Immersion Blenders

[CaliPoutine]

Cook's Illustrated recomends the KA hand blender with the price tag of 49.99. Probably not the model Old Timer mentions above.

[Marlene]

I also have the KitchenAid and I love it.

[chefAZ]

Braun still makes a good blender, we use the cordless model. And I know thats what Jean George uses in his kitchens....

[Richard Kilgore]

I think it depends on what you are using it for, quantities you expect to blend, and such. The wattage ratings on appliances are fairly meaningless as far as I can tell. I have had a Bamix Deluxe for over a year and think it is great. About $120 US.

On the other hand, a cordless model would have it's advantages. Threading the Bamix cord over and around objects on the counter is the only thing about it I dislike. Not enough to not use it, but....

[Fat Guy]

I can't say I use an immersion blender a whole lot, however when I do use it it's usually to: 1- froth a sauce in a saucepan, 2- puree or partially puree a soup, like lentil soup, 3- froth milk. That's all I can recall using one for in the past few years.

Old Timer mentioned multiple speeds. What's the benefit of more speeds than on and off?

[scubadoo97]

I think it depends on what you are using it for, quantities you expect to blend, and such. The wattage ratings on appliances are fairly meaningless as far as I can tell.  I have had a Bamix Deluxe for over a year and think it is great. About $120 US.

On the other hand, a cordless model would have it's advantages. Threading the Bamix cord over and around objects on the counter is the only thing about it I dislike. Not enough to not use it, but....

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I have a cheap knock off of a Bamix, the Thunderstick, and it is very different from my older Braun style IB. The Bamix design has interchangeable blades, multipurpose, chopping, whisking and beating. I can whip up skim milk into a thick whipped cream consistency. I like the long slender rod as opposed to the thicker design of other IBs. Cordless would be nice but experience with other cordless appliances reminds me that over time there are issues with the increased need to charge over time and the problems of having a near dead battery right when you need it. With the cord you are always at full power. My knock off Bamix is on it's last leg and I would buy a real Bamix to replace it. It's expensive but I think the design is superior.

Edited February 3, 2007 by scubadoo97 (log)

[Mallet]

Based on the tasks you use your blender for, I'd say you're good with what you have. I use an el cheapo Braun blender for the same uses and have no complaints about the single speed.

I'm guessing that benefit of multiple speeds are mostly if you use your blender for other things (like chopping onions etc...)

[Old Timer]

If your intent is to just do a few puree's and emulsify soup, then the cheaper one's will work fine.

The KitchenAid comes with a whisk attachment that makes quick work of egg whites and a chopper attachment that finely chops herbs, nuts, and even coffee beans.

The variable speeds come in handy for me when I blend omelet mix, marinara sauce, and I have even used it for crepe batters.

Here is the product link from KitchenAid.

http://www.kitchenaid.com/catalog/product....eeb056c4b2e1f54

For the extra $20-$30 you get a lot more versatility and great warranty.

[HKDave]

I recently got given a 600w Braun. I think this same model is sold as 500w in the US. Seems absurdly powerful for the task, and works like a charm. 2yr warranty. The lowest speed is all I use for puree-ing soups, but the higher speeds are useful in the mini-processor attachment (which I thought I'd never use, but I do). The 'anti-splash' shaped cowling over the blades really does work.

I wanted a Bamix - I've used one in restaurants before - but they're more than 3x the price of the Braun locally, need to be special ordered from Switzerland, have a worse warranty and no local repair centre. Now that I'm using the Braun, I don't think I'd need anything better. I would have liked a stainless shaft model but they're not sold here, and it turns out the plastic shaft works just fine.

Nice piece of equipment.

[vanveen]

Personally, I prefer the KitchenAid KHB300WH Immersion Blender.

It has full range variable speed and is quite powerful. 300 Watts, I think.

It comes with several attachments

The exact same blender, sans attachments (which seem to be only useful in the special cup that it comes with; I personally find these extras useless if you already have a real stand mixer/egg beater and food processor), can be had with model KHB100.

It's been showing up on the Amazon Friday sale for the past two weeks at $30.

[barbc]

I love my Kitchen Aid it will even chop ice! I have to be careful though because if I want to puree a bit of soup in a pot a couple seconds will puree plenty.

I also love that the immersion part is removeable and can be cleaned easilly.

Barb C (who blew though lesser models a bit too easilly)

[Kerry Beal]

I am a big fan of Bamix, I have one at home, one on the boat, I have given at least 4 as gifts. I like the two speeds, the different blades and the very powerful motor. I've used cheaper immersion blenders at times and found they don't have the power you need.

My favorite thing to do with it, make the caesar salad dressing in the jar you store it in.

Check out Mendelsons on e-bay. This is where I bought the last one I gave away at Christmas. It was new in the box. And the price was excellent.

[helenjp]

I had a Bamix which died, but I'm more than pleased with my Braun Multimix - it's similar to the Braun Multiquick mentioned upthread, except that the Multimix has beaters and is not cordless - but I like the extra power.

If you have other, more powerful mixers and blenders, then "small cordless" might be the right choice. I don't, so the slightly bulky Multimix is quite acceptable for me.

[Fat Guy]

Too lazy to overcome the inertia working against exchanging the Cuisinart, and faced with a need for the tool, I opened the box and used the Cuisinart immersion blender. I like it very much. It's more powerful and a lot quieter than our former unit. It seems as powerful as I need it to be. The shaft detaches. It's an attractive stainless color. For thirty bucks I'm going to keep it.

I think if I ever purchase a price-is-no-object immersion blender maybe I'll graduate to one of the professional models from Dynamic. That would be fun. Example here.

[daves]

I have a bamix. I doubt I would have bought it for myself -- it was a gift from my wife's parents.

That said, it does a great job of everything we've tried it on.

[Richard Kilgore]

One of the great things about the Bamix is you don't have to take it apart to clean it. It is waterproof 2/3 of the way up the housing, so you can just stick it in soapy water, blend and rinse. That also means you are not retricted to the length of the shaft when blending...you have over 10 1/2 inches to work with.

[David J.]

I have burned out two KA stick blenders and now I'm looking for one that can run for more than one minute out of five without going belly up. The instruction book doesn't say a thing about giving it an extended rest every minute as some others do, but after the second died the first time I used it I have to assume that it is just under engineered.

Has anyone had experiece with the "Dynamic" brand of burr mixers? They are commercial with a price to match, but I'll gladly pay it if I can use it as I want without having to keep a timer at hand. I don't need anything huge so I was specifically looking at the "Dynamic Mini Blender". The job that defeated the KA's was blending in callets of chocolate into melted chocolate in my Mol D'Art melters. Other uses would be making ganache and mousse. Those jobs don't require great power, just longer running times.

[mgaretz]

Looks like it's been a long time since anyone posted here, but...

I looked at a Bamix at Williams Sonoma and I am concerned that it would really tear up the bottom of a non-stick pot, and I have a few large pots that are non-stick. (I'm also concerned that it would wear/scratch the bottom of my stainless and enameled pots.)

Are there any good ones that have plastic "blade protector" housing? Cooks Illustrated like the Kaloric which is very affordable. Comments?

[ethermion]

People keep on talking about scratching pots. With my Bamix, you can puree a gallon of soup in about 10 seconds, without even touching the bottom of the pot. Freakin' amazing, it is, it just sucks everything in an blitzes it. If you are drawing the blender across the bottom of the pot, you technique is wrong or your blender is wrong. If you use the (right) blender right, you will spend more time plugging and un-plugging.

If you go Bamix, and I am a very happy customer, go to http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/bamix.aspx rather than WS. The WS version comes with a beaker which you do not need. The Pleasant Hill Deluxe comes with the processor which is useful, and a real stand. Same price and free shipping.

[lesliec]

Don't know why you'd scratch anything. I'm very happy with my Braun set, which came with mini-food processor and ice crusher.

The ordinary blending attachment would only scratch a container if you really tried ... the blade is well protected.

I'm frequently amazed by just how many things we use the Braun for.

[paulraphael]

Important blender question: is it pronounced BAY-mix or BAH-mix?

[ethermion]

Baah-mix, like sheep would pronounce it.

[Chris Amirault]

I've got two immersion blenders at home that I bought used: iirc, a Braun and a Krups. They're both getting kind of wheezy -- one actually screams now and then -- and I may soon be in need of a new one.

We have an old topic on immersion blenders, but surely the new decade brings us astonishing innovations in this kitchen staple. What's out there that's good? What sort of features -- varying speeds, different attachments -- are worth having? Any stinkers?

[Borgstrom]

My Braun gave up the ghost last year. I ended up getting a Bamix Gastro 200 to replace it. I'm pretty happy with it overall, although I don't think I've yet really taken advantage of all the different blades they provide.

[RWood]

I recently got the Bamix professional and it's pretty great. I really like it for ganache which is what I got it for. The whipping blade definitely emulsifies better than a traditional blade.

I tried an olive oil ganache (didn't like it for texture-kinda vaseliney) and the whipping blade worked really well bringing it together. A previous batch separated that I just whisked together.

I need to try out all the different blades though.