When spending money on a piece of kitchen equipment I want bang for my buck. Similarly, I’m short on space, so I really like the idea of a piece of equipment that offers more than one functionality –  the Philips ProBlend 5 fits the bill. It’s a jug blender/smoothie maker, but also comes with two handy accessories that make it stand out amongst other similar appliances on the market. I spent 24 hours with it to see how it would fit into my life.

It’s morning and I’m feeling seriously under the weather – the cold bug that I have been desperately trying to avoid has finally caught up with me. I’m not thrilled about the idea of having to take lots of medication and so decide I’ll start my day with an über green juice that’s packed full of nutrients. I’m testing whether I can send the germs fleeing with all the nutritious goodness that I can get into a glass. As I mentioned earlier, this blender comes with two extra, nifty attachments – the first is a juice filter and the second a mill. We’ll get to the mill later, right now, the juice filter.

The filter allows you to use the blender in more of a juicing function, creating a liquid that is more juice, less pulp.

Into the Philips ProBlend 5 goes baby spinach, cucumber, and even some celery. I’m not actually a fan of celery but have been told it adds a great flavour dimension so we’ll see. I go light with the celery just in case. I balance it with pineapple and mango for sweetness, which I’m hoping will perk me up. I use the Philips ProBlend 5 pulse function to give an upfront blitz to the veggies and fruit, and then use the blending function to take it to the next level. The juice filter keeps all the pulp in a central cylinder and the result is surprisingly smooth juice. I’m apprehensive about this dark green drink at first but am genuinely surprised by the flavour. There is a hint of celery that adds a great freshness, plus the addition of the sweet tropical fruits makes it really tasty. It feels really victorious to know that I’ve gotten in a huge whack of raw vegetable and fruit nutrients in one glass. Germs be gone!

At lunchtime, I decide to use the jug blender to blend myself a soup. I know, I know, it’s summer, it’s hot, but I’m not feeling 100% and a comforting soup is just what I feel like. I decided on a butternut and orange soup earlier in the day, so have already oven roasted a packet of pre-peeled and chopped butternut (scorn!). I drizzled the butternut and some onion quarters with a little honey and seasoned with salt and pepper. The roasted veg has already cooled down, so goes straight into the Philips ProBlend 5 jug with a little chicken stock (premade, don’t judge, I’m sick!) a splash of orange juice (extra vitamin C) and about half a cup of coconut milk. I pulse a bit to start with and then blend it all together, with some adjustments of liquid, until it reaches the right consistency. It’s tasty, all I need to do is warm it up and tuck in. The Philips ProBlend 5 has blended it effortlessly; its star blade technology creates a cyclical rotation ensuring a really smooth finish. It’s no more difficult to clean than any jug blender, which is a positive.

Come the end of the day I decide to use the mill. This handy attachment allows you to grind things like whole spices, perfect if you’re making a curry that requires coriander powder and you only have seeds. The attachment fits into the centre of the jug and connects via the blade at the bottom. I’m not making curry today, but I am eyeballing the bag of coffee beans that I have that need to be ground. I decide to give it a go. The mill grinds the beans pretty easily and that’s great news, it negates the need for a separate coffee grinder – huge plus. I look forward to freshly ground coffee in the morning.

All in all, I really enjoyed using the Philips ProBlend 5. It is a nice looking blender that I would be happy to have on my counter top. The fact that you can do some low level juicing, as well as grind spices and coffee etc are added bonuses. A sound investment if you need a multifunctional kitchen tool on a budget.

Get the recipe for this Juicy Tropical Green Smoothie HERE.

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