By Greg
In January my wife sent me to Costco to buy a paper shredder to protect ourselves from the growing problem of identity theft. While walking through Costco I noticed a crowd gathered at a demonstration, where a clean cut young man was serving everything from frozen ice cream to piping hot tortilla soup all prepared from the same miracle appliance the Vitamix blender. I sampled the food and watched the demonstration with interest, he asked questions like, “Are you tired of processed foods?…Do you want your family to eat the healthiest options available… Do you want to control your weight” I answered in my mind “yes, yes and yes“. (I think we all know where this is going) rather than coming home with a $50 paper shredder I came home with a $400 blender. My wife was completely unimpressed and asked if I could shred documents in the blender. I smiled as I replied “yes we can!” Over the next few days I blended with passion, morning smoothies, lunch soups, marinara’s for our pasta dinners and each day my wife grew to enjoy the blender as much as I did. I have to say I really found very little to be critical about, this blender really did do everything the salesman said and I was eating more fruits and veggies throughout my week than I had previously.
In February I went to Costco to buy a 40 lb bag of dog food. I walked down the center of the store and again noticed a group gathered around a live demonstration. Blendtec was represented. If you are familiar with the blending world then you know that Vitamix and Blendtec are the two premier blenders on the market and the only two that can realistically compete with each other. I had a problem, I had been using the Vitamix for a few weeks now and now was presented with the possibility of a face off. I had to do it. I went to the customer service desk and told them I had purchased one and now possibly wanted the other, to Costco’s credit they girl behind the counter said, “you want to buy them both and keep the one you like?” I replied, “Does a one legged duck swim in circles?” I walked into my kitchen an hour later with another blender and my wife gave me a look of disbelief “Dog food” she said, “Not another $400 blender.” In my mind I was already blending.
That evening I tried my favorite recipes in both blenders and they both performed wonderfully. Both will blend pretty much whatever wet items you throw at them, frozen fruit, ice, all sorts of veggies even peanut butter. Blendtec has an advantage in that it will also blend nuts and grains into fine powder, Vitamix requires purchase of a separate container and blade to process dry products. Blendtec has preset buttons that you push and the blender works through variable speeds all on its own for the perfect soup or smoothie or whole juice. Vitamix requires manual adjustment and no automatic turn off which can sometimes result in over blending and your food can end up a little foamy rather than creamy and smooth. The Blendtec also fits nicely on top of the counter but under the cabinets. The Vitamix is a little tall and I really didn’t like leaving it out on my counter. It was a close contest and had I never tried the Blendtec I’m sure I would have enjoyed the Vitamix for many years, however Blendtec wins!
The next afternoon I returned to Costco. The girl behind the counter said “It must have been an exhausting night” Indeed it was, exhausting and wonderful.
If you have one of these blenders then I congratulate you, if you don’t then seriously consider one. I love my morning smoothie and the fresh sauces for pasta, at night a few pieces of frozen mango, a squirt of honey and a handful of ice makes the best ice cream imaginable. I am eating more fruits and veggies than ever before and I feel great.
My wife won’t let me go to Costco alone anymore.
Great review and story. I’ve owned the same Blendtec blender for over 10 years using it a minimum of 5 times every week (weekday morning smoothie). It’s powerful, virtually indestructible and a Utah company. No question it will be replaced by another Blendtec when this one stops running (if it ever does).
Informative and entertaining. I’ve seen the same demos at Costco and wondered if a blender could be worth that much money. I’ll give one a shot.
Dennis,
I would like to learn more about your approach to eating. In addition to learning your recipe for your morning smoothie, I would like to learn how you manage your other meals
We are of similar body type and age. You have done an excellent job of keeping yourself lean.
I saw you run in Ann Arbor last year at the USATF 10k Masters event. Well done!
Guy Marshall
Ann Arbor, MI
I saw this same demos at Costco and also bought both. I found the Vitamix to be much better. I found it difficult to do nut butters in the Blendtec and when using the Blendtec to make my green smoothies I had to chop the food up smaller and add liquid, found myself wishing I had a tamper stick. I found that the when putting flax seeds, chia seeds, and run almonds in my smoothies the blendtec would shut off to soon and we would be left with a gritty rather then a smoothie. We keep the motor base on the counter top and the container sits upside down on a towel under the sink. That way we don’t have to dry it off and make it look pretty. Chefs all over the world use the Vitamix and all your restraunts, smoothie shops, and coffee shops use the Vitamix. I feel like they probably use it for a reason, they are pros. I agree that supporting local companies is good but lets face it, how many of you drive a ford. And for the Record I didn’t return the Blendtec because in my opinion that’s bad business, I sold it for $30 less then I paid. I should have just bought the online consumer reports subscription for $20 and saved myself the trouble.
The picture of the Vitamix that was used above is a scaled down model. The 5200 has a variable speed dial that gives the user complete control of the blending. Below is the website link that gives the reader a better picture.
https://secure.vitamix.com/acb/stores/4/?002=2180404&004=2079076683&005=7257750827&006=7198360323&007=Search&008=&gclid=CJHI5bjWsacCFQkFbAodcUGCAA