June 2025

There were 1,837 posts published in June 2025 (this is page 47 of 184).

How I Make the Cheapest Vitamix Blender Work Like the Expensive Ones

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While the Vitamix Explorian E310 is the cheapest model of Vitamix you can get, it doesn’t mean they’re cutting corners on its capabilities. However, the fancy preset functions that you’ll see on their higher-end models, like the Ascent X5, are not present on the Explorian model. This easily seems like a knock against the blender, but once you get the hang of how to operate it without the presets, the Explorian is actually better for folks who want more control over their blend. It’s simple too—here’s how I do it. 

Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender


$379.95
at Best Buy

I was lucky enough to test the Ascent X5 before testing the Explorian (here’s my review of the Explorian and of the Ascent if you’re torn between the two), and I noticed a consistent pattern with the presets. The presets have the most effective timings and blade speeds programmed in to match the food you’re trying to make. After seeing this pattern happen during enough blends (and reading the Vitamix instruction manual for leisure because I’m that person), I’ve found I can basically mimic the Ascent model presets.

Take it easy

Whether you’re making a smoothie, soup, or frozen dessert, the presets all start slow for a few seconds—and you should do that manually with the Explorian too. If you don’t take it easy during the initial blend, there’s a good chance a ton of your foundational ingredients end up stuck to the lid. I’ve done it. It’s annoying. (If you did this already, just stop the machine and use a small rubber spatula to scrape everything back into the container.)

It’s during this slow chop that the blades can catch a lot of the ingredients situated low in the container. Depending on what’s down there, this will hopefully be liquid or ingredients that release some liquids and eventually help pulverize the ingredients above at higher speeds.

All you have to do is make sure the central dial of the Explorian is all the way to the left side at level 1. Flip the switch on the right side to On and blend slowly for about 10 seconds.

Ramp it up

After that initial blend on low speed, the Vitamix presets always blast off to the highest speed: level 10. This is part of why I love the presets: At that speed, they all finish in under a minute (except for the hot soup function). But, preset-shmee-set—you can do this manually with any Vitamix model. 

After the 10 second slow chop, keep your hand on the speed dial and consistently rotate it all the way over to the highest speed on the right side. Do this over the course of seven to 10 seconds. The coward in me always considers stopping before level 10 (it’s very powerful!) but just go for it. 


Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

At this point, the operation might be over and you can just switch it off. But observe the consistency of your blend to see if you need to repeat the speed process. That’s the beauty of manual operation. If the consistency isn’t smoothing out, or the blade is whizzing free without catching anything (as can happen with thicker pastes), maybe you have to bring the speed down again. 

Don’t forget your handy tamper tool

However unattractive, his angular mini-baseball bat is important, regardless of the Vitamix model. If your blends are taking more than a minute or two to become silky smooth (again, barring the delightful hot soups you’re churning up), you should be using your tamper. Not using the tamper will require you to blend for extra time and it’s a surefire way to heat up the mixture. It’s certainly not ideal for a chilly fruit smoothie.

Remove the central cap in the lid, and the tamper goes through there. Use it to smash ingredients down into the blades. It will make your blending experience much faster, doesn’t take much effort, and it’s easy to clean. 

How to clean a Vitamix container

My steps to cleaning the Vitamix Explorian container is another mimic of the self-clean preset of the Vitamix Ascent. First, rinse the container and lid with warm water to get most of the residual mixture out. Fill the container halfway with warm water (I go a little higher than halfway in height because the container flares at the top), and add a few drops of dish soap. Snap on the lid, make sure the center cap is secure and fit it onto the base. Start the machine on low speed for a couple seconds and then steadily ramp it up to the highest speed for about 30 seconds. 

Click the right hand switch to the Off position. Rinse out the container, and you’re all set. If you have some stubborn smudges—always the case with peanut butter—spot clean it with a soapy sponge or dish brush. Once you get the hang of manual operation, you won’t be missing out on anything with your Vitamix Explorian.

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sustained torn Achilles tendon, has surgery Monday

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in Sunday’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The Pacers confirmed the injury on Monday following an MRI and announced that he would undergo surgery to repair the tendon later in the day. The team did not offer a recovery timeline, but the injury puts the entirety of Haliburton’s 2025-26 season at risk.

The 25-year-old Haliburton sustained the injury in the first quarter of Game 7 vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder. Haliburton — who was playing through a calf injury — fell to the floor after trying to push off his right leg and drive to the basket. He pounded his hand on the ground and yelled in pain while on the floor. 

The Pacers’ star was unable to put any weight on his injured leg as he was being helped off the court.

Haliburton was off to a strong start in the contest, hitting three shots from beyond the arc before sustaining the injury. Haliburton’s nine points had Indiana in the contest in the early going. It was 16-16 when he left the game. The Pacers went on to lose the game 103-91. 

It was the same leg in which Haliburton sustained a calf injury during Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Haliburton played through the injury in Game 5 but went 0-for-6 from the field, finishing with four points in the Pacers’ loss. He underwent an MRI following the contest. While the injury was supposed to keep Haliburton sidelined for weeks, he vowed to continue playing in the Finals. 

Haliburton was available for Game 6 and had no minutes restriction. He played 22 minutes in the game, finishing with 14 points and leading the Pacers to a 108-91 win to force Game 7. 

He lasted just over seven minutes into Game 7 before the injury. The Pacers quickly ruled Haliburton out for the rest of the game due to a right “lower-leg injury.” Later in the contest, Haliburton’s father, John, told ESPN his son was dealing with an Achilles injury.

The Pacers initially seemed unfazed by the injury and managed to hold a one-point lead at halftime. But the Thunder’s defense got its act together in the third quarter, taking advantage of the Pacers’ turnovers to outscore Indiana by 14 points in the frame. That third-quarter outburst by Oklahoma City essentially put the game out of reach for the Pacers.

The injury puts a damper on the Pacers’ future. While Haliburton showed promise early in his career with the Sacramento Kings, he blossomed into a superstar with the Pacers. In four seasons with the team, he averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 assists. 

Haliburton was arguably playing the best basketball of his career prior to the calf injury. He hit multiple game-tying or game-winning shots in the final seconds of games to keep the Pacers’ hopes alive during the postseason. Indiana would not have advanced as far as it did without Haliburton’s heroics. 

With Haliburton expected to miss most if not all of next season, it will fall on Pascal Siakam and Bennedict Mathurin to keep the team afloat until Haliburton can return. Despite Haliburton’s injury, the Pacers still have the sixth-best odds to win the NBA championship next season. 

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Pair of Rockies bats make for strong adds despite poor team play

It’s no fun to watch the Colorado Rockies slide into irrelevance. The Rockies, as you know, have the worst record in baseball. They’re 27th in runs scored. They also have the worst pitching by far, with a messy 5.54 ERA — over a run behind the next closest team, the Chicago White Sox.

But it’s the right time of the year to view the Rockies with an optimistic lens. Colorado has been a competitive 9-11 over its last 20 games, and a glorious home swing is upon us. Nine of the next 12 Colorado games will be at Coors Field, still the best cheat-code ballpark in all of fantasy baseball. It’s midsummer when this stadium really shows its teeth. And while the Rockies lineup doesn’t go deep enough to recommend wholesale pickups, we can at least squint and see some plausible upside with a couple of widely-available guys.

[Smarter waivers, better trades, optimized lineups — Yahoo Fantasy Plus unlocks it all]

Expectations were low when Freeman first joined the Colorado lineup — he was batting ninth at the opening of the month. But a .323/.412/.434 push has grabbed the team’s attention, with Freeman slotting first or second in his last seven starts. Freeman already has eight steals in his 38 games, which would translate to 30-plus in a full season. And he’s controlling his at-bats nicely, with more walks than strikeouts. I could see Freeman holding fantasy relevance the rest of the year.

Although Moniak was the first pick in the 2016 draft, he’s fallen into a journeyman’s career — he’s been closer to Mickey Mouse than Mickey Mantle. But he’s found a nifty power pocket with the Rockies, ripping 11 home runs in just 192 at-bats. The home runs are close to evenly split home and away (six at Coors), although Moniak does have a juicy .547 slugging percentage in the thin air. Like Freeman, Moniak has enjoyed better lineup real estate of late. I’m not as confident in what Moniak will be long-term, but he holds my interest while the Rockies are mostly at home.

You have to accept that Clement doesn’t offer a lot of category juice — just four home runs and 2-for-5 on steals. But he’s carrying a sturdy .307 average and he qualifies at every infield position for Yahoo managers. The Blue Jays have steered into Clement as a regular, starting him in 41-of-43 games. He’s the perfect type of versatile reserve to carry you through when injuries strike. Despite swinging freely at the plate, Clement has outstanding contact skills, striking out a modest 11.1% of the time. He’s a craftsman.

Although the pretty .290/.328/.473 slash line catches your attention, it’s not fully approved with the batted-ball profile — Statcast data says Báez should be batting .254 and slugging .406. But even if Báez regressed to those ratios, he’d likely hold fantasy interest, covering three positions and showing playable pop. Báez will swing at almost anything you throw near the plate, but he’s trimmed his strikeout rate down to 21.4%, a career low. Báez will never justify the massive contract the Tigers handed him three years ago (and the Mets will never forget trading Pete Crow-Armstrong to get Báez four years ago), but at least he looks like a bonafide MLB player again.

Smith is back from a hamstring injury and producing nicely, with a .284/.350/.431 slash, seven homers, and eight steals. The Rangers often shield him from left-handed pitching (and his platoon bias supports that), but the schedule lines up nicely, with 10-of-12 right-handed opponents slated for the next two weeks. The Rangers offense was a no-fun zone to open the year, but it’s been around league average in June. Small steps, but progress nonetheless.

The surname isn’t easy to spell or pronounce (shawn-uh-well, emphasis on the first syllable), which might be why the roster tag stays so low. Schanuel is a callback to a time when first basemen often carried good averages with modest power, the Mark Grace or Nick Johnson frame. And there could be room for growth with Schanuel, as he’s just 23 and was a first-round pick two years ago. All of his plate-discipline metrics are excellent, and his average and slugging numbers are validated by the under-the-hood stats.