Blenders are one amongst the essential endowments of innovation to a kitchen. However, the vast majority of us wind up in confusion the minute we conclude that need one in the household.
Read through to know more about what you should look out for while buying a blender. But first let’s start from some basics, shall we?
What Is a Blender?
Simply speaking, a blender is an electric machine that helps to liquidize, puree, mix or chop food substances. It reduces human effort by manifolds and saves a lot of time too. There are two types of blender namely, countertop blender and hand blender.
A counter-top blender is the most regular kind of blender used in a kitchen. Simply speaking it has a base which is powered by a motor. The motor has blades attached to it and the base works with switches that allow the user to change the blending speed as per the requirement.
On an average, any counter-top blender comes with either one or two detachable containers that allow the freshly pulverized liquid to be poured into another container with ease.
A hand blender is also called immersion/wand/stick blender. It has an electric motor that turns the blades attached to a shaft.
It is a handheld device that you can immerse inside a container which has the ingredients that you want to blend or mix. The device could either have an electric cord or use batteries.
Why a Blender For Your Home?
Having the right kind of kitchen tools and appliances not only makes your life easier but also saves a lot of your precious time that you could employ in some other sphere of productivity.
A blender is one such appliance that will make you thank your stars.
It is very efficient if you want to make smoothies, soups, crush ice, mocktails or cocktails and sauces or even to make a healthy milkshake. All this can happen on the spot and quite easily so.
Does the tasks of many appliances!
A blender can be used to chop, mix, puree and blend effectively, this means that it is a good enough substitute for a food processor and juicer. With all the clutter of knives, spoons and pans lying on your kitchen slab, you could do with a little more space while cooking.
A blender makes your cooking time a little less stressful to allow you pour your heart out while making a meal for your loved ones.
Cleaner Kitchen Counters
Most blenders come with containers that allow you to blend the substances inside them. These also come with a lid that makes sure that everything that has been put inside the container stays inside it.
There are no spillages and no chunks of food left inside.
This way you won’t have to spend an extra amount of time scrubbing the kitchen counters.
Blenders help you make a variety of dishes
The different speed settings on the blender can help you to make something as easy as an omelette by whipping the eggs at a low speed or something as fancy as a strawberry basil margarita!
Step on the healthy food train!
Instead of buying milkshakes and smoothies from the food chains which are loaded with preservatives, you can make these items at home with fresh fruits and vegetables.
This is a really good way to make sure that children get the proper nutrition on a daily basis.
5 Important Things to Consider While Buying a Blender
Purchasing a kitchen blender may seem like a basic task yet it requires some thought to guarantee that your buy meets your prerequisite. There is a significant assortment of blenders accessible in the market.
Some have the fundamental capacities while the others have sophisticated features.
Here are some things you may consider while buying a blender!
1. Do you require a hand blender or a countertop blender?
Countertop blenders are made for your Kitchen slab, with a big jug appended to a stand that contains the blender controls. They’re perfect for making smoothies, hummus, crushing veggies or even ice.
If you regularly make smoothies after you hit the gym then a countertop blender will do the job for you perfectly.
Some of these even come in a ‘personal’ size so that you can directly drink from the container provided.
Hand blenders, or stick blenders, are little handheld blenders with a pivoting blade at the end of a long shaft. They’re made to mix substances in bowls or containers and work well if you have to puree a soup or a sauce or churn up a milkshake.
If on the off chance that you are a shake or smoothie person go for countertop blender however if you require making cake batter or whipping egg whites or want simply straightforward blending, then go for a hand blender.
2. What Materials are used to make the containers
The containers are usually made of glass, plastic or stainless steel. Glass containers are heavier but are more stable when compared to the other two.
The downside of glass containers is that it makes them heavier to pour out substances from.
Plastic containers are often more prone to scratches and they tend to absorb the aroma of the pulverized food.
Stainless Steel containers are good to look at but they block the visibility of the food being blended and that makes it difficult to check the consistency of the liquid.
These days the makers of different blenders aim at making the containers, BPA (an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics that can seep into food substances and contaminate them ) free to dishwasher safe.
3. The power range of the blender’s motor
Typically blenders with higher wattage can easily turn bigger pieces such as fruits into liquid on their own.
Blenders that have lower wattage need liquids such as water to be poured into the container to help the food pieces to move around in the blender and later to be emulsified.
High-powered blenders can even crush ice without any damage to the blender itself.
4. Space occupied by the blender
Hand blenders are comparatively smaller in size than countertop blenders.
That’s why can be easily tucked away in a cabinet if the kitchen is smaller in size or even if you don’t want to devote a considerable space to them on the kitchen slab to avoid the clutter.
Counter Top Blenders on the other hand are usually occupy a significant amount of space on the kitchen counter, however, they allow you to make larger quantities of food items.
For example, they can easily be used to make smoothies for four people at a go depending on the capacity of the container.
5. Budget
Definitely, this is a very simple question, yet it frequently gets ignored. Deciding the amount you’re willing to spend can help you narrow down to a few brands quite easily.
However, you should always make sure that you get all the different accessories such as a whisk or extra containers in this budget limit you have set. You should properly weigh out all the options and pick a brand, analyse its cost-effectiveness and only then make a choice.
There is not much difference between the price ranges of the different brands of hand blenders and countertop blenders, but make sure that you think about the usage you have of the blender.
Make a good one-time investment if you use your blender on a regular basis but reconsider spending something like $100 (or so!) if you only use it once or twice a month or just when you have guests over in the house. And remember to buy a trustworthy brand for good results online customer ratings and reviews help!
Bottomline
Blenders are one amongst the most essential endowments of innovation to a kitchen. It is an electric machine that helps to liquidize, puree, mix or chop food substances.
It reduces human effort by manifolds and saves a lot of time too. There are two types of blender namely, counter top blender and hand blender.
A blender can be used to chop, mix, puree and blend effectively, this means that it is a good enough substitute for a food processor and juicer. There are no spillages thanks to the lids on the containers and no chunks of food left inside. You can also make a variety of healthy dishes using a blender.
If you make shakes or smoothies often then go for counter top blender however if you require making cake batter or whipping egg whites or want simply straightforward blending, then go for a hand blender.
The containers provided are usually made of glass, plastic or stainless steel.
Typically blenders with higher wattage can easily turn bigger pieces such as fruits into liquid on their own. There is not much difference between the price ranges of the different brands of hand blenders and counter top blenders, but make sure that you think about the usage you have of the blender.
Don’t forget to pick trustworthy brands, online customer ratings and reviews help!
Here’s hoping that this helped you to figure out the kind of blender you need in your life!