The Vitamix is famous for its ability to create SMOOTH blends. Other blenders make all kinds of claims about their horsepower, or their design, but the rubber meets the road when you pour out the final result, and put it in your mouth. Only the Vitamix can liquify seeds into creamy smoothness!
Everyone knows that if you put berry seeds in a Ninja, Magic Bullet, or other blenders of lesser quality, you are going to find those seeds at the bottom of your glass. Although the Vitamix makes short work of seeds from strawberries, apples, cantaloupes, citrus, pumpkins, etc., it takes a bit of “technique” to liquify the tougher seeds like grape, blackberry and raspberry.
There is one simple solution to two seed blending “problems”.
Problem #1 = seeds or seed bits (usually from tough seeds like grape or blackberry) detected in your smoothie.
Problem #2 = seeds sticking to the sides of the Vitamix container (flax or chia seeds)
The technique I am teaching you (below) is the simple solution to both problems!
Here is the very quick version of the solution…
Blend the berry, grape, chia, and/or flax seeds first, then add more ingredients.
Here is the detailed explanation of the technique…
Grape, Blackberry, and Raspberry seeds
When you blend tough berry seeds, you want them to get hit by the blades as often as possible. If your container is full, the seeds are floating around with all of the other ingredients. The flow of circulation inside of a Vitamix goes up the outside of the container, then down through the center. Each time berry seeds makes this “lap”, most of them are hit by one of the four Vitamix blades, and if the angle is right when they hit, the seeds are split or a piece is chipped off. Do this often enough, and the seeds either become undetectable, or in the case of grape, raspberry, and black berry seeds, turn into a very fine sand-like texture.
However, if you have a lot of food in the recipe the distance from the top of the container to the bottom is such that the seeds don’t get hit by the blades as often. You could just blend longer, but then you risk heating up your smoothie.
If you limit the volume of food you are blending to between 1-2 cups, the circulation pattern allows the seeds to be hammered by the Vitamix blades as often as possible.
The longer you blend, the finer the seeds will be smashed. This brings up another issue. You don’t want to blend so long that you heat the grapes or berries. To solve this secondary problem, use frozen fruit, and/or add ice. If your grapes or berries are frozen, you will need to add just enough liquid or soft, juicy fruit to get the total volume in the container big enough so that it will circulate through the blades. In the case of a narrow bottomed container, the smallest volume that will work is 1 cup (1.5 will work even better). In the case of the wide-bottomed, low profile container that comes with a Next Generation model, the smallest volume that will work is 2 cups (2.5 cups is ideal).
Chia and Flax Seeds
Chia and flax seeds are very easy to blend into a completely liquid texture in your Vitamix. The only problem some people have with them is “clingons” (not the Star Trek kind, the stick-to-the-sides-of-the-container kind) 😉
To prevent this add just enough liquid (or soft food like yogurt, or fruit blended to a liquid) to the bottom of the container – enough to cover the blades (this is 3/4 cup in a standard wet container, and 1.5 cups in a next generation, low profile wet container). Then, add the chia and/or flax seeds on top of the liquid. Then add the rest of your ingredients. This will keep the seeds down near the bottom, and any “clingons” will be down low where the turbulence from the blades is the greatest, and they will eventually get knocked off by the blending, circulating food.
I like to add my liquid, then add my flax or chia seeds, then let this sit for a while before I add the other ingredients and blend. This allows the chia and/or flax a chance to absorb some of the moisture, and soften a bit before blending.
Why smashing seeds open is important
Aside from the texture issue, splitting seeds into smaller pieces makes the nutrients inside more bioavailable. If you consume seeds whole, they leave your body whole, and no nutrients are absorbed. If you split the seeds open into smaller and smaller pieces, more and more nutrients are made bioavailable. Clearly there are beneficial properties inside of many seeds. Take grape seeds for example!
If this article was helpful, and you already have a Vitamix, please consider sending your friends and family who are looking to buy a Vitamix to www.BlenderBuyingHelp.com and ask them to use the contact form on that page to connect with me so I can send them my Vitamix model recommendations, pricing (including any sales), and ordering information! Referral sales are the life blood of my business! 🙂
By Lea Ann Savage – Copyright 2015
SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLENDER LADY BLOG…
(to be notified when there is a new post)
I I am interested in blending blueberry seeds all other seeds or mentioned here but blueberry
And I have a vita mix 5200
I have just purchased a Vitamix and I love it.Going through cancer treatment I could not eat so I used my 45 year old Osterizer for smoothies,then I heard about the Vitamix through a family member and was horrified by the price.Then I decided that quality only hurts once.I am going slow just getting used to all the functions and so far it has been fantastic.
LOL “horrified at the price” ? That was pretty much my thought when I first heard about the Vitamix. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without it!
Quality only hurts once is an awesome saying! I pray your treatment and VM smoothies bring you back to health quickly and completely.
I’ve been putting my chia, flax & hemp seeds right after the liquid for quite a while. Next comes the ginger root, then the veggies & fruit. It comes out to about 2 servings.