Kitchen Blender Spot the Difference

My new toy was delivered today.

The old one is the white machine on the left, the new is the black one on the right.

Now I’m the first to admit that I’m a gadget geek (all the gear, no idea – that sort of thing), but TWO Vitamix blenders may seem a tad excessive. The problem was that as I was processing veggies for another batch of vegan raw wraps the blender choked and stopped, accompanied by that characteristic acrid smell and clouds of smoke. And we all know that when the magic smoke leaks out of an electrical appliance, it’s Goodnight Vienna.

To my astonishment, the Vitamix did actually come back to life. In spite of every indication being that the motor had burnt out, it had simply overheated and in due course it reset itself. But the machine is at least 10 years old, and the variable speed controller no longer works smoothly – a common fault on Vitamixes. So a new machine was in order.

It’s a measure of how successful the Vitamix design is that it hasn’t changed in decades. True, the range has expanded to include a 2.2HP Professional model at the top end, and a personal blender intended for the occasional smoothie at the bottom end. And they come in different colours. But the 2HP Classic is still the mainstay. When we bought ours, it was called a 5000.

Hat tip to Blender Lady for the good advice that she gave about choosing a Vitamix. Our new one is actually not a domestic machine at all, but the bottom of the commercial range. It’s called a Vita-Prep 3, and the only difference is that it has a much more powerful motor – 3HP not the 2HP or 2.2HP of the domestic range – and it comes only in black. It’s rated for continuous restaurant use, so has a heavy-duty cooling fan. But the casing, controls, jug, tamper, lid mechanism, blades, all are exactly the same as the old 5000.

We’re about to make some soup in it for supper, with home-grown allotment leeks. One of the great joys of a Vitamix is that it can blend hot liquids without redecorating the ceiling.

I’ve ordered a dry mix jug, so we can experiment with making flour and dry-chopping ingredients too.