The art and science of the smoothie

[David A. Goldfarb]

How much flax are you using? I put about a tablespoon, also Bob's Red Mill ground flaxseed, but sometimes another brand that my wife gets from the vitamin store, for a 1-1/2 to 2 cup smoothie and it doesn't seem excessively grainy. Maybe it's not enough, and I'll drop dead when I'm 150.

Edited December 6, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

i have been using 2 Tbs for 16 ounces. I'm not sure I really need to live past 150, so perhaps 1 Tbs would be enough.

The graininess simply may not bother others. I much prefer the smoother texture when I grind the ground flax seed further.

[Richard Kilgore]

I blended 1 Tbs of flax meal with the liquid for 60 sec today. While it did heat up the liquid a little, I could not detect any graininess in the mouthfeel. The frozen fruit cooled it, but not as much as I would have preferred. I think I'll go back to using the mortar and pestle; it doesn't take but about 60 seconds anyway.

[devlin]

I blended 1 Tbs of flax meal with the liquid for 60 sec today. While it did heat up the liquid a little, I could not detect any graininess in the mouthfeel. The frozen fruit cooled it, but not as much as I would have preferred. I think I'll go back to using the mortar and pestle; it doesn't take but about 60 seconds anyway.

My spouse doesn't mind some flax seed graininess in a smoothie, but I cannot abide it. It took a little bit of playing around to figure it out, but I finally fixed on a grinding time that works in my own coffee/spice grinder. So for me, it takes a minimum of 70 seconds of grinding to get a fluffy, powder-like flax. After that, it begins to clump into a sort of paste, which is okay as well because it smooths itself out once in the blender. A mortar and pestle is more than I would want to grapple with in the morning.

Edited December 7, 2009 by devlin (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

I have been playing with different liquid ingredients in my smoothies and Blue Diamond "Almond Breeze" has turned out to be a great match for frozen peaches. This comes in an unrefrigerated carton similar to soy milk.

[Fat Guy]

I got a Vitamix.

[Richard Kilgore]

You are now a full-fledged member of the Over-Kill Klub. Which one - the Over-Kill or the Way-Over-Kill model?

[Fat Guy]

Whichever one they were demoing at Costco. Maybe it's the Vitamix 5200? I haven't opened it yet.

[Richard Kilgore]

Yes, that would be the 5200 series. I am sooo glad you laid out the money for that thing, since you and this topic have cost me a bundle.

[Fat Guy]

5200 sounds right. It's not even in my kitchen yet. My family gave it to me as a present at a party at my mother's apartment and we left it across town that night. It's whatever model they were demonstrating at Costco the day they went shopping.

[Richard Kilgore]

Update on the gritty ground flax seed problem. I discovered that Bob's Red Mill makes at least two versions of this. The Golden Flax Seed and regular old Flax Seed. The Golden is more expensive and not ground as fine. The first bag I picked up was the Golden and a few days ago opened a regular. The regular does not need any extra grinding to blend thoroughly with no detectable grit.

[Darienne]

Slowly I am trying to work my way through this immense and interesting file.

Unless I am mistaken, I don't see any reference to using flax oil instead of ground flax. Is this not a useful item?

[Fat Guy]

One of the benefits of flax seed is fiber. I don't think you get that from the oil.

[Darienne]

One of the benefits of flax seed is fiber. I don't think you get that from the oil.

Gotcha. Of course.

[Richard Kilgore]

And it serves as a thickener.

[ChrisZ]

Lovely thread. Smoothies have been my breakfast for many years, a happy compromise I reached after my trainer at the gym was horrified when I told him I never had more than a cup of coffee for breakfast...

Not much to add but a few thoughts-

Definition: Personally, for me a smoothie's definitive ingredient is yoghurt. A no-yoghurt dairy smoothie is a milkshake. A no-dairy smoothie is fruit juice! Fascinating how this type of thing can vary between people and between countries.

Freezing fruit: ditto about freezing fruit and not using ice. I buy strawberries by the box and divide them up into freezer-bag portions (about 100g), frozen fruit acts as a thickener too.

Bananas: All my smoothies have a banana in them, I've never thought about why, I guess I like the flavour and texture... I've never had to freeze them though.

Additives: For a simple banana smoothie I sometimes add toasted muesli. It makes the texture rough but I don't mind it as a change. But a good toasted muesli will introduce a lovely taste and tones of honey to the smoothie without the need to add honey. I assume it adds fiber too... Another additive I use with banana smoothies is wheatgerm. It has a much more subtle flavour than toasted muesli (and a much more subtle texture!) but also very pleasant- it's almost like a 'health food shop' aroma. Nutmeg might make it taste more exotic.

My regular breakfast smoothie is:

1 banana

1/2 punnet strawberries (about 125g, or 4oz)

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup yoghurt

[Toliver]

If berries are in season, they go in my smoothies. Out of season, I use frozen berries/fruit.

I've been using a banana, kefir and some pomegranate juice (the tartness provides a good balance against the sweetness of the fruit) as a base. The rest varies depending on what I have on hand (or is on its last legs, so to speak).

[therippa]

Ever since they aired that diet episode of Good Eats last month I've been having a smoothie every morning (and bought a vita-mix, and like everyone said it's one of those things that you regret not doing earlier after using it the first time).

I've been using the ratio from his show...

2 parts berries (frozen from costco - raspberry, blackberry, marionberry)

1 part "yellow" fruit (frozen from costco again - pineapple, mango, melon)

1 part soy milk

1 part acai or pomegranate

1 part banana

If I have some carrots laying around I usually throw in a little bit of that too.

Delicious!

[culinaryagent]

I think adding banana to the smoothie is probably the best thing you can do in terms of texture and flavor, it will really help.

[emmalish]

Finally got around to making a smoothie that I'd mentioned upthread. Combination of ingredients shamelessly stolen from a neighbourhood smoothie bar – it's banana, papaya, raw almonds, medjool date, whey powder and soy milk. I just winged it for quantities and think I will adjust a bit to get a thicker and less sweet smoothie. I used about 1 small banana, maybe half again as much papaya, 5 or 6 almonds, one date and approx. 1 tbsp of unflavoured unsweetened whey powder, plus enough plain soy milk to make a smoothie. That one date sweetens it considerably, so I think I'll try a half a date next time. I'm also going to increase the amount of fruit to thicken it more. Definitely one I'll make more often.

[emmalish]

I made the same smoothie this morning as in the last post but used more banana to thicken it. What I ended up with tasted exactly like Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey!! It was actually a little gross – even though my brain knew it was just fruit & soy milk, I kept thinking I was having a milkshake for breakfast.

[Fat Guy]

Due to a lot of packing and moving around, I didn't get down to business with my new Vita-Mix until today. Wow, the thing can really blend.

[Chris Hennes]

I'm new to the smoothie club, and have been playing around for a week or so. When using a 1:1 ratio of frozen fruit to liquid, does any added yogurt get counted as a liquid? Or is it like a separate entity, not involved in the ratio?

[Fat Guy]

Assuming regular yogurt, as opposed to Greek-style low-moisture yogurt, I consider it nearly a liquid. It takes a quart of milk to make a quart of yogurt, I figure, so there's no significant water loss, but just to be safe I add a couple of extra tablespoons of real liquid when I use yogurt.

[Toliver]

Assuming regular yogurt, as opposed to Greek-style low-moisture yogurt, I consider it nearly a liquid. It takes a quart of milk to make a quart of yogurt, I figure, so there's no significant water loss, but just to be safe I add a couple of extra tablespoons of real liquid when I use yogurt.

Instead of yogurt you could always use kefir which is a liquid yogurt and you wouldn't have to use any other liquid. A plus would be more bacteria strains (probiotics) in the kefir. Just a thought...