My Vitamix Review

First, let me say, I have been completely obsessed with getting a Vitamix for at least 10 years!

They are not cheap. In fact, they are really kind of expensive. So, this is not a piece of kitchen equipment to buy on a whim. When I started my crusade to get a Vitamix, we were working on the Dave Ramsey plan of paying off debt (the 7 baby steps) and I can guarantee you that Dave Ramsey would not consider a Vitamix a necessity or an emergency. I had a perfectly fine blender I could use to make smoothies. This time frame was when I was having tons of health issues, my hormones were starting to go wonky, I was gaining weight no matter what I had to eat. My inflammation was off the charts. When I complained about the weight gain to my doctors, they would just look at me like yeah, at your age that’s what happens. It was a rough time. So, I had to shelve my desire for a Vitamix until the day our debt was paid off and I could buy one without it wrecking our budget. When I first started eating paleo and did my first Whole 30 in February of 2014, many of the bloggers and experts on Whole 30 used a Vitamix to make nut butters, dressings, sauces and soups. I was trying to get more vegetables in my diet, so I liked the idea of putting spinach in a smoothie and not really knowing it was there. Well, I lived through that time just fine without a Vitamix. I used my food processor and regular blender. I made my own olive oil mayonnaise and sauces and started to really love making all of my own food. I started feeling better even if the weight was stubbornly hanging around.

So now let’s fast forward to last year. My birthday is just two weeks after Mother’s Day and my husband was feeling a little at a loss on what to buy me. I got a notice that Vitamix was having a sale, so guess what folks?! That’s right, I bought my first Vitamix!!!! I got the Vitamix Professional Series 750 model. These powerful machines are made in the U.S.A. in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. I got to choose my own color and everything. I was super excited at finally being able to buy one of these impressive machines.

I ordered mine directly from the Vitamix website. There are many stores that carry the Vitamix but they either were not having the same sale or didn’t have the model or color I wanted so I ordered directly from the manufacturer. The upside to that is that they built it especially for me. The downside is that it took a while to get it. You can order a new Vitamix here.

Let’s start with the pros:

1) It is a powerful piece of equipment!

It can blast through anything I’ve put in it. Veggies in a smoothie? No problem, fruit in a smoothie? No problem! Nuts in a smoothie? Again, no problem – it even smooths out chia seeds so you won’t even know they are there! On Christmas Eve, we ran out of cinnamon in the middle of making my world-famous pumpkin bread. I did not want to send anyone to the grocery store on Christmas Eve but I also did not want my pumpkin bread to be ruined. I had some whole cinnamon sticks so thought, “let’s just see what this thing can do.” My son and husband both seemed pretty excited to try out this experiment so we all gathered around. I put about 10 cinnamon sticks in the Vitamix. We all looked at each other and said “hope this works.” It made a huge, scary racket and we were all three watching with very big eyes over whether this was going to work or not. It didn’t just crumble the cinnamon sticks, it reduced those cinnamon sticks down to a fine powder like you find when you buy ground cinnamon. It’s an amazingly powerful machine! (Truth nugget: this little cinnamon stick demonstration was super impressive, but it etched the Vitamix container. Had I known that beforehand, I might have sent somebody to the grocery store. 😊 Now that it’s done, the gloves are off and I’ll experiment with more things!)

2) It is versatile.

You can use it to do so many more things than just make smoothies! You can make soups, sauces, homemade dressings, mayonnaise, nut butters, desserts! The possibilities are endless.

3) Clean-up is a breeze.

It has a cleaning setting that is amazing. You fill it halfway with water, add a few drops of dish soap and turn it on. It goes through the cleaning function and when it is done, your Vitamix will be clean. All you have to do is rinse it out and let it air dry! Too easy!

Now, the cons:

1) The price – I was able to get mine for around $550.

I really wanted the specific model I bought because my sister had it. She had used it pretty much every day for 8 years and it was still going strong with no problems. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and knew I would use it for many different functions. I wanted my machine to have all the bells and whistles. There are cheaper models that perform just as well. You can also buy refurbished machines for an even bigger discount here.

2) It doesn’t fit under my counter.

I knew this going in so it wasn’t a huge bummer when I got it. I really wanted to keep it out on the counter but since my cabinets are rather low, it just would not work. It’s okay with me because I’ve got a good place to store it and I just get it out when I’m using it. I don’t use mine everyday so getting it out and putting it up isn’t a big chore to me. And, there isn’t a model that will fit under my counters. It is described as a low profile machine but it isn’t quite low enough for my counters. I just needed my upper cabinets to be one inch higher but I’m not moving or remodeling over this Vitamix situation so I’ve had to adapt. (I may have considered it though!) Ha!

After my cancer diagnosis, I knew I had to support my body’s immune system by eating lots of fresh, in season vegetables. So, I incorporated a daily green smoothie. I packed as many different greens into this smoothie as I possibly could. I also incorporated fresh ginger and lemon to pull the flavors together, give it a zing and let’s not forget the benefits of fresh ginger. It’s a powerful antioxidant and helps reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. I had a green smoothie every day and sometimes twice a day during my recovery from surgery and radiation treatments. I still like to have them when I feel like I’m not getting enough green veggies or if my energy is low. I didn’t have my Vitamix when I started having these smoothies. My blender did a pretty good job, but the smoothies were more the consistency of applesauce. Once I got the Vitamix, it took care of business. These smoothies are the consistency of orange juice - smooth and slightly creamy depending on what combination of ingredients I use. You can check out one of my favorite recipes for a green smoothie on my blog, here!

If you’ve been on the fence about getting a Vitamix, I highly encourage you to go for it! It is quite an investment, but it will serve you well for many years. I’ve only scratched the surface here. The Vitamix has more settings that I haven’t tried yet so I’m excited to give them a whirl and I’ll report back when I do!