Vitamix CIA Professional Series Blender, Red

I own a centrifuge-type juicer and a very nice auger juicer as well, but I began to realize I was not getting the fiber of the fruits and vegetables I was juicing. Yes, all those infomercials you watch on 2am television tell you that with their juicer you can collect the dried pulp and work it into your soups or muffins or whatever. Let's be honest; I've never done that, and I seriously doubt many other people do, either. All that dried pulp gets tossed onto the compost heap.I decided I wanted to try a blender rather than a traditional juicer. That way, I would get all of the benefit of the fruits and vegetables. Search around, read reviews, and like me, you quickly come to realize that for a top end blender you really have about 2 choices; Vitamix, or Blendtec. Waring also has a rather expensive model out, but it had enough negative product reviews that I confined my research to the Vitamix and Blendtec.Eventually, I opted for the Vitamix for a couple of different reasons I'll not go into here. Once I'd crossed that river, the next question was, "Which model do I pick?" There's no such thing as an inexpensive Vitamix, but some will take a bigger bite out of your wallet than others. They range from $384 to just over $700. I ended up going with the model that had virtually all 5 star reviews. It was a gamble, but it was a calculated gamble, and I have not been disappointed.The biggest complaints about these kinds of blenders is that they, A) Are much larger than a normal blender, and, B) They make a fair amount of noise.Well, guess what? They aren't your garden variety blenders. They process what you put in them with a thoroughness and efficiency that a standard blender could never even pretend to match. This baby is 20 inches high. Many people don't have that much space beneath a cabinet on their counter top. If that's you, find some other place to use and store it. If your sole reason for not purchasing one of these is because it takes up a little more space than you like, in my opinion you're making a terrible mistake. The benefits of this unit far outweigh a little space inconvenience.As for the noise, they do make some. Perhaps it is slightly louder than a standard blender, but not by very much. It's not as loud as your typical vacuum cleaner, and you'll normally have it on for less time that you use a vacuum cleaner. It isn't as though you're going to turn this on and leave it running for hours at a time. You typically use this guy for only a couple of minutes at a shot, so the whole "It's too noisy!" complaint is, to my view, not really much of a reason to complain.We make juice every morning, and sometimes in the evenings. It does an incredible job of liquifying vegetables, including the ones that often don't want to completely liquify in other blenders, like the skins of tomatoes. You can toss in whole garlic cloves, peel and all, and it renders them into a smooth paste with no lumps or bits of skin to get in the way. It works its magic very quickly. I seldom need to crank it up for more than 20 to 30 seconds to get my vegetables liquified.One of the selling points touted with these units is that you can use them to produce hot soup. The "how" of that is not always explained up front very clearly. The basic idea is that you turn it on and leave it on for several minutes, and gradually the contents heat up due to friction. We have found this is not a good way to make soups. That much friction destroys delicate enzymes and vitamins. It's far better to heat up water on the stove and add that into your Vitamix-liquified vegetables. You still end up with hot soup, but it takes less time and it preserves those vitally important enzymes.We're told we need 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables. This Vitamix makes it a breeze to get that several times over. With the jar being 64 ounce capacity, if you fill it by juicing an assortment of vegetables, you'll have far more than 5 servings.It would be difficult to say enough good about this machine. When I first set out to research blenders, I boldly proclaimed, "I'll NEVER spend $400 on a blender, that's ridiculous!" Well, I didn't. I spent $500, and I haven't regretted it for an instant in the 20 months we've owned our Vitamix. Give this one a go if you can at all afford it.One last thought; we talked to the guy who occasionally does Vitamix demos at our local Costco. We mentioned the model we have and he commented that all Vitamix blenders have essentially the exact same motor. So if $500 is just a little too steep for your budget, you'll probably be just as happy as we are if you opt to buy one of the less expensive Vitamix models.

I have had my platinum Vita-Mix 1363 CIA (Culinary Institute of America) model blender for just over a month. So far, I am loving it! I have definitely increased my consumption of fruits and vegetables since getting it. I start most mornings off with a smoothie now. I throw in whatever fruit is in season (I love berries, but I've used peaches, nectarines, plums, grapes, apples, bananas and various frozen fruits), a scoop or two of protein powder, milk or water, a couple handfuls of fresh spinach, a couple handfuls of ice and sweetener if needed. Surprisingly, the spinach doesn't noticeably change the flavor, but it does boost the nutritional content of the smoothie. In less than 10 minutes I can have my smoothie made, poured into a "to go" cup and have the machine all clean (just add warm water and a couple drops of dish soap- turn it on for 30 seconds, then empty and rinse the container). The smoothies always turn out 100% smooth- berry seeds, apple seeds, ice and other hard bits are totally pulverized and drinkable. I've made great low-cal salad dressings using fresh herbs, garlic, low fat cottage cheese, a splash of milk and salt (if you prefer, you could use Ranch dressing mix with cottage cheese and milk). I made a very satisfying tomato soup with home grown tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, onion and salt. I've made great blended piña coladas, too! I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with different recipes. Because the Vita-Mix processes foods quickly, I'm actually finding that I'm making healthier eating choices. It's faster for me to put together a salad with pre-washed greens, veggies and homemade dressing than it is to go to the nearest fast food restaurant... and in the end, it's more satisfying and a LOT healthier. Yes, this is an expensive machine, but I think it will pay for itself within the first two years by reducing my spending on going out to eat.This is a heavy-duty machine. It is loud when it's in use, but generally you won't need to run the machine for more than a couple minutes at a time. This is definitely a professional quality machine and will yield professional quality results. A regular home blender cannot compare!The Vita-Mix 1363 CIA model and the Vita-Mix 5200 model are essentially the same machine. The CIA model has some different color choices and comes with a HUGE recipe book called "Create", a smaller "recipes and techniques" booklet and an hour long cooking class DVD. The 5200 model includes a different booklet and DVD. Both have the same 7-year warranty. If the color of the machine and the recipe book don't matter to you, save yourself some $$$ and go for the 5200 model instead.**Update June 1, 2012: Nearly 3 years after my original purchase I am still loving my Vita-Mix. It still gets used several times a week (sometimes multiple times in a day). It's still a great machine and has given me absolutely no problems. For me, it has definitely been a worthwhile investment!