To speed up and facilitate the process of cooking, there are quite a lot of devices. Some we have been using for a long time, some are still new. With a certain stretch, blenders can also be attributed to novelties (they appeared quite a long time ago, but few use them). Although this is a very convenient and useful device that can greatly facilitate the preparation of dishes and expand their range.
But what is a blender? What he really is? A blender is a device for grinding and mixing products (from the English blender - a mixer). It combines the properties of a mixer (mixing) and some of the properties of a food processor (chopping with knives). The undoubted advantage of the blender is its compactness and the ability to grind products of various hardness. With its help, it is easy to bring pate, mashed potatoes to a homogeneous state, turn into a mass withoutlumps of homemade cottage cheese, etc. You can also quickly chop vegetables and herbs, some models allow you to crush ice.
Blender selection: types, device and features
Blenders are of two types: submersible (manual) and stationary. Let's define their differences, advantages and disadvantages.
Stationary blenders consist of a base (base) and a removable bowl with knives. With their help, it is good to knock down cocktails, puree soups, creams, mix thin dough. And grinding or mixing a small amount of food will be inconvenient.
Immersion (hand) blenders have an elongated shape. In the upper thickened part
of the device there is a motor, in the lower part there are knives. This shape allows you to use it in any container: in a saucepan, in a large cup or a regular jar. Another advantage of submersible blenders can be considered the possibility of using various additional attachments. Often, a whisk and chopper are included, which will allow you to quickly and easily make creams or chop any number of vegetables and herbs.
Although immersion blenders are more functional, they have a number of disadvantages:
• Must be held in hand when cooking, while a stationary blender can be turned on and do something else.
• If the dishes are used low, then you can splash quite a lot. In stationary models, this problem is solved by the presence of a bowl with a lid.
Choosing a blender is not an easy task: there are a lot of nuances that you need to pay attention to: power, speedknife rotation, additional features, etc. Let's take a closer look at some parameters.
The main characteristic on which the performance of the device depends is power. This parameter varies from 100W to 2300W. The higher the power, the faster the knives will rotate and the food will cook. High rotation speed allows you to grind food to a homogeneous pasty state, which is very convenient when preparing baby food. For good performance, choose models whose power is not less than 700-800W.
The number of knife speeds is also quite an important characteristic. In the simplest models, there are 2 speed modes, in more expensive ones - up to 14. The more modes, the easier it is to choose the speed for cooking each particular dish.
The choice of a blender is also influenced by the presence of such a function as smooth adjustment of the speed of rotation of the knives. This is much more convenient than step change and allows you to control the cooking process more clearly. Another useful feature is the turbo mode, which allows you to significantly increase the speed of rotation of the knives for a short period of time.
These are probably all the characteristics that affect the choice of an immersion blender. But if you decide to purchase a stationary device, then pay attention to the material from which the bowl is made (plastic or glass). Glass bowls do not darken, do not absorb odors, do not scratch, but break quite easily, plastic bowls are more difficult to break, but they can become cloudy and scratched.
Often the choice of a blender depends on the little things: not all models provide soft legs that will not allow a stationary blender to move during operation. And if you have to keep it, then you lose the main advantage - the ability to do other things while it works.
