Vitamix - 5200

I went through several cheaper blenders then bought a Vitamix. It's worth the money and I doubt I'll have to replace it ever.

Daily smoothie maker and fellow Vitamix 5200 owner here. I agree with all of the above. I got mine as a refurb from Vitamix (new container, used motor base) for ~$250 9+ years ago. For me, that’s a lot of $ but it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made.

Definitely the [Vitamix 5200](https://productbible.com/product/vitamix-5200-blender). Its professional quality and totally worth the money

Vitamix 5200. Will last as long as it's cared for.

I got mine refurbished as well. It came from that store that used to be in outlet malls and was cheaper than Costco. I went through so many blenders before I got my Vitamix. For those that don't know, Vitamix offers a 30 day trial and if you don't want it, you send it back and they replace everything but the blade.

Vitamix 5200 is the old standby. I’ve had mine for years and worked in plenty of professional kitchens that use them way more than any home cook.

Vitamix. Period. They are *incredibly* well-made and functional. Expensive up front but worth it, and cheap in the long run.

I bought mine from Vitamix refurbished. Came with the same 10 year warranty. The customer service is amazing.

I have a refurbished CIA Vitamix that I bought ~15 years ago and is still running great. I had to replace the pitcher once because it cracked when I dropped it, and it sounds like a jet engine, but still works great.

You can buy a refurbished one at a cheaper price and still work great.

I like the ninja too, but I don't love the blade. I accidentally cut my hand a few times while washing it. That's why I gave up the ninja and bought the vitamix. But I still have the ninja with the food processor and the drink cup that came with it. Still use it.

imo the blendtec but you can never get the bottom of the jar wet or it will breakdown. if you want something that will never breakdown and do a great job, get a vitamix but blendtec makes better frappes imo

We loathe our Vitamix. It’s noisy, the plastic jug is not dishwasher safe and the blade cannot blend dry goods without swapping to a dedicated dry blade. It is powerful - that’s all.

I’ve had mine for 15 years!

I have a Breville blender that I love. I’ve used a Vitamix in the past and feel that it is very comparable.

I have a Vitamix, so that's what I'm used to. My son and I took a cooking class, though, and used a Ninja there, and we learned about what you said from using it. It was not as good for making sauces or soups because it didn't funnel like the Vitamix. It blended very unevenly.

Solid choice. Love mine. Just made some nut butter last night.

Warranty is top tier too. Sent it in for a repair and they upgraded the motor inside

Me too. It’s fkn amazing.

I'll echo what everyone else is saying....a Vitamix is the way to go. There is no blender like it, not even the ninja, and it will last forever. It is absolutely worth every penny.

So not having access to warranty on a Vitamix is a legitimate concern, as I believe some of the cost covers their (best in the industry) coverage. That's reasonable to me and I empathize. As far as models, they still make the 5200 which is the venerable choice. You really cannot go wrong. Regarding old Osterizers, THAT'S where this subreddit shows bias. They're junk. A bad tool that doesn't break is still a bad tool. Those cannot achieve in 10 minutes what a Vitamix can do in 10 seconds. That is not an exaggeration. A Vitamix is a blender, those Osterizers are at best fast mixers.

I bought mine refurbished and it’s lasted 10+ years.

Hello. I would highly recommend a Vitamix 5200. I have one personally but was convinced to get one after seeing multiple ppl swear by them. They all have had theirs 10 years or longer. Best smoothies I have ever made. I’m neurodivergent and texture is a big deal to me, unfortunately. But I never have to worry about it with my Vitamix no matter what I’m blending. They are costly,… but it will last the lifespan of a cheaper one by 3 fold or longer, essentially you still be paying the same or LESS over time. You are basically investing, in lifespan, quality, and in health. You can find them at Costco at a discount or wait for an after Christmas sale. The only catch is to follow the guides on how to load and utilize them so their optimum motors are used in ways that will keep them going for years to come. Oh, and they are self-cleaning. My favorite part.

We’ve had ours since 1990. We’ve had it serviced twice ($99), they raised the price for a service to $200 in the last few months. 

Vitamix, but be careful which one you buy. The jug piece should be taller and slimmer. If you get the short stout one, it doesn't blend as good due to the lack of the vortex the former would make. The vortex a Vitamix makes while blending is why it blends so good. 

If they got that vortex going then I'll back then up as a brand. It's crazy how important that feature is, any brand that doesn't do that just isn't worth getting imo

Sorry to hear about your experience. Which model are you using? I have used a Legacy for many years. More recently I got an Ascent 3500. Both are excellent. As I mentioned, I have used it to make dosa, idly batter; dhokla batter; variety of chutneys, soups, etc. Absolutely super.

Vitamix only has 1200 to 1380 watts and it makes amazing hummus, you can also buy the food processor add on

I have a vitamix and and an old immersion blender. I almost never use the vitamix I use the immersion all the time, mostly for soups and mayo. Just putting the stick blender right into a hot pot of soup right on the stove instead of dumping dangerous liquid into the vitamix is a huge deal for me. Second the whole egg mayo is so easy to make and I get to make it the way I like it. The only thing the vitamix does better (that I actually make) is Orange Julius but I have not bothered to make one in years

I have professional experience with Vitamix and love it. But I have a ninja at home. Before it, I went through several blenders—none of which did the job well. I’ve been super-happy with it. (I don’t use a blender often enough to justify the cost of the Vitamix; I’ve not encountered any blending task the Ninja doesn’t handle competently.)

I’ve owned the same vitamix for 17 yrs.  Still works.  What sets it apart besides that it’s powerful is the life time warranty.  Over the 17 yrs.  I did have one container crack.  That wasn’t covered and expensive to replace.  

I had a nice, powerful kitchenaid blender from the 90s. I loved that thing. Eventually the motor blew and I forked out for a Vitamix. The difference was literally day and night. I cannot recommend the vitamix enough.

Thats pretty cool. And I have a vita mix as well. Highly recommend it!

It has a pulse button when used, it pulverizes to make the fruit & veggies smooth. I can make nut milk with very little, to no pulp left behind. I can make nut butter with little to no oil. I can make juice without losing fiber.

Go for a Vitamix yes it’s expensive but it works sooo well

Vita mix all the way

Reliable, Blends everything, versatile, does come with a 7 year warranty, easy to use

We had a vitamix for about a month (roughly 2-3 years ago) before I returned it because my $45 Oster (glass one) worked better. Have had it for 7 years now and even when I use my friend’s newish vitamix I don’t regret returning ours.

I had a ninja. Now I have a Vitamix. No comparison, the Vitamix does a far better job, faster. Worth every penny we spent.

For salad dressings, I use my nutribullet. Also use the nutribullet for smoothies. For blending soup or making cashew cream sauce - vitamix. We also have an immersion blender that works well for some soups, sometimes it gets overheated.

Vitamix is absolutely incredible. We got ours at Costco but not sure if EU Costco’s have as well. Previously I used a Cuisinart immersion blender but the Vitamix is a million times better and I use it daily.

It really depends on what you're blending and how picky you are about smoothness. I have a Vitamix and a Magic Bullet and I use the Bullet way more often b/c it's smaller and I can through everything in the dishwasher. But I'm not usually making smoothies. I'm usually blending sauces. If I were to make soups or smoothies or large quantities and want them smooth I'd use the Vitamix. As for the speeds, the Magic Bullet has 1 speed i.e. it's on or off. On my Vitamix, I do like how I can ramp up the speed b/c if you just turn it on you get a lot of splashing. Not really a big deal but it's a nice to have. BTW, I have the 2nd simplest Vitamix because like you I don't get the need for preprogrammed functions. I'm not walking away while it's blending so I can change the speeds myself. The simplest one is just on and off, but that's aimed a drink making.

I use a Vitamix to make humus. It works very well for that except that getting it out from around the blades is a bit of a pain. But it won't work with just chickpeas without the oil and lemon juice.

Vitamix is the best blender hands down. Buy refurbished if you want a cheaper option. The blade on a Vitamix works better than a Blendtec in my experience.

Always go with a Vitamix.

Honestly, the vitamix runs so smoothly the contents of my smoothie never touch the lid

You sound like you are going to regularly use it, so I’d say you are the rare case that would benefit from the Vitamix. IMHO, most people really just need a bullet blender and an immersion blender though.

I use a Vitamix for smoothies and a food processor for nut butters. I find it’s difficult to get all of the nut butter out of the tall, slender(ish) Vitamix container. I picked up the Vitamix grain-grinding container for making rice and oat flour, too. Our vitamix is almost as old as our dog - he’s 17, and I think I picked up the blender when he was a young puppy! (He used to bark at it, so we’d put him outside when blending things 😄.)

I'd be inclined to agree, but the Vitamix also has a 10 year warranty, so if it does break then you get another for free (I assume). And the consistency of the blended food is on another level, from making sure everything gets mixed to how fine it is crushed, to the emulsion

Same! I really prefer using the immersion blender for tahini bc then I don’t lose as much that’s hard to scrape out of my Vitamix. And also use a large mouth mason jar. :) I am using my immersion blender far more than my big blender these days and it’s been a game changer.

The Ninja blender works well and is inexpensive. I got a refurbished analog Vitamix for about $300 a few years ago. It was well worth the cost but I like my smoothies completely smooth.

An immersion blender might get messy since smoothies are pretty liquid, but you can try! Otherwise, any type of regular countertop blender should work, or there are some single serving ones out there as well. I have an expensive vitamix now but I made great smoothies with $25 blenders in the past.

I'd get a decent immersion blender as a first blender. Works nearly as well, can do things like blending soups in the pot or whipping egg whites that a countertop blender can't, easier to clean, and doesn't take up much room in a drawer. America's Test Kitchen [likes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cb36vpz5Do) the Braun Multiquick 5, which runs $50 discounted (like now on Amz). I have a discontinued Cuisinart which is comparable. I now have a Vitamix countertop blender, which I use every couple of weeks to make a big batch of hummus bi tahini. It does a better job than churning with an immersion blender in a mixing bowl, but to be honest I'm still not sure if it was worth the expense for my needs. The immersion blender still comes out for smaller jobs.

Buying lots of unique gadgets is more expensive than getting one tool that works for everything. For 5 years, I did all blending jobs with an immersion blender. I had a Vitamix countertop blender in my wishlist one Christmas, and its very nice, but I don't do anything with it that couldn't be done with an immersion blender. It's frankly still better to make hummus bi tahini in a serving bowl with an immersion blender, unless one is aiming at the extremes of creamy, because all the time spent churning by hand is saved by not having to clean a blender jar.

I had a Breville with a glass container. It was meh. Now I have a Vitamix and would say it's the true BIL. However, it does have a polycarbonate container.

It might not seem like the affordable option, but I bought a few cheaper blenders before i got a vitamix and now I don’t expect I’ll ever need to buy a blender again. Long term it’s best to get something that’ll last. Costco and vitamix refurbished can give better value.

Vitamix is always the answer! Find a used one for a great deal. I luckily have a hand-me-down vitamix that is at least 10 years old and works great.

Vitamix and it's not close

Vitamix. I've had one for 20 years and it still works perfectly.

I think making nut butter is a heavy duty job for a blender. I think if you are expecting to do that, I'd go vitamix. Not any blender is able to do that.