I find that there is a delicate balance in keeping your kitchen uncluttered, yet having adequate tools. I think our needs vary, depending on how and what we cook, so my favorite kitchen tool may not be as much use for some. But others may find this tool as much of a time saver as I do.
I didn’t want to clutter things up too much in my kitchen, so I kind of dragged my feet for a while in getting an immersion blender. Then we finally got an inexpensive one. It worked, at it’s best, okay, and so I was left with mixed feelings about it. Was it worth having?
That one broke fairly quickly (you get what you pay for!), and so for Christmas last year, my sweet husband bought me a nice Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender (I picked it out, of course *wink*). Wow! What a difference! This tool has far exceeded my expectations and I use it all the time. I just wish we hadn’t wasted money on a cheaper one. It truly has been a time and work saver.
Let me explain why I like this model and how I use it.
The first big difference I noticed with the Kitchen Aid, compared to my cheaper one, is that it is much longer. This makes a big difference when trying to use it to puree a large pot of soup. Those short ones just don’t work very well.
It also seems a lot more powerful, and so is much more effective and fast. My cheap-o one was not very effective in blending, and there were several times, after trying my best to puree something, I ended up just sticking it in my blender after all. So much for a time saver! But not so with this one! I can puree a pot of soup in a minute!
Because it’s really not that large, I am able to easily store it in my kitchen utensil drawer, which I greatly appreciate. It’s also very easy to put together and clean.
My top use for it is pureeing soups. We love cream of vegetable soup, Fabio’s Creamless Creamy Squash Soup, and certain lentil soups which all need to be pureed. It always was such a chore to use my regular blender, especially if I was making a double batch! You have to make sure that there isn’t too much hot liquid in the blender, or it goes everywhere. You have to dirty another bowl to pour the puree into, and it can take a bit of time. Perhaps if I had a professional, larger blender this wouldn’t have been quite so time consuming, but with my standard size blender it wasn’t a task I looked forward too. Now I can simply stick my immersion blender straight into my pot of soup, and in a minute or two it’s done! It’s made me much more willing to make certain soups.
While the primary reason I bought it was for soups, I have found many other uses for it. Like making homemade mayonnaise, getting my coconut milk tonic smooth, blending chocolate into milk for hot chocolate, or for mixing the ingredients for chocolate pudding, to name a few.
For all of these reasons, I find that this kitchen tool has been a huge aid to me. You will notice that it is in my Amazon store on the side bar, as you can buy it from Amazon (get the red one, it’s much cheaper than the black one for some reason). I only put items in my Amazon store that I really recommend, and I highly recommend this one.
That’s what’s in my kitchen!
What about you? Do you use an immersion blender? Do you like the brand you have?
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I have a cusinart one and I love it. I use it for homemade refried beans too.
I have one, it’s a Sunbeam. I’m asking for a Kitchen Aid one for Christmas actually. I use the one I have a lot. But it is limited, it’s short so I struggle with it. Also, I think the Kitchen Aid products are just made better. I like wish I would of purchased the Kitchen Aid first, but I wanted to see if I’d even like using one, so I didn’t spend the money.
I too love my Cuisinart immersion blender . . . I use it for really creamy mashed potatoes, soups and even baby food (though I prefer my one-cup Cuisinart food processor for that).
I agree, quality is important; I’m a researcher (I love Amazon.com for that! Their reviews are so helpful!) and tend to buy quality rather than for frugality if it is something that I know I will use a lot. That $8 spatula I have rather than the $2 one at the grocery store? I’ve had it for four years and it still looks brand new. It’s probably in my dishwasher three times a week.
I guess the other tools I can’t live without include my food processors, especially the little one-to-two cup sizes (now that I think of it, I think mine holds two cups). It’s perfect to finely dice onions with few tears, to quickly make a can of whole tomatoes, pureed tomatoes for sauces, to make up a batch of sweet potato baby food from leftovers, to chop walnuts for a muffin recipe, I use it a ton – much more so than my bigger food processor! Mine is a Cuisinart and I love it; it is compact, only has three parts (bowl, blade and lid) and is easy to clean in the top rack of your dishwasher.
Other favorite kitchen tools are basic, my dutch oven, my collection of wooden spoons, and a few Le Crueset spatulas, and I’m a happy girl!
Best,
Sarah
Oh, this is embarrassing, I love my immersion blender but I have no idea what brand it is. I didn’t even buy it, it’s one of those leftovers from an old roommate during college. I can’t believe I kept it for so long because I only started using it recently! But for soups…it’s great! And so much easier to clean than a regular blender.
What a fabulous tool! Soup is a staple at our house, appearing 4 nights a week in the cooler months. Up til now, we have made our cream soups by the blender method, which is time-consuming and messy as you noted. With 7 kids, all my batches are double batches. This tool will go on my wish list for sure.
Thanks.
I find that I don’t use my stand mixer much, and my food processor sits neglected on the shelf. Don’t even think of taking my “cauldron”, an enormous cast iron dutch over or my skillets. They are my kitchen treasures. Add my blender and a couple of good knives and let’s get cooking.
Well I’m convinced. I wasn’t sure what to ask for for christmas, I’ve been waffling between organic cotton sheets and pressure cooker… I think an immersion blender just made it’s way to the top of the list!!!
I have an immersion blender. It’s a cheap Braun. We got it as a wedding gift 8 years ago. I use it daily for many of the same uses you mentioned and it is still going! I am amazed it hasn’t died yet.
I’m glad you posted this! My husband had an immersion blender when we married, but I rarely used it because it didn’t puree soups very finely. I thought it was just a problem with immersion blenders in general. I bet you anything it was just because it was cheap. (I think the brand was Hamilton Beach.) Good to know!
Since my birthday, I’ve been using my Vita-Mix to puree soups, and it works beautifully. It has such a large capacity (twice that of other blenders) that I often don’t have to use batches. It’s easy to clean too. Plus the texture–oh, wow! Like velvet.
I have one and I love it. I use it most for making baby food.
I love my immersion blender, I use it all the time. It’s great for mixing up salad dressings, especially when using fresh garlic or chili peppers.
“You have to make sure that there isn’t too much hot liquid in the blender, or it goes everywhere.”
I read this part and chuckled one of those knowing laughs. It’s not so funny at the time, though, when it’s piping hot butternut squash soup on you! I used to have a Kitchen Aid immersion blender and loved it dearly until we fried the motor. *sigh* Too bad they don’t last forever!
Hello Everyone!
Thanks so much for the comments. I am glad, first of all that this post was useful to many of you. I enjoyed reading what “tools” you use or don’t use in your kitchen. Thanks!
I’ve hinted strongly to Santa for a KitchenAid Immersion, in red.
The item I can’t live without? My red KitchenAid Stand Mixer. It gets more use than does my car!
Kimi,
I’m planning to buy the Kitchen Aid Immersion Hand blender with chopper (in white) from Amazon. Any way I can connect to that through your site so you’ll get a commission on the sale?
Susanna,
How sweet of you to ask! You can buy it through my amazon link which will give a kickback to me. But really, do what serves you best. 🙂 I always appreciate the support, but I want you to get the best deal that you can too!