VitamixExplorian E310 Blender, Professional-Grade Kitchen Blender for Smoothies, Soups, Juices and More, 10-Speed, Stainless Steel Blades, Self-Cleaning Kitchen Appliance, 48 Oz Container, Black

Bought this when Amazon had a $60 off deal on the black color. Vitamix products are expensive. Especially so, considering these are only blenders, but they are the best when it comes to blending anything you put into it and the durability, (though nothing is made like it used to be, even these.)I chose the cheaper model as I don't need the programs, nor the latest container sensing system, and the 48 oz container is just the right size for 3 of us. The 3" blades allow for smaller quantities if making a recipe for one. The other higher-priced models have 64 oz containers and 4" blades, but need a greater minimum quantity of ingredients to work correctly and immerse the blades. The 2 hp matches the 3" blades and does the same job as the 2.2 hp motor does on the larger containers. So, model choice really is down to minimum batch size and what bells and whistles you feel you want, but don't actually need!So far I haven't found fault with the E310. It does a fantastic job of blending anything I've put into it, as long as you follow the loading rules; liquids first, followed by lighter ingredients like leafy material, then heavier items like apples followed by heavy ice cubes. This ensures the blades start blending the easier stuff first and the heavier items weight the load down to maintain a feed into the blades until everything is flowing in a strong vortex, completing the blend.Made lots of smoothies and also some soup, heated by the Vitamix itself in 6 minutes or so. I did struggle with a frozen dessert, but I think that was because all the fruit ingredients were frozen solid and I missed the recommendation to let them thaw a little for 10-20 minutes on the counter before blending. The Vitamix had no problem breaking down the solid frozen lumps with the aid of the included tamper, but an air pocket kept forming around the blades and the mix didn't "flow" and produce the classic 4-segment, stiff vortex shape on the surface. Everything was too frozen. It did produce a nice sorbet though after much tampering!Clean-up is a breeze. You just rinse the container, add warm water with a couple drops of dish liquid and run at high speed. Rinse again and let dry. And that's it!Unlike other blenders, the blades are not razor sharp and it would be difficult to cut yourself on them if wiping out the container. The "wet" container blending is all about the blade shape, the speed of rotation (most times you are running at the highest speed of 10 and the only factor to think about is run-time) and the subsequent mixing vortex driving the ingredients into the blades. For flour and other dry seed blending, you need a "dry" container, supplied separately as an accessory, but over $100 !! Its blades are a different configuration and keep the fines from broken-down seeds in suspension in the container, while the heavier seeds fall back into the blades. You can, however, make nut butters in the supplied "wet" container using peanuts, almonds, etc..The pulse function is good for "lumpy" salsa and for adding some chunks at the end of a blend for texture. I added some more baked potatoes and roasted cauliflower to the soup after blending to temperature. Then pulsed them to leave some larger chunks in the smooth soup.As with any high speed blender, these units are noisy, but we don't live in an apartment to have to worry about the noise!We are using the Vitamix every day for healthy fruit and vegetable smoothies and look forward to a long time doing so with the 5 year warranty. Vitamix customer service is reputed to be very good. I expect an even longer life from the unit as the Vitamix is well designed.

Our friends who have had one of these for decades talked us into buying one. We are not disappointed! It makes things very smooth!It also makes soup. The heat must come from the friction of the blade going around. But it makes soup, given time!We mostly use it for smoothies and blending creamed soups. The extra tools are nice. They help get food out from around the blades. I am glad I got those. The plunger is a must. It is engineered to push food toward the blade but it is not long enough to get caught in the blade. Very sturdy and reliable.

Just bought this vitamix with personal size cup attachment a couple weeks ago. Very happy with this purchase. I see other reviewers having trouble with the cup attachment and leaking. I've used this cup attachment every day for two weeks now, and not a single leak. Easy to line up threads for screwing tight. I'm thinking others might be filling it too full and/or maybe not screwing the blending attachment on exactly straight? I've also used the larger blender container to make veggie smoothies, with kale & celery. This Vitamix creates a perfectly smooth veggie smoothie with ZERO celery threads or chunks of kale ribs in it. The cups & lids that came with this bundle are EXCELLENT to carry & drink from. No spout lids hitting you in the nose while you're drinking. I previously had a Ninja blender, and the design of the cup made it so I had to wipe off the edges with the threads on them, before screwing on the drinking lid. If I didn't take that additional step, the smoothie from the edges would dribble down my chin and onto my shirt every time. Also, the Ninja cup drinking lid was very fussy to get screwed on just perfectly to be certain of no leaking when tipped up to drink. This Vitamix personal cup attachment is easily operated with no fussing or glitches....a far superior product!I see some other reviewers here complain about the noise of the Vitamix. My new Vitamix is less than half the noise of the old Ninja. When I was running the Ninja, my apple watch was always warning me that I was exposed to dangerous noise levels. My apple watch is completely happy with the noise level of the Vitamix. (more importantly, the blender no longer hurts my ears).I had a Vitamix 30 years ago. Used it CONSTANTLY for 20 years!! Smoothies, pestos, soups, chop nuts, etc etc. I gave that old Vitamix to my adult son because I moved to a smaller kitchen and at the time, decided the vitamix was too tall to fit under the kitchen cupboards, and not enough counter space to leave things out. I thought one of the smaller footprint, personal size blenders would work better for my new non-cooking, smaller home lifestyle. BTW.....my son is still using that 30 yr old Vitamix, and it's still going strong.Full circle for me. Back to veggie smoothies again, and HATED the way the Ninja left chunks of kale ribs and strings from the celery in my smoothie. Was actually kind of glad when it died & forced me into something better. Very glad to have a Vitamix on my countertop again & drinking truly SMOOTH smoothies. (also, the newer shorter pitcher slides right under the upper cupboards just great.)Lastly, I read other reviews saying this vitamix is harder to clean. What? It's dishwasher safe!And all of the surfaces are so smooth and hard, that they rinse off instantaneously with a hard stream of hot water.I'm so glad I had a Vitamix 30 years ago, and so ignored the negative reviews here, and ordered one anyway. I find the new vitamix to work just as well as the old one,. Happy that they now offer the smaller pitcher on top, and the cup attachments work seamlessly.Now......the longevity remains to be seen. Won't be able to talk about that for another 20 years or so. Before buying, I googled where they're made, and they're still made here in the USA at the same plant as 30 years ago. So keeping fingers crossed that this will be the last blender I ever have to buy. In the 10 years that my son has had the old Vitamix, and I've been using various brands of small personal blenders......I've had to replace the small ones every 2-3 years. The cost of replacing them is greater than the Vitamix that would have outlasted all of them. OH!, and BTW? I've also had a high end food processor die in that time frame, and this Vitamix will do all the same jobs as the food processor did. (except slicing)Also, I don't feel guilty about "throwing away" (where is "away," anyway?) so many junk appliances that don't last.

It’s as good as they say it is. A real life saver, literally. I use this to make blended food for my daughter who is Tube fed. It makes everything into a perfect formula. Even the harder meats! We blended pork chops and it had no problems and I haven’t even turned it past 7 yet! I was worried about this purchase because it’s a huge expense for a blender for it not to work but it was exactly what we needed. And it has a 7 year warranty that was easy to set up, I just scanned the code and filled out a form. If you're a tube parent, caregiver or have a feeding tube yourself this blender is exactly what you’re looking for. And if your just looking for a great blender then your in luck it blends whole meals, meat, vegetables, bread and potatoes to a smooth liquid.