I received this item at no cost to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

When I was pregnant with The Heir, I knew I was going to make his baby food myself. It wasn’t even a question for me, it was an absolute certainty. When he turned six months old, I bought some fabulous fruits and vegetables, and diligently got to work in my kitchen. I was steaming things on the stove, roasting things in the oven, boiling things in a pot. The blender and food processor came out, and I blended and blended, and blended some more. I divided everything up into ice cube trays for freezing, and eagerly awaited The Heir’s first taste of home made food. What happened next is something my childless former self could never have imagined. He wouldn’t eat it. He wouldn’t eat ANY of it. Not only would he refuse to eat it, but if some passed his lips he’d spray it right back at me. It was a humbling experience as a parent, and one that left behind an entire kitchen’s worth of dirty pots, pans, steam baskets, blenders, and food processor parts. In the end, I think the biggest hurdle in getting The Heir to eat what I made was the texture. Nothing seemed to be just right. So after taking a break for my own sanity, we resumed solid foods with store bought baby food. He gobbled it up like a champ, go figure. If only I’d known then what I know now, I could have saved myself SO MUCH TIME and so many dishes! With Petit Prince, I default to store bought baby food, and it works really well for us, but sometimes I like to be able to know just how much of a certain food he’s actually consuming. It’s all fine and good for packaged baby food to include organic spinach on the ingredients list, but how do I know just how much of that vegetable he’s actually getting in there? Making your own baby food is a great way to track such things, but it can be challenging to get the texture just right. Don’t even get me started on the number of dishes it takes to cook up your own baby food! All that has changed now that the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker is in my life. Surely I didn’t need yet another kitchen appliance, but after giving this baby food maker a go, I can’t imagine not have the Baby Brezza in my kitchen!

The Details:

Allow me to introduce you to the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker! This little appliance really does do it all when it comes to making baby food at home. Gone are the days of steaming everything on the stove and creating a ridiculous number of dishes (because what mom has time for that?). With the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker, you chop up the ingredients, put them into the Baby Brezza bowl, press the steam & blend button, and walk away. Really. This little machine even cooks meat, poultry, and fish!

Here’s what the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker comes with in the box. Included is the Baby Brezza base which houses the steam tank and control panel, the drive shaft, bowl, blade, and bowl lid. Also included is a handy instruction booklet, and a baby food recipe booklet. The recipe booklet has twenty different recipes to try, and includes a chart with suggested quantities, chop size, and steam time for various ingredients. Everything you need to get started making baby food at home is included (well, minus the actual food of course).

There are four different ways to use the Baby Brezza. The first is the one step function. This is the combination steam and blend setting. With this setting, you select the amount of time you’d like the food to steam and it will automatically blend when the steaming is complete. It’s truly just one step! The second way to use the Baby Brezza is for blending only. This is a great option if you’re making a baby smoothie, or need to blend the family meal into a smooth texture for baby to try. Third, you can use the steam function on its own. This setting allows you to stop and drain out excess water from the food after the steaming is complete and before you blend. This is especially handy when cooking up fruits that have particularly high water content (like apples, pears, and peaches, for example). Finally, you can use the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker to reheat and defrost with the steam function. That’s great for those times where you realize you forgot to take baby’s food out of the freezer and you’ve only got five minutes before dinner time!

The Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker holds up to 2 cups of raw food, so you can make pretty good sized batches of baby food in one go! You’ll have some for dinner that evening, and lots for the freezer! On the bottom of the Baby Brezza base you’ll find four suction cups. This secures the Baby Brezza to your counter top, so you don’t have to worry about it sliding or shifting about when you use it.

How It Works:

I only wish I’d had the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker right from the start of solids with Petit Prince. As much fun as it was trying to press food through the mesh strainer to attempt to get it smooth enough, it is significantly more fun to use the Baby Brezza! Using this magical machine is awesome. It’s super easy to do, and once I have everything chopped and ready to go, I just push the button and walk away. It’s really that simple. I will admit that the prep work involved is a bit time consuming as you have to chop the ingredients into a 1/4″ to 1/2″ dice. However, the reduction in time spent hands on in the kitchen during the cooking process, and not having to use almost every dish in my kitchen easily make up for the prep time.

Putting the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker together for use is really simple. It comes already assembled right out of the box, but you’ll want to take it apart and give it a quick wash before using it for the first time. First, you’re going to fill the steam tank with water. It takes 180ml (3/4 cup) of water, and there’s a handy line marked on the Baby Brezza bowl for measuring this out. Pour the water into the steam tank, and press down the steam tank lid. Reassemble the bowl and then add whatever ingredients you want (really, you can make any combination you want), and put the lid on top. The bowl attaches to the base much like a regular food processor. Place and twist. Next, you’ll press either the steam only button or the steam & blend button until the desired cooking time is lit up. Then press the green start button and you’re done! When the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker magic is complete, it will beep three times to signal that it’s done!

One of my biggest concerns with packaged baby food is the ratio of fruits to veggies in the jar or pouch. Many of the store bought options are heavy on the fruit and really light on the vegetables. I get it. It’s easier to get baby to try and enjoy foods when there’s a good amount of fruit in there. I don’t disagree at all, but what I want is for a good healthy serving of vegetables to be packed into Petit Prince’s food too. In general, Petit Prince is a pretty good eater. He chows down on avocado, sweet potatoes, and even broccoli, but sometimes getting leafy greens into him is a challenge. The Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker changes all that! Now, I can sneak vegetables into almost anything! I’m not talking one leaf of spinach or a handful of peas. No no. I’m talking LOTS of veggies mixed right into the purees I’m making. Case in point, my Super Spinach Berry Blast (yes I’ve taken to naming my own baby food creations). This combination includes one small apple, a handful of strawberries, half a small banana, and a packed half cup of spinach. Is it super green? Oh yes. Is it still delicious? You bet! Petit Prince gobbled this up like it was going out of style! He loved it!

What about the size of the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker. Yes, it’s another kitchen appliance, but it’s actually pretty small in the grand scheme of things. It takes up about as much room as an electric kettle. It’s not large by any means, but it is something you’ll need to make room for if leaving it out on the counter isn’t your thing. Clean up is a breeze too! The Baby Brezza bowl, blade, and lid are all dishwasher safe, so you don’t have to worry about spending time tediously scrubbing the inside edges of the bowl or the blade!

Pros:

• Truly a one step baby food maker
• Saves time
• No extra pots/pans/dishes required
• Choose exactly what your baby is eating
• Makes healthy baby food
• Use 100% organic ingredients if you want
• Easy to assemble and use
• Dishwasher safe (drive shaft cannot go in the dishwasher)

Cons:

• Prep can be a bit time consuming
• Will need to make room for it on the counter or in the cupboard

Final Thoughts:

I have a feeling that if I’d had the Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker when The Heir started solids over three years ago, I might have actually had more success making his first foods. One of the biggest things I struggled with (aside from how time consuming it was and what a mess it made in the kitchen), was getting it to just the right texture. The Baby Brezza makes this easy. The steam & blend setting automatically blends the food for 30 seconds, but if that’s not long enough to get the consistency you’re after, you just press and hold the blend button until it’s smooth enough for your baby. I like that I can customize the consistency in this way. The Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker lets you make exactly what you want for your baby without having to compromise on the ingredients. Choose whatever you want! Get creative! Try something new! Most importantly, you can spend all that extra time you’ll have just hanging out with baby instead of spending hours in the kitchen making baby food you’ll just be wearing anyway!

The Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker retails for $109.99 CAD and is available HERE at Amazon.ca, at Babies R Us, and at various other retailers across Canada. If you’d like to connect with Baby Brezza and learn more about The One Step Baby Food Maker, you can follow them on Facebook and check out their website!