If I'm being completely honest, if you eat the standard American diet, then you could probably live without this. How much liquifying of things are you really doing? Maybe soup? Chances are, people eating the standard American diet tend to eat more soup out of cans than homemade soup, not being an ass, but have you seen the millions of casserole recipes using canned soup? Yeesh. So, yeah, you probably won't get your money's worth.
If you're in between the standard American diet and trying to be healthy, then yes, you could get some real use. Other than soups you could use them for the smoothest smoothies, nut milk and sorbets or banana based ice creams. When I dump in whole chia and flax seeds in my smoothies, they get ground up so fine, you wouldn't know they were in my smoothie.
If you're vegan, then unequivocally, yes. You have to have a Vitamix. You can obviously make all the above, but you really need a high powered blender for making vegan sour cream or cheese sauces. You're never going to get the perfectly grain-free and luxuriously rich mouth-free without a high-speed blender. Maybe you'll get close but I am betting, not as good.
Let me add, if you're gluten-sensitive, this would also be a great investment piece because you could grind all your own flours. Gluten-free stuff is hella expensive, so this would certainly pay for itself.
I use my Vitamix literally every day to make everything from smoothies to snack, cheese sauces, nice cream and soy milk. Is it expensive? Hell yes, but it's an investment. You can buy a $20 blender every other year for your life, none that will work as well as this. Or save up and just buy it once and probably have it for a lifetime.
I used to always buy cheaper stuff until I realized how dumb that was. Especially since most of the people saying it's too expensive spent...what? $600 on an iPhone...and pay probably close to, if not more than, $100 a month for service. You will always find the money for the things you want...this Vitamix is something you want. Believe me.
On a final note, there are a lot of options model-wise. I chose the wider, shorter container over the tall skinny one. I thought it would be easier to clean, but I don't know if that's true. I have, use and love this OXO Good Grips Jar Spatula, so far it works to best to get almost all of my smoothie out.
There are ones with fancy pre-sets and that are computerized or whatever...not my thing. I bought the Vitamix 5200 because of the wider container, plus this package came with the grain container. I also liked the pulse option and not all of them have it.
Vegan Mayo
Make the investment. Stop researching whether you should buy it, and just do it.
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