We purchased our Vita-Mix almost six years ago and have never had a moment’s trouble with it. The warranty is seven years.

Here’s what I am able to do with my Vita-Mix. I use it several times each day.

• Mill grains into flour (Grinding Gluten-Free Grains and Whole Wheat Bread Baking Tutorial)
• Crack grains (Cracked Grain Cereal Mix and GF Cracked Grain Cereal Mix)
• Blend chocolate syrup and chocolate glaze/frosting (Chocolate Syrup and Dark Chocolate Frosting)
• Whip up ice cream ingredients (Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream)
• Blend hummus and other bean dips (Hummus)
• Blend smoothies, including pulverizing the ice with no trouble at all (Fruit Smoothie Formula)
• Blend/whip salad dressings (Tofu Dressing with Almond and Mustard)
• Chop fruit into purees and sauces (Raw Applesauce)
• Grind nut butters (Natural Peanut Butter)
• Grind nuts and water to create smooth and creamy nut milks (Raw Nut Milk – Almond or Hazelnut)
• Puree frozen fruit to become frozen treats (Chocolate Banana Shake)
• Grind flax seeds into flax seed meal (Flax Seed Meal: Egg Substitute)
• Chop nuts, grind nut flours
• Grind coarse sea salt into fine sea salt, grind other seasoning mixes (Herb Seasoning Salt)
• Grind coarse date sugar into a fine sugar
• Puree garlic with water to make a sauce for spraying on pests in the garden
• Chop fresh herbs with olive oil, making a paste to freeze in ice cube trays for later use

What Can’t Be Beat?

Plenty — the handling of ice and harder foods in smoothies and raw food juices; the pulverization of nuts to create simple, raw nut milks; the making of sauces, spreads and purees; the cracking of grains; and the ease with which I can mill grains in a versatile appliance.

The current model of the Vita-Mix (the 5200) offers a BPA-free container. That is a really great feature. I would like to investigate whether my model’s container (the 5000) leaches BPA into the foods I prepare with it. If so, I also wonder whether I could purchase the newer container to fit on my older model’s base.

Hold On A Second!

Since I am giving my unbiased opinion, let me tell you what I don’t recommend as uses of the Vita-Mix. I don’t think it handles chopping vegetables as well as a food processor does. It doesn’t cut as evenly and I believe it doesn’t circulate the vegetables as well because the base of the container isn’t as wide as a food processor’s container. When making healthy slaws, the Vita-Mix tends to juice the veggies while it chops them (unevenly) and the resulting juice imparts a bitter flavor to the slaw. So if you’re wanting the Vita-Mix as a food processor, I say — get a food processor, such as the Cuisinart 14-cup food processor.

And while the Vita-Mix makes nut butters pretty well, I believe the food processor performs this function better also. Again, it has to do with the wider container base which better allows the nut butter to circulate. Fattier nuts such as peanuts do well in the Vita-Mix, but nuts with less oil don’t do well at all because there’s no oil to help them circulate in the narrow container.

If you are interested in the Vita-Mix just for grinding grains, I would probably recommend purchasing a stand-alone grain mill, such as a Nutrimill. However, I’m not saying the Vita-Mix doesn’t do an excellent job with grinding grains. I learned very quickly that one should grind harder grains (such as wheat, rye, barley, kamut and rice) for 15 seconds longer than the manual recommends to ensure a smooth fine grind. In addition, resist the temptation to grind more than 2 cups of grains at a time because overloading it can also result in a less-than-fine grind. If you follow these two additional guidelines, your flours will be fine and light and perfect for many baking applications.

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If you have any questions, please ask away!

1) I can use more differing grains. While I have seen 12-grain and 7-grain cereal mixes for sale, I have never seen any for sale with as many as the 14 different grains as I currently crack and mix together.

2) Deeper price discounts are given for purchases of greater quantities. The risk of getting bugs in grains is far, far less in whole grains versus cracked grains. So I buy large quantities of the whole grains and crack them as I need them. Typically, one batch of the following recipe will last us with daily use for about 2 weeks.

The following directions will help you crack grains in a Vita-Mix. Other grain mills also crack grains — refer to your mill’s manual for directions on this application.

Since we like a Cream of Wheat consistency for our hot cereal, these directions achieve a finer texture of cracking. Adjust accordingly for the degree of fineness or coarseness you desire.

This recipe results in 32 cups of cereal mix, which is quite a bit. Since one shouldn’t grind less than 2 cups at a time in the Vita-Mix dry container (otherwise the tamper doesn’t reach the grains to help them circulate), the only way to reduce the recipe’s size is by mixing the grains together before grinding. I would recommend mixing together your desired amount of the grains that require the same amount of grinding and then grind 2 cups at a time of the mixture of grains.

Cracked Grain Cereal Mix

Makes about 32 cups

Grind 2 cups of each of the following grains (separately). Use variable speed 8 and the Vita-Mix dry container for the indicated time period. Use the lid with tamper to increase the circulation of the grains in the dry container.

Amaranth — 15 seconds
Barley, hulled — 30 seconds
Kamut — 35 seconds
Buckwheat groats — 10 seconds
Corn — 60 seconds
Millet — 10 seconds
Oat groats — 25 seconds
Quinoa* — 10 seconds
Rice, brown — 25 seconds
Rye — 30 seconds
Spelt — 35 seconds
Teff — 15 seconds
Triticale — 30 seconds
Wheat, hard white or red — 35 seconds

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly in a 2-gallon size bowl. Store in airtight container(s), preferably in the freezer. Use in cracked grain hot cereal or soak the grains in boiling water and add to bread dough.

*Quinoa has a bitter coating called saponin. Using a fine sieve, rinse the quinoa under cold running water for about 2 minutes. Then spread the quinoa out on a baking sheet to dry before grinding.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon.

I tried something last night that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile but apparently I was waiting to be inspired. I used my Vita-Mix to grind whole wheat farina. For 2 cups of wheat berries, it took about 25 seconds of processing on speed #8. It was a little on the coarse side, I think. Then I put the farina in our Muesli, istead of the usual rolled oats. We haven’t eaten it yet this morning, but I did give it a stir to check its consistency. It looks good. I flavored it with carob powder instead of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

Either Thursday or Friday we will pick up our yearly 100% grass-fed beef from the butcher. That means today I need to make room for it in the freezer. But I have lots of things stored in the freezer that don’t really have to be in there. Once I get going it shouldn’t seem so daunting.

Natural Peanut Butter

4 cups organic, dry roasted Valencia peanuts
1 teaspoon sea salt

Put peanuts and salt in food processor or Vita-Mix. You may want to blend in smaller batches, depending on the capabilities of your appliance. Blend until smooth or slightly chunky, according to your preference. Serve warm immediately or chill to enjoy later. Keep refrigerated.

Adjust the amount of water or sweetener to make the nut milk with the consistency and sweetness you desire.

Raw Nut Milk (Almond or Hazelnut) –

Makes 6 cups

• 1 cup raw almonds or hazelnuts
• 2 cups filtered water, for soaking
• 6 cups filtered water
• 1/4 cup honey, or a few dates (optional, for sweetening)
• Fine mesh filter (if using Soy Milk Maker or regular blender)
• Vita-Mix, soy milk maker appliance, or regular blender

Method 1 — Using Vita-Mix

1. Soak the almonds or hazelnuts in 2 cups of filtered water overnight, up to 24 hours (or longer if the temperature is not too warm). They do not need to be skinned. After the soaking time, drain and rinse the almonds.

2. Put 6 cups of fresh water, the nuts, and desired sweetener in the Vita-Mix wet container. Put on the two-piece lid and make sure it is tightly closed. Turn on the Vita-Mix to low, increase variable speed to 10, and then switch to HIGH. Blend on HIGH for 2-1/2 minutes, until milk is smooth. The milk will be quite foamy on top.

3. Let the milk sit for about 5 minutes for the foam to settle down. Pour contents of wet container into a storage container, such as a 1/2 gallon mason jar. To omit the 5 minute resting, pour the milk back and forth between the wet container and the storage container repeatedly to let the air out of the foam. If a grind-free milk is desired, pour contents of wet container through the fine mesh filter into the storage container.

4. Store milk in refrigerator. For a thick and smooth milk, shake well before serving to reincorporate the fine grinds that settle at the bottom of the storage container. For a thinner milk without any fine grinds, do not shake the milk before serving.

Method 2– Using Soy Milk Maker

1. Soak the almonds or hazelnuts in 2 cups of filtered water overnight, up to 24 hours (or longer if the temperature is not too warm). They do not need to be skinned.After the soaking time, drain and rinse the almonds.

2. Place drained nuts in the filter cup of the soy milk maker and attach it to the motor base. Fill the pitcher with the filtered water. Put the motor base on the pitcher and plug it in. Do not use the automatic cycle of the soy milk maker. Follow the manual to set the machine to a grind only cycle, not a heat cycle. For the SoyaJoy soy milk maker, press “Motor” five times and then press “Start” once.

Note: Press “Motor” firmly until you hear a beep, then press again firmly until you hear a beep, and so on. Do not press “Motor” more than five times, or your machine may overheat during the grind cycle.

3. Pour contents of pitcher through the fine mesh filter into a storage container, such as a 1/2 gallon mason jar.

4. If sweetening, pour 2 cups of the milk into a blender container and add desired sweetener. Blend well and add back to storage container. Mix well. Store milk in refrigerator.

Method 3 — Using Blender

1. Soak the almonds or hazelnuts in 2 cups of filtered water overnight, or up to 24 hours (or longer if the temperature is not too warm). They do not need to be skinned. After the soaking time, drain and rinse the almonds.

2. Place nuts and 6 cups of fresh water into blender container. Blend on high speed until smooth.

3. Pour contents of blender container through the fine mesh filter into a storage container, such as a 1/2 gallon mason jar.

4. If sweetening, pour 2 cups of the milk into the blender container and add desired sweetener. Blend well and add back to storage container. Mix well. Store milk in refrigerator.

© Copyright 2006-2010 by Wardeh Harmon