The art and science of the smoothie

[devlin]

A lot of people seem to use banana to help sweeten smoothies without adding sugar. Is there any other fruit that could serve the same function? I hate bananas in my smoothies (generally I hate ripe bananas), but I'd like to avoid adding sweeteners. I've just been doing strawberries and yoghurt with a bit of protein powder and fibery stuff, plus a tablespoon or two of sugar.

I use about a half a banana in my smoothies, but not for sweetness. But a small amount of unsweetened fruit juice works as a good replacement for sugar, and because it's fruit, it won't water your smoothie down or dilute the flavor.

[Richard Kilgore]

Regarding heat from the motor vs from friction: my understanding is that the 3 hp unit does not heat the contents and it has to be creating as much friction as the 2 hp unit. Can anyone clarify whether the 3 hp unit gets hot?

The differences in warranties are interesting, but I'm not sure I would be very worried about the commercial 3 hp unit breaking down in home use.

I may not have been clear. He was blending and then running the Vita-Mix full-tilt for 4 - 5 minutes until the heat from the motor warmed the soup. While there would be times this would be useful, I have to wonder what running it hard and long enough to heat the container and the soup is doing to the motor. While I was not referring to cooking the ingredients first, there certainly would be many times I would want to saute or otherwise cook ingredients before adding them to a soup.

My take on the difference between the 2 hp VitaMix unit and the 3 hp VitaPro 3 1005 unit is that the former can heat soup, while the latter runs cool so it can't heat soup, but will make a finer puree. I think I may be tilting toward the latter, but have not yet decided.

At the Costco demos, they do hot soup w/ the 2hp 5200 model. I believe the heat doesn't come from the motor because the motor doesn't get more than warm. I think the heat is generated by friction - not an efficient way to heat your soup.

I can't imagine needing more than 2hp for home use - kinda like buying a car - do I want my Honda with 300hp instead of 200hp?

Here's the warranty on the Vita-Prep:

• MOTOR BASE
  
• Vita-Mix® warrants that:
  
• * if the motor base fails within thirty (30) days from the date of purchase, Vita Mix will replace the motor base without charge.
  
• * if the motor base fails after thirty (30) days but within one year from the date of purchase, due to a defect in materials or workmanship, Vita-Mix® will assume the cost of all parts and labor necessary to repair the motor base.
  
• * if the motor base fails after one year but within three (3) years from the date of purchase due to a defect in materials or workmanship, Vita-Mix® will assume the cost of the parts deemed necessary to repair the base.
  
• CONTAINER, LID, BLADE ASSEMBLY, DRIVE SOCKET AND SOUND ENCLOSURE (if included)
  
• The container, lid, blade assembly, drive socket and where included a Vita-Mix® manufactured sound enclosure, are warranted against defects in material and workmanship for one year from the date of purchase.
  

Here's the warranty on the 2hp 5200:

This Warranty is extended by Vitamix to the owner of this machine for personal household use only. This Warranty does not apply to products used for commercial, rental or re-sale purposes. Should ownership of the machine change during the 7-year period, please update the owner information at www.vitamix.com/warranty.

# Scope of Warranty.

Vitamix warrants to owners that if this machine fails within 7 years from the date of purchase due to a defect in material or workmanship or wear and tear from ordinary household use, Vitamix will within 30 days of receipt of the returned product, assume the cost of the parts and labor deemed necessary by Vitamix to repair the failed machine. If the failed machine cannot be repaired, Vitamix will either (A) replace the machine or (B) refund the full purchase price, at Vitamix’s sole discretion, unless prior written notice of customer’s preference is received.

I'm not a fan of bananas in my smoothies - I use OJ or yogurt, plus frozen mangos or strawbs, plus 3-mix berries (all frozen from Costco).

[slkinsey]

Regarding heat from the motor vs from friction: my understanding is that the 3 hp unit does not heat the contents and it has to be creating as much friction as the 2 hp unit. Can anyone clarify whether the 3 hp unit gets hot?

Yes, things in the VitaPrep 3 1005 do get hot (although the blades are not the same). This is among the reasons why, for example, it is advisable to include some ice cubes in the cannister if you would like to make a puree of fresh green herbs. The ice cubes not only help in getting the herbs into vortexable form, but also counteract any heating that might cook the herbs and reduce their bright green color and flavor.

The "heat from the motor" isn't what caused the friction, by the way. It is the friction of the food against the blades and against the interior of the cannister that heats the contents. There are some differences between the cannister and blade design for the VitaPrep and the VitaMix, but not enough to mitigate the heating effect of friction.

The differences in warranties are interesting, but I'm not sure I would be very worried about the commercial 3 hp unit breaking down in home use.

The reason the warranties are so different is because the VitaPrep 3 is designed for commercial use. A heavily used blender is going to get far more use and abuse in a restaurant over 3 months than a blender is likely to get in the home of even the most avid smoothie drinker over ten years. It seems likely, for example, that a professional kitchen might actually run the motor as much as three or four hours a day making emulsified sauces, purees, soups, etc. A home user is unlikely to run the motor more than one or two hours a week at most (consider that it only takes around two minutes to make a smoothie, etc.) -- and average home use is more likely counted in one or two hours per month. And, of course, the nature of the use is also likely to be quite different. This is the rationale behind the two warranties. Also, if you look at the two warranties, the VP warranty is effectively the same as the VM warranty for three years (i.e., if anything goes wrong due to defects or normal use, they will set it right) versus seven years for the VM.

When considering warranties it's valuable to consider the manufacturer's assumptions, which are that on average nothing will go wrong during the warranty period. So, we now have a basis on which to compare the VitaMix 7 year warranty and the VitaPrep 3 year warranty. Let's assume, for example, that you run that VitaMix an hour a day, every day, for the full 7 years. That equals around 2,600 hours. Projecting that usage back to the VitaPrep, we can take those 2,600 hours and compress them into three years. That equals around 2 1/3 hours of use per day over three years. This seems pretty reasonable to me. If anything favors the VitaPrep warranty, because it is far more likely that a VitaPrep in a busy kitchen will get at least a couple of hours of use a day on average, whereas very few VitaMix owners will really use their blender for an hour a day on average. The "average assumption" for the VitaMix is further lowered by the fact that it's much more common for home users to buy a kitchen tool that hardly gets used than it is for a restaurant kitchen.

Whether you "need" the extra HP is totally a matter of preference. I chose the VitaPrep because it's designed for heavy commercial use, has a stronger motor, is the equipment specified by name in a number of high end cookbooks I have, and doesn't cost all that much more than the VitaMix if you buy it on eBay. But, for me, if I'm considering spending money on something like a very expensive blender, I am usually willing to spend a bit more for what I think is the best. To me, the price difference between the VitaMix and the VitaPrep wasn't large enough to make me choose the VitaMix. If I were going to choose something less expensive than the VitaPrep based on price, I would choose something significantly less expensive than the VitaMix.

[Cim Ryan]

There's a whole literature of savory smoothies out there, focusing in particular on "blended salads." What I've read is that, when you chew a salad, you fail to break down a very high percentage of the cellulose in the lettuce and other vegetables. Whereas, when you blend it (especially in a high-power blender), you break down the cells and can therefore utilize more of the nutrients.

This has always seemed a bit dubious to me. Especially since most of the hardcore "blender fanatics" out there promulgating this information are pursuing some fairly fringe dietary and health philosophies. Even if it is true, it seems quite clear to me that most people who can afford a high power blender and eat a normal diet are far more likely to be overnourished than undernourished. Middle class people in developed countries don't tend to suffer from undernourishment as a generality.

If by "overnourished" you're referring to calories, I'd agree, but "normal diet" in America leaves some pretty significant deficiencies in antioxidants and some vitamins.

Steaming vegetables is generally recommended for two reasons:

• The heat breaks down the cell walls and allows you access to the antioxidants that would otherwise stay hidden or bound within the cells.
  
• It also makes the veggies taste better, which means you're more likely to eat more of them.
  

But the heat also deactivates some enzymes, breaks down vitamin C, and otherwise shuts down some other antioxidants. So, if these fancy blenders can mechanically break down the cell walls, it stands to reason that they might provide access to the good stuff without damaging it.

For example, I recall reading recently that slicing beats releases an enzyme that somehow makes another antioxidant available, but that the enzyme is shut down by heat. So, in the case of beets, it seemed ideal to blend them up rather than to cook them. (I wish I could find the article...)

Unfortunately, I don't know of any studies that have compared the various nutrient levels in finely ground fresh veggies to those in cooked veggies; the research that has been conducted seems to just compare raw, "whole" (i.e. roughly chopped) veggies to cooked, "whole" veggies.

[Cim Ryan]

Whoops, it was actually red cabbage, not beets.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=19#howtouse

Cabbage's anti-carcinogenic glucosinolates are formed by the activity of myrosinase enzymes, which are released when cabbage is sliced or chopped. Cooking denatures the myrosinase enzyme, thus stopping the production of glucosinolates.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks for all the info and opinions. I was drifting in Sam's direction already and agree that if you're going to spend that much on a blender, why not spend a little more and get the better one. I returned the 2 hp consumer model (which is identical to the 2 hp commercial model) and ordered the 3hp VitaPrep 3 1005 off eBay...for $469 shipped, and that's only $44 more.

What's my downside? The consumer model comes with a larger recipe book aimed at home cooking and a DVD, while the 3 hp model comes with a commercial recipe book much smaller than the other one. And...the vendor who did the demo has a free recipe website which you access only with your serial number -- much more content than the Vita-Mix company site. I can't access it, of course. All this counts for something, but not enough to keep me away from the 3 hp model. This thing should last for at least 10 - 12 years. That's a cost of a little less than $4/month spread over ten years.

I think one of the best tips I got during the demo was to freeze fruits and vegetables that were in danger of going off and then turn them into smoothie ingredients as needed. This really appeals to me, since throwing produce out seems like such a waste.

[blue_dolphin]

I've been adding vegetables to my smoothies lately. I'm still trying to figure out the acceptable combinations, so I'd love to hear what you all think works.

Carrots seem to be acceptable with just about anything.

Beets really stand out against mild flavors, but a little beet with a lot of blueberries and blackberries and it's just noticeable. (Agave or fructose really helps, too.)

Red cabbage seems to go well with anything except the most mild flavors... If I were making a strawberry-banana smoothie or a pear-banana smoothie I'd skip the cabbage.

I haven't made it to kale, swiss chard, or spinach, yet. What works?

I agree on carrots working with most fruits and throw them in often. I also do:

1. 
   Beets (cooked), blueberries or raspberries and cranberries (I buy extra at this time of year and keep in the freezer. A handfull of frozen cranberries adds a nice tang to smoothies
   Pumpkin, mango and/or banana with nutmeg and cinnamon. I freeze leftover cooked pumpkin in half cup blobs and store in a zip-lock
   Spinach, mango and/or banana and/or pineapple with OJ - No milk or yogurt in this one
   Broccoli (raw) with Trader Joes' Very Cherry Berry mix (cherries, blueberries, blackberries, respberries) plus a big handful of cranberries. This one is the most ...um... vegetal tasting. The berries don't quite overtake the broccoli, but I'll have it for breakfast on a day when I know I'll be stuck in planes and airports or otherwise without much access to green veggies all day.

All the above get a chunk of tofu, too.

[Jenni]

Don't know how well it will work in a smoothie, but when making juices I have found that celery goes really nicely with apple and pear, as does fennel. Not too much though, as both have quite a strong flavour when raw.

[prasantrin]

. . .Pumpkin, mango and/or banana with nutmeg and cinnamon. I freeze leftover cooked pumpkin in half cup blobs and store in a zip-lock

. . .

I am soooo stealing the pumpkin idea! I often freeze cooked pumpkin, anyway, but I never thought to use them in smoothies!

Do you use them frozen or do you thaw them before throwing them in the blender?

Do you cook your other vegetables? I'm thinking of the spinach in particular, since I know cooked spinach is more bioavailable than raw. Any preferences as to ratios? I don't want it too spinachy, but I want to add enough for a good dose of nutrients.

I'm sort of afraid of adding vegetables to my smoothies. I want to do it because it will help me add more vegetables into my diet, but I'm afraid of it sucking. Vegetables are expensive in Japan, as are dairy products, so the whole vegetables in smoothies thing could be a very expensive disaster for me!

[blue_dolphin]

...

I am soooo stealing the pumpkin idea! I often freeze cooked pumpkin, anyway, but I never thought to use them in smoothies!

Do you use them frozen or do you thaw them before throwing them in the blender?

My Kitchen Aid blender handles the frozen pumpkin, mango chunks and banana just fine. Either thawing partially or freezing in smaller pieces would help if the blender struggles.

Do you cook your other vegetables? I'm thinking of the spinach in particular, since I know cooked spinach is more bioavailable than raw. Any preferences as to ratios? I don't want it too spinachy, but I want to add enough for a good dose of nutrients.

I put the spinach in raw, broccoli too. Pumpkin and beets get cooked.

I use 1/2 cup pumpkin + 1/4 - 1/2 of a banana + about 50g frozen mango chunks + a sprinkle of cinnamon + a grating of nutmeg blended with nonfat milk, soy milk and/or OJ

Edited to add that I sometimes throw in a few pieces of fresh carrot to give this smoothie a little more of an orange color

With spinach, I use quite a bit. 100-150g fresh baby spinach + 1/4 of a banana + 50g frozen mango or pineapple chunks blended with OJ and maybe a few ice cubes. This smoothie is a brilliant green color and has a fresh "green" taste but the spinach flavor is not overpowering. Mature spinach would probably have a stronger flavor than the younger leaves bagged for salad that I usually buy.

Edited November 6, 2009 by blue_dolphin (log)

[ojisan]

Another difference between the Vita-mix 5200 and the Vita-Prep 1005: according to the VM website, the 5200 ships with the BPA-free container, but the 1005 ships w/ the old polycarbonate container.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks. I did not catch that. Maybe they have a warehouse full of poly containers they are trying to get rid of.

[Wholemeal Crank]

A few smoothies I liked enough to record so I could repeat them:

Raspberry-Orange-Banana-Apple

concocted to match a favorite raspberry blend from Odwalla, which I couldn't get when I moved to Missouri

Blend together:

one medium-sized ripe banana

about 1/2 C raspberries, fresh or frozen

juice of 2 valencia oranges (about 2/3 C)

2/3 C apple juice

Mango-Blood Orange

Blend together:

1 part blood orange juice

1 part ripe mango, peeled, cubed, and preferably frozen

Raspberry-Lime

the martinelli's was the perfect fizzy finishing touch; made a nice party drink instead of punch

Blend together, in batches as needed, then mix together in a large bowl:

Flesh of 1 large very ripe honeydew melon

"Pint" raspberries, fresh or frozen

juice of 4 limes

one tablespoon sugar

1 bottle Martinelli's sparkling cider

But the last couple of posts about squashes and starches got me wondering: would flavor combos like I used in this Sweet Potato Cranberry Tart or the Squash Mock Apple Tarts with Cardamom and Ginger translate well to a smoothie? I bet they would, although I think you'd need to cook the sweet potatoes or squash first to get the texture right.

[jobean]

I have a vitamix from Costco and try to have a green smoothie every day. It's great. Started with baby spinach and a frozen banana, then added an apple. Have tried all kinds of combinations, and pretty much everything tastes good. Try to stick with a basic formula, greens and throw in a couple of sweet things. Banana, cashews, sprouted almonds, fresh coconut, dairy are good for creaminess. Beets and carrots and dates are sweet too as well as all the berries and other sweet fruit. Pretty much stick to spinach, kale but arugula is yummy too, almost anything green I've thrown in has worked, great for alkalinity. Love frozen watermelon chunks in the summer. Raw cacao nubs, cashews, banana, fresh coconut makes an unbelievable delicious healthy chocolate smoothie.

[OliverB]

They just demoed the BlendTec at Costco this week, seems to work as well as the Vita machines. I did not buy it, I don't like pre-programmed things all that much, I think I'll be happier with the manual adjustment option. BlendTec seems to have the option to change speed manually too from the looks of it, not sure how well that works. I like buttons and adjusters that I actually move better than a little button I have to press and hold, but that's just a personal preference. I also don't trust LCD displays that much, had too many go bad on me.

The guy mentioned that you don't have to (nor can) take the blades off the BlendTec unit, as it only has two, whereas the FDA requires those with 4 to be removable. No idea if that's just sales guy talk, but personally I prefer being able to take thing apart for cleaning.

The BT machine sold for 375.-

I love tomato and vegetable juices, wondering if they're easier to make on a blender than on my juicer? I'd not mind selling my juicer and replacing it with a blender that has more functionality. Anybody have any input? Not sure you could call a veggie mix a smoothie per se, but in a way it's the same thing.

[David A. Goldfarb]

The guy mentioned that you don't have to (nor can) take the blades off the BlendTec unit, as it only has two, whereas the FDA requires those with 4 to be removable. No idea if that's just sales guy talk, but personally I prefer being able to take thing apart for cleaning.

My Waring Commercial blender is NSF approved and has four blades that can in be removed with tools for repair or replacement, but not easily for cleaning, so I suspect this claim is not the whole story.

[Richard Kilgore]

You don't need to disassemble the Vita-Mix/Vita Prep to wash it. Vitamix recommends that you do not unless absolutely necessary.

One reason I chose VitaMix is because it gives you more control over the process with the variable speed control, allowing you to use it for more than just making smoothies. That goes for the Vitamix 2 hp model at Costco as well as the Vita Prep 3 hp commercial model. It's not clear to me how flexible the Blendtec is? Can you run it manually with out using the programs? Does it have variable speed control?

I think the vendor demoing at my Costco said that theVitamix does better than a juicer, but I can't speak to that myself. Anyone else know?

Mine arrives tomorrow or the next day. Smoothie reports to come.

[mgaretz]

You don't need to disassemble the Vita-Mix/Vita Prep to wash it. Vitamix recommends that you do not unless absolutely necessary.

One reason I chose VitaMix is because it gives you more control over the process with the variable speed control, allowing you to use it for more than just making smoothies. That goes for the Vitamix 2 hp model at Costco as well as the Vita Prep 3 hp commercial model. It's not clear to me how flexible the Blendtec is? Can you run it manually with out using the programs? Does it have variable speed control?

I think the vendor demoing at my Costco said that theVitamix does better than a juicer, but I can't speak to that myself. Anyone else know?

Mine arrives tomorrow or the next day. Smoothie reports to come.

The Blendtec has manual speed control (it's a button press instead of a dial) and pulse. I have only had to use the manual speed control a few times - for the most part their programs are fine. In general, the programs do the same thing as Vitamix recommends you do manually - start out slow and then increase to a higher speed (but it also times the cycle and shuts off automatically). As I said way back up in this thread - the manual dial control of the Vitamix appealed to me too, but the Blendtec programs seem to be just fine - and manual is there if I ever need it.

Cleaning the Blendtec (and I assume the Vitamix as well) is easy. Fill with about 4 ozs of hot tap water and one drop of dish detergent - pulse for 5 seconds and rinse. Works almost 100% of the time - every now and then something really sticky like peanut butter will be left behind in a few small spots.

One advantange over these machines compared to a juicer is that you get the whole fruit, pulp and all - not only is that more healthy (pulp is where the fiber is)but there's no screen to clean or pulp to dispose of. If you don't like pulp in your juice, then that's a different story.

[OliverB]

good point with the pulp, there's always lots of "garbage" with a juicer. There are ways to use the left over pulp, though I've never done it so far. Hmmmm....

I might see a VitaMix machine in my future....

[ojisan]

Another difference between the Vita-mix 5200 and the Vita-Prep 1005: according to the VM website, the 5200 ships with the BPA-free container, but the 1005 ships w/ the old polycarbonate container.

Update: According to VM's commercial tech dept., "The Tritan material has not been tested for commercial application, so I would be unable to say if it will hold up under commercial conditions. At present, we only offer polycarbonate, which is NSF approval for commercial application. Whether in the future it will be offer I am unable to say."

[Richard Kilgore]

Picked up the Vita Prep box where UPS had left it outside and within 15 minutes...we had smoothie! No recipe this time, I just threw in a little of this and a little of that (frozen OJ concentrate, banana, frozen peaches, ice cubes and a little water). Not a less than smooth smoothie with bobbing chunks of ice cubes like all my old blenders produced. A little too high for the counter, though, so I will need to get the 48 or 32 ounce container.

Next, I'll re-read this topic for more ideas on smoothie ingredients.

[Fat Guy]

Just wanted to illustrate the standard smoothie-making procedure in our household. This is for two smoothies.

Smoothies are, needless to say, a great way to utilize blemished and/or over-the-hill fruit. In this case, there was a nasty spot on an apple that we picked several weeks ago at a U-pick place.

After removal of the spot, lots of usable product.

My layering strategy is to start with 2 tablespoons of flax meal, then put in whatever is the most difficult thing to blend, in this case the apple. I top that with frozen fruit (in this case banana, blackberries and strawberries) to nearly fill the pitcher. This in the end tends to make enough for two nice-size smoothies.

My Waring blender also needs some liquid. In this case I used a little water. The water level looks deceptively high because of all the volume displaced by the fruit. but it's really just a little bit. I also use juice sometimes. Pineapple juice gives a particularly rich flavor.

What I try to avoid is using ice cubes. With a higher-power blended I'd use ice cubes, but with my standard blender the combination of frozen fruit and liquid yields a smoother smoothie.

[Richard Kilgore]

That looks like a tasty combination, Steven.

I made a run to Central Market and picked up some flax seed and vanilla protein powder last night. Got home and noticed mention here of ground flax seed. Do I need to grind it or buy ground instead of whole seed? Does it make any difference?

This morning I tried to replicate the approach of the vendor doing the Vita-Mix demo at Costco. His general recommended ratio was 2/3 frozen, 1/3 liquid. Vanilla protein powder, flax seed, frozen peaches, 5 mini carrots, slice of green cabbage, OJ. No ice cubes or water this time, though the vendor added ice cubes or water depending on the other ingredients. Very tasty, thick and creamy. But with a faint chalky-gritty component to the mouthfeel - is that the flax seed? One tiny fragment of frozen peach escaped the blending. Perhaps I should have blended a little longer. Would that take care of the faint chalky-gritty mouthfeel as well as the fragment of peach?

Sam, and for anyone else who has the 3 horse Vita-Prep: this thing starts smelling hot when cranked on high? Is that a problem?

[Fat Guy]

As far as I know the body can't process whole flax seeds, so they need to be ground one way or another. I buy them ground. You can also grind them in a small coffee grinder. I think you can mill flax seeds in a Vita Mix. But if you just put them in with your smoothie, I'm not sure how effectively they'll get ground. It will probably be uneven, no matter how powerful the unit is.

I'd probably take a whole bunch and mill them in the Vita Mix, then store in a zipper bag or deli container in the fridge. Add a couple of tablespoons as needed. I hope this helps you live forever.

[Richard Kilgore]

Well, it's several hours later and I'm still living, so the flax seeds must be working.