If you’re looking for the best way to make delicious shakes and smoothies at home, then the likelihood is that you’ve come up against the question of whether to buy a smoothie maker or a blender. It can be difficult to discern the difference between these two incredibly similar devices. If smoothie-making is your main prerogative, it can seem like a sensible option to just go for a specialised...
Wednesday 6 June 2018
Difference Between A Blender & A Food Processor. Is There Any?
Blenders, food processors, what’s the difference, right? Wrong! When it comes to selecting which kitchen appliance is best suited to the task at hand, there are actually nuances which can lead to staggeringly different results. If you’ve ever been frustrated with watching solids bounce around your blender, constantly missing the blades, then you’ll understand. Likewise, attempting to make a...
Monday 12 March 2018
Thursday 14 July 2016
Best Steamer & Blender For Baby Food Reviews 2015 – 2016
Top 3 Food Blender & Steamers For Puree 2016
| Product | Name | Features | Price Point | Rating | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Beaba Babycook | 800 litre food container – Four functions – Suitable for us with all food groups | High End |  |
Learn More |
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Babymoov Food Processor | Two baskets – 5 functions and straight from birth – LCD screen | Mid range |  |
Learn More |
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Savisto Handheld | 2 year guarantee – 3 in one blender – 750w motor – stainless steel blades | Affordable |  |
Learn More |
Preparing meals for your baby is an increasing trend as more and more parents are become aware of the sugars and salts that go into baby food. Below are three baby food blenders (and a steamer!) made specifically to retain all the nutrients and vitamins your baby needs. It’s also a lot more cost effective for parents to produce their own food for their children.
Beaba Babycook Original 4 in 1 Review – Our Number 1
The Beaba Babycook is totally BPA free and is a compact little piece of kit that sits neatly on your kitchen counter. This is a great blender as it will steam your vegetables, meat and fish in less than fifteen minutes. But because it is steam cooked, food retains all the vital nutrients and vitamins needed to help your baby thrive.
It comes with a manual option for tailoring your blending needs, so you alter the consistency of the food depending on the child’s age: smooth, pureed or chunks.
As previously mentioned the Beaba is compact and can be taken away on trips with ease and it is also very easy to clean. It comes with an 800ml container making it easy to prepare a lot of food in advance for freezing.
Something to consider when it comes to technology is the level of noise. Having a young baby and a loud blender might be counter intuitive however the Beaba is relatively quiet for a blender.
- Four functions: steam, blend, defrost, reheat
- Compact and easy to use
- 800 litre container providing you with ample capacity
- Suitable for use with vegetables, fruit, meat and starch foods
The Beaba Babycook is great for those with not a lot of time but still want nutritious healthy food for their baby.
Summary
Features: 800 litre food container – Four functions – Suitable for us with all food groups
Price: High end
Beaba Babycook Original 4-in- Babyfood Processor, steam-cook-blend-reheat (Gipsy)
Price: £99.00
4 used & new available from £99.00
Babymoov Food Processor Review – Number 2
It is fitted with an LCD screen to easily control the different functions and two baskets to separate food groups and retain vital nutrients. By supplying two baskets, it allows different food groups to be cooked at the same time despite having different cooking times. Thus ensuring that the food retains all the vitamins and nutrients that a growing baby needs.
The Babymoov is the only baby blender on the market that is suitable to use from birth making it a great buy for prolonged use right up until baby is on solids. Even then it can be used to steam vegetables and meat so can be used for as long as you like.
This great little blender can be used to make soups, sauces, and purees as well as also sterilising jars and accessories. It’s got a large capacity making it really useful if you have twins or a big family.
The beauty of the two baskets means that food requiring different cooking times can be cooked separately so that none of the goodness is lost in over cooking.
It comes with an LCD screen making it very easy for you to select the appropriate cooking time. It’s very easy to cook with and it’s plain sailing to clean as most of the parts can be put into a dishwasher. This is actually very suitable for weaning as it creates really smooth purees and of course much less to wash up if you were to cook and puree separately.
- LCD screen for easy cooking selection
- Largest capacity on the market cooking 1500 ml and blending 600
- Two separate steaming baskets so food is never overcooked
- Totally BPA free
- Easy to use and clean, most parts are dishwasher friendly
- 5 settings
The Babymoov really is a great buy, especially if you have more than one child and not a lot of space. It’s so compact and comes with a lot of useful accessories. It has the capacity to sterilize bottles, steam, reheat, defrost and blend making it your 5 in 1 godsend.
Summary
Features: Two baskets – 5 functions and straight from birth – LCD screen
Price: Mid range
Babymoov Food Processor Nutribaby Zen
Price: £84.64
7 used & new available from £79.99
Savisto Handheld 3 in 1 Review – Number 3
This is a great for making baby food if you are on a budget. It comes with an ergonomic grip making it comfortable to use especially if you are blending a lot.
The three attachments that come with the Savisto: a blender, whisk and food processor. The blender is to be used for lighter more liquid ingredients; blades rotating at high speed with create smooth pureed sauces. The whisk can be used to beat a mixture together. This attachment is often used with eggs, cream or cake mix. The food processor is for the heavier ingredients. This attachment is ideal for chopping, pulverizing, mashing and slicing.
There are variable speed settings, which allows for a gradual speed increase. It has extra strong blades to chop the hardest of root vegetables. It comes with a 750 watt motor and is incredibly quiet.
The Savisto is easy to clean, each attachment can be detached from the electrical element and can be hand washed.
- Variable speed settings
- 3 attachments
- 750 watt motor
- Suitable for use in weaning babies
- 2 year guarantee
- Hand wash only
The Savisto is a nice alternative to the other two baby blenders both in design and price. This is a multi use hand blender, which can be easily stored and cleaned.
Summary
Features: 2 year guarantee – 3 in one blender – 750w motor – stainless steel blades
Price: Affordable
Price: £29.95
2 used & new available from £24.99
Verdict
If you are looking for something to prepare your baby’s food with you have to go with the French designed blender, because they know how to prepare food. The Beaba is easy to use, comes with 4 settings and cooks food in less than 15 minutes. It has a large capacity jug, so you can prepare a large amount of meals and store them in fridge or freezer. It comes with few parts and what it does come with are easy to clean. The Beaba is the ultimate choice if you are looking for a baby blender.
Beaba Babycook Original 4-in- Babyfood Processor, steam-cook-blend-reheat (Gipsy)
Price: £99.00
4 used & new available from £99.00
Read more about Best Steamer & Blender For Baby Food Reviews 2015 – 2016 on Best Blender Reviews.
Best Blender On The Market For Ice & Frozen Fruits 2016
Top 3 Blenders for Frozen Fruits
| Product | Name | Features | Price Point | Rating | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Nutri Ninja Auto IQ Set | Auto IQ technology – ice crush technology – 1000w motor – 11 pc. set | High End | |
Learn More |
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Nutri Ninja Auto IQ | 1000w motor – ice crushing technology – Auto IQ technology | High End | |
Learn More |
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Tower T12022 | Titanium blades – 1200w motor – blending jar is dishwasher proof – lifetime guarantee on blades | Mid range | |
Learn More |
Using frozen fruit in smoothies and drink has become something of a given. Frozen fruit is a lot easier than buying fresh fruit everyday for smoothies and you don’t end up wasting out of date food. But frozen fruit is a lot harder to blend, and so you need a strong and powerful blender to handle the frozen fruit.
Nutri Ninja with Auto IQ Set Review – Our Number 1
The Ninja comes with two blend settings: blend and ultra blend. The Ultra Blend setting is the best to use when using frozen fruit and vegetables. The Ultra Blend setting carefully extracts nutrients from frozen fruit, ice, kale, carrots and nuts.
Auto IQ is a new feature of the Nutri Ninja, which accurately decides how long to blend for, so no more guessing. It runs through its own cycles of blending, so you can just set it and get on with what you are doing and when its bleeps, your smoothie is done. It goes through its own cycle at different blending speeds so that you get all the nutrients and vitamins from your fruit and veg.
- Ice crushing technology
- Two blend settings to ensure fresh and frozen nutrient extraction is upheld
- 32 ounce, 18 ounce ad 24 ounce BPA cup
- 1000w motor
- Auto IQ to make it easier to blend
There is no assembly required, the cup just clicks into the blade and you are ready to blend. What it lacks in size it makes up for in strength. The blades can more than handle ice and frozen vegetables. You also get some recipe books for free to use on your Ninja.
Summary
Features: Auto IQ technology – ice crush technology – 1000w motor – 11 pc. set
Price: High end
Nutri Ninja Blender with Auto iQ BL480UKCO
Price: £99.94
14 used & new available from £99.94
Nutri Ninja Auto IQ Review – Number 2
The Nutri Ninja is fitted with a 1000w motor, giving it a lot of power, despite the size. It comes with two blend settings to ensure that all the nutrients are extracted and you reap the benefits.
It’s fitted with removable stainless steel blades that can easily be removed for washing but are ultra strong to tackle even the freshest of beetroot.
The beauty of this is it comes with 2 cups, with seal lids, which means you can make your smoothie and literally go. It also makes really good milkshakes too if you are feeling in need of a sweet dessert.
- Auto IQ technology
- 2 cups with 2 sealed lids
- Removable dishwasher safe parts
- 1000 w motor
- ice crushing technology
This is a great little blender if you are looking for something for small and compact but yet incredibly strong, tough enough to blend frozen fruit and ice.
Summary
Features: 1000w motor – ice crushing technology – Auto IQ technology
Price: High end
Nutri Ninja with Auto IQ BL480UK
Price: £89.99
13 used & new available from £81.01
Tower T12022 Review – Number 3
The blades are made of titanium and can easily blend seeds, stems and iced fruit in no time, and with total ease. You can even remove the blade from the base to clean it effortlessly.
The Tower T12022 is fitted with a 1200w motor and comes with an emulsifier blade, which is great for hard skins. It comes with a four-piece juice extractor and two-cup sizes meaning you can make the desired amount of smoothie without any waste.
The Tower also comes with a pulse option, to blend the toughest ingredients.
- 1200w motor
- Titanium blades for powerful and efficient blending
- Great for soups, smoothie and salsa
- Blending jar is dishwasher proof
- Lifetime guarantee on titanium blades
- The blending jug is heat and shatter proof
The Tower Ultra Xtreme Nutrient Extraction is the perfect choice for someone looking to make a variety of recipes with one simple appliance. The blade can be removed which makes cleaning more easier than other blenders.
Summary
Features: Titanium blades – 1200w motor – blending jar is dishwasher proof – lifetime guarantee on blades
Price: Mid range
Tower T12022 Ultra Xtreme Nutrient Extraction System, 1200 W – Grey
Price: £88.14
8 used & new available from £74.95
Verdict
The clear winner for the best blender for frozen fruit is the Nutri Ninja Blender. It comes with a number of cups and lids, which means you can make multiple smoothies and store them in your fridge. It can handle anything you put in it, frozen fruit, vegetables, and ice. It is fitted with Auto IQ technology so it knows how long to blend your ingredients for, making it easier for you.
Nutri Ninja Blender with Auto iQ BL480UKCO
Price: £99.94
14 used & new available from £99.94
Read more about Best Blender On The Market For Ice & Frozen Fruits 2016 on Best Blender Reviews.
Cheap Blenders For Smoothies – Reviewing The Best Of 2016
Best Smoothie Makers UK 2016
| Product | Name | Features | Price Point | Rating | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Breville Active-Blend | 300 watts | Affordable | |
Learn More |
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Andrew James 4 In 1 | 220 watts | Affordable | |
Learn More |
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Kenwood SB055 | 300 watts | Affordable | |
Learn More |
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Duronic BL1200 | 350 watts | Affordable | |
Learn More |
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Russell Hobbs 21350 | 300 watts | Affordable | |
Learn More |
While the “mini blenders” are a lot more affordable than the fully loaded, high-end blenders, they will never have the sheer power to blitz the foods that the blenders do! At the same time, if all we are looking to do is make the odd smoothie and not use it for anything else (like making soup, food processing, chopping, churning etc.), then why pay the premium prices for the high-end blenders?
Top Five Best Blenders For Smoothies.
I personally have a smoothie blender which is separate from my other blenders and food processors. I own a Blend-Active and use it on a daily basis for my smoothies before work and it is so amazingly easy and good to use; I do find myself looking forward to using it daily. Without giving my review away in the introduction, please see below the write-up’s.
Breville Blend Active Review
As I have gone into detail for the Blend-Active in the above linked post, I will keep this review short and sweet!
The best features on why to go for the Blend Active;
- Easy to use
- Easy to clean – once done, put the bottle in the dishwasher
- A very good quality build (despite the cheap price for the blender)
- Comes with 2 bottles which are a very good size, ideal for a gym bag
- Small physical footprint – 124 x 128mm and a height of 370mm – it will sit snug in the corner of your counter top when not in use
- It is cheaper than its peers as well as being very effective
The Verdict
As per my review and I may be a little biased as I own one myself, but this is the perfect blender. The best blender you will ever buy if you are looking to only make smoothies and are an active person. It is powerful enough to crush ice cubes and frozen vegetables as well and it is very easy to use. This, along with the fact that it is dishwasher safe, small in size and has slim shaker bottles which look good and fit nicely in your gym bag or car drink holder; makes the Blend-Active the Best Blender For Smoothies In 2015!
Breville VBL062 Blend Active Personal Blender, 300 W – White/Green
Price: £19.00
49 used & new available from £19.00
Andrew James 4 in 1 Multifunctional 1 Litre Smoothie Maker
The smoothie maker has a large bottle capacity of 1 litres so your can blend more in a single blitz! Very easy to use and still powerful at 220 watts, the smoothie maker is as versatile with its powerful blades, as it is user friendly.
The Best Features;
- The smoothie attachment to create fresh smoothies, iced teas and great tasting milk shakes
- The grinder attachment to grind coffee beans, nuts, spices, bread crumbs as well as oats or baby food
- The blender attachment to blend and puree sauces, dressings, marinades, juices chutneys and satays.
- The juicer attachment to juice all kinds of fruits with ease and add ice to make a perfect refreshing drink
- Detachable blades making for easy cleaning
- Two speed settings depending on the task at hand
The Verdict
A very good blender indeed. Don’t let the power at 220 watts put you off as where it lacks in power, it makes up in function. This is a very versatile blender, it can do a lot more than just make smoothies and it is easy to use and clean.
My only comment is, being a lower wattage than the Breville (and the others), it doesn’t seem to blend the fruit quite as smooth as the Blend-Active. For versatility, a very good buy!
Andrew James 4 in 1 Multifunctional 1 Litre Smoothie Maker, 1.5 litre Blender, Grinder And Juicer
Price: £19.99
1 used & new available from £19.99
Kenwood SB055 Smoothie 2GO Review
A great machine, with a low price tag but good build and received very well amongst its customers, The SB055 Smoothie 2GO delivers and does it very well!
Top Features;
- 300 watt motor – giving you smooth, smooth smoothies with its power to blitz!
- 2 x 500ml goblets – spill proof cups with lids to take wit you on your travels.
- The ability to crush ice, for that perfect fruit smoothie blended with ice on a summers day to cool you off!
- 2 speeds as well as a pulse mode – letting you mix your smoothies as fine or as textured as you may like.
- Compact design with minimal foot print so doesn’t take up much space on your kitchen top
- Easy to clean – dishwasher safe
The Verdict
The SB055 Smoothie 2GO is a great blender for smoothies, it has all the convenience characteristics that we need bar a few small flaws. The first one being, it will struggle with frozen vegetables, while it handles ice very well (assuming they are fairly small ice cubes), things like frozen greens and carrots aren’t recommended. The goblets it comes with are a little too wide for my gym bag pocket and not convenient as I would like. On the plus point, it has adjustable speed settings and a pulse mode which the Blend-Active lacks.
A good blender and a must if you want to be able to control the speed and have the ability to pulse your drinks.
Kenwood SB055 Smoothie 2GO – Silver
Price: £19.50
34 used & new available from £12.50
Duronic BL1200 Review
With a very powerful motor at 350 watts, and the ability to auto clean, along with adjustable speed settings makes the BL1200 another very good buy!
The Features;
- 350 watt motor – very powerful and you can see when it blends fruits, ice and vegetables
- 1.8 litre jug to get the most of your blending
- Auto-clean feature – a very clever feature as far as blenders go! After you’re done making your drink, you simply add water and press the “auto clean” button. It will then clean itself, you then simply rinse and wipe and you’re done. A great feature!
- Ice crushing. The BL1200 crushes ice very easily, easier than the other blenders – due to its more powerful motor.
- Soup maker – the BL1200 also makes soup very well.
The Verdict
A very good blender, very powerful and versatile. It can do all the things the other blenders can do, with more power and a great added function of auto clean.
The BL1200 falls into a slightly higher price bracket, but you will get what you pay for. This isn’t a blender for those only interested in a quick smoothie – although it can still do that; it will also do a whole lot more!
Price: £49.99
1 used & new available from £49.99
Russell Hobbs 21350 Mix and Go Blender Review
A very stylish little blender and (in my opinion) the best looking of all the blenders in this post. The 21350 will look great in your kitchen, providing your other appliances are white – of course!
Dishwasher safe blades, 300 watts of power to blend, 2 x slim bottles with a little holder; another great blender for smoothies!
The dishwasher safe blades/bottle makes it easy to clean. The blades are powerful enough to crush ice and frozen vegetables without an issue and the slim, leak-proof bottles are handy for when you are on the move!
No buttons on this machine, it works on pressure. You press the bottle down on the blender and it blends.
The Verdict
A good blender as far as power and convenience goes but it lacks the robust build of the Blend-Active and even the SB055.
Russell Hobbs 21350 Mix and Go Personal Blender, 600 ml, 300 W – White
Price: £19.99
31 used & new available from £16.88
Quick Links
- Nutri Ninja Vs Nutribullet
- Best Blender For Green Smoothies
- Breville Blend-Active Vs NutriBullet
- What Are Good Blenders In UK
- What Is The Best Blender For Smoothies In UK
Read more about Cheap Blenders For Smoothies – Reviewing The Best Of 2016 on Best Blender Reviews.
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