Kokova Magazine

With Christmas 'wish lists' being written I thought it was a great time to talk about one of the larger gadgets in the kitchen – a blender. To mix, mingle, combine, stir, whisk, merge, emulsify, amalgamate there are lots of technical terms for blending!

It was always known as a blender but now they are known as smoothie machines and a machine that blitzes everything.

I have been looking at the Which guide to blenders and there are a huge number on the market. They range in price too, from £20 to £800 - so it really is quite a challenge to know which one does what.

It's all about what your budget is and what you want to achieve. If fresh fruit smoothies are all you are worried about and its for one or two people then something like a more personal blender would be sufficient. The Breville Blend Active at £25 should suit. This does a nice job of making a silky smoothie drink and comes with various sized cups to grab and run.

Of course the Rolls Royce of Smoothie maker's would be the Nutribullet. Again there are various machines, sizes and models of Nutribullet. I looked at the Nutribullet RX as this makes smoothies but also heats up soup as well as blends it. The capacity was too small for me, really ideal for personal use but virtually self cleaning and cups are dishwasher safe its worth looking at that soup option and priced at approximately £150.

Cuisinart, Kenwood are just a couple of brands that have blenders on the market for around £100, larger capacity more powerful, and it really is a case of looking at each one carefully and even if it's £100 I ideally would like to give it a test blend.

Vitamix and Blendec have machines which do similar tasks if not more efficiently, their speed and blending power is excellent. They are the machines used in a more commercial environment like coffee shops and cafes. The domestic machine works brilliantly in the kitchen especially if you are blending regularly. When you make nut butter it is perfectly smooth or those secret ingredients like kale in your smoothie you would never know it was there. I found the Vitamix quite noisy but the Professional series 300 was definitely a little less on the ears. This machine is priced at about £499.

I was fortunate enough to be able to have a go at pressing the button on the JTC Omniblend V. This professional blender was having a workout at the Cake and Bake Show this year in London and I was quite impressed with the demonstration. We saw a fresh fruit smoothie, a soup and a sorbet all put together in a few minutes in front of us and when I tasted they all were smooth and delicious. So the sales talk had worked on me and I ordered my machine with the intention of giving it some gruelling tasks and seeing if it really would perform to high standards.

Since it arrived last a month I have made smoothies, dips, pesto, hummus, nut butter, my homemade 'nutella' and icy desserts, like raspberry sorbet, most successfully. I am constantly in the kitchen and experimenting on recipes at this time of year for soups and sauces. The blade speed can rotate up to 38,000 RPM and the JTC Omniblend has an impressive 3HP motor. Vitamix do have a more powerful machine but I thought the Omniblend was quieter and I have to say half the price.

I do love the fact that you can make soup in a few minutes and then the machine is self cleaning too so makes the job hassle free. The machine came with a seven year warranty and lots of free recipe books which I love for ideas and experimentation. I thought at about £250 it was incredible value for money and does any blending I need in the busy kitchen.