Common in lots of of households and almost all professional kitchens, blenders, food processors and stick blenders share common characteristics, yet are different in a great deal of subtle ways. Without these simple, yet feature-packed, appliances, many of today’s simple tasks such as mixing, blending and pureeing would be much more time consuming or simply not possible at all. Selecting the right appliance is a matter of determining what recipes and functions you will need the appliance for, researching the features of each model, and identifying the most reputable brands of blenders and food processors.
Blenders, more or less in their current form, have been around for almost a century. To be very succinct, most often they feature a pitcher-shaped, removable container with fixed blades at the bottom and they are used for mixing fluids and semi-solids. In the early days they saw lots of of duty at soda counters and icecream shops. Indeed, blenders need a bit of fluid to get the ingredients moving around the blades and to work at their optimal levels.
Health conscious consumers agree, blenders are a vital part of their kitchen armoury. Not only do they retain many of the vitamins and nutrients that are often lost when cooking, but their ability to easily mix ingredients ensures that all sorts of health shakes can be whipped up in next to no time. Many of today’s largest manufacturers even go to substantial lengths to illustrate these positive health benefits.
One of the best features of the latest Magimix, Morphy Richards, KitchenAid and Cuisinart food processors are the clear work bowls. This allows the cook to tell exactly how long they need to leave the ingredients in the bowl to achieve the perfect consistency. Food processors especially do make it easy for anyone to produce outstanding results in the kitchen, time and time again.
Mixers date back over a century. From their humble beginnings, in which they were operated manually, they have greatly improved over the years to become a must have for any serious professional or home chef. Stand mixers can be used for a plethora of functions; including kneading doughs, making pasta and even to make delicious ice-cream. Their powerful motors - the KitchenAid KSM150 model, for example, features a 300 watt motor - ensure that tough ingredients are mixed with ease. Hand mixers, on the other hand, are ideal for mixing icing, batters and soups.
A mixer would get plenty of use by someone who is doing lots of baking. They are great for preparing batter, dough, icing and other such spreadables. They do what they say they do: mix.