Vitamix Aspire Blender with 48oz & 64oz Wet Containers

I finally decided to take the Vitamix plunge and buy the machine as a showstopper. The price is considerable and I thought my husband would be a little excited about the cost but the 30 day trial calmed the nerves. I was away when the machine arrived so he has been using it . He has been creating recipes as he goes as well as using the books provided. In his own words WE ARE KEEPING THIS. Sometimes it pays to let the husband get the package first.

I cannot say anything that has not been said before. This machine is nothing short of fantastic. I use it every day for everything... chopping, grinding, blending, making soups, making frozen yogurt, ice cream,... the list is endless. The only unfortunate thing is that I purchased the last one in stock at full price. No regrets, though.

I Love my Vitamix, I have been waiting a few years to get one, we found the show stopper on the Shopping Channel and made the purchase. This machine is absolutly amazing!! The recipes are excellent!!Everything I have made has turned out perfect and delicious. Thank you Shopping Channel!!

I do like this blender, but it will take me some time to adjust to using it. I suspect this is an appliance that is easily used by someone who has fully functioning arms and hands. I didn't discover this, unfortunately, until the last day of the trial period because my Vitamix arrived without the tamper. I called TSC Customer Service and was advised to contact Vitamix Customer Service, which I did. By the way, both the TSC and Vitamix Customer Support reps I spoke to were friendly and helpful. I received the missing tamper on the last day of the 30 day trial period! Yipes! And, what if there was a problem? But, I finally had a tamper to use and could now check out my new Vitamix!!!

After reading the Vitamix manual and watching the video, I decided to try out one of the Potato Soup recipes. It worked! A-aaand, it was very good! It was tasty, hot and soooo easy to make! I make a lot of home made soups and stocks and was astonished at how easy that Potato Soup was to make in the Vitamix!!! It was true about the clean up, as well! Just pour in some water, add a couple drops of dish soap, run the Vitamix for a few seconds, voila ... a partially cleaned container ... BUT, I have more to say about clean up.

Over the next several days, I made a few more soups to familiarize myself with the Vitamix. After those very satisfying results, I really wanted to make a nut butter. After consulting the Vitamix's Recipes to Inspire cookbook, I bought peanuts and almonds for my first attempts at making nut butters. I tried making peanut butter first. This is when I discovered I was going to have to make some physical adjustments in order to use the Vitamix. This is only because I have limited strength and movement in my arms and hands. I had to find a more comfortable working surface and height in order to use the tamper and Vitamix together. Anyway, back to making peanut butter ...

My first couple of attempts making peanut butter resulted in an edible product, but the texture wasn't so great. My goal was to create a smooth peanut butter and I just couldn't seem to achieve this. The peanut butter I kept ending up with was unpleasantly chunky and grainy, not a nice type of chunky peanut butter. I knew this was probably due to my physical limitations, not the Vitamix machine. On my third attempt to make peanut butter, I had an 'aha' moment. I placed the three cups of peanuts into the container, processed them as instructed. Then, instead of removing the peanut butter from the container, I removed the lid and tamper, unplugged the Vitamix and scraped the bits of peanuts on the tamper and sides of the container back into the processed peanuts. I left the peanut butter in the container for about 5 - 8 minutes, then reprocessed the peanut butter into a lovely smooth peanut butter, following the same guidelines from the recipe. Turned it on at the lowest speed, increased the variable speed slowly up to high over several seconds, then turned it on to high speed for approximately 5 to 12 seconds. The peanut butter was slightly warm and easily poured out of the Vitamix container and into my storage container. My husband says to wait until it's chilled, the peanut butter amazingly good! He tried it right after I'd made it, while it was warm, and wasn't too impressed. I agree, not impressive when freshly made and warm, much better after it's had a chance to sit and chill in the fridge. That is, unless you're about to use it for a sauce, then it's awesome!!!

I hope my sharing the above peanut butter experience is helpful for some. Some other suggestions about the peanut butter are: for easier pouring and access, I'd suggest a wide-mouthed glass jar or a plastic container, with good fitting lids. By the way, if you don't use it right away, it does need to stay in the fridge. Also, despite being chilled, we have found this smooth peanut butter spreads very easily. Even on a slice of freshly baked bread it won't tear it! Another bonus, we've had a couple of containers of this peanut butter in our fridge for a few weeks, left undisturbed. When we opened them there was no separation! That was a very nice surprise!

Cleaning the Vitamix after making the peanut butter, for me, was not too hard. Placing warm water in the Vitamix container, adding a few drops of dish soap. and whirring it around for a few seconds does make the clean up much easier. I did have to clean the inside walls of the container, BUT, didn't have to worry about cleaning the area around the blades. The soap and water trick really does clean the blades and bottom of the container thoroughy!

My personal opinion about cleaning the Vitamix containers:
After making soups in the Vitamix containers, I found the warm water and dish soap trick does partially clean the container. The warm water and dish soap does clean the blades and bottom of the container very well. I found it does not adequately clean the entire container, though. I strongly suggest a person make sure they wash the upper inside walls of the container and spout after using it. Just rinsing the container might be okay, or safe, after processing some types of foods in the Vitamix containers. My personal experience, using the Vitamix, has shown me the inside upper walls of the container are not necessarily adequately cleaned after the warm water and dish soap method has been used in the container.

So far, I'm happy with the Vitamix blender. I don't mind doing a bit of spot cleaning with the containers. There is always some kind of clean up when cooking or preparing food. I've not attempted to make the almond butter, yet. I'm going to stick with just peanut butter, for now, and continue getting to know how to use the Vitamix in a way that works for me. I'm looking forward to it, as this is going to be a helpful tool.

As a showstopper I purchased 2 of the vitamix. One for my daughter and one for myself. We both love the machines. It is everything that everyone has said about it and more. I used to juice and I feel that this machine creates healthy drinks and uses everything. It sure is fast and chops everything and no waste to your fruit or vegetables. The clean up is a breeze but don't forget to put the top on as I did once. I added a litlle water to clean it and forgot to put the top on and it went all over.

I refused to spend this much on a blender so my husband bought me one for Christmas. It is more than a blender, it's the best kitchen tool I have. I absolutely love it and would recommend this to anyone.

I am still kind of laughing at myself for spending so much money on a small appliance for the kitchen... I'm not usually so extravagant with these types of items. I always had $25 dollar blenders before, and they were always hard to clean and always had a bit of a "breakdown" fear in the back of my mind. Now I just blend away with confidence in my beautiful red Vitamix!
My fav thing to make in it is veg cocktail - I've always been a fan of V8, but did not enjoy the high sodium levels (even in the "low sodium"), so now I make my own, with NO SALT!!
Also makes fantastic smoothies for breakfasts... or on a Sat. night, add some rum and call it a DAIQUIRI! Vitamix eats through the ice & frozen strawberries like nobody's business! :)

I just finished reading all of the reviews regarding this Vitamix which I also bought also as a showstopper. I do not know waht more to say after reading all of the reviews as the other people have said it all.It is just simply one amazing machine. I use it everyday for just about everything. Getting all my extra veggies and fruits into me. Love the soups. Love everything about this Vitamix machine. It stays on my counter. So happy that tsc brought it on as a showstopper as it made it possible to afford it with the easy pays. Thank You TSC

We have happily incorporated the Vitamix into our family of kitchen gadgets. We have only had in a few weeks and we look forward to using it more and more as we become proficient.

We use the blender daily. The kids make their own smoothies and we make ours. We love that we have the two containers which, by the way, are sooo easy to clean. Even crushing ice is a breeze. I've never seen my husband so excited about a kitchen gadget before. Well worth the expense.