Nutribullet Balance
My husband has wanted to get a Nutribullet for years. However we already had a food processor, hand blender, a Mix and Go and a stainless steel blender, I didn’t think it was necessary.
It turns out that my husband was right (though I down played that to him of course) and we now have thrown out our blender and Mix and Go. The advantages I like about the Nutribullet Balance is the following:
- Convenience
- The Nutribullet Balance app and Bluetooth technology
- Helps amateur cooks
- Raises nutritional awareness
- The variety of foods that can be made – it’s not just a smoothie maker!
Convenience
I find have found the Nutribullet to be a much faster and efficient way to process foods. To start with, you don’t need to keep your hand on a trigger which means you can tend to other items while the Nutribullet is blending. If you have the Nutribullet Balance connected to your app it has a timer that will countdown and automatically turn off once it has finished so that it doesn’t run the risk of overheating. The Nutribullet doesn’t just blend, it has settings such as crush, pulse, pulse blend and super blend which make it quicker to see results. For example, with previous appliances, it has taken me a while to blend pesto however with the ‘pulse’ settings the Nutribullet broke down the pine nuts quite quickly.
Technology
I was sceptical that I would use the app, but I love it. The app allows you to note what you have in your pantry. From here it will provide you recipes that you can make from your ingredients. If you are missing an ingredient, you can either add it to a shopping list generated from the app or skip the ingredient and continue to make the recipe.
Once you are ready to start, you add the first ingredient and your phone alerts you when you have the right measurement … no more measuring cups, spoons, jugs or scales required! You then click a button to move onto the next ingredient or you can choose to add more of the same ingredient if you aren’t following the recipe to a tee. If you don’t have the next ingredient you skip and move onto the third ingredient. Once all ingredients are in you turn the cup over and the app will start the blending/pulsing. It is so easy to use.
You can also add your own recipes in the app. The app will measure the ingredients so you can save this recipe for the future or change it if required. For example, I am experimenting to find the right balance of ingredients for a pesto recipe. Next time I know I will need to add more grams of basil than the previous time.
If you don’t want to use the app, for example if you are blending a pear for baby food, then you can use the Nutribullet Balance in manual mode.
Helps amateur cooks
I have only really started to enjoy cooking in the last couple of years and I still only really enjoying it if I have a bit of time. As I am still a bit of an amateur, I am not a very creative cook. Therefore I like to follow the recipe closely. The measuring feature helps me both to get the measurements correct and speeds up the process the cooking. The recipes also open my eyes to items that I have never really used. My pantry has more variety of products since getting a Nutribullet Balance. It has also sparked a larger interest to make items from scratch such as pancake batter, dressings and soups.
Raises nutritional awareness
Since I developed gestational diabetes while I was pregnant with both sons, I have developed more of an interest in the nutritional value of food in the last few years. However I still only really know about the recommended carbohydrate and sugar intake. This app tells you the nutritional value of the recipe that you’ve made. When I made pancake batter, I was surprised to see that it was over the recommended daily intake of cholesterol. It made me conscious that it does not take a lot to be over the daily recommended amounts and as high cholesterol runs in my family, I will need to be more conscious of my cholesterol intake.
If you only use eat/drink part of the recipe, the Nutribullet Balance can recalculate the nutritional information based on what is left in the cup.
The app also connects and uploads information to the Apple Health app.
The Variety of Foods
I always associated Nutribullets with smoothies. However there are many other items that it can be used for. I am currently using it to blend food for my five month old who has just started eating solids. Other items that you could use it for include, but aren’t limited to, soups, dressings, cocktails, batter and dips.
A couple of other advantageous items is that it is easy to clean and not as bulky as I was expecting.
This would be a great Christmas present for anyone that likes cooking, is nutritionally conscious, enjoys smart technology or has a baby. I really like this product. It is so easy and fun that I might even admit to my husband that he was right!
Reviewed by E Miller
