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I held out on the Vitamix blender for a long time. I just wasn’t a Performance Blender Person. KitchenAid mixer, yes. Great food processor, yes. But the blender spot in my kitchen was taken by an old wheat-colored Osterizer handed down by my grandmother, and I just didn’t believe I needed a Very Serious Blender. Because the Vitamix has this reputation of a Very Serious Blender, does it not? It’s the best blender for serious cooks, and it does serious things, with serious power. 

Well, for various reasons I have finally acquired a Vitamix, and while yes, it’s a Very Serious Piece of Kitchen Equipment that Does Very Powerful Things, why did no one tell me how fun it is? 

Here’s my hands-on review of the blender all of our editors love, and that I, as a late adopter, have finally fallen in deep, swoony love with. If you are a serious cook, you too should consider one — but more importantly, if you’re a cook who likes to have fun, you deserve one. And if you’re someone who also loves a good deal, well, you’re in luck because Vitamix is having a huge Black Friday sale now through November 27 with deals up to 40% off.

Looking for more great deals? Check out our complete Black Friday sale coverage, and be sure to sign up for our Cook/Shop newsletter for the latest sales and must-have kitchen finds. 

Why did I finally say yes to the Vitamix? Simple: My old blender was finally wearing out. It wouldn’t stay on at full power, and this coincided with a personal life moment of transitioning into drinking smoothies for breakfast. (This was another “OK, FINE” moment for me, as I always swore by eating vs. sipping my breakfast, but the realities of perimenopause have arrived and with them the realization that I am a better, happier human being if I consume 50 grams of protein in one slurp before school drop-off.)  

When I unboxed this blender and tried it out for the first time, it had Serious written all over it. It’s a heavy, sober piece of equipment, with a blocky pitcher and a lid that snaps on tightly. The motor purrs like a very fast car and the whole assembly barely vibrates even at the highest of speeds. 

I immediately tried out the same spinach pasta sauce that didn’t quite live up to its potential. This is a beautifully easy Smitten Kitchen recipe that whizzes roasted garlic and butter together with a whole bag of spinach to make a creamy green sauce. 

I made two batches side by side — one in my old blender, and one in my new Vitamix. I blended them for the same amount of time, but the differences were shocking. You can see in the photo below how the Vitamix version (on the left) looks like a silky and smooth sauce. The one on the right is closer to a pesto, with a lot of texture and not fully emulsified. The Vitamix was the winner, hands-down. 

Since then I’ve tried grinding frozen fruit into smoothies and making frozen drinks. They all have emerged light, whipped, and practically fluffy with nary a speck of ice to be found. In fact, there’s a dedicated smoothie function that whips a smoothie to creamy perfection in a matter of seconds. 

The Vitamix practically yawns at this basic task; it’s Very Powerful and it knows that. 

However, the thing I didn’t quite grasp in people’s love of their Vitamixes is just how fun it is to have all this raw, unadulterated power at your fingertips. I love how the blender doesn’t shake or vibrate, and how I’m not worried in the least about the lid blowing off (although past blender trauma still compels me to hold it on with one hand; I’m just too scarred by ceiling splatters to let that go! I’ll get there!).  

But here’s where we get to the really fun bit: self-cleaning. I sent my husband a text one morning scream-typing, DID YOU KNOW THE VITAMIX CAN SELF-CLEAN?! “Lol” he typed. Then “wait really?” Oh yes, I said. It can clean its powerful little self. 

This self-clean function is astonishing to Gen-X me, who still remembers tape decks in cars and isn’t used to all this modern ingenuity. Here’s how the Vitamix cleans itself: You put some hot water in a crusty blender, add a drop of dish soap, then turn on the blender to the “self-clean” function — one of five distinct program buttons on this model. The blender whirs, then whirs faster, and then suddenly your blender is filled with hot and finely foaming suds all the way to the top. It stops automatically after one full minute and voila! Your blender just needs a quick rinse to be perfectly clean. It even cleans the lid! 

I was riveted by how well it works, and really taken by the idea that I don’t need to wash my blender anymore. (What can I say? I have two children under 8, and small mercies like this go really far for me.) 

Another thing I love is the ability to heat soups directly in the blender. This heating functionality is a famous feature of the blender, and it works purely through friction; there’s no actual heating element. To take my daughter’s beloved Campbell’s tomato soup and heat it up directly in the blender, then to self-clean this self-same blender, all before she finishes her grilled cheese? It makes me giggle. Is it Serious Cooking? Absolutely not, but it is essential and practical cooking that makes me grin and that, my friends, is what our gadgets should facilitate.

Last but not least, the Vitamix tidies up my own mistakes. Once, I made an ice cream base and cooked it too hurriedly, curdling the eggs. (Next time I’ll just do it straight in the blender itself; did you know that you can make custard in it directly? Delightful!) I put that slightly gritty ice cream base in the blender and whizzed it into silky perfection. Once again, a Serious Cook wouldn’t have messed it up in the first place, but thank you to my Serious Blender for saving my bacon. 

So friends, if your blender doesn’t make you grin ear to ear, why not upgrade? Don’t let my mistake be yours; the Vitamix is Very Serious, yes, but it’s also a freaking blast. And it’s $200 off today during Vitamix’s Black Friday sale where you can also see deals up to 40% off through November 27, so you might want to add it to cart ASAP.

Buy: Professional Series 750, $429.95 (normally $629.95)