Immersion blenders – Bamix vs Cuisinart

[dcarch]

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Dcarch

 

How sharp should the blades be? Should they be able to break skin? I got my unit used so I really hope that's the case.  I hope it's not a motor issue, and I especially hope it's not just Bamix or the model in general.

 

Ideally, you should buy an extra blade, and keep one blade ultra sharp just for smoothies.

 

Once you used the blade for hard stuff, like ice cubes, nuts, etc. it will get too dull for smoothies.

 

dcarch

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I don't understand why it matters that the blade is sharp.

[lesliec]

'Cos it's not just mixing/stirring; there's a certain amount of cutting into tiny bits involved.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I thought it was cavitation that broke up the tiny bits?

[daveb]

This piqued my interest so...

 

I rough chopped some lettuce (no parsley handy) and put it in a sauce pan with a qt of water and broke out the Bamix..  It pureed quickly but there was still visible particulate in the water.  Bamix is relatively new with a new blade.

 

Then I repeated process in VMix.  It pureed with no visible particulate.  Ran the water through a fine mesh strainer and got no particulate.

 

My thought is that the leaf is too light (no mass) for the Bamix to cut it into puree.  The VMix probably is faster, the leaf spends more time in the "vortex"  and is disintegrated. 

 

Seems the easy answer for clean puree is to use Bamix and then seive the liquid or use a VMix.  .

[dcarch]

I thought it was cavitation that broke up the tiny bits?

 

I am not sure there is any cavitation action with any blender. Cavitition I think involves ultrasonic energy.

 

dcarch

[dcarch]

This piqued my interest so...

 

I rough chopped some lettuce (no parsley handy) and put it in a sauce pan with a qt of water and broke out the Bamix..  It pureed quickly but there was still visible particulate in the water.  Bamix is relatively new with a new blade.

 

Then I repeated process in VMix.  It pureed with no visible particulate.  Ran the water through a fine mesh strainer and got no particulate.

 

My thought is that the leaf is too light (no mass) for the Bamix to cut it into puree.  The VMix probably is faster, the leaf spends more time in the "vortex"  and is disintegrated. 

 

Seems the easy answer for clean puree is to use Bamix and then seive the liquid or use a VMix.  .

 

There are many factors when comparing effectiveness of a Vitamix and a hand blender: ( numbers are not exact. I am doing this by memory)

 

1. Speed of rotation - I think Vitamix's RPM is 32,000, and a hand blender is around 20,000 or less. A very big difference is being able to chop food particles.

 

2. Diameter of the blades - Vitamix is about 4 inches, and a hand blender is about 2 inches. This tranlates a huge difference in blade tip speed (miles per hour) in Vitamix's favor.

 

3. Fluid dynamics - Effectiveness of chopping is the difference in speed of travel between the blade tip speed and the food particles. If the blades are rotating at the same speed as the food, it makes no difference how powerful the motor and how fast it rotates, the will be no chopping at all. The squarish shape of the container of the Vitamix creates a lot of turbulance to slow down the food to allow the blades to cut the food particles up, v.s. the hand blender, which does not have much resistance to prevent the food from moving close to the same speed as the blades.

 

dcarch

[Smithy]

I am not sure there is any cavitation action with any blender. Cavitition I think involves ultrasonic energy.

 

dcarch

IME cavitation happens in a blender, but only when the mixture is too thick for the blade speed. Then the blades spin madly in an air pocket of their own making, and there's an audible pitch change. It's as undesirable and ineffective with a blender as with an outboard motor.

[jsager01]

. The squarish shape of the container of the Vitamix creates a lot of turbulance to slow down the food to allow the blades to cut the food particles up, v.s. the hand blender, which does not have much resistance to prevent the food from moving close to the same speed as the blades.

 

dcarch

 

Perhaps i dont understand all the discussions on this topic.  I just have a hand blender.

but what if i use a hand blender in a squarish shape container?

[dcarch]

Perhaps i dont understand all the discussions on this topic.  I just have a hand blender.

but what if i use a hand blender in a squarish shape container?

 

 

 

Yes and no. Yes, it will be very slightly better. No, not that much better. By creating turbulence using a non-round container, you will need a more powerful motor to overcome the drag resistance.

 

A hand blender’s 200 watt motor is nowhere near close to Vitamix’s 1500 watt motor.

 

Or you may want to try my technique as posted on #19.

 

And there are other methods which I don’t recommend. You can increase the voltage from 120VAC to higher by using an auto-transformer or digital voltage controller. Do it for a few seconds at the last moment of blending, so that you don’t burn out the motor.

 

dcarch

[daveb]

If the question is "how to not have small particulate in your base liquid", is the easy answer not "seive it through a fine strainer"?  The desired flavors will have been released, be it round or square pot, residential or commercial stick. 

 

I know you did not advocate it but a step up transformer has got to be the Rube Goldberg solution.. 

[DouginCMH]

My search for a new immersion blender is necessitated by the untimely death of my KitchenAid model. In general, I was satisfied with its performance. As we have a decent food processor and countertop blender, we relied on the immersion blender primarily to puree soups and make smoothies. However, when the unit expired while i was trying to mash some beans, I discovered a weakness in its design that seems to be shared by a great many immersion blenders with removable wands.  In retrospect, using it for this purpose was a poor idea (a manual masher would have worked just fine), yet I had done so before without incident. Regardless, what occured is that the plastic coupling in the motor housing - the piece into which the wand's metal drive shaft end snaps into - stripped, effectively ruining the entire unit. Again, the end of the wand drive shaft that connects to the motor housing is metal; that's not the problem. But it seems as though nearly all commonly found immersion blenders with removable wands make the coupling in the motor housing out of plastic. I won't buy another blender with such a design defect, but it is virtually impossible to know whether a unit has this construction unless you can find one in a store to manually inspect before purchasing; I know of no online reviews that make mention of this issue (even though they all talk about durability). I do enjoy the convenience of a removable wand, but I suppose that's not an absolute requirement. Cost is an issue, but I'll certainly spend more money on a unit that will last. Can anyone in here confirm that units they own with removable wands are constructed such that both the drive shaft end of the wand and the motor housing coupling into which the drive shaft snaps are made of metal?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have a KitchenAid.  I just looked, and as you say the coupling is plastic.  I've not had any problems with my unit though.

[btbyrd]

Cavitation plays a large role in reducing particle size when using high-powered blenders. Here's a short video on the subject from ChefSteps.

[MSRadell]

I have a KitchenAid.  I just looked, and as you say the coupling is plastic.  I've not had any problems with my unit though.

That's what we have too, and as you said it seems to be holding up very well despite constant hard usage.

[nandy]

Comparing a robot coup and an immersion blender is really like comparing meat to vegetables. They aren't intended to do exactly the same tasks. Although they can do SOME of the same tasks. I have a 20+ yr bamix and a much newer model. I use the older one at our cabin. We live in a city that has a distributor and when I purchased the new one I was asked to bring my old one in for maintenance. I was pleasantly surprised that this was a FREE service.

I used to cater and used the old one heavily. Making sauces, making mayo in the jar, pureeing cooked veg and soups. Occasionally bashing up ice, grinding up nuts etc. If I wanted a big amount of perfectly crushed ice or perfectly ground nuts I wouldn't use a stick blender. One thing I liked (a bit gimmicky) was making "whipped cream" from skim milk! I had some specific diet requirements for customers and they especially loved that "whipped cream". The bamix is the Cadillac of stick blenders. The robot coup is intended for heavier, more involved work with food. A stick blender is for quick, easy, efficient work with a minimum of clean up. There is no comparison for efficient use of time.

Storage space is another thing to consider as well as a bit more time and effort to get out a RC as apposed to grabbing the Bamix.

There are always good videos on line to see what each machine will do. Check them out before you decide what is right for you.

[lindag]

I've had my Bamix for quite a few years now.  Aside from how well it works, I love that it came with a hanger that can be attached to store it.  Mine hangs inside the pantry where it's easy to find and still out of the way.

[DouginCMH]

I'm sure, a few years down the line, something more heavy duty will be in my future, but for the time being, I went with the fairly well-reviewed Breville. I can't say as though I'm particularly inspired by the experience of owning one thus far; if anything, it has more interior plastic pieces than did the KitchenAid. Despite marginal parts, aspects of its design look promising, though. Primarily, I wanted something that would puree soups, and it's supposed to do that well. It also has a no splash design and a non-stratching wand tip, should you use it on a non-stick surface. I do like not having to deal with hot soup splashing up onto my fingers when the wand tip slips up above the soup's surface. Still, it always seemed obvious to me that the suction action in these units was a primary reason why they pureed reasonably well. The Breville doesn't produce a suction effect because of its design. Anyway, I'll treat it somewhat gingerly and hope for the best (no immediate plans to use it to mash up garbanzo beans).

[GwennP]

I know this is an old thread, but I am currently considering an immersion blender and am deciding between the Bamix - although I'm not sure which model, and the Breville. It is for home use. Anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

[scubadoo97]

I have the Bamix Gastro 200. I like the extra length. When I purchased it I didn't see the 350 which is available now. Longer and more power

[GwennP]

Thanks scubadoo - I got the professional - longer than the gastro. I have a question, though. The instructions say never to use the chop/grind disc without the hand guard. What hand guard - any idea? Thanks!

[stckciv]

Does anyone have any experience with the Dynamic Minipro blender that could give any input?
 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

That's what we have too, and as you said it seems to be holding up very well despite constant hard usage.

 

A while ago my KitchenAid KHB300 failed.  I had hoped that it had just over heated, but it is dead.  It was long since out of warranty.

 

I'm looking for recommendations for something better.  I'm considering the Dynamic MX054.1, Bamix, Robot Coup, or a commercial KitchenAid.  I'd prefer an actual homogenizer but all such things I've found have been too expensive.  I note that KitchenAid seems to have the highest RPM, but that Robot Coup and Dynamic have an emulsifier blade.