All About Blenders - Consumer Pro Reports

All About Blenders!

There are many blenders on the market worth considering when it comes time to replace your old ones. Your selection will depend on the cooking you’d like to perform. We broke this down into 2 categories for you: “Types of Blenders” and “Specs” of the blenders, followed by our top recommendations.

Blender Types:

1. Immersion Blenders

Also known as stick blenders, these are ideal for pureeing hot soups and sauces. With this tool, you won’t have to worry about the steam build-up that may occur in other sealed-type blenders resulting in severe burns if the lid pops off.

PROS

You can use these right in the pot
They can either come corded or cordless
Variety of attachments
They’re easy to clean, as long as you clean them right away
Space saver for small kitchens
Cost-effective

CONS

They may not blend everything perfectly smoothly.

2. Single Serve Blenders

Often referred to as bullet blenders or personal blenders, these are quick to use and will make your drinks in a jiffy. You could also use them for making small batches of salad dressings, pancake batter, and blending sauces. They work well with thin liquids.

PROS

There compact so they shouldn’t take up much space in your kitchen
Easy to clean so as long as you clean it right away
There light and quick to use

CONS

Only a few select ones will pulverize seeds while most will not
They have the potential to leak if you don’t tighten the base enough and could break if you overtighten it as well

3. Portable Blenders

This is something new to the market as I haven’t heard of this one prior to starting my research. They have a cool sleek design, I would remain cautious till I have the opportunity to test one out.

PROS

It’s portable
They charge via USB Cable
There cordless
Most charge in roughly 2.5 hours
Should blend 8-12 drinks between charges

CONS

Leaking can be a concern
The potential of glass breaking during travel

4. Countertop Blenders

This is probably one of the most purchased household blenders due to their affordability. They are most often used to mix drinks for large crowds during your occasional house party and are not designed for high usage.

PROS

Cost effective
Easy to clean
Multiple speed settings
Lightweight

CONS

Considered bulky
Can be loud
Not suitable for hot food

5. Multi-Functional Blenders

These blenders are exactly as the name says, multi-functional. They come with several attachments: blender, food processor, and single serve. They are designed to meet all of your cooking needs.

PROS

Low to Medium price
Variety of attachments
Multiple preset settings

CONS

Bulky
Heavy
Can be pricy

6. Commercial Blenders

These are probably the most expensive out of all the blenders. After all, they are designed to be used in high-traffic areas such are restaurants for mixing up your favorite drinks. Not all commercial blenders are created equal though, this is why you should always look at how long the warranty is good for. This will be a good indication of the quality of the product for all blenders.

PROS

Long shelf life
Meant for high use

CONS

Expensive
Bulky
Heavy

7. Hand Mixers

Although these aren’t really a blender, I thought it would be fitting to include them in this category. They do come with a variety of attachments even though there probably most used with their beater attachments. They’re great for whipping up eggs, meringue, and whip cream.

PROS

Variety of attachments
Lightweight
Space saver
Cost effective

CONS

Motor can overheat if used for heavy mixing

8. Stand Mixers

This is the baker’s and cooks’ dream equipment. You can do a lot with this equipment from making pasta, shredding meat, and making sausages if you have the right attachments. Although its probably most used for baking by whipping up cake batters and frosting.

PROS

Variety of attachments
Simple to use

CONS

Expensive
Bulky

Specs:

This is probably the most important thing to be looking at when buying any appliance for your home. Hope this cheat sheet helps you with your next purchase as we wanted to create something that you can use on your next purchase.

1. Blade Quality

The quality of the blade is intertwined with the quality of the blender’s performance. Ideally, you’d like to find a blender with a diamond-cut stainless steel blade that is designed for grinding up food quickly. Along with assessing the quality of the blade is the design of the blade as they do different things.

Cross Blade

This is designed to mix everything thoroughly like shakes, smoothies, and baby purees.

Chopping Blade

This has 6 blades that run up the center stem of the blender and is meant for chopping nuts, cheese, and pureeing vegetables.

Mincer Blade

This has 2 blades and is usually found on stick blenders, which is best used for pureeing soups and mincing up veggies.

2. The material

The material is an important decision factor when shopping for a blender for most people.

Plastic

This is probably the most inexpensive material on the market when considering buying a blender. Even though they’re inexpensive, they can retain the smell of food, retain stains from the food that was used, and they may also crack when washed in the dishwasher. They are not dishwasher safe as some products claim to be.

Glass

The next up would be glass as it’s not as porous compared to plastic so it doesn’t retain smells or stains. However, it is fragile and may chip or even crack.

Stainless Steel

Having similar qualities to glass, it is also more durable in terms that it does not break as easily as glass if at all.

3. Speed and Power

I feel speed and power are tied together cuz, without the power, you couldn’t have different speed settings on our blenders as we do.

Power

This is measured in watts. The more watts essentially means the more power the blender will have and the more speed settings it could also have. A blender for household cooking should be sufficient with a minimum of 900 watts. If you’re looking for more of a commercial-style blender, you’ll need one with a minimum of 1200 watts.

Speed

Some blenders are sold with speed settings and others have a pre-set right on them. It just depends on your preference of what you’d like to have.

4. Warranty

Warranty is related to the quality of the product in most cases so the longer the warranty, the longer the manufacturer expects the product to last. This also means higher price tag.

5. Attachments

Not all blenders come with attachments so you’ll need to consider what you’ll be using it for and if the attachments are necessary. This will result in a higher price tag up front, but overall you should still be getting a decent bundle deal compared to buying everything separately.

6. Jar Capacity

Personal blenders come in smaller ounce capacities (14-24 ounces) while counter top blenders can hold up to 48 ounces.

7. Dishwasher Safe

You are pretty safe with throwing your glass and stainless steel items in the dishwasher. Where it gets iffy is with plastic, even if they claim to be dishwasher safe, they still tend to crack or warp and wear down over time.

8. Height

If you’re going to be leaving your blender on the counter for everyday use, then you may want to consider the height to ensure it will fit between the cupboards.