I recently spent several years of American Express points on a Vitamix Pro 750!

I’ve been curious about high powered blenders (eg. Vitamix, Blendtec) since I started working with cashew purees and cultured vegan cheese. The recipes call for blenders, and my food processor wasn’t quite cutting it.

I’ve also noticed that people rave about high powered blenders on vegan forums. High powered blenders made the PPK 100 list a year ago, and at the first vegan event I went to (a Grubwithus dinner), 5 of the 6 people I asked had one and recommended them.

High-powered blenders process harder substances more effectively than normal blenders. You can make flour from whole grains, for instance, and you don’t have to chop or remove seeds from fruit. They can also make hot soup, using friction from blending alone to heat the ingredients.

I chose a new style Vitamix (versus Blendtec or other Vitamix models) for the following reasons:

• The new containers are much easier to get stuff out of, compared to classic Vitamix models. They are wide, shorter, and don’t narrow substantially at the base.
• Most reviewers prefer the manual control offered by Vitamix, compared to Blendtec’s manual control options. Blendtec’s programs are great, but users often report having to repeat programs to completely blend.
• It’s nice to have a tamper for when you need it (eg. making almond butter).
• It’s nice to have program options, in case those wind up being useful.

That said, both Vitamix and Blendtec users rave about their mixers, so I don’t think there’s a wrong choice here.

I splurged on the Pro 750 since I was using points. Having used it, I think that the program settings are probably not too important. You really want to be nearby when using it anyway. There are pros and cons to the new style containers. One drawback is that they work best when blending a large amount of food, since smaller amounts may hide under the blades. Since the old style containers are narrow at the base, this is likely less of a problem.

I’ve heard only positive reviews of the reconditioned models, so a refurbished 7500 or Pro 300 might be a good choice for the (somewhat) budget conscious.

Anyway, new toy!