How To Use a Vitamix blender: 11 Tips and Tricks For Beginner’s

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Is a Vitamix blender really worth it? Does it deliver amid the storm of hype? Or is the brand just another highly colored name? If it’s the first time with one, knowing how to use a Vitamix blender is of the utmost importance. And not just to jack up your kitchen life but also to ensure you maximize the machine capabilities.

Vitamix is a high-power, commercial-grade machine and one of the best blender for milkshakes, smoothies, and even making powders. Although many of us know it from a consumer level, the brand is also available in the food business.

Nonetheless, both the household and commercial Vitamix needs you to have a ready wallet to grab any of its selections. Yes, the Vitamix refurbished program does have a big bargain, but the tag still ranges high than the regular blenders.

Is a Vitamix Investment Worth it?

While I can personally attest about the Vitamix 5200, any machine from the Ohio-maker is certainly of value. From heavy-duty motors to aircraft-grade blades, a Vitamix blender can handle the toughest kitchen without wear sigh, day in day out. It’s more of a use-it-everyday appliance, not to mention the lengthy warranty support that you’ll even not need paying returns shipping fees.

Also, Vitamix as a company has embraced trendy technology pretty well as with Vitamix V1200 and the Ascent blender series. If it’s precision, the systems from the two blender lines support automated blending, including those models without preset programs.

Moreover, Vitamix V1200, A2300, A2500, A3300, and A3500 have a proprietary built-in wireless technology that holds the key to future blending. For instance, the engineers recently developed a food processor attachment compatible with the five machines. So, you can now go beyond blending by mincing, chopping, and other food prep in a much joyful style.

Can I Make Different Vegetable Cuts with a Vitamix?

The majority of people usually get a blender with the idea of only making smoothies. They don’t even know you can make a milkshake with a blender or prep food to speed up cooking.

If it’s a curried carrot soup, a blender like Vitamix can prep and leave it steaming-hot for you. Then, for dressings and sauces, you can have a flavorful Basil Walnut Pesto in a matter of seconds.

Nonetheless, the regular blending container has a fixed wet or dry blade that can only chop a very fine texture or irregular bits. It’s quite impossible to perform different vegetable cuts as with the real food processor machine.

However, the newly-released food processor attachment has a multi-use blade, a small shred disc, and a large shred disc. So, you can finely chop, mince, and shred thin or thick slices of carrots and other ingredients if you have the right motor base. That’s the Vitamix Venturist V1200 or any of the Ascent machines.

How to Use a Vitamix Blender Properly

Even when your countertop has the most advanced Vitamix blender, it’s no guarantee you’ll have the exact dish from the cookbook. There are several little things you should accustom yourself with if you’re to make the most from what you have.

The 11 Vitamix tips and hacks I wanted to share with you today include:

  • Don’t Hesitate, Ramp up to the Highest Speed

If you’re afraid of the high speed burning the motor or waking up the neighbors, don’t be. Running your Vitamix at low speeds is actually when you’re hurting the machine and risk damaging the motor.

When a blender runs at a low speed, it means the recipe in the blending container will take longer to complete processing. And like any other motorized machine, a motor running beyond its limit risks overheating, which then will cause the Automatic Overload Protection to turn the blender off. In worst case scenarios, the overload fuse might even give up (especially when very old) and blowout.

But when the blender is on the high throttle, the cooling fan is maximized and the motor has enough wind to stay cool. So, you’ll be able to blend everything better, much faster, and with your machine face.

However, the blender motor doesn’t like to be woken up with force. So, be gentle and start blending on low to the highest speed.

  • Arrange the Ingredients Properly

Whether you want to make a simple chocolate milkshake or a denser smoothie with frozen fruit, you must load all the ingredients properly. A simple mess-up could damage your machine’s motor, especially when you mistakenly start on high and with heavy pressure upon the blades.

Even when starting at a low speed, a blender might still struggle and risk stalling if the pitcher has heavier ingredients at the bottom.

Therefore, consider loading your blender’s container with the lighter materials at the bottom and the heavier items on top. In other words, this is to say liquids have to be closest to the blades, followed by soft items, and then the hard, frozen stuff on the top. Not only will the mixture blend seamlessly but also prevent air pockets from forming and minimize the need for a tamper.

A simple order you can use to arrange your ingredients into the blending container…

  • Liquids- can be water, milk, yogurt, or juice
  • Dry Goods- that’s powders, seasonings, or grains
  • Leafy Greens
  • Fruits & veggies
  • Ice & frozen foods

Ps. If blending with the single-serve 20-ounce cup or 8-ounce bowl, remember the blending happens when the container is upside down. So, you’ll need to reverse the load order with the heavier items at the bottom of the cup and lighter ones on top.

  • Make Sure the Quantity’s Right

When blending, you should neither overfill nor cut beyond the minimum amount of ingredients required. This is a common problem with those using the low-profile container, but even those of us using the classic tall jar are no any lucky.

If you try to blend with too few ingredients in the container, the blades will simply splatter the content to the walls. So, you have to maintain the minimum quantity if you want the container to perform as expected.

But again, the wider containers have a larger minimum blending requirement than the narrow container. A good example is when you want to make nut butters, whereby you need at least 3 cups of ingredients with a narrow container requires vs 4.5 cups for a wide jar.

Meanwhile, you have to keep an eye on the maximum fill line to avoid leaking from the top and also use a tamper comfortably.

  • Don’t Bother, It will Chop

One of the best moments with a Vitamix blender is that it can pulverize anything thrown at it. Even when blending for a crowd, the machine will chow down a full container of ingredients, including large chunks of fruits that you would otherwise need to further chop down if using a regular blender.

Thanks to the removable lid plug, you can even slip ingredients like (whole) carrot, banana, or onion into the spinning blades. Hence, saving a lot of time on food prep or the entire blending process.

  • Even the Pros Need Help Sometimes

Some recipes are pretty delicate and need the best precision to have the right results. So, a Vitamix Blend smart scale could be ideal to have. As you scale a recipe, it helps you plan the desired number of servings and the exact calories you need to meet your nutritional goals.

If you would want to take your blending to the next level, you could also get the patent-pending Aer Disc container. Unlike the regular wet/ dry blending container, this one works on the ingredients without pulverizing them. So, you can use as a muddler for a chilled mojito cocktail, do nonfat whipping toppings (like for coffee), muddle, or make hollandaise sauce and mayonnaise (without the egg).

  • The Tamper is the Secret Weapon

That’s right. There’s a reason the Vitamix team includes any of their full-size blenders with a one and lid opening to use it. Even for other blender brands that claim you “won’t need to use a tamper”, chances are that you will need to use a big spoon sometimes. Like when making thick smoothies and sticky butters, a tamper will help you push the ingredients into the blades.

Furthermore, the tool can help pop the air pockets that try forming around the blades. Hence, making sure your mixture blend smoothly without the blades stopping (caused by trapped air pockets).

Notes:

NEVER should you use the tamper without the lid. If you do, no matter how careful you try to be, the suction from the vortex-style blending can pull it down towards the blade. This will damage your tamper, container, or else cause a serious injury and paint the kitchen with your recipe.

Another thing, every Vitamix blending container has its specific tamper size. So, it’s also not something you should share across different models.

  • Get Every Last Bit of It

When making nut butters or thick blends like hummus, there’s a lot of ingredients trapped under the blade and on the container sides. With a kitchen spoon, you can scrape off the ingredients on the walls with ease. However, those under the blade may not be easy to reach and many people leave them be.

But if you have the Vitamix Under Blade Scraper, you can get the most from your blend and not waste any ingredients. The tool is specifically for the task and can fit into every nook and cranny of your jar with no issues.
If that’s not an option, you can fairly clean the container by blending a smoothie recipe in your “dirty” container.

Let’s say you have just emptied most of your almond butter, you could add some milk and banana into the container. Then, blend all together to have a creamy almond butter banana smoothie.

  • Look Closely the Lid Plug

Many people hardly read through the entire user manual of their machines. So, it won’t be surprising that you’re learning now that the Lid Plug of your Vitamix container is also a mini measuring cup. When you look closely, you’ll notice half-ounce and one-ounce fill lines that can come in handy when you want to thin a blend with little liquid. It could also help a lot when making cocktail recipes and don’t want to make another measuring cup dirty.

  • The Timer Will Switch the Blender Off

Apart from the lovely fresh look, Vitamix Ascent blenders have a built-in digital timer that counts up and down when blending. As I was comparing Vitamix A2500 vs A3500, I did mention the blenders’ ability to automatically turn off at certain times depending on the used container. If it’s the full-size 64-oz jar, the motor stops after 6½ minutes, 48-oz in 7½ minutes, and 1¼ minutes for the 20-oz and 8-oz cups.

Therefore, with the Vitamix A2300 and A3300 that don’t have factory presets, you still got a soup program. So, you won’t have to wait there for the last countdown and maybe you have something else to do.

  • Don’t Leave the Speed on High

how to use a vitamix blender

While I would recommend this one to any Vitamix blender, I strongly advise to owners of the classic 5200 blender. The motor of the machine doesn’t ramp up as that of other blenders but instead starts at whatever speed you left it last. This means it could blast the ingredients all over if you forgot and switch it on at the highest speed. Worst case, you could even destroy the motor, or even cause an injury.

  • Cleaning the Container’s a Breeze

All full-size Vitamix containers are super-easy to clean. You just need to half-fill the container with warm water, add some drops of dish soap, then run it on high speed for 30 seconds.

If you process dark greens, spices, and other mineral-rich ingredients a lot, the blending container is likely to become cloudy. As such, you should always clean the jar after every use so that the residue doesn’t have a chance to sit in. But in case it has already become cloudy, you can remove that residue film using white vinegar. The container should be sparkling clean after soaking for several hours or overnight.

Frequent Asked Questions

How do you turn on a Vitamix blender

Although it might seem simple, turning your Vitamix on in the wrong approach risks blasting the content to the walls. If it’s the Vitamix 5200, you have to set the High/ Variable switch down and the variable speed dial at the lowest “1”. Then, you’ll turn the machine on, increase the speed from 1 to 10, and finally flip the High/ Variable switch up.

What is so special about Vitamix blender

Technically, Vitamix is the hero of blenders as it can blend anything thrown to its belly and deliver consistent textures. People call it the “smoothie machine” as it makes the smoothest blend, all thanks to the powerful motor, solid blades, and vortex-style movement. Furthermore, the blender has a well-made and durable design that you can still be using several decades later.

What is the best Vitamix blender for home use

While it’s a dream machine for many homeowners, the Vitamix blender is available in varying models and features. Of course, all the full-size machines will give you the same results, but the experience is never the same.

Anyways, the 6 best Vitamix blenders for household you can check out are:

Final Thoughts:

When we speak of small kitchen appliances, a blender is one of the most crucial of all. If it’s a Vitamix, you can use to make smoothies, hot soups, nut butter, sauces, coffee toppings, cocktails, knead the dough, and much more. So, you basically can replace two or three other appliances that would otherwise be crowding your kitchen.

All in all, a Vitamix blender is an amazing machine that you must know how to use to make the best of it. Even with the simplest model like the 5200, you can’t say you know all its capabilities, especially if you haven’t used an Aer disc container yet.

In any case, hopefully, the article was helpful and you’re ready we make that kitchen our learning culinary space together.