Review; Vita-Mix 5200 blender

I was contacted by the folks at VitaMix a while back and what with moving house, the crash of my other pc with all the photos on that of which I have just been able to recover at least some (phew!) and that good stuff I have been somewhat delinquent in my write up of my review. But here we are:

First here’s some technical info from their website:

All-new high performance appliance helps you prepare healthy meals quickly and easily without a single attachment!

* New Eastman Tritan™ copolyester 64 oz. container is as durable as polycarbonate, features improved sound damping and is chemical resistant. Comes with ergonomic soft-grip handle.
* New Swedish-built 2 peak HP motor, custom designed for this machine, runs substantially cooler with energy savings and improved performance.
* Feedback-type variable speed control provides consistent power regardless of load. Speed ranges from 11 m.p.h. to 240 m.p.h., wider than any standard blender.
* Unique stainless steel hammermill and cutting "wet" blades process whole foods like no other appliance to deliver up to 3 times the nutrition.
* New soft-touch switches and dial backed by new designer label.
* Patented, spill-proof vented lid with removable lid plug lets you measure and add ingredients safely while machine is running.
* Patented tamper for extreme processing power helps when preparing foods such as nut butters and frozen treats.
* Quick and easy clean-up. Just add a few drops of dish soap, some warm water and run for 30 seconds on high. Done!

Yes that’s right this thing has a 2 horsepower engine and spins up to 240mph, technically speaking that is actually fast enough to heat up what you are blending, think soup!

And so onto the review, here it is…this thing is awesome!

Ok here’s some detail. About a week after confirming I would be delighted to review it a box arrived, a big box! I opened it up and inside there was the requisite blender, a tamper, a 300+ page cookbook, a DVD and the usual pamphlets etc.

Let’s get onto the interesting stuff; the food! I started out simple and went with guacamole, I’ll spare you all the how to so here’s the final product, trust me it tasted as good as it looked, served up with some home made pita chips.

Looks good enough to eat...

The drip test: pass!

I'd say that went done well enough!

Then trying to be a bit adventurous I used it to make up a pasta sauce; Goats cheese and sage, this one went not so well, (but I think I messed up somewhere along the line) and while very tasty the sauce should have been thicker.

Chicken with goats cheese and sage sauce served with sauteed spinach on angel hair pasta

Since then the Vita-Mix has been used for multiple recipes from the book including: spinach spread, California salsa, peanut butter, orange sorbet and vanilla ice cream, yep it can do cold just as well as it does hot. Of the many sauces from the recipe book it’s made; pesto, rustic Mediterranean sauce, mango sauce for grilled chicken and dill tartar sauce for fish all of which tasted great and all of which were photographed and then all of which where lost in the great pc crash of 2008! Anyway in case I ever get through the book there is an extensive online library of recipes to look at as well which are searchable including low fat, low sodium, raw and even gluten free!

More recently it’s seen some serious use in making hummus, but it’s been well used for smoothies and of course I use it for making up my Hammer Perpetuem – well why not.

Garbanzo beans, sun dried tomatos, olive oil, tahini paste, water, salt & pepper... voila!

Bananas, blueberry, soy milk, ice...voila

Hammer Perpetuem, Hammer Gel, Ultimate Direction Handhelds...voila!

So let’s talk turkey, this blender is not cheap; in fact it’s darn expensive $450 for the entry level model, that being said it is of professional (almost commercial) quality and is much more robust that anything found in the aisles at Bed Bath and Beyond. So should you buy one, clearly it’s not an “I am just popping out to get a” purchase but if you a little bit adventurous in the kitchen, put some thought into what you eat and are someone who actually makes their food rather than unboxes it, and chances are you are the latter if you are reading this blog then the answer to that question is yes, then I would suggest that you give it serious thought, the mixer combined with the website and the support etc make this an investment rather than just another kitchen gadget. I am so impressed that I have applied to become an affiliate, which, if you purchase one through me you get free shipping, this is available to anyone in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Once approved I will post up the link.

There are plenty of online reviews from eOpinions, Amazon and the like but if you want one from another runner check out Juliane’s (Twitter; bicoastalite) at her blog.

There a bunch more photos online of it in action here.

*See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you'd like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com