Cookaholics Bulletin Board

i make coconut milk frequently instead of buying canned. Fyi, chickens love leftover coconut pulp.

Becca,

How do you strain it?

So I've been experimenting...some good, some not. Made pesto with it instead of the FP. It's pretty good (I added the cheese last and just stirred it in to keep some texture), and much easier clean up! Cauliflower purée was not such a success. It turned out to be this velvety texture that would be awesome for soup, but not so much for a substitute for mashed potatoes (which is what I like it for). I even held some back to mix in for more texture, but it wasn't the same. Oh well, I'll eat it anyway and know for the future that this is an immersion blender or FP job. What was a success was the yogurt based sherbet made with yogurt and frozen fruit. Very tasty! Although I'm not sure I'd do it too often as it seems hard on the motor as it's very stiff. That and hummus are the only things so far I've needed the plunger for (I have the wide mouth jar).

I just use a regular sieve.

Vitamix motors were meant to be abused. They thermal shutdown if you overheat them (though take quite a while before they will restart). They may smell funny before they shut down

You can usually keep some texture by knowing when to stop ... though I'll admit, it can be easy to blow by that. I usually keep the speed down a lot if I am trying to keep some texture. Still, the immersion blender is better for some things.

On that general topic: I only have the 64oz container. We be making lots of small quantities of baby food, which does not go well in the 64 oz container. Is the 32oz significantly (and that is the key word here) better for small quantities?

Paul,

I have the smaller container, but it really isn't much better for smaller amounts of stiff foods. The plunger doesn't extend far enough to move it around, unless it is a generous amount, as in the larger container.

Paul,

I killed a 20-year-old Vitamix making cashew butter. There is a limit.

Paul,

I have a magic bullet that I use for making small amounts of purees. My SIL uses one all the time to make baby food for her two little ones and loves it for that, which is how I ended up with one. It works remarkably well for a $30 investment. They even make a baby food version that comes with the baby food sized containers (you blend right in the serving container which is convenient, and the containers are dishwasher safe). Pre Vitamix I made smoothies with it every morning (I bought the one that came with the larger mugs to blend in). The only thing it does not do as well is puree seeds down as well (like from blackberries and raspberries). For those you might want to use the vitamix in larger quantity and freeze unused portions.

Oh shoot. My blade number and date is in the range they say is affected, but my serial number check said no. I will call them tomorrow to be sure.