IS BLENDTEC OR VITAMIX A JUICER?
You may have heard that Vitamix and Blendtec blenders are the best smoothie makers.
But did you know all Blendtec and Vitamix blenders are considered juicers??!
While they are not traditional juice EXTRACTORS, meaning they do not squeeze/extract only the juice from the fruit or plant, they make a “whole food juice” by pulverizing and liquefying the whole fruit or plant including skin, seeds, pulp, etc.
By doing this, they are able to keep all the fiber AND allow your body to easily absorb the highly nutritious vitamins and minerals found in the skin and seeds, all that are left behind (and usually wasted) in juicers.
Pssst…. The Blender Babes have worn activewear since 2013. But I still LOVE blending in my bathing suit! 🙂 It’s about #HealthyNotSkinny
HOW DOES IT MAKE JUICE?
Many people are well aware that both Blendtec and Vitamix can make (the best!) green smoothies, but to make a true liquid juice texture will require more water or other liquid than that usual smoothie recipe.
Blender Babes recommends between 1.5 to 2 cups (12-16 oz) of filtered water or coconut water for most green juice recipes.
We also sometimes use red grapes (for the high antioxidant resveratrol located in their skin) to add some natural sweetness as well as additional liquid. 🙂
Blending water with highly fibrous leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and even seeds (preferably organic) – will yield a nutritious and detoxing juice.
BLENDTEC JUICING
Many Blendtec models (all of the Designer Series models) features an automatic WHOLE JUICE button, which runs for a 50 second cycle at various, fluctuating speeds (longer and more powerful than the SMOOTHIE button).
If it DOES NOT have a whole juice button (like the rest of the Blendtec Classic models) you can still achieve a juice consistency. Blend on a Medium to Medium-High speed for 50-60 seconds.
If juicing mostly fruits, the pressing whole juice or 60 second button once will yield a juice consistency.
However whenever I want the thinnest consistency possible when using several cups of greens vs 1 cup spinach for example, I add a minimum 1 cup of ice and use the SOUP button (or HIGH speed for 90 seconds), which runs for 90 seconds at the highest speed almost the entire cycle.
Remember that typically the longer you run the machine – the more it will liquefy ingredients. Just make sure there’s enough ice and/or frozen fruits so the blender will not start to heat the produce which will start to kill the live enzymes/nutrition.
VITAMIX JUICING
Juicing with any of the Vitamix models, such as the Vitamix 5200, will probably require use of their patented tamper for a few seconds in the beginning to get it started, and you will have to run the blender until you SEE it’s a consistency you prefer.
Juicing manually like this with the Vitamix, we usually run the blender for 1.5 minutes to get a super liquid juice-like consistency, again when using large amounts of greens, before we manually turn it off.
The newer Vitamix models, such as the Vitamix 750 and Vitamix 6300/500 both have an automatic SMOOTHIE setting which runs for 50 seconds, however I prefer the manual settings to be able to run longer when we’re juicing – although I LOVE this automatic setting for my regular and green smoothie recipes!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I do believe that when it comes to JUICING, Blendtec can be a little faster at liquefying your produce than Vitamix, however they both create EQUALLY smooth whole food juices.
Why Purchase Through Blender Babes
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Tarashaun founded Blender Babes after discovering that high power blenders are a game changing tool for healing an unhealthy relationship with food. She offers programs and support to help people eat healthier, feel better, and heal themselves. Try her free juice detox! She also tests, reviews, and shares the best healthy lifestyle products, services and GIVEAWAYS with her blending-loving tribe. See all her videos on YouTube, join the fun on Facebook, share hers and their recipes on Pinterest, go behind the scenes on Instagram and add me on Google+
Great information. In your experience, do both lines do equally well at obliterating all seeds, from raspberry to avocado (pits)? That’s what I want. Thanks!
Great question Brian! We actually get this one a lot, so we made a video showing how Blendtec and Vitamix blenders handle berry seeds. In short, we have noticed that both blenders can handle raspberry seeds and avocado pits. Blackberry seeds seem to be the hardest, but if there’s more liquid (2 cups) both blenders do a better job at pulverizing than if there’s less liquid (1 cup) and the blender is run a little longer (add ice!) Hope that helps! ~Tarashaun