Kitchen gadgets or other kitchenware you own but never use

[GadgetGuy]

But you don't exactly puree nuts to a fine cream as a dairy replacement etc, or grind them because ground nuts are surprisingly hard to find in Australia... or at least this part of it.

If I want a part pureed soup, I just put half of out in the blender (Vitamix) which also has its own cleaning routine where you add water and a drop of washing up liquid in it and press the cleaning button. Job done.

Any creamed soup that I make, it starts right in the Vitamix. Since the motor spins the blade so fast, it's piping hot in about six minutes!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Aside from making nut cream/ground nuts, what else does it do that a stick blender can't do?

Every single time you make something with dairy off any kind in it, I have to make that from scratch by hand. I have yet to find any that I like that don't cost a fortune or taste like plastic. Most cheeses that taste good, are artisan cheeses that cost anything up to AUD $20, so £10 for less than 200g of product. That's simply not economical especially when I can buy cashews at the supermarket for $13 for 500g and cheaper if I can get good of them in bulk.

I don't use the hot soup function, but I do use the nut butter function, the smoothie button and very often make soup from the DIY button of self programming. I can also set it going and walk away knowing it will turn itself off as well.
It also crushes ice for homemade slushies. But my main use involves nuts 9 times out of 10 either making a nut milk for a soup with cream or milk in it or pureeing/creaming nuts to a totally fine blend to make a nut cheese from. That is what it was purchased for and 3 years on from buying it at $1,000 on sale from $1,500 AUD we haven't looked back. In fact we've since purchased a couple of additional sized containers because the big 2½L container needs a minimum quantity in it, so we've bought the grinder attachment with 2 cups and the smoothie breakers as well giving us 3 sizes to play with.

It's not so much what a Vitamix can do better than a stick blender

For us it is what it can do that even a standard blender can do, though I have a couple of times overheated it trying to make the cashew puree too thick. The solution it seems is not to presoak the cashews so they absorb liquid after they have been pureed silky smooth. Almonds on the other hand absolutely have to be presoaked, hence needing a fruit press to make my baked almond feta to get rid of excess water in the pureed nuts afterwards otherwise the mix is grainier than we like.

Any creamed soup that I make, it starts right in the Vitamix. Since the motor spins the blade so fast, it's piping hot in about six minutes!

The downside is that the veg is meant to be already cooked. So i still make it on the stove, and only puree it at the end, then reheat because whilst it is hot, it isn't piping hot and i hate lukewarm food which it is in this household after it has been served in cold dishes and I refuse to waste water preheating bowls. I'm not connected to an unlimited supply of water.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I haven't bought any accessories for my Vitamix yet, even though I've been eyeing the stainless steel carafe. It sort off reminds me of many years ago when Vitamix machines all came with SS blender containers & I DO want to get the smaller to-go containers as well. The SS carafe is only compatible with the Acsent series blenders though.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I haven't bought any accessories for my Vitamix yet, even though I've been eyeing the stainless steel carafe. It sort off reminds me of many years ago when Vitamix machines all came with SS blender containers & I DO want to get the smaller to-go containers as well. The SS carafe is only compatible with the Acsent series blenders though. View attachment 84551

We have the ascent A3500i (iirc).

The extra attachments are 2 each of the highlighted below. The large of the 2 is 600ml, I forget what the smaller one is, but possibly 200ml.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I DO have the holder for the tamper. I was wondering if I can process the soups about a minute or so longer to make them piping hot, or would doing that cause the overload switch to kick in, shutting down the motor until it cools.