Cooking with Your High-Power (Blendtec, Vitamix...) Blender

[avaserfi]

Does anyone use their blender as a spice grinder?

Many restaurants I have worked in (high end and not) use their high powered blenders to grind spices.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm nearing the 50 cycles point with the Blendtec -- which I'm very happy with, I'll add -- and feel like I can offer three recipes.

The first is a flavoring paste that I used for grilled pork meatballs as part of a SE Asian meal. I dumped the following into the blender, all amounts approximate:

6 stalks lemongrass*

6 shallots*

4 garlic cloves*

a one-inch knob of galangal*

12 kaffir lime leaves

~25g salt

~40g sugar

~1/2 cup cream off the top of a can of coconut milk

~1/4 cup fish sauce

a few grams of roasted thai chile pepper (to taste)

Roughly chop the rough* stuff and dump it all into the blender. Pulse until it's ground thoroughly; scrape sides if needed. Combine with ~500g of ground pork and form into patties. Put into fridge to firm up. Grill.

[Chris Amirault]

We consume massive quantities of Del's frozen lemonade all summer here in RI, and this is our take, a family affair that the kids are calling "Better than Del's":

the rind -- no pith -- of one lemon (~5g)

100g lemon juice (~3-4 lemons)

10g citric acid

125g sugar

300g water

600g ice

Finally, we make these smoothies nearly every morning:

1 ripe banana

8 oz milk

1 cup oats

dash salt

2 T peanut butter

4-6 ice cubes

[Chris Hennes]

What sort of oats are you using in that smoothie?

[Chris Amirault]

Standard old fashioned, not quick.

[Chris Hennes]

One push of the smoothie button to process it?

[thayes1c]

Made some creamy horseradish in my Vitamix for a BBQ today. Just horseradish from the garden, enough white vinegar to keep it all moving and a bit of salt. No tears until I stuck my head over the pitcher, and a lot less than when I made it in the Cuisinart.

[HowardLi]

Standard old fashioned, not quick.

Steel-cut?

If you have a powerful blender, they're a great way to add calories to a protein shake.

[mgaretz]

I'm getting geared up to try "ice cream" (most of which will be non-dairy) using my sous vide supreme and the Blendtec to pre-process the ingredients before the water bath. Been a while since I played with my ice cream attachment for the Kitchenaid so I wanted to try something simpler to get back into the swing of things. I took the very simple route and took a can of cherry pie filling and puréd it in the Blendtec. The only thing I added was a tsp of almond extract. Then chilled it right in the container for 3 hours. Then poured into the ice cream attachment and ran it for 20 minutes. I only ate a little but it was good - I think it will be better tomorrow after a day in the freezer. (One can was not enough to reach the middle paddles, so I also think it would be better with more volume.) I figured the cherry pie filling had enough sugar, starch and gums to make a decent sorbet that won't be too icy, but we'll see.

[Chris Amirault]

One push of the smoothie button to process it?

Yup.

Standard old fashioned, not quick.

Steel-cut?

I've used basically every kind to good effect, but we've settled on the cheap old fashioned oats from the bulk bins.

BTW, I left 1-2 T honey off the ingredient list, which others in the family prefer.

[slkinsey]

I use a dedicated whirly-blade coffee grinder for spices. Spices will definitely cloud the canister.

[mgaretz]

An update on the cherry pie filling sorbet. It came out fine. After two days in the freezer it has the scoopability of store-bought. Tastes great, like frozen cherry pie but not quite as sweet because of the coldness, which is not a bad thing.

I think my next experiment will be to freeze about 2/3 of a can into cubes, put them back in the blendtec with the unfrozen 1/3 and process it all for instant sorbet, skipping the ice cram maker.

[ScottyBoy]

Despite having a lot of fun gadgets in my kitchen I have somehow not invested in a high end blender yet. Those were the days in restaurant kitchens with a bullet proof blender. It's next on my list.

Chris, you had mentioned a discount at BB&B. I'm always on a quest to find a discount for preferably a Vita Mix. Anyone have a lead on any sort of discount anywhere?

[thayes1c]

I got a refurbished Vitamix from the company website. Comes with a 5 year warranty for just over $300. Haven't regretted it for a second.

[ScottyBoy]

OoooOOhh, thanks much!

[Bojana]

Did any of you make MC Pistachio gelato using their blender to make the paste first? Any tips?

Also using opportunity to bump up this topic, my Vitamix Vita Prep 3 just arrived and we are slowly getting to know each other.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Bojana, I don't have a blender but I recall Nathan et al saying (MC vol 2, if memory serves) that a high speed blender was not sufficient to make nut butters in which the particles were not evident to the tongue. And I can report, having made it both ways, that modernist gelato is far better when the nut butter is completely smooth. I believe the MC folks used a colliod mill for theirs.

I had been thinking to start a thread asking if there was such a thing as an homogenizer for home use. Unfortunately any kind of homogenizer seems quite expensive.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Since I can't edit, the Modernist Cuisine at Home version of the MC gelato has a note: "The recipe works with any kind of nut butter, whether you buy it commercially or make your own by using a powerful blender, such as a Vitamix."

Nonetheless I still think it is important, at least for me, to have a totally smooth nut butter, however you acquire it.

I have an MC gelato mix chilling in the refrigerator at the moment!

[Bojana]

yes, i decided to give it a try and made it yesterday. My mix ended up being completely smooth and of amazing texture. However, I did not like the taste. I let my nuts become too hot while grinding and the recipe is too salty. Also, I did not use pistachio oil so taste was lacking. Next time, I will put whole nuts in the blender together with the water base, will reduce salt and up the sugar. Hack, I can melt the remains, add sugar and re-churn. Despite my criticism, the ice cream is very edible, especially in combo with the pistachio crumble. I suspect I will love the hazelnut version.

[Baselerd]

I use my vitamix almost as much as my oven. Vegetable purees are great - basically just puree a cooked vegetable with a bit of flavorful liquid. Sometimes I'll add a pinch of xanthan gum to get the texture just right. Similarly, you can make a soup with different ratios of liquid to solid.

If you're into modern food, fluid gels are great too. They typically act as flavor bombs in my cooking, and I also end up using it to puree most fruits going into flavored desserts (ice creams, sorbet, flavored custards, gels, etc).

Edited October 4, 2013 by Baselerd (log)

[calvinktlim]

Hi there,

I recently acquired a second hand vitamix drink machine (VM0104), blending station Touch and Go2 (configured with stablizing pad for advanced container) (VM0122) from a dealer.

The motors for the blenders appear to work fine, but they had worn out drive assemblies and damaged blade assemblies which will need to be replaced. I intend to replace these with replacement parts I can order online.

In the course of looking for the right replacement parts, I discovered that the drink machine, which comes with a ice blade OEM, can actually be fit with a stabilizing pad for the advanced contain and can possibly use the advanced container with the advanced blade. It can apparently also be fit (using the stabilizing pad that comes with the units I bought) with a normal container with a wet blade (like the vita prep), or a container with a dry blade.

While I know the ice blade is in the original assembly, I think the wet blade may be more suitable for modernist cooking. I am considering getting several different containers with the ice blade, wet blade and dry blades for various applications and would like some advice on whether anyone has tried using the machines with different blades?

I am also considering upgrading the lot to advance containers (means I have to buy advanced stabilizing pads for my drink machine) if the advanced blade/container works better?

From what I have read from various sources on Google, the machines seem to differ only in 1) ability to change speed settings (drink machine limited to high/low, whereas vitaprep has a knob), 2) power (some 3 hp some are 2hp), and for the XL model, a different drive assembly - so not relevant for my purpose).

Can anyone help with the above? Hope to receive proper advice before I make the considerable outlay on the replacement accessories.