Brilliant design by Breville

My oldest daughter and I like to make smoothies. However, we were never satisfied with our final product. First of all, our smoothies always had ice chunks. We also noticed that other ingredients never fully mixed up. We started closely watching the blender to see what we were doing wrong. We would put in our ingredients, press the button and watch the ingredients whir about for a minute, and then the little whirlpool that should show in the middle would disappear. We would try pressing other buttons. Maybe we were using the wrong setting. Nope, that didn’t seem to be the cause, because no matter what button we pressed, the blender really didn’t seem to be changing speeds. This was on one of the fancy models with eight buttons and two levels of power for each button.

My daughter complained that she wanted us to get a new blender that would work better. I explained to her that every blender I have ever had performed just like this one. I really believed that we were destined for unblended smoothies, but I agreed to look at blenders just to quiet her. Who am I to refuse to shop?

Then I pondered the Breville ikon Hemisphere Blender when we discovered it in the Macy’s Home Department. Right away, I noticed that the blades inside the blender are formed differently from the other blenders. The blades are stretched out low, across the bottom of the blender. Only very small things could sit between the blades and the floor of the pitcher. I also noticed that the blades are cut like very serious serrated knives! Other blenders have blades that curve immediately upward from the center, and have very little sharpness. I became hopeful.

I then considered the shape of the pitcher. It has straight sides instead of the curved bottom on most other blenders. All of the parts are made out of high quality, lasting materials. The moving parts are metal and even the protrusion that fits into the motor on the base is a large, heavy piece of metal that I have confidence won’t wear down or break with continuous use.

Other neat design features include a multi-layer rubber gasket type closure for the lid with an extended ring to insert your finger for pulling with a firm tug. Just press it downward firmly and nothing is going to leak out the edge. The plug, likewise, has a hole to stick your finger through so that if it is plugged into a tight socket, it can be pulled out without yanking on the cord, which can shorten the life of the cord. There is also a place under the motor to wrap excess cord. Buttons are not separate pieces that food can fall down under. In fact, the whole base is one solid, stainless steel piece, except for the plastic covering the buttons, that can be wiped up easily for those inevitable spills and splatters.

The pitcher easily comes apart for cleaning and the rubber gasket is made out of a more durable rubber that doesn’t seem to “melt” into the parts as the machine is used. I have had this experience with other blenders.

Once I got this blender home, I discovered an interesting feature. The first speed setting is labeled as “snow.” According to the manual, this setting will make an “even, powdery snow” if you put in “large, solid, dry ice that has come straight from the freezer.” I was intrigued, so I tried it. It really worked marvelous! Snow cones, anyone?

But, what about the much desired smoothies? It has a special button for smoothies. If you press this, an interesting series of different speed settings commence for a period of sixty seconds. They think they have the ultimate settings pre-programmed for making a smoothie and I’m not going to argue with them since we haven’t had a bad smoothie yet with this machine. There is no guess work involved. Since using the Breville, I have not found a single ice chip and all ingredients are perfectly blended.

Other buttons are Mix, Blend, and Liquify. There is a Pulse button that is also labeled for Ice Crush. There are no buttons for Puree or Frappe, or the other silly categories I’ve seen on blenders. I never could tell the difference between them. This blender is really a hybrid between a blender and a food processor. You can indeed put meat in this machine to be chopped up. It was planned this way because there is a market for people that want both functions in one machine to eliminate an extra appliance on the kitchen counter. I think it has proven itself to be quite capable of these high aspirations.

To sum it up, I wouldn’t trade this blender for any amount of money. Sometimes, someone designs a product with function in mind instead of quick money making. This is one of those products that will perform what you ask it to do, and quickly. I highly recommend this machine for serious cooks or those just looking to enjoy a smoothie or margarita.