Vitamix Ascent Series A3500i Blender review

The Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i Blender is without doubt one of the most costly blenders cash should buy. It’s acquired a giant identify behind it although, and if you happen to solid a beady eye behind the counter the subsequent time you go to your favorite smoothie store, it’s probably you’ll see a Vitamix. These industrial-standard blenders are giant and heavy, with a beneficiant pitcher measurement that can be utilized for family-sized soups and single-serve smoothies alike.

Sitting on the premium aspect of Vitamix’s blender providing, the Ascent Sequence A3500i Blender has a modern show that’s jam-packed with preset modes to make smoothies, desserts, iced drinks, and even soups. It may well prepare dinner, too, and included with the blender is a complete recipe guide that’s acquired heaps of wonderful recipe concepts to check out in your new blender. I used a mix of those and a few of my very own recipes to check out the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i Blender, placing every of its preset modes to the check to see if it warrants the hefty price ticket.

The decision? Whereas I had a few points with smaller recipes, this is without doubt one of the easiest blenders I’ve ever used. It delivered deliciously creamy soups and blitzed drinks, which explains why many companies and critical house cooks depend on the Vitamix to get the very best out of their elements.

Preferrred House rated: 5 out of 5 stars

Causes to purchase: 

• It makes next-level soups
• The included recipe guide is good
• Glorious self-clean mode
• Fingers-free controls
• Giant working capability
• Handbook controls additionally included
• Carry-away jug

Causes to keep away from: 

• The blades can warmth up elements
• Small recipes can get caught
• Not all components dishwasher-safe

Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i Blender

Specs

• Energy: 1200W
• Materials: plastic pitcher, stainless-steel blades
• Capability: 2 litre jug
• Pre-sets: 5 one-touch packages
• Weight: 6.7kg
• Dimension: 40 x 26.8 x 20.8cm (h x w x d)
• Included:  tamper, spatula, private blender cup with lid and blades

Unboxing

The Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i Blender has quite a lot of heft, however this virtually completely comes from the bottom. The pitcher is fabricated from plastic, and it’s pretty light-weight. It comes with a lid that clips down into place and a tamper to get caught in with trickier elements.

Included within the field was a recipe guide which had plenty of nice concepts for various dishes to make utilizing the Vitamix. All the pieces from nut milks to frozen cocktails was lined, and this was paired with a fast begin information that helps you get arrange along with your first smoothie, and that is precisely what I adopted to make my first recipe.

Getting began

The Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i Blender pitcher slots immediately onto the bottom, which may be very interactive due to the display, which reveals a countdown timer for various modes and has a dial that can assist you amp up the facility as you mix manually.

For my first smoothie I made a tropical fruit mix with milk, avocado, banana, lime, and frozen mango and papaya. I put my half lime in with out taking off the pores and skin or eradicating pips, to get an thought of simply how highly effective this blender actually is.

The smoothie setting was effectively geared up to deal with all these elements, and as quickly as I pressed its emblem on the management panel the show confirmed the timer. From there, it was a case of urgent the beginning/cease button, which is touch-controlled and unlikely to get soiled.

With a lot of the preset modes you’ll begin on a decrease velocity and amp as much as end at max energy, which is 10. There are greater than 10 velocity setting although, as a result of you possibly can dial from 2 to 2+, to three, after which 3+ (and many others). In all, there are about 20 speeds to select from.

The Vitamix scores full marks for its smoothie expertise. My frozen fruits had been pulverised with seemingly little effort and no intervention, and there was not a hint of lime pores and skin or seed in both smoothie. I did be aware simply how loud this blender is on first use. It’s significantly noisy, and never one to make use of very first thing within the morning when your companion remains to be sleeping!

Making oat milk within the Vitamix

I really like an oat milk latte, however I discover myself spending some huge cash in my weekly store protecting my espresso machine topped up on my favorite barista blends. It was price a go within the Vitamix, particularly as a result of I had little doubt it may deal with very liquidy mixes. To make the oat milk I soaked after which blended oats, water and a little bit of maple syrup for sweetness.

I’ll admit, my first try was an entire mess and never the one pictured right here. I left my milk to mix for 45 seconds, which I realised was far too lengthy once I tried to pressure my gloopy oat combination. As a result of the Vitamix blades warmth up when used for extended intervals (I’ll get onto that later) it had really turned my milk into a really runny porridge.

For my second try, I solely blended for about 5 seconds, on a really excessive velocity. This was greater than sufficient time to make a cool, milky combination with out many grains left to pressure.

This combination was quite a bit simpler to pressure with a cheesecloth, and had a extra milk-like texture that labored effectively in a cup of milk. After mixing I used to be capable of rinse out the jug to take away any leftover items of oat, and return it to the bottom.

Making soup within the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i

The Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i doesn’t have an in-built heating factor, so it gained’t substitute the very best soup makers, however its blades warmth up when left at excessive speeds for lengthy intervals of time. The Merely Mixing recipe guide that got here included had a recipe for tomato soup that may very well be cooked all contained in the blender, so I gave it a strive. This included including half an onion, a carrot, some recent and tinned tomatoes, and a collection of spices and inventory to the blender. I then switched on the soup preset and let the blender work by a 10-minute cycle.

This works by slowly rising the mixing speeds, earlier than leaving on excessive velocity to prepare dinner the soup by. I used to be sceptical that the blender would be capable to prepare dinner out onion and garlic, however I used to be pleasantly shocked when the noisy mixing stopped and the soup was steaming sizzling and really, very clean. All the elements had been puliverised, leaving an almost-whipped texture that was creamy and thick. Completely scrumptious, and executed in simply 10 minutes.

This mode gained’t work on all the pieces, so if you happen to plan on making a leek and potato or a carrot and coriander soup, be ready to pre-cook your elements to take the uncooked edge off.

Making dips

One other recipe from the Vitamix guide was for a candy and spicy beetroot dip. I already had beetroot within the fridge, so I believed it might make a pleasant different to my typical hummus recipe. I added chickpeas, roasted beetroot, honey, chilli, tahini and a few olive oil to my blender and switched on the dip preset. The blender jumped into motion, sending brilliant crimson splatters up the within of the pitcher, but it surely had no bother processing extra stable elements even with minimal added liquid to make the job a bit simpler.

The dip was silky clean when the mixing was executed, and really tasty. It’s a recipe I’ll positively comply with once more, however I did wrestle to succeed in beneath the blades to scoop out each final drop. As a result of the blades can’t be eliminated, you’ll should be ready to get caught in to take out extra stable recipes.

This one proved tough to scrub. I used to be fearful that the beetroot would go away a stain on the plastic jug, however fortunately it didn’t. Nonetheless, I discovered that it took a bit extra hands-on cleansing to dislodge stuck-on bits of dip from the within of the blender. This was made simpler with a scrubbing brush.

Cleansing

The Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i has a self-cleaning mode. Yay! I really like a self-cleaning mode on any blender, however even when one doesn’t embody a self-clean setting, you possibly can nonetheless add a little bit water and a few washing up liquid to the blender and blitz it to take extra smoothie or soup away from the blender blades.

You’ll nonetheless probably want to scrub the within of the blender, particularly the lid and the spout, by hand, however the self-clean mode on the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i may be very succesful and retains your arms away from the blender blades. In order for you the blender jug to final, don’t even take into consideration placing it by the dishwasher.

Do you have to purchase the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i?

At round £700, the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i is the costliest blender I’ve ever tried. It’s a significantly expensive machine, with a really sturdy base and sufficient energy to justify a big price ticket, but it surely solely comes with one jug that’s finest suited to bigger recipes.

In order for you a blender that may make a morning smoothie and never far more, the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i will completely be overkill. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re a eager prepare dinner who makes common use of a blender and desires to make an funding that can final a lifetime, I’d be inclined to say that that is the very best blender in the marketplace for you.

About this assessment, and the reviewer

Millie Fender is small home equipment editor at Preferrred House. She evaluations all the pieces from espresso machines to air fryers from her personal kitchen, which means these exams have been carried out in the identical situations that you simply’ll be utilizing the machine.

The Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i was kindly despatched to Millie by Vitamix, and she or he examined it for a month earlier than returning it. This gave her the prospect to check all of its capabilities in addition to cleansing, and test for any troubleshooting. Millie drinks quite a lot of soup and smoothies, and made certain that each mode with the Vitamix Ascent Sequence A3500i was tried earlier than writing her assessment.