VitaMix 3600

[Janis Sauncy]

Hey, I bought a VitaMix 3600 yesterday at a garage sale from a nice little old lady for $25.00. Unfortunately, I don't think it's the model that will not only make juice, but grind wheat and do everything except go to work for you, but that's ok.

Does anyone else have this model? Can anyone tell me anything? It didn't come with a manual, so am trying to find one.....found one for $29.95 on E-Bay (I think), which is more than I paid for the machine.

The kids made a smoothy and it sure did the job but would love to find out more about its capabilities!

Janis

(Or would this be better under the Cooking site?)

[Spinner]

I have the 3600. If yours is like mine, it will do just about anything you ask of it. I use it to make flour from wheat berries, it will make hot soup, it will freeze ice cream and even dispense the ice cream into cones using the spigot. It will make bread dough, yogurt, and lots more. What kinds of things are you interested in making. I might be able to look up some recipes for you. Does yours have the clear plastic or the stainless steal container? How long is the cord?

[Alice In TX/MO]

Call the Vita-Mix folks to register your machine with them. They are very helpful, and you can get the manual, etc., from them directly.

[fin29]

Here's the link with the cookbook (I'm assuming it has the instructions as well) and all the replacement parts for your machines...it's at--you guessed it--the Vitamix website for $12:
http://www.vitamix.com/household/sto...ectGroup_ID=17

[fin29]

This is the link for the schematic drawing, in case you get it all taken apart and can't put it back together:
http://www.vitamix.com/household/service/3640schem.pdf

[Janis Sauncy]

Spinner:

My machine says "3600 Plus" on it, but I can't see how it can do more than whip up milkshakes and juices. It only has two switches: one that says, "impact control," and the other is the "speed control."

I've always wanted one and so jumped on this when I saw it, but I admit I never knew that much about them. I'll have to keep pursuing the leads everybody is posting. I appreciate it very much, any and all info anyone can offer.

I will also follow up with the Vita Mix company, too.

Thanks, All.

Janis

[Janis Sauncy]

Spinner:

I forgot to answer your questions: it's stainless steel and the cord is maybe 3 1/2 ft. long.

As for as what I'm interested in using it for.....just about anything that's reasonably quick and easy.....long work hours, you know. But, if mine is capable, I am interested in learning more about grinding my own grains, somewhat. I like to make soups, especially in the winter, and, of course, the kids love the milkshakes, etc. Also, juices. The little old lady told me she would cut an orange into fourths and put in the machine, peel and all, but she said it came out too "frothy" for her. (Right now, I have an abundance of blackberries.....any suggestions there?) And, anything it can be used in relation to canning......

Thanks again!

Janis

[Alice In TX/MO]

The motor is VERY powerful. Mine goes forward and reverse with one of those controls. That is part of what makes it able to do more than a regular blender.

[Spinner]

Ok, you may not believe me but I'm going to tell you anyway. This machine is AMAZING.

It has surgical stainless steel blades. They are flat, not sharp on the edges. That means they don't cut thru the food like a blender. It EXPLODES food when the blades hit it.

The 2 controls are all you need. One of them should be a toggle switch that is marked up for forward and down for reverse. Now, here's the part you will have trouble believing. You can have it running forward and then hit the switch to instantly reverse it. It has so much power that it will jerk the whole machine just a bit sideways when you reverse it. It does not hurt the machine. It's made to be used that way. You see there are no gears in it to be damaged. It runs on some kind of electrical impulse. You can turn it on forward and leave it to run. When you use reverse it is spring loaded to turn off when you let go of the switch. Sometimes when I use forward/reverse a lot very fast, the machine will overheat and the reset button will pop out. As soon as it cools down a bit, you can push the reset button in and go again. I've done this to mine several times and it still works great. No damage as far as I can tell.

The other knob should have 3 settings: low med & high. You really need a book as it's full of recipes that tell you which setting to use on different foods.

Here's a couple recipes for you to try.

Raw Vegetable Hot Soup

4 c. hot water
1 carrot
1 stalk celery with leaves
2 or 3 green onions with tops and roots too, if you wish
5 bouillon cubes
3 Tbsp. tomato paste

Pour hot water into container. Clamp the dome led on. Turn to high speed, lift lever up to on position. While machine is running add carrot, celery, onions, bouillon cubes and tomaot paste through the dome, sample through the spigot. Season to taste.


Vanilla Ice Cream

1 1/2 c. half & half or cream
2/3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (or 5-7 heaping teaspoons imitation brandy flavoring)
4 c. frozen half & half cubes (for fewer calories, substitute non-dairy creamer frozen into cubes.)

Place ingredients in Vita Mix container, clamp the dome in place, turn to high speed, turn on. If necessar use the tamper to work ingredients into the blades. Within 30 seconds open up the spigot and test the stiffness of the ice cream. If it isn't to the soft serve stage, quickly add one more cup of frozen cubes. Wait 5 seconds and dispense throught spigot with vita mix on low speed.


Pizza Crust

1 c. lukewarm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

Grease a large bowl and pizza pan.

Put water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt, and flour in vita mix. Clamp dome in place. use high setting. To mix, wet and dry ingredients push lever up to on position for 1 second, down to reverse for 1 second, then up again for 1 second. Stop machine and remove lid.

To knead dough, two steps are requuired.

Step 1: dip a rubber spatula in flour or water and use it to jab the dough a few tiems to compress it inot the blades.

Step 2: TAP-RELEASE the impact lever 5-7 times. Repeat this two step kneading cycle 8 or more times. The dough will form a ball on top of the blades.

Place dough in prepared bowl, turning once to coat the entire surface; cover and let rest 15 min.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface, punch down and shape into a ball. Place on prepared pan; pat and stretch the dough in the pan, pinching up a collar around the edge to hold the filling. Prick dough in about 6 places. If desired, brush pizza lightly with olive oil to prevent crust from becoming soggy.

Preheat overn to 400F. Let dough rest another 15 min. tehn bake in preheated over 15 min.

Spread with your choice of filling and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.


Quick Coffee CAke

1 egg
1 c. milk
1/3 c. soft butter
1 c. sugar (white or brown)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 c. all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 8 x 8 inch pan.

Place egg, milk, butter, and sugar in vita mix. put lid on. use medium speed. turn on and run 10 seconds.

Stop machine and add salt, baking powder and flour. replace dome and tap-release lever until ingredients are well mixed. (you'll need to stop and run a spatula around the container to incorporate all ingredients, then replace the dome led and continue to tap-release.)

Spread in prepared pan and cover with crunchy topping (see below). Bake 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Crunchy Topping

2 Tbsp butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c. nuts

place all ingredients in vita mix. clamp dome in place. tap-release lever 5 times. Stir up ingredients with a spatula; replace dome and repeat the tap-release 5 more times. stir ingredients again, etc. Crumble over unbaked coffee cake above.


These are some I flipped thru the book and copied real quick. I hope they will give you an idea of what all your vita mix can do.

I almost forgot one of the most important things! When you finish making something in the vita mix, run some hot water in it and a drop or two of dish soap. put the lid on and run it on high for a min, reversing the blades 2 or 3 times. It will clean itself! Now how cool is that?!?

[Zebraman]

Hey Janis;Ten years ago a friend gave me his Vitamix machine because he didn't use it.It was missing the the instruction booklet and one of the clamps.I called the 800# from a mag.ad and I told them that I didn't buy the machine and I wanted to purchase these items.They asked for my address and a week later recieved everything and more.They stated in the package that the warranty would cover any replacement parts in the future.So that is what I would do.I still use it.Great Machine,Great Service,what more could you ask?-

[Bruce in NE]

I've got the newer Vitamix 5000 model and it doesn't have the reverse feature. Does anyone know why they did that?

[Janis Sauncy]

Thanks, everyone!

The kids can't wait to try the ice cream (this weekend) and I'm looking forward to seeing what else it can do.

I went to VitaMix's website and signed up for their newsletter. I couldn't find where to order the manual but will try the old-fashioned way: 1-800-......

Anyway, thanks for all the info. I'll let you know how the ice cream turns out (I imagine you could add fruit, such as berries, for flavored ice cream?)!

Janis

[Trixie]

Yours does sound like the one that does everything. I know they don't have a lot of bells and whistles - but I really like mine.

I was in NE Texas at my sons and couldn't find a book on the blender - but found mine when I came home. It states that it will do just everything.

So it sounds like you did good. Good luck.

Now if I can just get my book, my blender, and my corn, and me, in the same location, I'll have some great cornbread.

[Tabitha]

I made blackberry jam, smooth as can be, it just grinds up the seeds. makes nice tomatoe juice, just wash the tomaotes and cut in half or quarters and toss in. I made salsa, hot sauce. that is all I have used it in canning.

[Trixie]

Tabitha,

You grind seeds and all?

I use mine for tomato juice as a base for sauces, ketchup, etc., but I run it through a food mill to remove the seeds.

If I just blend longer, will it liquefy the seeds? That would cut out a step in the process and save a lot of time.

[WanderingOak]

Originally Posted by Trixie

Tabitha,

You grind seeds and all?

I use mine for tomato juice as a base for sauces, ketchup, etc., but I run it through a food mill to remove the seeds.

If I just blend longer, will it liquefy the seeds? That would cut out a step in the process and save a lot of time.

I used mine to make a soup base last night with whole tomatoes. It liquifies everything, skin and seeds. I have also used it to liquify whole grapes, seeds included.

BTW, mine doesn't have a reverse switch either. Anybody know why?

[Trixie]

I used mine to make a soup base last night with whole tomatoes. It liquifies everything, skin and seeds. I have also used it to liquify whole grapes, seeds included.

That is very interesting. Tomato canning is over for this year, but I will remember that next year.

As for a reverse switch, I don't know. As I said, I have 3 - various ages that I have bought over the years and I am pretty sure they all have reverse blades.

Do you mean it doesn't have a reverse switch at all - or it just doesn't work in reverse?

[WanderingOak]

Originally Posted by Trixie

That is very interesting. Tomato canning is over for this year, but I will remember that next year.

As for a reverse switch, I don't know. As I said, I have 3 - various ages that I have bought over the years and I am pretty sure they all have reverse blades.

Do you mean it doesn't have a reverse switch at all - or it just doesn't work in reverse?

There is no reverse switch. I don't have it in front of me, but I believe there is a on/off switch, a hi-lo speed switch, and a dial that controls the lo-speed setting. I bought mine new at Costco last spring, so it is probably a newer model.

[Janis Sauncy]

This is just an update for those who responded about my Vita-Mix questions:

Spinner: We tried the ice cream. The kids thought it was great (and fun, too) but I thought it was a little runny coming out of the spigot. Any way to correct that? I'm going to try the coffee cake in the morning.

Also, I called the 1-800 number to request the instruction/recipe book. With shipping, it's costing around $17.00. Oh, well. I asked her what the machine originally sold for and she said the 3600 plus was discontinued around ten years ago but sold for between $329 and $379. So, I guess with my original $25.00 investment and the cost of the book, I still did ok.

Looking forward to more stuff to try!

[Spinner]

Originally Posted by Janis Sauncy

This is just an update for those who responded about my Vita-Mix questions:

Spinner: We tried the ice cream. The kids thought it was great (and fun, too) but I thought it was a little runny coming out of the spigot. Any way to correct that? I'm going to try the coffee cake in the morning.

If you run the machine just a few seconds too long it will heat the ice cream a bit and make it runny. Hopefully you'll have the book by now, or soon, and make lots of great stuff!

Congrats on the great buy.

Did you try the coffee cake? How did it turn out?

I have no idea why the newer machines don't have a reverse on them.