Introduction
The Vitamix is one of the most popular high-performance blenders on the market. With its powerful motor and aircraft-grade stainless steel blades, the Vitamix is capable of blending, grinding, chopping, heating, and even cooking ingredients. But is it truly a “cooking blender” that can replace other kitchen appliances like food processors, immersion blenders, and slow cookers? In this article, we’ll examine the cooking capabilities of the Vitamix and help you determine if it’s the right multi-purpose blender for your needs.
Blending vs. Cooking
First, let’s clarify the difference between blending and cooking. Blending involves mixing ingredients together into a smooth consistency. Blending breaks food down on a physical level, but doesn’t necessarily heat ingredients.
Cooking, on the other hand, uses heat to alter the chemical properties of food. Cooking can transform the flavors, textures, and even nutritional profiles of ingredients.
While powerful blenders like the Vitamix can heat up ingredients through friction, that doesn’t necessarily equate to thorough cooking. Very few blenders can actually cook food from scratch or replace traditional cooking methods.
Heating Capabilities
Through friction, the blades and motor of the Vitamix can bring thin mixtures like soups and sauces to serving temperature in around 6 minutes or less. This allows you to make hot soups and sauces completely in the blender without needing to dirty extra pots.
However, the Vitamix cannot cook thicker mixtures like oatmeal from scratch. It takes sustained high heat over 10-30 minutes to break down and tenderize hard ingredients like grains and beans. While the Vitamix can make mixes very hot through friction, it can’t replicate lengthy cooking times.
Cooking Blades
One of the ways Vitamix markets itself as a cooking blender is through the use of “cooking blades.” Standard Vitamix machines come with a 4-inch blade that spins ingredients against the sides and bottom of the container.
The optional Vitamix Dry Grains Container uses a special “dry blade” designed to churn and grind dry grains into flour. With this blade, the Vitamix can grind grains into flour and dough. However, it still cannot cook raw grains into tender cereals or baked goods. That requires added moisture and sustained heat over time.
Making Soups and Sauces
As mentioned above, the Vitamix excels at quickly heating and blending thin mixtures like soups, sauces, and purées. Here are some examples of recipes you can make completely in a Vitamix:
| Recipe | Cook Time in Vitamix |
|---|---|
| Broccoli Cheddar Soup | 6 minutes |
| Tomato Basil Soup | 6 minutes |
| Alfredo Sauce | 5 minutes |
| Pesto | 2 minutes |
| Mayonnaise | 1 minute |
Thick mixtures with very little liquid may require some extra blending time and the tamper to get ingredients circulating through the blades. But overall, the Vitamix makes quick work of heating and emulsifying soups and sauces.
Steaming and Cooking
While the Vitamix can’t brown or caramelize ingredients, it can steam vegetables and fish fillets by blending very hot liquid. Here is an example of steaming fresh veggies in the Vitamix:
- Fill the blender about halfway with water or broth. Heat on the stove or in the microwave until very hot, but not boiling.
- Add your cut vegetables and chosen seasonings.
- Blend on high for 4-6 minutes, using the tamper to press ingredients into the blades.
- The hot liquid will steam the vegetables just right in the Vitamix container.
You can also poach fish fillets using this steaming technique. The results won’t have quite the same texture as pan frying or roasting, but it does cook through gently.
Baking and Dough Making
What about preparing baked goods in a Vitamix? Again, the Vitamix has limitations when it comes to true baking.
For starters, the Vitamix can’t cream butter and sugar like a stand mixer does. It also can’t properly knead stiff bread dough. The torque of the motor struggles with dense dough once it starts to bind up around the blade.
However, the Vitamix does excel at cake batters and cookie doughs. Here’s an example of how to make cake batter in a Vitamix:
- Add wet ingredients like eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla.
- Install wet blade and blast on high speed to mix.
- Add dry ingredients on top and pulse to combine.
- Stop and scrape down sides as needed.
- Mix on low until just incorporated, around 30 seconds.
The Vitamix makes quick work of batter mixing. But you’ll still need to bake the cake in the oven.
You can also use the dry grains container to mill flour from whole grains at home. But again, you’ll need to use that flour in traditional baking recipes cooked in the oven.
Chopping and Food Prep
In addition to blending and heating, the Vitamix chops ingredients for meal prepping.
Here are some examples of chopping tasks you can do:
| Food | Blending Time |
|---|---|
| Chopped cabbage for slaw | 10 pulses |
| Diced onions | 5 pulses |
| Ground beef | 10 pulses |
| Chopped nuts | 15 pulses |
The Vitamix can’t chop to perfect uniform sizes. But you can get a decent coarse or fine chop on veggies, herbs, nuts, and meats. It’s much faster than chopping by hand and saves you from dirtying a food processor.
Comparison to Other Appliances
So how does the Vitamix compare to other specialty kitchen appliances in terms of cooking capabilities? Here’s a quick rundown:
Vs. Food Processor:
– Vitamix liquifies better and makes smooth purées and nut butters.
– Food processor chops to more uniform sizes.
– Food processor kneads dough better.
Vs. Immersion Blender:
– Vitamix has more power to puree and handle thick mixtures.
– Immersion blender easier for quick jobs right in pot or bowl.
Vs. Slow Cooker:
– Slow cooker cooks over longer periods, tenderizing meats and grains.
– Vitamix quickly heats thin mixtures that a slow cooker can’t.
Vs. Pressure Cooker:
– Pressure cooker cooks food much faster with intense pressure.
– Vitamix heats gently compared to pressure cooker.
So in summary, the Vitamix excels at quickly blending hot soups and sauces. But it doesn’t have the extended cooking functions of appliances dedicated solely to cooking.
Conclusion
The Vitamix is an incredibly powerful and versatile blender. However, despite some cooking capabilities, it doesn’t fully replace a stove, oven, or full-size cooking appliances.
Here are some key takeaways about the Vitamix’s cooking functions:
– Heats thin mixtures rapidly through friction
– Can steam vegetables and poach fish
– Struggles with thick dough and batters
– Mills flour but can’t bake bread fully
– Blends but doesn’t brown or caramelize
So is the Vitamix a true cooking blender? Not quite. While it can heat, chop, and dough certain items, for best results you’ll still need traditional cooking methods. Think of the Vitamix as a helping hand in the kitchen, not necessarily a complete cookware replacement. With the right techniques and recipes, it can cook up some delicious and healthy meals – but mostly for blending up quick soups, sauces, dips, and drinks.
