Is the Vitamix Ascent A2300i blender straightforward to use?

Compared to some blenders, where the control panel is a riot of buttons and dials, the A2300i is devilishly simple. There are just two levers – one to start and stop and one for pulse, and a numbered speed dial. There’s some guidance in the instructions but the more useful tips and user information is located in the recipe book – which also gives a good idea of what dishes and drinks can be made.

I started by making the recipe for thyme and tomato soup. Adding all the ingredients to the jug, I started it blending on a low speed for about a minute before raising it to 10 to heat. The mixture filled the lid as it did so and warm air started to blow out of either side of the machine. It was very loud on speed 10 (though the sound isn’t too jarring) and while it stayed firmly on the worktop, it was impossible to talk over it. After five minutes, the aroma of the soup could be detected, and at the 6 min 30 point, the blender stopped automatically. The soup was visibly steaming, but not scalding hot, around 68C, and the exterior of the jug was warm to the touch. As the jug is quite wide, it was easy to scrape out the soup, but a similarly wide spout made it messy to pour from as soup tended to flow out at the sides.

Next I used the pulse function to crush ice. There was no guide to which pulse speed to use, so I opted for a low one to have more control over consistency. This took several pulses and each had a slight delay on it from pressing the lever to the blades spinning. After about 30 seconds, there were still some shards of ice that remained in the centre but the rest of the ice was snowy.

Finally, I made a fruit and vegetable smoothie using pineapple, pear and spinach leaves. Starting on a low speed before moving to high, I blended the mixture for about 45 seconds. Afterwards, there was quite a lot of smoothie that remained in the lid. The texture of the drink was consistent and extremely smooth, with no flecks of spinach, fruit fibre or pear grit remaining.

Is the Vitamix Ascent A2300i blender easy to clean?

The jug and lid were dishwasher safe, plus both were wide enough to clean easily by hand – there are no nooks in either for food debris to gather. However, after a few dishwasher cycles, the plastic jug had a small cloudy patch so it may be best to clean it only on the gentler washes.

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