Wonder whether any one here has ever heard of or have used this Breville model. (I heard it is a 750 Watt model. Is it powerful enough to make green smoothies? How good is its quality in general?)
We do not want something too loud or too powerful. This is because this is for someone who lives in a relatively small living space – a studio with a relatively small kitchen. Being not too loud isi important so we will not consider the big and powerful VitaMix or BlendTech.
Thanks. This was exactly what my wife said and this is the reason why we consider to get a Breville blunder. A Vitamix or a BlenderTech would be too noisy in their environment. Not only it may not be good for their ears, but also we have a lingering concern about potentially disturbing the neighbors too much. (e.g., we live in an apartment now. Our neighbor upstairs has the stereo equipment (or a large TV) that has a powerful bass amp. I think it is really inconsiderate for anyone living in such an environment to own an audio gear like that. Rant off. Well…another rant, they like to leave their trash bag in front of their front door rather than in doors. A problem is that often times wild animals may open their trash bag overnight and the garbage in the bag then come downstairs. They then only clean up the mess upstairs and think it is our responsibility to clean up the mess THEY created. At one time, my wife noticed that they sweep the little floor area in front of their front door, and sweep all the dirt downstairs. If we happen walk out of our apartment at that moment, the dirt will fall on us. A very rude act!)
WRT to Consumer Reports, that one didn’t make their list of 6 top recommended blenders. Ratings were in the Aug 2014 issue ( at your local library ) if you don’t have paid access to their website.
I think this is what you referred to. I think it is a relatively a minor issue for us, especially since we are interested in getting a relatively good one, not necessarily the best, the the most durable one for someone who may not cook very much. Being not too loud is important to us so we can not go for a Vitamix or Blendtech. (For a record, we have a Vitamix (Model 6300? Whatever the model you can get from COSTCO, the one with a preset and a cook book and a tall jar.) But we are a family (albeit a small one), and the intended user/owner for this purchase is a single, unmarried person who cooks only occasionally.
Thanks.
“When we rated blenders in our September/October 2012 issue, we highly recommended the Hemisphere Control Blender ($199.99) by Breville; it was the co-winner with our high-end favorite, the Vitamix 5200 ($449). But we promised to keep an eye on the Breville’s long-term durability. Since then, we’ve made more than 400 smoothies in a single copy of the Breville blender, choosing a motor-challenging combination of juice, chunks of frozen fruit, and raw kale. We also purchased six more models for routine use in the test kitchen. The blender that made hundreds of smoothies is still going strong; however, we did have some issues with three of the six kitchen machines. In all cases, the motors worked fine, but problems centered on a tiny button on the base. It’s a secondary safety device, which starts the motor when activated by pressure from a slim plastic rib on the inside bottom of the jar. One jar had a broken rib, keeping it from pressing the button. But other faulty machines with intact ribs were more puzzling: If we pressed hard on the outside of the jar, the switch engaged. Breville engineers examined the machines and concluded that food had dribbled into the button, making the switch sticky, so it failed to engage—so we will be sure to try not to let food drip in that area. Given that our blenders experience unusually heavy use, we still recommend this machine. That said, if you subject your blender to heavy-duty use, you should consider investing in the Vitamix, a powerful commercial-style blender with a seven-year warranty.”
If this person cooks only occasionally, how often would this person really use a blender? If it’s not a daily usage thing, I would suggest a much less expensive blender than the Breville.
Well…This is not for my own kid. So there is some factor besides the practical concern. (I do not like the idea of gift exchanges in general. But in some scenario, we could not be totally out of it as long as it would not bankupt us. In life, there are often things you got to do what you are supposed to do. But there is always a limit on how elaborate the gift exchange scheme it is within my tolerance. $199 is not my limit yet.)
My wife just made the purchase online. The gift is on its way. It is Amazon Prime (or whatever it is to speed up the shipping of everything you order from this site), so I think it would take 2 days to get there.
An interesting thing as I heard was that, somehow in the notification email, the senders are default to mom and dad, and we had to change the titles before sending it out.
I have this blender. Originally, it had a glass bowl and a separate blade attachment. After a couple of years, they sent me a free replacement of the plastic bowl with the blade attached to it.
I thought I would use the old method more, but it’s too darn easy to use the integrated system! I have to say, I haven’t noticed it being any quieter than a Vita mix (which my daughter had in my kitchen for awhile). The capacity is a bit smaller though. They both do a good job and the Breville will fit on my counter, under my cabinets, while the VitaMix is too tall.
Making frozen watermelon margaritas today. Freeze the chunks of watermelon, add some lime juice and a little lime zest. Add rum or tequila. Blend first on ice crush and then on puree until it’s so thick you need a spatula and so cold it is breathing frost! No problem with this blender! Other ones you have to bang around to get them to handle the frozen watermelon.
Serve topped with lime zest (essential!) and maybe a wedge of fresh watermelon.
) if you don’t have paid access to their website.