Planet Veggie

Another day, another gadget to review. Oh yes, it’s a hard life being a Froothie Ambassador. My Froothie Optimum G2.1 blender has kept me happy over the last couple of years but when Froothie told me they had a new blender out – the Froothie Optimum VAC2 air vacuum blender – and this was a special one with magical air vacuuming properties and would I like to try it I thought yes please, despite me not having a clue what air vacuuming meant. Was it like air guitaring, I wondered. I can do air vacuuming better than I can do real vacuuming. 

Unsurprisingly, it had nothing to do with pretending to vacuum but everything to do with removing the air from the jug prior to blending. This apparently helps to prevent oxidation and the destruction of nutrients, allowing you to create smoothies that stay fresh, nutritious and full of flavour. I think this means it stops air making the fruit and/or veg manky. Kind of like when you cut up an apple and it goes brown if you don’t eat it straight away.

At first I thought, 99.9% of the time I drink my smoothies straight away – I don’t need a machine to make them so they last longer. Then I realised I only drink them straight away because otherwise they separate and go all manky, i.e. the oxidation thing. Ooh, I thought. Let’s give this a go then.

Like the Optimum G2.1, the VAC2 has a touchscreen with preset functions for smoothie, vegs&fruits, nuts and soup, as well as the usual pulse setting and the ability to choose your own time and speed. Please note though, the preset ‘vacuum’ function should only be used with either the smoothie or the vegs&fruits setting – the VAC2 is also a traditional high speed blender as well as an air vacuum blender and if you use the vacuum setting for nuts or soup the oxidation benefit won’t occur and the fine particles or heat might damage the vacuum pump.

Making a smoothie with the vacuum function is easy. Lift the vacuum outlet arm up from the main unit (see above pic). Then put your fruit and/or veg into the jug, add your liquid of choice (I used coconut water), put the lid on securely, put the vacuum outlet arm over the lid, press ‘vacuum’, then press ‘vegs&fruits’. In case you’re wondering why you press ‘vegs&fruits’ if you want to make a smoothie and why don’t you press the ‘smoothie’ button then the answer is: I don’t really know, but the manual says the smoothie function is for when you’re using none or very little water and ‘vegs&fruits’ is to be used when you add appropriate amounts of water to make vegetable and fruit juice. So there you go. *shrugs*

Before I’d made a smoothie (or a vegetable and fruit juice, if that’s what you want to call it) in the VAC2, I couldn’t see how the flipping flop resting the vacuum outlet arm on the lid was going to create a vacuum. But create a vacuum it did as, after I’d pressed ‘on/off’, it counted down 70 seconds while sealing the lid, making a humming noise and creating anticipation like an aeroplane on the runway preparing to take off (but a lot less noisy).

After the 70 seconds sealing and sucking has finished, it automatically goes into blend mode, leaving you with a fresh and smooth smoothie (or juice). And if you were in any doubt as to whether it had in fact sealed and sucked, or the arm thing just rested there; it certainly did seal it as the arm was stuck on and could only be released by pressing the valve on top.

For the purpose of this review, I tested the VAC2’s air vacuuming properties and left my juice in the fridge for over 24 hours to see what would happen. As you can see in the pic above yes, there is a tiny bit of difference – but had this not been made in an air vacuum blender, it would have separated massively. Take a look at the video to see what I mean.

Cleaning the VAC2 is painless – the jug’s a lot lighter than the one on the G2.1 so that makes it easier to hold under the tap to rinse. If you’ve made a juice or smoothie, it’ll only need a bit of a rinse but if you’ve made soup or hummus or something else that needs a bit of extra help, put a bit of water in the jug, put the lid on and pulse for a few seconds and that will dislodge anything that’s got stuck under the blades.

As much as I used my G2.1 for soup and sauces, I’ve got to admit I usually used my Nutribullet for smoothies but, no more! Now I solely use my VAC2 for smoothies/juices because of its air vacuuming properties and its ease of cleaning. I’ve also made soup in it and that comes out as velvety smooth as it did in the G2.1 and the cashew milk I made this morning blended perfectly and required no straining at all.

How to buy the Froothie Optimum VAC2

If you’d like to get your hands on the Froothie Optimum VAC air vacuum blender, head over to the Froothie website where you’ll get:

• free UK delivery
• £20 off with the code AMB20
• interest free credit
• 5 years warranty
• 30-day money back guarantee (including return postage)
• a choice of three colours – red, black or silver

Disclosure: I am an Ambassador for Froothie and any links to their products in this post are affiliate links which, if purchased through, won’t cost you any more but will earn me a small commission. I only endorse products I am happy with and I have not been paid for this post (I did get a free blender though).