Hi,
-
I'm new to living foods, and am very happy to find this webgroup.

I would like to buy a blender.(My 8 month old -solely breastfed until now- is just getting interested in foods and I'd like to start her off with some living food, as well as have a healthier diet for my husband and myself.) I've read the conversations here on which ones people prefer, and am leaning towards buying a Waring 3.5 HP.

I have a few questions and would appreciate any experience, ideas, comments you may have...

I like the idea of a stainless steel container because I'm not comfortable with the breakdown of polycarbonate with age. It seems only Waring sells stainless steel - is that right? I've read that Waring containers are more prone to cavitation. What is the problem with cavitation / introducing air into the blend?

Does any company make glass containers?

If I end up going with stainless steel is it a big problem not to see what is being blended without taking off the top of the container? Does one get to know about how long things take to blend after a while without looking?

Is it important to the quality and nutrition of the blended food to have a variable speed control? Or is the low/high, on/off, enough. Does Waring make variable speed control? - I only saw low/high and programmable ones on the everythingkitchens site.

Thanks in advance for any advice you may give.

Beet-mama!

beet-mama

Cavitation equals aeration of the food in the carafe..Air equals oxidation..Oxidation equals the breakdown in the enzyme content of the raw food in question..

So the less cavitation the better..That being said, all blenders cavitate to one degree or another..For a blender to work properly it must create a vortex..Vortexes have air in them..It's the nature of the beast..

Personally, I feel a glass carafe manufactured from the highest-quality tempered glass with fine stainless steel wire mesh reinforcement would make the ideal carafe for my Vita-Prep 3 blender..Such a carafe would probably cost at least 5 times, perhaps as much as 10 time as much as the current plastic carafes that are standard with Vita-Mix..Anyone with a couple of million extra dollars lying around may feel free to step in & fill this void..

Glass is chemically inert & will not react with any foods..Both stainless steel & plastics oxidize & break down..They react with certain foods, as well as plastics stain..I do not discount the inherent problems with plastics..However, over the past several years I have become increasingly adverse to the smells of stainless steel as I am washing it up..My nose & brain do not like this smell..And if I don't like smelling it, then I'm positive that preparing foods in it all the time may not be the best thing for me..Better than plastics perhaps, but still not as good as glass would be..

Whether SS or plastic, "You picks your poison, & makes your choice"..

No manufacturer of a serious blender currently produces a glass carafe..The trend over the past several decades has been to plastics as they virtually eliminate the possibility of breakage..I anticipate that the future will result in glass making a comeback as the harmfulness of plastics becomes more & more accepted by the buying public..

Not being able to see into the carafe while blending is a major drawback..SS blender carafes are a holdover from the origins of the first blenders which were bar blenders..With bar blenders a SS carafe is generally preferred..

Variable speed controls, such as the set-up on the Vita-Prep 3, are a necessity IMO for the best results under all the different conditions that a blender might be used for..

Hope this helps..

Bruce

High speed blenders cannot use or make glass jugs because the glass will chip and get into food eventually. I have asked Blendtec my sponsor this question that was their answer. I should ask them if Ceramic would be possible? I just thought of that! THAT WOULD RAWESOME! Somehow make see through Ceramic Jugs! I don't like staineless steele either some people really dig it and have it in everything in their kitchen, I am a fan of glass, ceramic, inert materials, that would explain why the high speed blenders use plastic or stainless steele because glass will and can chip and shatter or break with 3 hp horsepower motors...heck if they can make a Space Shuttle I am sure they can make a Jug out of Ceramic or something space age...

Bryan Au
[www.RawInTen.com]

"High speed blenders cannot use or make glass jugs because the glass will chip and get into food eventually."

Hmmm... Something about this just doesn't make any sense to me. Bruce can you weigh in here with your thoughts?



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

Both glass & ceramics have a crystalline grain structure which could theoretically lead to chipping.. Or breakage..

That being said, the glass carafe on the Oster Osterizer blender was as tough as it needed to be..Which is to say that I have read of extremely few instances in where a hard food placed into one of these carafes led to it chipping or breaking when the hard food was being blended..

It has only been in the past decade or so that blender users have been trying to take the Vita-Mix (and now other similar blenders) to places that the manufacturer never dreamed of when the blenders were first invented..

Which is to say that I don't believe that Vita-Mix ever envisioned their blenders being used to break down whole avocado pits, & other similar HARD foods, so that they would become indistinguishable in the contents of a pureed green smoothie..

My personal opinion as a chef is that glass is not being used in kitchens today, both home & professional; due more to the threat of possible lawsuits, than to glass's unsuitability for specific applications..For the fact remains that glass is the preferred medium for a lot of kitchen applications..Glass's major drawback over the thousands of years since it's invention is it's propensity to break..

In the pro kitchen the various states have virtually outlawed glass utensils in restaurants..Due to breakage..And the threat of being sued..Glass containers for foodstuffs are the exception, rather then the rule..A 180 degree flip from 25-30 years ago..When plastic jars were the exception to the rule..Plastic containers for foodstuffs also mean that shipping costs will be less than for the same case of foodstuffs packaged in glass..This means that the product packaged in plastic will cost less than will the same product packaged in glass..

My gut feeling is that there are glass formulations today that would allow the manufacturers of the most powerful blenders to offer a glass carafe as large as the ones being made out of plastics..That would have very little chance of breaking under NORMAL usage..

The word normal is the key here..For raw foodists, & others, ARE NOT subjecting their blenders to what the manufacturers & the general public would consider NORMAL usage..There probably isn't a product attorney in the USA that would recommend manufacturing & marketing a glass carafe for home usage, much less professional usage in our current litigious climate..The possibilities for huge lawsuits & bankruptcy would be just too great..

Personally, I'm going to see if there is any way that I can adapt the Vita-Mix blender carafe base to accept the glass carafe of the Oster Osterizer..If I can do it, then I would be more than willing to accept the smaller volume of the glass carafe over the 64 oz. carafe that is standard with the Vita-Mix blenders..

Bruce

I use a new 48 ounce Eastman Tritan Copolyester container with my Vita-Prep 3 to make Fruit Smoothies and Green Smoothies. It has a square design so the Cavitation 'whirlpool' starts almost immediately, requiring less blending time. The contents 'bounce' off the sides of the walls for a better mix.
The new Copolyester won't break down until a much higher temperature is reached, as compaired to the old Polycarbonate containers of Vita-Mix, Blendtec, and Waring.....WY

[www.eastman.com]

WY

Where did you purchase the 48 oz carafe from??..

Bruce

I'm a newbie Vita-Prep 3 owner... will the new Vita-Mix Tritan containers (48 oz or 64 oz) work with the Vita-Prep? I'm assuming that the carafes are interchangeable between the commercial and consumer blenders.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2008 08:10AM by nori.

baltochef Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WY
>
> Where did you purchase the 48 oz carafe from??..

Here's a link to the new 32-ounce container. I'll get the
48-ounce to you later. Use your old Blades and save some money.....WY

[secure.vitamix.com]

Thanks everyone for all the info.

Wheatgrass Yogi - i haven't been able to find a comparison between copolymer and polycarbonate - could you direct me to info?

Bruce - could you let me know if you are able to adapt your Vita-prep base to the osterizer container? I would be interested to do the same. I think after reading your recommendation for the variable speed and also having the option of perhaps a glass container, I may go with the Vita-prep 3 over the Waring. Are there any features that you feel are missing on your Vita-prep 3. If you were to buy a blender again at this time, would you still go with the Vita-prep 3?

I was reading on blindguru site that he keeps his containers in the freezer until using them. Does anyone have experience with this? I'm guessing it's to help prevent the breakdown of chemical bonds and cut-down on transferance of plastic to the food?

in growing anticipation of smooth blending
beet-mama

beet-mama

The Vita-Prep 3 currently provides me with ALL the features that I need in a blender..I do not anticipate my needs changing to the point that I would need a more powerful blender..Or one with different controls..I'm a hands on kind of guy, so the Blend Tec blender with it's computerized controls has no appeal for me..

The only circumstances that I could ever foresee that might cause me to desire a more powerful blender (with an enclosure) would be if I became involved with the need to feed daily a large number of serious raw foodists..Then, and only then, might I seek out & purchase such a blender..

Under NO circumstances would I recommend keeping rigid plastics, such as blender carafes are made from, in the freezer at all times..To me this is a sure-fire recipe for catastrophic carafe failure..Virtually all plastics become brittle with cold..The longer that the plastic is subjected to cold temperatures, the greater likelihood that the plastic will shatter into jagged pieces..Plastics also become work hardened from blows..Raw foodists are constantly putting ice cubes, avocado pits. frozen chunks of fruit, etc. into the carafe for blending..It is not hard for me to visualize a combination of work hardening, ice cold plastic that has been weakened by repeated exposure to very cold temps., & a blow from an ice cube causing a blender carafe to shatter catastrophically..Causing a HUGE mess, as well as possible serious injury to the operator..

The search for ever more powerful blenders seems to me to be a fruitless & never ending quest..Blenders such as the Vita-Prep 3, the Waring XTreme, & the K-Tec Blend Tec have all the power necessary to perform 99.99% of all raw food kitchen tasks..

All that is required is to use proper techniques, and to NOT try & force a blender to perform tasks for which it is not suited..

A blender is NOT a substitute for a food processor, or hand tools..

Bruce

Thanks Bruce!

What tasks should I avoid in the blender?

beet-mama

beet-mama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wheatgrass Yogi - i haven't been able to find a
> comparison between copolymer and polycarbonate -
> could you direct me to info?

There probably isn't anything out yet, since
the Eastman Copolyester containers have only been out
since 12/2007.....WY

baltochef Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WY
>
> Where did you purchase the 48 oz carafe from??..

The new 48-ounce Eastman Tritan Copolyester container for
the Vita-Prep 3 (and other models) is offered by the link below. It's part no. 15504.
The new 32-oz. is part no. 15652. They are listed as New Stackable
Containers, but incorrectly listed as Polycarbonate, instead of
Copolyester.
I love my 48-oz. container. After making a Smoothie I just drink it
right out of the container......WY

[www.theblenderplace.com]