OK, I give up. How the F do you make juice with a Blendtec? :)

[Jon Bischke]

So I read David's post on here about how easy it is to make juice with a blender. I was all excited and purchased my nut mylk bags and everything. However, I can't seem to figure out how it's done. I put the vegetables into the blender and it either jams or it just blends the bottom portion of the vegetables. I've tried with water and without. No dice. So I'm thinking...

#1 - Do you need a Vitamix instead of a Blendtec? I'll be bummed if the 3 bills I dropped on the Blendtec was partially for naught. I know this video shows the use of a Vitamix and it seems easy: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3UdSLp3CCfg&feature=related Is that it?

#2 - Does it depend on the settings of the Blendtec? I'm trying the Whole Juice setting which would seem logical but perhaps not.

#3 - Does it depend what fruits/vegetables go on the bottom? I've tried a few different ones here (apples, celery, etc.) but no dice on any front.

I'm a bit bummed because I was really hoping to make this work. Any light that anyone could shed would be greatly appreciated. Thx!

[Alicia Moncur ~♥Alicia♥~]

Ok, Im no expert, however this is what I do,,,,, I put heavy veggies on the bottom, greens in the middle, and a couple of heavy veggies on the top, and about 1/2 to 1 cup of water. or, I blend all the heavy veggies for a few seconds on the whole juice setting (in a little water) first then add the greens and blend again on the whold juice setting. Did that make since?

[Kathy]

I have a regular blender, Osterizer, and it blends my veggies/fruit really good. I guess the key would be the amount of water you add to it.

[Christine]

Have you tried putting a few things in at a time?

I start by putting just a handful of chopped celery and half a cup of water in the bottom of my vitamix. I then blend this small amount into a liquid. After that a put a few more veggies in and blend again. I probably add stuff and blend three or four times before I have a blender full of liquid.

I do have a vitamix, but when I didn't I could still make smoothies this way in a normal blender.

I'm sure you'll crack this. Just keep experimenting.

[lemoned]

I'm working with a cuisinart food processor now and it does have some challenges that I became aware of.
1) In my case, I'm better off to somewhat cut up the stuff really quick before putting it in. Otherwise, they end up not getting blended well

2) Put in the items with the blender running, not filling it up to the brim first and then running it. This goes especially for the leafy stuff. Just as Christine said above, blending bit by bit. It helps to have some sort of "base" of juicy items before putting in the leafy or more dry produce

3) Add water - or as I do, some of the juice I already made when the machine doesn't catch on to the stuff.

4) some of my stuff, especially citrus or tomato, gets too foamy when blended too long, which makes it difficult to strain through the bag.

Hope this helps :)