Vitamix Ascent 48-oz containers are finally available in the US and Canada. Mine haven’t arrived yet, but, from the pictures, they look very similar to the Legacy 48-oz containers. The differences are that they have an NFC chip that activates the Ascent Self-Detect system, and they have clear snap-on lids.
Unlike the small 8-oz and 20-oz containers, the 48-oz container allows you to use a tamper. That means you can use it to make thick blends like frozen desserts, and nut butters. The advantage over the 64-oz container is that the 48-oz container is narrower, which means that you can make smaller amounts more easily.
The 48-oz container has 3” diameter blades*, whereas the wide 64-oz container has 4” blades. The minimum amount to blend is about 40% less. (The exact minimum depends on what you are blending.)
In my experience with the Legacy Containers, the 3” blades also lead to less splashing of small amounts of thinner blends. Splashing around inside the container isn’t a big deal, but given the choice, it’s preferable to avoid it. If you are trying to get every last bit out of the container, less splashing means you don’t have to scrape off the inside of the lid and the upper walls of the container.
There are trade-offs between using the wide container and the narrow container. I covered the advantages of the narrow containers above (blend smaller amounts and less splashing). The advantages of the wide container are larger capacity, less need for tamper in smoothies, and better chopping performance. If you can swing it, it’s nice to have both sizes available.
Vitamix Ascent Dry Container
Vitamix is also releasing a dry-blade container for Ascent. The dry blade is a different shape, and it is optimized for grinding flours. You can grind flour with the wet blade, but it doesn’t work quite as well. Also, it’s nice to have a dedicated container for dry ingredients, because dry ingredients scratch up the container much more than typical wet blending. Here are top-views of the blades:
Vitamix Ascent 32-oz Containers?
As far as I know, Vitamix does not plan on releasing a 32-oz container for Ascent. I presume that’s because there’s a lot of overlap between the Legacy 32-oz and Legacy 48-oz containers, given that they have the same size blade.
*Vitamix.com lists the Ascent 48-oz blade diameter at 2.8″, while they list the Legacy 48-oz blade diameter at 3″. I’ll investigate when it arrives to see if there is actually a difference.↑
I purchased a Vitamix about 20 years ago it is the commercial model all stainless steel but you have to guess or messure everything would like to know if these clear containers fit on my machine although I find them expensive just for Accent pieces but then again I paid alot of money for the machine when I purchased it and find the price has not gone down
Unfortunately, none of the current Vitamix containers fit on the old all-metal machines. Vitamix does offer a $100 ($150 CAD) trade-in credit for old machines if you decide you want to upgrade.
$100 to $150 is not very much off a new machine just to get a clear container when the containers bought this way are more expensive
There is potentially another option, which is this conversion kit. I have not used it and cannot vouch for it, but it might be able to get your old Vitamix working with new containers.
Thanks so much for the heads-up! If Vitamix tells me Williams Sonoma is due to stock them soon, I’ll pick one up locally (in a nice box!), rather than have to pay shipping in addition to sales tax. While I’m not happy that Vitamix went with 48 oz. rather than 32, at least they’re consistent and made the dry container the same size (I imagine it was cheaper for them as well to design one size, not to mention it puts to paid any notion of the availability of a 32-oz. container in the future). I’m also happy that they’re including a tamper. Why they’re including one with the dry container is anyone’s guess, though; one of those nice red spatulas they sell on their site would’ve been a more appropriate choice and hammered home that tamping the contents of the dry container defeats the purpose for which it was designed.
If you order from Vitamix.com via one of my links, it should automatically apply a free shipping code. That also helps support my work on this site. As far as nice boxes go, with previous Ascent items, Vitamix.com has been sending them in their premium printed boxes, encased in a second brown box for shipping. (I haven’t received the 48-oz containers yet, but I would be surprised if they don’t also come in premium boxes.)
That’s true–my Ascent shipped in a nice box although I bought my accessory containers from sellers on Amazon to get free shipping and because Vitamix was sold out of the smoothie cups. WS is supposed to call me when the containers arrive (within a week) but I think they can survive if I buy it from you instead. FYI: when I called Vitamix this morning to ask if WS had received the new containers, they confirmed that the blade assemblies on these new 48-oz. wet and dry containers were identical to their Legacy counterparts. I was also told there was much backing-and-forthing about whether to make these containers 32 oz. or 48. The latter was decided upon because its Legacy counterpart is the better seller of the two.
Does the 48oz ascent container work with legacy models (5200/5300/etc)? The clear lid is nice.
Yes, it does.
Is the Ascent 48-oz container shorter in height than the 64-oz low profile container? I have low cabinets and the 64-oz low profile one that came with my blender doesn’t fit underneath.
If you include the lid plug, the 48-oz Ascent containers are the the same height as the 64-oz ascent containers. If you take the lid plugs out, the 48-oz containers are a little shorter (I think by ~1/4″, but I don’t have the numbers in front of me right now.