Category — Blenders

If you saw yesterday’s corn chowder recipe, you read that at the end of the cooking time, the recipe calls for scooping out half of the chowder, pureeing it in a blender, and then adding it back to the crockpot.  This was a bit of an inconvenience, and has prompted me to add one of these handheld blenders, sometimes called immersion blenders, to my kitchen gadgets list.

The KitchenAid immersion blender above is made by KitchenAid, and allows you to blend anything, including scorching hot corn chowder, right in the pot.  You can immerse the blender in up to 8 inches of liquid, and it comes with several dishwasher-safe attachments.  Sounds much easier than taking my blender apart, and washing the glass pitcher.  I found this immersion blender at FFEMAX.Com for $52.99.

You can use handheld blenders in many recipes, including soups, mashed potatoes, whipping up diet shakes, and quick milkshakes.

If you’re pressed for kitchen storage space, or you just like keeping things simple, you should take a look at some of the new blenders on the market that also double as a food processor.  On these models, the blender pitcher, and a food processor attachment interchangeably use the same power base.

The Cuisinart blender shown above comes with a 40-ounce glass blender jar, and a 3 cup food processor.  I especially like that the motor has a special ice crusher setting, because if you try to crush ice in a blender that’s not made for it, you can easily ruin it.

The motor of the blender/food processor combo has 7 speeds, including pulse.  For the food processor attachment, a chopping blade, and a reversible shredding disc are included.   I found the Cuisinart Duet blender at Cooking.Com for $89.95.

Here’s a list of food processor and blender recipes from Recipe Zaar.