The Wolf Gourmet High-Performance and Pro Performance Blenders are relatively new models from Wolf Gourmet, whose parent company is world-famous Sub-Zero Group, Inc., the maker of some of the best gourmet refrigerators and ovens in the world.
High Performance Wolf Blender, Credit: Wolf Gourmet
Pro Performance Wolf Blender, Credit: Wolf Gourmet
Sub-Zero Group brings that high-end design to their Wolf Blenders (High Performance & Pro Performance) which are solid performers and compare very well with models from other high-end blender manufacturers like Vitamix. (See our reviews of two of Vitamix’s top of the line blenders, the Vitamix 750 here and the Vitamix A3500 here as well as our top blender picks here).
The High-Performance Wolf Blender has one of the most powerful motors among this class of blender and the Pro Performance Wolf Blender is slightly less powerful (it matches or slightly exceeds the rated power of the Vitamix 750 and A3500 blenders). Each Wolf blender has four automatic blending modes, a manual mode, and a Pulse button.
If you’re in a hurry you can see each Wolf Blender on Amazon here for the High Performance Model and here for the Pro Performance Model. And if you need to see specific information about these blenders, use the table of contents below to find what you’re looking for. Otherwise just read through the review.
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Contents
Wolf Gourmet is the small appliance division of Sub-Zero Group, Inc. and these products were introduced to the market in 2015. The product line is famous for its very high-end Wolf Gourmet Countertop Oven (we review it here) which is essentially a small version of a full-sized Wolf oven, producing 550 Fahrenheit broiling and includes a temperature probe.
Other high-end Wolf Gourmet appliances with purchase links to Amazon include two toaster models, a four-slice toaster and a two-slice toaster, a multi-function slow cooker, sous vide, sear and saute cooker, a high-performance stand mixer, a premium coffee maker which we review here, a gourmet griddle, a gourmet cookware set or single cookware options and a 7-piece gourmet knife set or individual knife options.
Credit: Wolf Gourmet
Sub-Zero Group contains three major product divisions apart from Wolf Gourmet. They are Wolf brand ovens, ranges, and other premium cooking appliances, Sub-Zero refrigerators, and refrigeration systems, and Cove Dishwashers.
Subzero dates back to 1945 when Westye Bakke founded the company. Interestingly Mr. Bakke was first introduced to refrigeration while he was working for famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930s, who encouraged him to study refrigeration to cool the homes he was designing. Subzero-Zero Group is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and is now headed by Westye Bakke’s grandson, Jim Bakke.
Wolf was founded by brothers Al and Hyman Wolf in the 1930s in Los Angeles. The brothers started making commercial ovens for restaurants that were better than those that their customers were asking them to repair.
Wolf grew in size and experience manufacturing commercial ranges and ovens and with its growth, the quality of the Wolf brand also expanded.
With that brand behind it, Wolf expanded into ranges and ovens for the consumer or home cook in 1989 with a focus on high-end quality products. Consumers enthusiastically embraced these home ranges and ovens and their iconic red knobs.
Wolf was acquired by Subzero in 2000 and incorporated into the Sub-Zero Group.
The High Performance Wold Blender and the Pro Performance Wolf Blender are very similar. They are both built with stainless steel and each includes a 64-ounce BPA-free, shatterproof Tritan™ blender container with a two-part lid with built-in emulsion cup, four automatic blending modes (Smoothie • Ice crush • Puree • Soup), manual modes with speed from 1 to 10, Pulse, 5-year warranties and powerful blender motors that are designed to be quieter than most blenders.
The difference between the two Wolf Gourmet blender models is the power of each motor. The High Performance Wolf Blender is rated at 2.4 “peak” horsepower, while the Pro Performance Wolf Blender is rated at 2.2 “peak” horsepower. By comparison, the Vitamix 750 and the Vitamix A3500 are both rated at 2.2 “peak” horsepower. And by another measure, the High Performance Wolf Blender spins at over 210 miles per hour and the Pro Performance Wolf Blender spins at over 200 miles per hour. Either blender is certainly powerful enough to do what you want a blender to do and are at least as powerful by rating as the top of the line Vitamix blenders.
The other major difference between the two blenders is the LCD display in the High Performance blender that displays blending time and which automatic mode or blending speed you’ve chosen. The Pro Performance blender does not have an LCD display.
So the High Performance blender is slightly more powerful and has an LCD display and the Pro Performance blender does not have an LCD display and is as powerful as top of the line Vitamix blenders by its power rating.
The Wolf Gourmet High Performance Blender and the Pro Performance Blender each have four pre-set modes: Smoothie, Ice Crush, Purée, and Soup.
Smoothie –Smoothie mode is used to blend frozen or fresh fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients with ice. This automatic cycle begins by pulsing the blender motor five times to break down the frozen ingredients and then runs at the highest speed for 45 seconds.
A great way to pack all of your nutrition into a beverage, smoothies are a staple product of blenders and many people have tweaked their smoothies tp add various powders, vitamins, and supplements of all kinds to juice, vegetables, and fruit to ensure that they get their daily dose in one serving.
Ice Crush –Ice Crush modes automatically alternates the blender motor back and forth between a low speed and a medium speed that is designed to best pulverize ice into bits. This cycle runs for one minute.
Use Ice Crush to make a blended drink of any kind, with or without alcohol.
Puree –Puree mode is designed to create either a creamy liquid out of a tomato as a traditional puree or fine flour from grains. You can even use the Puree mode to make powdered sugar. Puree automatically runs for one minute once you start it and starts the blender at its lowest speed and gradually increases to its highest over the course of the blending program.
In Puree or in Manual mode, you can use the emulsion cup that is built into your blender lid to slowly pour liquid into your operating blender, like melted butter into Hollandaise or other ingredients into a mixed drink. It even has hash marks to help you measure accurately.
Credit: Wolf Gourmet
Soup – The Soup mode will make hot soup from cold or room temperature soup ingredients and broth that you put in the container, up to six cups.
The automatic Soup program runs for five minutes and forty-five seconds and during that time, the friction from the blender blades heats up the blended ingredients and broth to a temperature just below boiling.
So, throw your favorite fresh soup ingredients into your Wolf Gourmet blender and you’ll have hot soup in less than six minutes.
The High Performance blender has a two-part dial, the selector dial or bezel, and the Variable Speed Control Knob, the red, stainless steel, or black colored knob.
High Performance Wolf Blender, Credit: Wolf Gourmet
It also has a PULSE button and a START/STOP button above the LCD display. Pulse is used to run the blender motor in Manual mode at whatever speed is selected on the Variable Speed Control Knob for as long as you press the PULSE button. START/STOP will start the blender motor in any mode that you’ve selected when you press it once and press it again to stop the motor in any mode.
The bezel is used to select the blender mode, starting with “OFF” on the far left side, then “SMOOTHIE”, “MANUAL”, “ICE CRUSH”, “PUREE” and “SOUP”.
If you select manual mode, you can then use the Variable Speed Control knob, the knob with the red, stainless steel or black color, to select your preferred speed, from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) for blending and also for pulsing, when you press the Pulse button. You should always start at “1” and gradually increase power rather than start Manual mode at the highest setting.
The LCD screen will help you by displaying which mode you are in, and if you’re operating one of the automatic modes, how much time is left to blend, with a down arrow displayed to indicate a countdown timer. If you’re in the Manual mode, then the display will show your selected speed and display an up-pointing arrow to indicate a “count-up” timer.
The screen will automatically go into sleep mode after 10 minutes of inactivity. To wake it up, just press any button.
When you’re blending thick, dense, and frozen ingredients, the blender may get stuck trying to break them down. When that happens, use the tamper that is included with the blender to break up stuck ingredients or move them until they break down. To use the tamper, keep the lid in place but remove the emulsion cap in the middle of the lid. Insert the tamper through the hole in the lid to move the stuck ingredients from the sides of the blender. You shouldn’t use the tamper with any hot soup or hot liquid.
The Pro Performance Blender is controlled by a single knob, the iconic Wolf red knob, and is the only knob color option. It also has separate PULSE and START/STOP buttons above the control panel.
Starting with “SOUP” on the far left side of the control panel, by rotating the knob to the right, you can then select “PUREE”, “ICE CRUSH” and “SMOOTHIE”, followed by “OFF”. From the “OFF” position, rotate the knob to the right to select Manual speeds, starting at “1”, increasing to “10”. When in Manual mode, you can blend at whatever speed you select by pressing the START/STOP to start the motor and press it again to stop it. Pressing the PULSE button will start the motor at whatever speed is selected (you should always start at “1” and go up from there as needed) for as long as you press the button.
Pro Performance Wolf Blender, Credit: Wolf Gourmet
For each of the automatic modes, starting from the “OFF” position, rotate the knob to the left to whichever mode you choose, then press the START/STOP button. The automatic mode will then run for a fixed time, anywhere from one minute (Puree, Ice Crush, and Smoothie modes) to five minutes and forty-five seconds (Soup mode), you don’t have to do anything, the motor will stop automatically once it’s done. You can also interrupt any of the automatic modes by pressing the START/STOP button.
Use the tamper included with your blender to move any ingredients that get stuck while you’re blending. Remove the emulsion cap in the middle of the lid, but keep the lid on and insert the tamper into the hole. Use the tamper as needed to break up ingredients that are stuck in air pockets or that just won’t move.
The High Performance blender is described by Wolf as having 2.4 “peak” horsepower and the Pro Performance as having 2.2 “peak” horsepower. Peak horsepower is really the theoretical horsepower before the blades meet any friction like they do when they’re blending. The more realistic horsepower is the operating horsepower or the horsepower of the motor when it’s actually blending. One unit of this operating horsepower is equal to 746 watts of power.
The High Performance blender is rated at 1,656 watts and the Pro Performance is rated at 1,500 watts. The operating horsepower of each is the watts divided by 746 (1 unit of operating horsepower), so the High Performance blender has an operating horsepower of 2.22 while the Pro Performance blender has an operating horsepower of 2.01.
The Vitamix also uses “peak” horsepower when marketing the power of their blenders. The top of the line Vitamix 750 and A3500 blenders both have 2.2 “peak” horsepower, less than the High Performance blender, and equal to the peak horsepower of the Pro Performance blender.
The operating horsepower of each Vitamix blender is lower than both Wolf models however since the Vitamix blenders are rated at 1,440 watts. With 1,440 watts, the operating horsepower is 1.93 for the Vitamix 750 and the Vitamix A3500.
The High Performance and Pro Performance blender each have the same 64-ounce container and lid assembly. Cleaning is the same for both models.
To clean the Blender Lid, Emulsion Cap Assembly, Tamper, and Jar Pad (the rubber base below the container) you can hand wash them (recommended) or put them in the dishwasher but not in the “Sanitize” or “SANI” mode since that produces too much heat that will damage these components.
To clean the container, you can blend a half-container full of warm water and a couple of drops of liquid soap and blend for 30 seconds or just hand wash the container (watch out for the sharp blender blades). Do not put the container in the dishwasher, it’s not dishwasher safe.
To clean the container more thoroughly, you can use baking soda and vinegar to blend in the Soup mode (5 minutes and 45 seconds). To do this, pour 1/4 cup of baking soda into the container, then add 1 cup of white vinegar, and it will start to bubble. Wait until the bubbling subsides and then add 2 cups of water. Select the Soup mode and turn the blender on and let it run through the cycle.
If the blender motor starts getting too hot, it will shut itself off until it can cool down (at least 15 minutes), this is what Wolf Gourmet calls Automatic Overload Protection. Overheating can occur when the blender is run in manual mode for too long (often too long at low speeds) or if it gets stuck while the motor is still running in an automatic mode or manual mode. Automatic Overload Protection protects your motor by shutting it down to prevent permanent damage.
The standard warranty that comes with both Wolf Gourmet blenders is 5 years. That’s a pretty good warranty term since a lot of small appliance warranties are only one or two years, but much shorter than the 10-year warranty included with the Vitamix A3500 or the 7-year warranty with the Vitamix 750.
Wolf Gourmet will fix or replace your defective blender if it breaks during the warranty term.
You may be able to find an extended warranty that could cover you beyond the standard 5-year term, but most are only up to 3 years from purchase, so skip any that are shorter than the 5 years that Wolf already gives you.
Dimensions With The 64 Oz Low Profile Blender Container: 7.5 inches deep x 9 wide x 20.25 high
Container Material: BPA-Free hardened plastic (trade name is Tritan)
Models: WGBL100S (Red knob), WGBL110S (Black knob), and WGBL120S (Stainless Steel knob)
Horsepower: 2.4 peak horsepower (when it starts) and 2.22 operating horsepower (when you’re actually using it).
Electrical: 120 V, 50-60 Hz, 13.8 Amps, 1,656 watts
Weight: 15.92 lbs
Made: China
Dimensions With The 64 Oz Low Profile Blender Container: 7.5 inches deep x 9 wide x 20.25 high
Container Material: BPA-Free hardened plastic (trade name is Tritan)
Model: WGBL200S (Red knob)
Horsepower: 2.2 peak horsepower (when it starts) and 2.01 operating horsepower (when you’re actually using it).
Electrical: 120 V, 50-60 Hz, 12.5 Amps, 1,500 watts
Weight: 16.46 lbs
Made: China
The High Performance Wolf Gourmet and Pro Performance Wolf Gourmet blenders are solid, they even weigh more than almost any other blender on the market.
They are also very powerful, with blender motors that are more power than the top of the line Vitamix blenders like the 750. The High Performance blender is the more powerful, at 2.4 “peak” or 2.22 operating horsepower. It also has an LCD display and a total of three blender knob color options.
The Pro Performance blender has a 2.2 “peak” and 2.01 operating horsepower motor (slightly higher than the Vitamix 750 1.93 operating horsepower) and does not have an LCD display and only comes with a red blender knob.
For these differences, the High Performance blender is priced a little higher (about the same as a Vitamix 750) than the Pro Performance blender. So you can choose either based on whether you care more or less about having the highest possible power and LCD screen.
Other than those differences each of the two blenders have the same four automatic blending modes, manual control and Pulse low to high speed. They are also both designed to operate more quietly than other blenders and to fit under kitchen cabinets with a wider base and container that is shorter than other 64-ounce containers.
They also both have a 5-year warranty.
Reviewers are very happy with both the High Performance and the Pro Performances models. They each perform well and produce creamy blends with a lot of power while at the same time not too much noise.
We recommend each model based on many satisfied customers for each and the overall quality of Wolf Gourmet products.
You can check the latest pricing and model options on Amazon: Click here for the High Performance Wolf Gourmet Blender and Click here for the Pro Performance Wolf Gourmet Blender.
Don’t worry if the knob color for the High Performance blender (red, black, or stainless steel) that you want isn’t available on Amazon, or is priced differently – Wolf will send you whichever color you want when you register your blender, so you can switch out the knob later. The Pro Performance knob only comes in red.
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Sabrina is our head writer and expert researcher. She spends countless hours of research on each topic or product she writes about. She also tests products and recipes when she can and is known as a kitchen appliance junkie who is always trying new gadgets. Plus, she's a fairly decent cook above all else!