JennetteFulda

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • Archives
    • Travel and Adventure
    • Weight-Loss Blog Title Generator
  • Books
    • Books
    • Half-Assed: A Weight-loss Memoir
    • Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go Away
  • Timeline
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Advertising

March 18, 2015 9 Comments

Better (six years) late than never: I finally review the Vita-Mix Super 5200 blender

Vita-Mix 5200

A while back, a PR person for Vita-Mix sent me a free Vita-Mix Super 5200 blender in exchange for a review. That was December 2008, over six years ago, so I thought maybe I should get around to doing that review already. Yes, that’s right, a PR company sent me a blender that costs (holy shit, I just looked this up), $449 dollars, and NEVER followed up with me about a review. Who is running that place? They should be fired! Maybe they were! Maybe that’s why they never followed up!

I had originally intended to make a video to review the blender. My friend K was trying to decide between a Vita-Mix and some other model at the time, so I brought it over to her house and we blended a lot of stuff and it was quite fun. This machine is a monster! It can blend anything that is blendable, and some things that aren’t. However, I had never done a video review before and when I reviewed the footage a lot of it wasn’t lit well and editing the whole thing together was going to take a lot of time, so I never bothered to finish it. I’ve occasionally wondered if K thought I’d made up some weird story about a blender review as a way to get invited to her house or something.

I’ve had this blender for six years and every now and then I’ve thought to myself, “You should really review that Vita-Mix. You’ve gotten as close to stealing that blender as you can without technically committing theft.” So, now is the time. Now is the day I finally review the Vita-Mix!

Let me put this simply: this blender is totally awesome. It’s the greatest blender I’ve ever used. I swear I am not biased by the fact that I got it for free, because obviously I could have kept my mouth shut for another six years and no one was going to give a damn.

You do need to know a bit about blending to make it work best. When I was at K’s we threw a lot of solids in without much liquids, which made us think it wasn’t working that well. Oh, how foolish I was in my late twenties! You need to put the liquids in first and the solids on top of that so the blades are able to spin more freely and chop better. Once you figure that out, you can blend ice and frozen vegetables without a problem.

Vita-Mix 5200 controls

There are two settings: variable speed and high speed. When you’re using variable speed you can use a knob in the middle to adjust how fast it’s blending. I start out at the low setting when I’m making a smoothie and then slowly ratchet it up. Once the ice has been broken up a bit I flip it into high speed mode.

I believe the blender also came with a recipe book, but I’ve never used that. It also came with a stirring stick, but I’ve never needed that either. I’ve only ever made smoothies with it, but hypothetically you can make soups and sauces. To clean it I just squeeze a bit of dish-washing soap into the container with some water and blend for a few minutes. All clean!

So there you go. The Vita-Mix is awesome. If you have a few hundred bucks to drop on a blender, you will not be disappointed. Or you can start writing a weight-loss blog in the hopes of luring another PR rep into sending you one for free. I’m not sure that’s going to work twice though. I’m surprised it worked once.

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Leave a Comment (9) Read more about: blender, procrastination, reivew, vita-mix, vitamix

Jennette Fulda is the author of:

Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn't Go Away

"Smart, unflinchingly honest, and laugh-out-loud funny."

- Lisa Genova, New York Times best-selling author of Still Alice

  • Amazon
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Powell's
  • Indiebound
You may also like:
Post navigation
Later: Playing the stock market
Earlier: If you could get by with 3 hours of sleep a night would you want to?
Home: Main blog index

Comments

  1. Natalie says

    March 18, 2015 at 10:47 pm

    Have you seen “The Katering Show” review the Thermomix? Hilarious web show.

    Reply
  2. Shauna says

    March 19, 2015 at 11:49 am

    This review is so timely because I’ve been trying to decide whether to buy one of these for about six years 😉

    “I swear I am not biased by the fact that I got it for free, because obviously I could have kept my mouth shut for another six years and no one was going to give a damn.” love that!

    Reply
  3. JenFul says

    March 19, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    @Natalie – LOL, I just watched “The Katering Show.” Good stuff. Here’s the link if anyone else wants to check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yr_etbfZtQ

    Reply
  4. AquaMarine says

    March 19, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    I love the vitamix. Mine is several years old. Probably older than yours but it makes some great almond butter. Roasted almonds, 1 tsp olive oil and sea salt.

    The only negative thing I can say about it is the noise it makes. It’s certainly not a quiet little machine!

    Reply
  5. Shirley @ gfe & All Gluten-Free Desserts says

    March 19, 2015 at 9:51 pm

    Hey wait … didn’t you get that dishwashing liquid idea from me? 😉 And I got from my friend Diane. It’s a lifesaver. It’s amazing how different your Vitamix looks from mine (which is 3 years old I think). Different, but yet basically the same. I do love my Vitamix. I don’t use it daily, but I love it when I use it and I use it for so many things.

    Shirley

    Reply
  6. JenFul says

    March 19, 2015 at 11:15 pm

    @Shirley @ gfe & All Gluten-Free Desserts – Yes! I did get the cleaning method from you. It’s been a great time saver. Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Michelle says

    March 22, 2015 at 8:11 am

    I’m way more excited to see your review than anyone should be, thank you for posting it. I’ve had a couple blenders in my adult life and none of them have been all that great. I’ve wrestled with buying a vitamix for at least 5 years now because they’re so expensive-I see them in a lot of commercial kitchens so I’m guessing I just need to get past the frugal angel sitting on my shoulder and buy one. My biggest complaint with all the blenders I’ve had was that they always smell like something is burning but I’ve never known if it was my fault (not enough liquid?) or just the nature of cheap blenders. Is it just noisy or does it have that overheated appliance smell too?

    Reply
  8. JenFul says

    March 22, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    @Michelle – I’ve never gotten a burning smell when using the Vita-Mix. The toughest thing I’ve ever blended is the ice in smoothies, but I think it would hold up against practically any food. The motor is extremely strong, but as a result it’s also very loud. So it’s not something I would use if there’s a sleeping baby in the next room.

    Reply
  9. JosephineTomato says

    March 26, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    I have 2 favorite things to do with my Vitamix that never fail to surprise, every single time. First – whipping cream – pour in whipping cream, turn on high and it is complete in about 5 seconds! The other save me from buying powdered sugar. If you need some powdered sugar, put in granulated (I measure by weight now so as not to waste in a recipe) and turn on high – powdered sugar in an instant. I do make usual things like smoothies and puree soup too but those 2 things make me smile.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I wrote some books

Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go AwayHalf-Assed: A weight-loss memoir

Follow Me

Jennette Fulda on Facebook

Recent Posts

  • That billionaire brat made me feel bad that Twitter is imploding
  • No one grows old on DVD or CD-ROM
  • Losing more than 100 pounds…again: Part 3 – The Differences
  • Losing more than 100 pounds…again: Part 2 – Losing Weight
  • Losing more than 100 pounds…again: Part 1 – Regaining Weight
450

Travel and Adventure

Weight-Loss Blog Title Generator

Most Popular Posts

  • Two weeks of Blue Apron: Six recipes, one blogger, and not enough bowls.
  • Remind me never to go off my meds again
  • Like the back of my hand
  • The Big Move in Retrospect: Everything good and the bad about moving from Indianapolis to Chapel Hill
  • It’s hard to type when you break your arm
  • My health insurance denial letters. Past or future?
  • Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Day 1, Getting there is half the fun!
  • Not a picture I’ll be bragging about

Blog Archives

Search

Know thyself, quiz Monday

Jennette Fulda tells stories to the Internet about her life as a smartass, writer, chronic headache sufferer, (former?) weight-loss inspiration, and seemingly nice person (who is silently judging you). You can contact her if you promise to be nice.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for keyboards ruined by coffee spit-takes or forehead wrinkles caused by deep thought.

Follow Me

Blog Archives

Newsletter

One day I might actually e-mail something to my mailing list. If you want to be there for that moment, sign up below.

AS SEEN IN

  • The Washington Post
  • The Today Show
  • The New York Times
  • The Wall Street Journal
  • The Globe and Mail
  • Associated Press
  • Women's Health
  • Glamour
  • Shape Magazine
  • Runner's World
  • Health
  • The Early Show
  • MSNBC
Copyright © 2023 Jennette Fulda • All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy • Site design by Makeworthy Media