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skilletlicker

skilletlicker

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My old Osterizer doesn't get much use; fortunate since it sounds like a '57 Plymouth with a rod knock.

A series of dental extractions and oral surgeries are in the medium future which will leave me eating through a straw for a good number of weeks. So I'm reluctantly considering the last blender I ever intend to buy. Leaning toward this Vitamix 5200.

Seeking recommendations, advice, and experience.
 
taxlady said:
Would that immersion blender be adequate for your upcoming needs? Or, would it be too much effort when you aren't feeling 100%? That Vitamix is a lovely blender, but how much would you use it after you can eat solid food again?
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Thank you. A point worth consideration.

...

Handy gadget in Margaritaville though.
 
I have heard great things about the Vitamix, but never could pull the trigger on that price. I don't use a blender that often. My KitchenAid blender has served me well for at least 15 years. It is very strong -- easily able to make ice into slush. IIRC, it was about half the price of a Vitamix.


BTW, I had an Oster Bar Blender before. It had a cool "retro" look, but burned up making margaritas for a party.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I have heard great things about the Vitamix, but never could pull the trigger on that price. I don't use a blender that often. My KitchenAid blender has served me well for at least 15 years. It is very strong -- easily able to make ice into slush. IIRC, it was about half the price of a Vitamix.
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Caseydog, I remembered your KitchenAid recommendations in an earlier thread and considered the KitchenAid KSB1575CU 5-Speed Diamond Blender which was the runner up in ATK's mid-priced blender reviews, the winner, Breville Hemisphere Control, having been discontinued. The $109.95 price tag is a lot easier to swallow, but I just wonder if it's likely to last as long as I hope. You don't mention which model KA you have. Any sense of how the model linked herein measures up? Any other models you think I ought to consider?

When I saw the ATK mid-priced winner wasn't available I began looking at the high end models. Beyond durability, the Vitamix caught my attention for its ability to make nut butters, a thing that I probably would do if I had a machine that could stand up to it. It isn't necessarily an essential requirement however.

The ATK mid-price and high end blender reviews mentioned above are linked below for the convenience of anybody who cares. :mrgreen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7kWmAAneUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dlSYg43TUY
 
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While the Vitamix is a great blender, I'm not sure you have to spend that much to be happy. Actually, you could buy 4 $100 blenders for the price of the VM and have money left over.

With the vitamix you get some more power and sturdier construction. That doesn't mean lower cost blenders won't last. Consider how often you'll be using it and what you'll be blending.

Once your oral surgeries, etc. are over and done, will your new blender suffer the same fats as your old Osterizer and get little or no use? If that's the case, I'd definitely go for a $100 machine over the VM.
 
skilletlicker, I got a VM back in the 90s, and got it for a steal, but even if I had paid full price, I would have gotten every penny's worth out of it, as I use that thing almost every day. It all depends on your cooking habbits.

If you make Mexican food, nothing I have used will grind up the food finer - the first time I used it, for one of the typical Mexican sauces, that I always pressed through a strainer, to remove the seeds and bits of skin left, all of the sauce went through the strainer! Back in the 80s, I bought a KA blender, which I took back because the design of it simply did not grind up that type of sauce well, at high speed for several minutes. I'm sure that they have improved them since then, but they are probably still not going to grind like a VM.

Do you make your own nut butters or tahini? Thai curry pastes? These are things that I use the VM for, that the power is helpful for. I've always made a lot of smoothies and cold puréed soups, and nothing makes them as smooth as the VM.
 
skilletlicker said:
Caseydog, I remembered your KitchenAid recommendations in an earlier thread and considered the KitchenAid KSB1575CU 5-Speed Diamond Blender which was the runner up in ATK's mid-priced blender reviews, the winner, Breville Hemisphere Control, having been discontinued. The $109.95 price tag is a lot easier to swallow, but I just wonder if it's likely to last as long as I hope. You don't mention which model KA you have. Any sense of how the model linked herein measures up? Any other models you think I ought to consider?

When I saw the ATK mid-priced winner wasn't available I began looking at the high end models. Beyond durability, the Vitamix caught my attention for its ability to make nut butters, a thing that I probably would do if I had a machine that could stand up to it. It isn't necessarily an essential requirement however.
Click to expand...

The one I have is now called "classic," so that's how long I have had it. :LOL: It used to cost more than it does now. I think it was something like 140 bucks when I bought it.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...or-control/3242410?keyword=kitchenaid-blender

That Diamond model looks good, too, and isn't much more expensive.

Mine has been very reliable. It has made a lot of batches of frozen margaritas. Blending ice cubes is a pretty good test for a blender.

If I were making smoothies every day, and otherwise putting my blender through a daily pounding, I might consider a $500 blender. But, the KA has served me well for many years of occasional, but sometimes brutal use.

CD
 
pepperhead212 said:
skilletlicker, I got a VM back in the 90s, and got it for a steal, but even if I had paid full price, I would have gotten every penny's worth out of it, as I use that thing almost every day. It all depends on your cooking habbits.
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Key words.

CD
 
skilletlicker Another thing that I use the VM for frequently, which I forgot to mention, is grinding dry ingredients. It will grind things superfine, almost like cornstarch, though I don't always grind them that fine.
 
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Horse traded up to a new Vita Mix, love it. Even found a stainless steel container (from Waring) that fits it perfectly.
 
Well, perhaps I'm a prehistoric creature, but I still have my Osterizer blender that I purchased in 1968. Been working like a champ and has blended tons of homemade baby food, along with other tasty sauces, etc.


No plastic or nylon gears. All metal and doin' its thing like a champ in 2019!



Never found it necessary to purchase anything else.


Just me.
 
Katie H said:
Well, perhaps I'm a prehistoric creature, but I still have my Osterizer blender that I purchased in 1968. Been working like a champ and has blended tons of homemade baby food, along with other tasty sauces, etc.

No plastic or nylon gears. All metal and doin' its thing like a champ in 2019!

Never found it necessary to purchase anything else.

Just me.
Click to expand...

Oster isn't what it used to be. They have become a "Walmart" budget kitchen appliance maker. Hang onto that old one as long as you can, and if it dies, don't get a new one.

CD
 
My old blender was an Osterizer, too - a heavy metal one, with a glass jar. I had that when I got that KA years ago, and returned it - the old Osterizer worked better! I gave it to Mom, when I got the VM. Still in somebody's kitchen, I'm sure.
 
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Nothing against Osterizers in general or mine in particular except there is something broken inside that sounds as if it might detonate any moment. Everything fails in the end. I have body parts attesting to that fact as I write this.
Will get an estimate on the oral surgeon's bill next month. If there is enough coin left in the piggy bank I'll get the Vitamix.
 
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