Green smoothies.
March 2, 2011 12:19 PM   Subscribe

What are the best appliances for turning raw veggies into smoothies (while keeping fiber and nutrients intact)?

Something easy to clean and maintain, that keeps the fiber and nutrients intact, and doesn't involve a lot of manual labor (ie chopping veggies into smaller bits or precooking to soften the veggies up). Unless this is super easy I have a feeling it will sit there and collect dust.
posted by mbird to Home & Garden (12 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Vitamix.
posted by Melismata at 12:20 PM on March 2, 2011


Yeah, Vitamix. My mom has one that's probably twenty years old, it still runs like a charm, and I bet you could use it to turn hunks of granite into dust. We make smoothies with it every day. It will liquefy a whole carrot in a few seconds, greens and all. They aren't cheap, but they don't break and they're easy to clean.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:26 PM on March 2, 2011


I just got a VitaMix and really love it. They do suggest that you chop the veggies a little, but I don't really. No need to soften them up with cooking, either. To clean it, you rinse it out and then fill it up with warm water and a drop of dishwashing liquid and run it for a while. It's totally guaranteed if you want to return it for any reason (even something as trivial as disliking the color).
posted by *s at 12:28 PM on March 2, 2011


I use the hell out of my Vitamix. I thought I would never join the ranks of those who revere a blender, but here I am. I got mine at Costco a couple years ago, and we've used it every day since then. My favorite smoothie is kale, apple and celery. That can taste a little "green" for the uninitiated, so a close second is carrot, apple and celery.

Want lemon juice? Just peel a lemon and blend on high for a few seconds. Want cucumber granita as a garnish for grilled fish? Throw in a couple of ice cubes and a cucumber. Finish with sea salt and it tastes fantastic. I could go on...
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 12:36 PM on March 2, 2011


I have a BlendTec, which is similar to the VitaMix. VitaMix is all over Iron Chef, the BlendTec is what they make the smoothies in at Starbucks (and it blends the iPhone on youtube).
It was a tossup between the two, until I realized that I would not be able to fit the Vita under my counter (also, I'm 5'0", so the height was an issue for other reasons).
posted by smalls at 12:37 PM on March 2, 2011


My sister-in-law and her family got a Vitamix a while back, and used it literally every day or twice a day. It wore out after about 12 years of hard, daily use by four people, which I find to be perfectly acceptable. I think that's your answer.
posted by KathrynT at 12:37 PM on March 2, 2011


Look no further than the mighty VITAMIX! Seriously. Don't waste time looking at any other product. My raw foodie friend has liquefied whole raw beets in it.
posted by rachums at 12:42 PM on March 2, 2011


Yeah, I gave my wife a Vitamix as a gift a few years ago and she makes mad smoothies all the time. A few friends of ours have since bought they're own. I don't know anyone who has been unhappy with their Vitamix.

They're good for frozen margaritas too.
posted by bondcliff at 12:45 PM on March 2, 2011


I accidentally overheated my vitamix making an absurd amount of hummus and made it kick off. Those moments between it cooling off and working again were filled with abject terror and plans to scrape together whatever money I had to to replace it. It came alive again, though, and I thank God for it. Vitamix is the answer.
posted by hecho de la basura at 12:58 PM on March 2, 2011


Am I missing some beans? It appears you want to make smoothies. May I suggest a smoothie maker?
posted by dougrayrankin at 3:17 PM on March 2, 2011


I use a plain ol' Braun blender and it works fine for spinach and kale. It's easy to take apart and can go in the dishwasher. I've never tried anything more hard core, so I don't know if it'll do a whole carrot or a table leg or what have you.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:12 PM on March 2, 2011 [1 favorite]


Yeah, BlendTec or Vitamix. We have a Blendtec, and we love it. We use it every day.
posted by willpie at 8:17 AM on March 3, 2011


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