Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender Review: Suck it and See

Review of the new state of the art Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender. It’s a a powerful blender with a clever vacuum function to reduce oxidisation, extend shelf life and retain nutrients. It can make smoothies, vegetable and fruit juices, soups, nut butters and more.

As a Froothie ambassador I’ve been lucky enough to try out a range of blenders. The first one to live in my kitchen was the Optimum 9200A. It’s a powerful beast and until now, has been unrivalled for pure muscle. The Optimum Vac2 is not only strong, it’s also a vacuum blender and I have a handsome red one sitting pretty in my kitchen.

Vacuum Blending

Why do we need a vacuum blender you may well ask? If you use the vacuum function of this Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender, air is drawn out of the jug. This  avoids oxidation thus retaining more of the nutrients and prolonging shelf life. Given that I tend to make smoothies that last a couple of days and sometimes longer, this is a real winner for me.

Oxidation also causes food to lose its colour and start going brown. I’ve really noticed that my smoothies stay brighter for significantly longer than normal when I use the vacuum process. You can see this in action by watching the Froothie video below.

I’ve also noticed that my smoothies and juices don’t separate out to anything like the same extent as normal smoothies and they take much longer to do it too. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s a good bonus. CT also reckons smoothies retain their sprightly flavour when vacuumed.

The vacuum function is by no means mandatory. In fact it should only be used with smoothies or juices, but it’s a nifty way of making your food even more nutritious.

It’s a simple process to operate the vacuum function of this Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender. Lower the vacuum outlet onto the lid of the jug, press the vacuum button and voila. You’ll hear a buzzing noise for seventy seconds whilst the air is removed, then the contents are ready for blending.

I tend to press down on the outlet for the first few seconds just to make sure, but as soon as you’re unable to lift it back up, you know it’s working.

Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender For Smoothies

Along with most of the rest of the population it seems, we succumbed to a winter virus which hung around for an awfully long time. The result is that I’ve made good use of the Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender over the last few weeks and have been making nutrient rich smoothies as if they were going out of fashion. I’ve used great lumps of ginger, kale, broccoli, apples, carrots and more.

Everything I’ve added has come out wonderfully smooth and in only a few seconds too. Yes, you too can make a good smoothie from lumpy veg in less than a minute.

Green smoothies similar to this beetroot leaf green smoothie are a firm favourite.

I’ve also had a go at making tangerine and beetroot juice and was very pleased with the result. For both smoothies and juices there are preset functions, which make it really easy to use.

You can, however, use the Vac2 as a traditional blender employing your own speeds and timings. The speed dial goes from 1-8, so there is plenty of room for manoeuvre. There is also the essential pulse button. I always seem to use this a lot, especially when it comes to cleaning the jug.

Cleaning

Cleaning is simple. Pour some warm water into the jug with a couple of drops of washing up liquid and pulse. Alternatively set the timer for 15-30 seconds depending on what you’ve been making. Start on a low speed and gradually ramp it up until the whole jug and lid is being washed. Run a cloth around the rim to ensure everything is removed, pour the water away, rinse and leave to air dry.

I’m really pleased with this Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender. It’s a bit noisy, but it’s not as bad as you might think. My only quibble is that the jug never looks as good as it did when it first came out of the box. The water marks seem to be particularly obvious. CT puts this down to the hard water in our new home.

Additional Functions

I’ve yet to try the soup function whereby suitable veg that you might otherwise eat raw, such as carrots, courgettes or broccoli, are whizzed for six minutes and heated to about 60C by the friction generated.

Have a look at Nico’s recipe for vegan broccoli & cheese soup over at Yumsome to see how she got on.

I have, however, blended this apple parsnip soup which I cooked on the stove top. As with the smoothies, the result was super smooth with a velvety mouth feel, which is just what you want from a good meal in a bowl.

NB 21 Feb 2018. I have now tried the soup function and it’s really quite amazing. It heats the soup until it’s steaming and just a bit too hot to eat. Perfect. I’ve also made a hot hot chilli tomato sauce in it to serve with these courgette sweetcorn fitters.

The Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender comes with a tamper tool for pushing thick mixtures such as nut butters down onto the blades. I haven’t tried it in this machine yet, but I have in other Froothie blenders and it can make a seemingly impossible task actually quite simple.

There is a preset function for grinding nuts and seeds. I’ve haven’t used it yet, but I’m confident it will be at least as good as the other Froothie blenders I’ve tried and they are all very effective.

I’m looking forward to whizzing up some more sauces such as this cheesy cashew nut sauce and to making hemp milk again. And I’m already getting excited about wild garlic season. It can’t be far off now and I absolutely adore making wild garlic pesto.

Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender Spec

As already stated, the Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender is a powerful machine. It has a 2238 watt motor and whizzes things up with remarkable speed. As with all froothie power blenders, the jug has six blades made from high quality stainless steel.

The jug has a good 2 litre capacity and is made from heavy duty heat-resistant BPA-free polycarbonate.

The stand is quite neat with a digital display and easy one touch buttons. A speed dial makes it particularly easy to regulate how fast you want the contents to blend and can be used whilst the machine is in operation.

I’m very happy with my red base, but the Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender is also available in black or silver.

Instructions and a recipe booklet are included. You can see exactly what you get in the box by watching Jan’s unboxing video from A Glug of Oil.

Keep in Touch

Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you try this vacuum blender, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for using it?

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For power blender recipes and reviews, as well as posts about the Optimum HealthyFry Rapid Air Fryer and Optimum P200 Dehydrator, head on over to my blender category.

Choclette x

Froothie sent me this blender to try out. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. Thanks to my readers for supporting the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.