Cooking with Vitamix blenders

[Okanagancook]

The link is very useful....basically the precautions I use...once you experience hot liquid all over the place you will have respect........ 😎

[jedovaty]

 

39 minutes ago, stephen129 said:

I mentioned to my friend that I bought a Vitamix, he mentioned it was dangerous to blend hot food? Any truth to this?

 

He linked me to this:

 

https://jenniferskitchen.com/2011/11/blending-hot-foods-in-a-blender.html

 

 

It can be, steam can build up and cause liquid to burst out.  Happened to my mom once (she has one, too), and she got burns on her arms - fortunately, she was looking away and avoided getting splashed in the face, shielded by her hair!

 

There are vents in the lid and lid cap, however, sometimes the steam buildup can be faster and the pressure goes POP.  Not recommended: I have removed the cap after the blend gets going.  The recommendations in that link are good.

 

Just be careful! 

[Kim Shook]

1 hour ago, stephen129 said:

I mentioned to my friend that I bought a Vitamix, he mentioned it was dangerous to blend hot food? Any truth to this?

 

He linked me to this:

 

https://jenniferskitchen.com/2011/11/blending-hot-foods-in-a-blender.html

 

Everything there makes sense to me.  Not sure if the WHY is correct (not arguing about it, I truly don't know), but she's right about hot liquids basically exploding in a blender.  Her precautions are correct, I think.

[stephen129]

Has anyone made mirepoix in a Vitamix/tried to use it in the same way as a food processor?

[Bernie]

Umm.....seems to me it's not blending hot foods in a blender that is dangerous, it's the no thinking, non common sense people using it that is the problem....

The same thinking that says the lid should have an interlock to stop people from stirring the mixture with their fingers when the blender is running......

[gfweb]

11 hours ago, stephen129 said:

Has anyone made mirepoix in a Vitamix/tried to use it in the same way as a food processor?

I haven’t. It’s meant to homogenize rather than chop. Couple pulses might do it. You’d have to work in small batches so as not to have a big range of sizes 

[jedovaty]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

I haven’t. It’s meant to homogenize rather than chop. Couple pulses might do it. You’d have to work in small batches so as not to have a big range of sizes 

OH I was wondering what that person was trying to accomplish.  It should be possible, try to float the veggies in lots of water when doing this to help distribute everything between the pulses.  Same idea as making cauliflower rice.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, jedovaty said:

OH I was wondering what that person was trying to accomplish.  It should be possible, try to float the veggies in lots of water when doing this to help distribute everything between the pulses.  Same idea as making cauliflower rice.

True. 

But when you figure in clean up etc. I think my knife would be quicker

[stephen129]

Would having a blended up mirepoix that is to be used for a ragu make any difference compared to a small dice? It all cooks down into pretty much nothing anyway.

 

My knife skills are good, but a machine is always going to be faster (especially carrots). I have a food processor too, but it's quite underpowered and it doesn't fit that much veg in. I have to do it in batches. The Vitamix would fit everything in.

[jedovaty]

7 hours ago, stephen129 said:

Would having a blended up mirepoix that is to be used for a ragu make any difference compared to a small dice? It all cooks down into pretty much nothing anyway.

 

Consider the logistics: the carrots, celery, and onions will turn sort of into a mush, and will probably require you to stop frequently to scrape and dig in to rearrange the mush around the blades - these veges don't have a lot of moisture to begin with so I don't think they will blend up on their own.  That'd be a pain.  Well, adding liquid such as water will help so you don't need to start/stop (smoothie!), but then you've introduced water into your smoothie and I'm not sure whether you can get an effective saute from that, it'll be boiling instead. Since you mentioned a ragu, technically you could just blend with tomatoes directly (v8 smoothie!), but you'll still have the problem that you cannot saute. This brings up the question: would you notice a flavor difference between sauteed vs boiled mirepoix?  Maybe try it one day

 

Pulsing a large proportion of water to the veges will roughly chop to your desired size, and let you keep closer to your standard technique.  Actually, revising suggested technique: when pulsing, don't go to max, just rotate knob between 0 and about 50% power a few times to roughly chop the large pieces, then, put to a lower speed and let it run until you get desired chop.  The whirlpool will keep the pieces moving.

 

10 hours ago, gfweb said:

True. 

But when you figure in clean up etc. I think my knife would be quicker

I was answering the question You are of course probably right, knife could be quicker with cleanup, etc, but not necessarily for everyone; consider one-armed people, or those with hand issues like arthritis, or accident prone like me a few weeks ago I stabbed myself and couldn't use my left hand effectively, etc.  My own experience with cauliflower rice (not mirepoix of course): using a box grater was rather messy, bits of cauliflower went everywhere so cleanup was (much) longer.

[paulraphael]

On 10/25/2019 at 12:46 PM, Kim Shook said:

Everything there makes sense to me.  Not sure if the WHY is correct (not arguing about it, I truly don't know), but she's right about hot liquids basically exploding in a blender.  Her precautions are correct, I think.

 

It's standard practice in a pro kitchen to put a towel over the top when blending hot liquids. If you're careful, a vitamix lets you get away without doing this, because of the smart design of the lid. It has hooks that grab the top of the jug, and they can't be pulled off by direct upwards force. And the clear plug in the top of the lid is designed to vent steam, but to not give hot liquids a direct path out. 

 

The design works really well. But only if you make sure the plug is attached properly and both sides of the lid are hooked on. It might be just as easy to cultivate a habit of grabbing a towel and keeping your hand on the lid while blending. 

[knownboy4u2]

Vitamix seems to be blender that has multipurpose series, it had been providing value to the customer but if you have bought something from the series of Vitamix 5200 then I guess you have bought something which may disturb you.

 

Vitamix 5200 is not so handy while putting in the cupboards where as if you have the Vitamix 5300 it will be good, from your post I can't judge what series you have but I would love to mention the source I have taken the information from 

 

https://scanmykitchen.com/vitamix-5200-vs-5300/

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, knownboy4u2 said:

 

https://scanmykitchen.com/vitamix-5200-vs-5300/

 

 

Quote

It is the perfect option for busy moms who have no time for handwashing.

 

Not very sexist! Of course, only women cook!

That article is very badly wrtten.

Edited March 27, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[knownboy4u2]

21 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

 

 

Not very sexist! Of course, only women cook!

That article is very badly wrtten.

The thing I wanted you to confirm from the article was, that the stuff I am talking about has been taken as a reference from that article, you may have your own opinions and i respect them

Thanks

[rotuts]

perfectly safe if you are careful.

[knownboy4u2]

Just now, rotuts said:

perfectly safe if you are careful.

You are absolutely right