I replaced my 10-12 year old Vitamix with the Vitamix Ascent . It seemed like such a splurge, but as I use it every day at least once, it's a no-brainer so long as it holds up as long as my old one. It is BPA-FREE which is important. The only reason I gave up on my old was was that i mindlessly took the lid off while blending & insereted the plunger which got shredded. The motor was never the same, although it did function. Out of warranty, I'll pass it on to someone else who can pay for the repair. I was ready for an upgrade.
I bought the smaller 48 oz. container (my old one isn't a match for the Ascent) as I'm generally making a smoothie for one person. I hear the larger container doesn't blend as well if there's not enough volume inside. The 64 oz container is collecting dust in the basement. Sadly, you have to buy the 48oz container separately. Ding for that.
I didn't know how much I would really like the programmable settings. It's my FAVORITE feature. I don't have to babysit my smoothie and adjust the speed; I just press the button and do my kitchen clean up, get a glass on the counter, and POUR! BOOM!
1) SMOOTHIE setting:
I add a touch more water than recipes call for so it doesn't get stuck. It handles frozen fruit well, leafy greens, salad smoothies - YES!
2) SPREADS setting:
Hummus does pretty good - I add a bit more olive oil to keep it moving.
3) CLEAN Setting:
I squirt a few drops of dish soap with a half carafe of water & turn it on if I've been blending something with oil or onion or other strong flavor; again, it turns itself off when finished.
3) MANUAL SELECT SETTING with the BLENDING BOWl:
A) Great for chopping nuts.
B) I used the smaller 1 cup Blending Bowl to make a mixture of soaked dates, cocoa and cashews for "truffles", it stalled a lot; I had to unscrew it 6-8X to reduce the amount of mixture at one time. I may see what happens if I use the mid-size container. However...
4) I LOVED their scraper tool to remove the sticky yummy truffle mix. A spendy piece of plastic, but it scrapes under the tines and the sides of the larger containers really well. It gets a fair amount of use surprisingly.
5) DRY INGREDIENTS CONTAINER:
I used this for flax seeds to turn them into flax meal - PERFECT! So much cheaper and fresher than buying it at a store. I will try it in the smaller Blender Bowls & see how that goes.
So, after a few months of daily dedicated use, I'm a fan of the Ascent; given the programmable settings & the options to add Smart Accessories like the smaller Blending Bowls... worth the extra. I'd do it again. No regrets.
