I am wondering if anyone has a Vita-Mix, if you use it, how much you use it, do you like it or hate it, good/bad experiences, etc.? Model you have would be interesting too. Thanks!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), August 26, 2000

Answers

I WISH! Saw on one of these threads, I think the yard sale finds, that someone got one for $3! Lucky! Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), August 26, 2000.

I have had one for about 4 years. They really are expensive but I love mine. I use it for grinding grain for bread more than anything. It's like magic. It also makes great juice, milkshakes and tons of other stuff. I had a piece break on mine and when I called they had me in their computer and no muss no fuss they just mailed off a replacement part all I had to give them was my name.

-- Nancy Steele (nsteele@theofficenet.com), August 27, 2000.

I am the one who bought one at a sale for $3!. It was an older model, but worked perfectly fine. I liked it so well in fact that I decided to go ahead and buy one of the newer models. I had always wanted one, but never wanted to spend that much money for one, so when the sale find came along, it was the best find ever. The newer models are different from the older models in several features, but still do the same job.

I use mine not too often, but regularly. Like the above answer, I use mine mostly for grinding grains, however, it is wonderful for pureeing gareden vegeables without having to put them through a strainer. Where other people take the pulp out of their vegetables, especially tomatoes, by going through a Victorio strainer, I whizz mine in the Vitamix and get a thicker, more nutritional sauce, juice, or whatever. And you can do it with raw vegetables, they don't have to be cooked, so you have the benefits of raw vegetables also. Of course, if you are canning, they will get cooked anyway.

Buying a new one is expensive, but they are good products. I don't know if they have money back guarantees or not. I thought they had one for 3 months. Not sure. You might look in to that.

It is possible to do actual cooking in it also. Because of the heat generated by the blades turning, it can get very hot. This is used to your advantage by making soups and puddings inside the containers. I have done that.

Also the heat can be used to make freezes and ice cream. Yes, indeed, it sounds strange, but it can be done. And I have done that too. My ice cream was a little runny, but it was cold and tasty. I think I just didn't do it correctly. I only tried it once, but my mother said she made chocolate milkshakes one time and they turned out good.

If you want to see one in action, go to your next home and garden show or something similar. Whenever I have gone to one around here, there is always someone there demonstrating and selling them. I think they also discount them a little during the show. You might also try calling the company and asking where and when you can see a demonstration of one. I believe they have a toll free number.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), August 27, 2000.

Hello Joy: I bought a commercial Vita-Mix about ten years ago. I use it mostly for making ice cream. It is great. If your ice cream is runny, you need only add a little more ice. Though mine is ten years old, it will do all the things the others have mentioned. I have used it to make peanut butter and cashew butter. The wife occasionally makes bread and soups with it, and once she even ground macaroni to make flour when she had ran out. It is a good quality machine.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), August 27, 2000.

I have wanted a Vita mix for years. Yesterday at a moving sale I fownd one for $125, that sounds like a lot but there expencive!!! I haven't used it yet but Iam excited about it. Its a 3600.. I want to make goat milk ice cream.. Doris in Idaho

-- Doris Richards (dorisquilts@webtv.net), August 27, 2000.

I went to a demo for vita-mix in 1980 liked it so well I signed on as a sellsperson. I demoed & sold quite a few. I have replaced blades twice. I use it almost every day. If I could not get another I would not take a $1000.00 for it.

-- DON HOWARD (dessertmaker2000@hotmail.com), August 27, 2000.

Hey Don, are you still a sales person? Could we Countrysiders gang up and get a group discount if all of us that want one signed up on one order? Anybody got any ideas/info along this line?

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), August 27, 2000.

Hey Jim! How did you make the cashew/almond butter? I've been trying to make hazelnut butter with my vita mix, but I end up eith hazelnut flour!!! Spill the secret please!!!

-- J. (earthfarm@aol.com), August 27, 2000.

Did not sell enough to keep franchise. the company has discounts on scratch & dents, they are just as good if you don't mind a scratch

-- DON HOWARD (dessertmaker2000@hotmail.com), August 27, 2000.

Peanuts and cashews seem to work fairly well, but I don't know about hazelnuts. How 'bout it Don the ex-salesman. Do you know the secret to making hazelnut butter and not flour.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), August 27, 2000.

Try adding a couple of drops of hazelnut oil to the "flour". It's just too dry.

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), August 27, 2000.

I inherited my Mother-in-laws---have never used it as there was no book/ instructions or anything---probably would use it if I knew something about it---it is a very old model. Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), August 27, 2000.

Sonda, I think you can get a replacement instruction book from Vita- Mix. I know they still make parts for the old models -- I was looking at their website, www.vitamix.com. There are some on EBay right now too. Of course, I take it with a grain of salt, but you can find out some interesting information by reading the text on some items. It's always helpful to see a picture too! I like to look at EBay just to see what's out there, and what prices people are paying for what.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), August 27, 2000.

Yes, you can buy replacement parts for all models and you can get an instruction booklet. I did both.

When I first got mine, I called the company and asked for an instruction book. It was $20, but it also is a recipe book and was worth the money. Even when I bought the new model I kept the old recipe book, because they had changed it and my favorite pudding recipe wasn't in the first one.

Also, I replaced blades one time and was able to get the upgraded blade parts. I think they make their parts so that older models can use the newer model stuff.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), August 28, 2000.

Thanks I'm going to check into information--may even use the thing! ha Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), August 28, 2000.

in regards to nut butter being like flour and the response to using hazelnut oil i would also suggest that any oil without a strong taste would work. ever notice some of the peanut butters that have set for along time and have an inch of oil on top. i would use as little oil as would be needed to make the flour into a butter. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef123@hotmail.com), August 28, 2000.

I'm curious, to those of you grinding grains with your vitamix, I was under the impression that the heat did bad things to the grain? CJ

-- CJ Tinkle (CJTinkle@goin.missouri.org), December 13, 2000.

The question concerning heat and grain processing with the vita mix was interesting. Bread is also baked at high temperatures...probably not as hot as the vita mix processing of whole grains to flour(might be similar). I wonder, though, if commercial processing of grain to flour doesn't produce heat and possibly at much higher temps because of the equipment size itself.

-- Joyce Burrows (wburrows@buckeye-express.com), January 20, 2001.

I have a Vita-Mix and never use it! I would love to sell it and get one of the steam Juice extractors. Has anyone used one of those?

-- Kathy Hallford (k-hallford@lycos.com), May 31, 2001.