Goodreads Vegetarians and Vegans discussion

I bought a Vitamix a few months ago and am really enjoying it. I've been eating more raw food these days, and the Vitamix makes it easier to blend up a nice hummus or smoothie, veg gravies etc. I'm still trying to learn to like smoothies better, honestly. The texture can't be too thick or it grosses me out. :-P

I'm wondering if anyone else has one, and what their favorite uses/recipes are.

It's pretty amazing. I still love mine- I've started using it now to make homemade almond milk, so that I can just make it on demand instead of buying a carton that may or may not expire before I use it. Plus no extra shit in there, you know? :-P

You just need raw almonds on hand, and you're good to go.

Anyway, if you ever do get one, you'll love it. But they definitely ain't cheap! I don't regret spending the money, myself.

I actually don't know how long it lasts because I just make what I need - but I think because it doesn't have the extra stuff in it that it probably doesn't last very long. Still, I think I had some in the fridge for a week no problem, if I remember correctly.

I haven't tried anything with the pulp yet except some cookies, which were bad because I didn't follow a recipe. :-P

You need a "nut milk" bag - Vitamix sells some but I bought one online. I never thought about dehydrating and making almond flour, interesting... I don't have one, but maybe I could do it in the oven in low warmth?

I can't afford a Vitamix, but my husband got me an Omniblend V for my birthday in November. (At £250-ish, it's the 'poor' person's Vitamix!) I use it at least once a day for soups, green smoothies and things like vegan alfredo sauces. Today I am attempting to make chick pea flour in it.

I love it, Jo! There are quite a few comparison videos on YouTube that test it against the Vitamix and the Blendtec, so you can see that it's not quite as good as the more expensive blenders, but it appears to borrow the best features of each of them, so I'm not complaining! :)

I bought my Vitamix with a discount because they demonstrated it at Vegfest (annual Seattle event) and offered a discount. For anyone serious about getting one, it might be worth it to call the comoany to ask if they know of any special events coming to your city with discounts.

I have seen discussions online about buying reconditioned Vitamixes, but these promotions always seem to be happening in The States. Never seen it in the UK as yet.

Dang!

Highly recommend Vitamix. Have owned/used original one, with the metal container, for about 35 years. 2 years ago the attachment housing at base of container came loose, metal part crumbled, metal fatigue a friend termed it. Had never had any issues, called company & initially they were unsure about a replacement part, and offered me $75. Credit toward purchase of new machine if I sent in old one. Decided to check eBay, local resales for since motor still worked fine. Purchased new machine at big box retailer during a special demo promotion. It is quieter and more powerful than old one. Then company came thru with part for older machine, and instructions on how to install it. So gifted new machine to one of my sons, who enjoys using it daily, and am back to my old faithful! Save for one; well worth it & they last.

Making nut / soy milks with the Vitamix - what would you need a "nut bag" for?

We had a soymilk maker before, but found it wasteful as there was a lot of pulp leftover. Simply boiling the soybeans and blending the hell out of them in the Vitamix totally eliminated the leftover pulp and created a more viscuous soymilk. Guess that should also work for nut milks.

Best regards,
Andy

I use the nut bag when I don't want the almond milk to have "texture" from the pulp. Maybe with soy it's different, but I find that there is always some texture with the almonds. Drinking hot cocoa with pulp in it is just gross. But anytime I make milk for soups or gravies etc. I just skip the nut bag and keep all the pulp in there.

I have a Vitamix and I love it! Check QVC, they offer flex pay (monthly payments) so you can get the machine home at a fraction of the cost, usually 3-6 payments. I believe Vitamix.com offers 3 installed payments as well.