Common in lots of households and almost all professional kitchens, blenders, food processors and stick blenders share common characteristics, yet are different in many subtle ways. Without these simple, yet feature-packed, appliances, a good deal of today’s simple jobs such as mixing, blending and pureeing would be much more time consuming or simply not possible at all. Selecting the right appliance is a matter of determining what recipes and features you will need the appliance for, researching the features of each model, and identifying the most reputable brands of blenders and food processors.
Blenders are not only ideal for mixing non-alcoholic drinks, soups and sauces, they are widely used in bars and clubs for many different varieties of cocktails. This versatility makes them one of the most useful types of appliances available.
Blenders are especially good if you are trying to adhere to a special diet that might feature a lot of shakes or if you want to eke as much nutritional value as possible from a given food source. For example, Vita-combine goes to great lengths to show the consumer how well its machine breaks down tomatoes compared to your teeth.
Those of you who use a great deal of vegetables in their cooking, be it in stews, roasts or any other type of recipe, should prefer a food processor over any other type of kitchen appliance, as it dramatically cuts both preparation and clean up times.
KitchenAid, Cuisinart (who manufacture electric kettles as well) and French-made Magimix are traditionally the largest and most renowned producers of food processors. Recently, Morphy Richards have launched a line of food processors to challenge these traditional giants of the appliance market.
While food processors, stand mixers, blenders, hand blenders and stick blenders essentially do similar things, they each have their own pros and cons. Enjoy your cocktails? Then a blender is right for you. Health conscious and want to whip up a quick protein shake? Then a stick blender will do. Preparing soups, stews or pot roasts in large quantities? Then a food processor is an absolute must. Love baking? A stand mixer from KitchenAid or Cuisinart is a great investment. The best advice would be to purchase 1 or 2 of the appliances, depending on your needs, and add to your collection at a later date if you find your cooking needs have changed.