We don't like clutter here at Team SpoCOOL, and anyone who do their fair share of cooking will know it can be a clutter-y experience. With the amount of gadgets, pots and pans you accumulate... It's not good.
The Vitamix, then, is one solution to this problem. At first glance it looks like a blender, but it's more. A whole lot more. That's not to say it's not a great blender, as it does that extremely well. Just throw some ice, fruit, milk, chocolate, what have you, in there, and it'll have it blended in seconds.
It's the more part that makes the Vitamix worth its rather steep price point, particularly the engine which probably could power a small airplane. This means the thing can make piping hot soup in minutes, no pots or pans needed. Throw in some broth and veggies (and even meat), set it to high, and there you go. Soup will make itself.
Pasta sauces, chicken salad, and so on and so forth. The Vitamix does it really well. Throw in some ice and chocolate and you'll have ice cream without any actual cream. Any juice you can imagine.
More importantly is the process of cleaning it. A pump of soap and water, run it for thirty seconds, and the thing is clean. That's it. It's as magical as an iPad.
So our apologies to our Black & Decker blender, Jack LaLanne -- and holy crap he just died?! -- juicer, and their cousins, all now Goodwilled. The Vitamix replaces much of everything, and it has changed how we prepare food.