I have Celiac disease, and I have to eat gluten-free. It’s no fun sometimes, especially when I go to a restaurant. But, eating at home has become easier as more and more kitchen gadgets like blenders make life easier for those with dietary restrictions.
A good blender can help you create non-processed food and drink creations that contain fresh ingredients. From almond and rice flours, to pizza dough to fruit and veggie smoothies, a solid blender makes so many of the staples that people need to make fresh foods at home.
Recently, I got the chance to test out the Breville Super Q Blender, which is a high-powered, commercial-grade home blender with vacuum technology. Given I rely so heavily on a blender to make flour mixes, dough, protein drinks, and smoothies, I was excited. After 80 hours of testing, here are my thoughts on the high-end Breville Super Q BBL920 Blender.
Simple Setup
I was surprised to see the box for the Super Q blender was exceptional large compared to other blenders I’ve used. It also had some weight to it. When I opened the box, I found the heavy stainless steel blender base, the large (68-ounce) BPA-free and shatter-proof blender jug, the lid with an inner measuring cup, a travel blending cup and lid, and a high-quality tamper and scraper tool. The tamper tool weighs about a half of a pound, and I could feel its sturdy and solid construction.
In addition, I found the Vac Q pump (optional extra) with four included AA batteries, user guides, and an elegant, hard cover recipe book. I was impressed with the recipe book. It looks expensive, like a cookbook you’d purchase from a bookstore as opposed to a recipe guide you’d find in a blender box. Another thing that immediately turned my head was the 10-year limited warranty, considering most kitchen gadgets come with a one-year or a two-year limited warranty at best.
Because the Super Q has decent of parts and accessories, I thought I might be dealing with an hour or two of reading instructions. But, the instructions were really simple, and I had the Super Q setup and ready to go within 10 minutes. The parts go together very intuitively; and overall, this is an incredibly straightforward machine. The power cord even retracts into the blender base, which makes the blender look neater and makes storage a bit easier.
Smoothie Superhero
The first thing I made in the Super Q was a strawberry, banana, and blueberry smoothie. I chucked some plain Greek yogurt into the blender along with some ice, frozen blueberries, fresh strawberries, and fresh banana chunks. I put the lid on, pressed the ‘smoothie’ button, and I watched the machine quietly pulverize the ingredients into a silky smooth beverage in seconds.
This blender is powerful. It boasts an 1800 watt motor, and it reaches speeds of up to 186 miles per hour. And it does it really, really quietly.
Vac Q = Fresher Foods
The Super Q BBL920 combines with a Vac Q pump attachment, which is optional when you purchase the blender. The Vac Q sucks the air out of the blender and prevents air bubbles from building up during blending. The absence of air bubbles reduces oxidation, which is supposed to make your veggie dips and smoothies taste better, and have more vibrant color and better texture.
I used the Vac Q attachment to make a spinach and blueberry smoothie. I placed the ingredients in the blender, attached the Vac Q to remove the air, removed the Vac Q, and then pressed ‘smoothie.’ After blending, I pressed the button on top of the blender to release the suction, as a seal forms and you can’t open the blender until you release the seal. Using the Vac Q pump did make a very noticeable difference, and I could smell the fresh spinach and blueberry as soon as I opened the blender. The taste was much more intense when I used the Vac Q attachment, and I could taste each flavor individually.
The vac attachment is good for fruit smoothies, veggie smoothies, veggie dips, salsa, and purées. However, it won’t do much for your flours, and you shouldn’t use it when making dairy smoothies, dough, or other recipes that benefit from air bubbles.
A Badass Blender
The Super Q is exceptionally powerful and quiet during operation, but it’s also not overly complicated. It’s a high tech kitchen gadget, but not so much that you need to take a class to learn how to use it.
The Super Q has 9 buttons: On/Off, Pause/Cancel, Pulse/Ice Crush, Smoothie, Green Smoothie, Frozen Dessert, Soup, Clean, and Timer. Each button is pretty self-explanatory. It also has a dial, so you can manually control the speed. The soup button lets you make a hot soup out of room temperature ingredients. Although the blender doesn’t cook like an appliance that uses a traditional heating element, it can take room temperature ingredients and blend them at high speed into a hot soup.
One of the more annoying things about a blender is when you have to run a program multiple times to get it to fully blend your ingredients. This is not a problem with the Super Q. As long as you put the right proportions in, it blends in one press, and you rarely (if ever) even need to use the tamper or side scraper tools.
Easy to Clean and Dishwasher Safe
For me, something that can take a blender from luxury to lacking is when it’s really difficult to clean. The Instant Pot Ace is a great example of this, as cooked-on food gets stuck on the bottom metal portion of the blender, and it’s almost impossible to get it clean.
The Super Q is so incredibly easy to clean. The blender’s clean cycle actually works well. But, for those who like to use the dishwasher to clean their gadgets, the blender jug, the personal blender cup, tamper, scraper, and the lids are all dishwasher safe. You just can’t put the blender base and vacuum attachment in the dishwasher, but those just need to be wiped down periodically.
Is it overpriced?
So throughout this review, I’ve been raving about how the Breville Super Q BBL920 is an overall stellar appliance. But, there’s one huge downside to the Super Q: The price. It sells for around $500, and the Vac Q pump attachment usually costs around $100.
The blender jug is made of a BPA-free shatter proof plastic material (it’s made with copolyester), so at first I was a bit taken aback to see such a high price on a blender that was made of plastic instead of something more expensive (like gold perhaps?). But all jokes aside, after I tested the machine, I realized the flexible plastic material was necessary in order for the Vac Q pump to function properly. I also came to realize this blender truly is superior to its lower-priced competitors.
The Super Q blender’s overall quality, performance, and warranty make it worth the high price. This is a next-level blender, and I wouldn’t say it’s overpriced. It makes your food and drink blends taste better, it works faster, it operates more quietly, and it’s easy to clean. On the other hand, a blender at one-tenth of the price will still blend, so it’s up to you whether or not you want to spend so much more for what may just be one of the best blenders on the market.
