Does it matter how fast you crank up your blender? Cars aren't blenders, but I wonder if this analogy assists. &quot;[W]hen you floor the gas pedal, your transmission will try to turn the axle abruptly just like trying to throw a bowling ball with the maximum force.&quot;. So you oughtn't constantly floor your car's accelerator pedal that can strain the drive train and fatigue the material.

So ought your notch up your blender slowly? Ought you always start at 1 and slowly notch up to 10? Will you damage your blender if &quot;floor&quot; your blender by starting the dial at 10?

If so, what's the safest &quot;acceleration rate&quot;? 1 integer/s (e.g. for the Vitamix below, you'd need 10 s to throttle up to 10)?


Full disclosure : I'm not affiliated with Vitamix.
I opened the first Vitamix manual that came up on an internet search, which is for the Vitamix 5200, available here. It says (on page 11):

Always start the machine with the left switch down in the Variable ( ) position and with the center Variable Speed Dial on 1. Slowly turn the Variable Speed Dial to the desired speed depending on the recipe used. If a recipe calls for processing on High ( ), slowly rotate the Variable Speed Dial to 10 and then push the High/Variable Switch up into the High ( ) position. Do not begin processing on Variable 10 or directly
on the High ( ) setting.

(The spaces in brackets here contain a triangle symbol in the manual).
It also warns not to use the machine for too long at a low setting as this increases the risk of overheating, and not to start on a speed above 1 with hot liquids to avoid the risk of burns.
To answer your questions:

Yes, you should start on a low setting and gradually increase to your desired speed.
No particular rate of progression is suggested.
I would speculate that the analogy with a car isn't quite accurate: for a car the issue is about torque (because the car is heavy and starts stationary) and metal fatigue, whereas for the blender the issue is risk of splattering hot liquid, and (I think) that starting to blend food requires more torque than blending food that is already partially blended. I imagine you could start an empty blender on high speed with no issues, but I don't have evidence to back up that claim.