I’m convinced! Seems like it is small and inexpensive, so little risk involved if I get it and don’t like it that well. I love pureed soups (such a great way to use up carrots and the like that are starting to get limp) but getting out the blender and pureeing in batches is a PITA and makes a mess. So it sounds like I’m likely to find an immersion blender a useful addition to my kitchen tools.
They’re also good for homemade mayonnaise, if you’re into that. Also, when making stews, beans, etc., it’s very convenient to just chuck whole onions and/or garlic cloves into the pot, fish them out later and whiz 'em up with a little cooking liquid. You miss out on the browning that adds so much to stews, but certain bean recipes skip that part, too.
To add on to this, do be aware of the slight pull that the vortex creates. It’s not like it’s going to fly out of your hands, but it’s very easy to overcompensate so that the head of the blender lifts. If the blade is in the soup but the vents are not? Forget it, it’s splattertown.
Yup.
I got one after I tried blending pea soup, and the stuff was too hot, and when I turned the blender on, it heated the air in the blender, and the lid blew off, and I splattered hot lumpy pea soup all over the kitchen. That doesn’t happen with an immersion blender.
I don’t use it for much OTHER than bean soup, but it’s really excellent for that. And it’s easy to clean (SO much easier than the big blender) and easy to put away.
The answer to this is going to depend on what you cook and how you cook, but for me the answer is a resounding “yes!”
I can’t remember the last time I used my normal vertical blender. In the last two weeks, I’ve used the stick blender for: chicken paprikash, butter chicken/murgh makhani, pea soup, corn chowder. Basically, stew and soup dishes. Much easier than ladling it into a blender and – most importantly for me – a hell of a lot less and quicker to clean.
The one minus of a stick blender that I could see is that it does not get things absolutely as liquified and smooth as a good tabletop blender, but for what I use it for, I’m not looking for a very fine puree (although it’s pretty decent.) Besides, anything I want that smooth, I’m gonna push through a chinois, anyway, so it doesn’t matter.
We have a KitchenAid immersion blender and I love it for liquids (or mostly liquids such as instant pudding). Here’s another KitchenAid immersion blender with more side slots.
It works really well for breaking down fruit when you’re making jelly. Also for tomatoes if you’re canning tomato sauce.
My blender mainly gets used for making Hollandaise.
It’s great for soups but the best use is for making toum.
I make asparagus leek soup with ours all the time.
If you have a tabletop blender you could use that as well. I mention that as we are all probably sensitive to buying too many unitaskers…if you have something that can do it to your satisfaction maybe you don’t buy one more think to jam into a drawer.
Mrs. L does that as well. And salsas.
Yes. The bottom has slots and as mentioned, the device creates a little whirlpool of sorts, sucking bits into it. You move it around the pan, still, and lift it off the bottom from time to time but it gets the job done.
Ha, same on I got as a gift about 3 Christmasses ago - works fine. I like pureed soups, and what I do is the rough puree with this, then use a china cap to filter out bean skins and stuff that doesn’t really puree. Well I suppose you can also use just a plain wire mesh strainer, but I like my china cap =)
Before you throw your stick blender away see this absolutely fantastic recipe for hollandaise sauce for that perfect Sunday brunch (good on veggies too).
Easy, cheap, fast, fool-proof (usually hollandaise sauce is a pain in the arse). 2.5 minute video:
For me the immersion blender is a little bit like my food processor. I might only use it 4 times a year, but when I use it, it is the perfect tool for the job.
There are many truly useless kitchen gadgets. The immersion blender is not one of them.
That would make a good thread topic - “what is/are your most useless kitchen gadget(s)?”
I use mine all the time. Butternut soup, often. Aïoli and skordalia and hummus and mayonnaise. Chopping nuts.
TIL what a China cap is . I was surprised to realize I own both a China cap and a chinois, just never knew their names.
That’s the real beauty of immersion blenders. It’s not really a question of what they do, but where they do it. We’ve got a macaroni and cheese recipe that basically has you blend cheese into hot milk slowly, and I suspect it would be considerably more difficult to pull off in a regular blender, because the milk would cool too much.
But an immersion blender lets you do it right in the pot while it’s on the heat.
Ours is an older version of the KitchenAid that @Skywatcher linked to, and it’s great. Variable speed, tough, replacement parts are available, etc…
Haven’t had a blender for years. Somebody gave me a food processor once and after taking (just some of) the parts out of the box and thinking about cleaning it it went back in the box and lived under the kitchen counter in the most inaccessible spot until I finally threw it out after about 20 years.
My Braun stick blender gets used at least once a week, often more. Pull off the top, run under hot water for a few seconds, back in the drawer, done.
Can you say “vichyssoise” without smiling?
And gazpacho
Gesundheit!
My gf makes herself a smoothie for lunch most days. Some soy milk, some chunks of frozen banana, some peanut butter, some chia seeds, wheat germ, a raw egg, bzzzzzzzzz.