal is just to make smoothies and perhaps peanut butter, is there any reason to have more than one speed setting? In fact, under what circumstances would you use a slower setting to a faster one?

Thanks

[Saracen]

The more varied settings are used for, for instance, chopping, or blending nuts to a rough mix not smooth.

If it's smoothie-only, go single speed. If you want salsas, dips, chopping, gringing, etc, go multi or variable.

Basically, it's about desired texture, about exactly what you're trying to make.

Note: answer is from the perspective of a big Vitamix owner.