One of my 4 pillars of good cooking is to invest in effective kitchen tools and to avoid kitchen gadgets.
Two years ago I bought a Vitamix 5200, and it is one seriously high performing kitchen tool.
When it comes to mid-sized appliances like stand mixers (KitchenAid) and food processors (Cuisinart) there are some well known, time tested clear cut choices. I had a classic Waring blender, which was the go-to blender choice for many decades.
I wasn’t overwhelmed with the Waring’s performance, but also having an effective stick blender and the fact that I don’t use a blender too often, I saw no need to invest in an expensive Vitamix. Boy did I miss the boat on that one.
But then my wife and I did the Optavia diet (about 100 pounds combined loss, thank you Optavia). That diet included many flavored shake products and it was clear the Waring wasn’t up to the task. In order to better support the diet I splurged on the Vitamix.
What a revelation. Power is everything.
For shakes the Vitamix easily destroys ice cubes and the mix into a smooth, creamy, perfect consistency. I’ve since used it for soups and am shocked at how quickly and thoroughly it creates velvety, partly foamy consistencies. Here’s a recap of features and attributes:
- Simple controls - nothing more than an on/off switch, a variable/fixed speed selector and a knob for varying the speeds.
- You can fill this machine as much as you want - see the picture above - and it will reduce the entire container without having to open it up and remix / push down the ingredients.
- The blades are not sharpened like a food processor’s but they somehow chop through solid ingredients and reduce to a very finely chopped size. Herbs, vegetable, any solid is reduced to a super fine, actually minuscule size. I still strain soups through a chinois, but could easily serve many soups unstrained.
- Leaving the blender to run for just a few seconds after completely mixing ingredients will begin to introduce air into the mixture, creating a creamy, frothy texture.
- There are many more sophisticated, and more expensive, models available than the 5200 - but this no frills machine should meet virtually every need a serious cook has.
Because of the power of this blender, I’m finding myself making more soups, especially chilled vegetable soups like this summer pea soup.
Overall, splurging on the Vitamix is the best $400 I’ve spent on a kitchen tool since I bought the $400 toaster. But that’s another product review. Too bad we don’t eat toast very often anymore.
Here’s a link to the Vitamix 5200 if you’re interested in purchasing one.
