The humble immersion blender is an essential item in modern kitchens. However, we can’t help but ask why, right? Your average countertop blender can handle a wide range of tasks, from pureeing to emulsifying sauces and crushing ice. So, is an immersion blender worth it?
The kitchen staple has become popular in households as a convenient, efficient, and inexpensive tool, useful for both professional and home cooks. An immersion blender is also called a stick or hand blender as it can be used to blend directly in containers, such as pots, cups, and jars. The handheld tool has a wand-shaped stem that is attached to tiny, razor-sharp blades. These can blend different types of food with the simple push of a button.
In this article, we will explore the different reasons to buy an immersion blender and leave the decision up to you, the reader.
Reasons to Buy an Immersion Blender
There are numerous reasons why you should buy an immersion blender, ranging from ease of cleaning to convenience. In fact, it can be used as an alternative to heavy countertop blenders for several blending processes. Let’s discuss each reason in a little more detail.
Convenient Alternative to Upright Blenders
Many households can easily replace countertop blenders with immersion blenders. Firstly, unlike their bulky counterparts, immersion blenders don’t take up much storage space. You can simply stick them in a drawer and whip them out whenever you need to puree fibrous vegetables or a can of tomatoes. Upright blenders take up a lot of space, which can be a problem in small kitchens.
However, immersion blenders are handheld devices that do not require a designated cupboard space. Similarly, they’re easier to clean compared to their countertop variant. The most convenient part is that they can easily be washed by hand or in the dishwasher. Again, they don’t require a designated space in the rack and can be fit on the top.
Unlimited Capacity
Unlike traditional blenders, immersion blenders are perfect for handling both small and large batch cooking. Essentially, they have unlimited capacity because there’s no need for a blender jar. The jar limits the capacity of traditional blenders, making them unable to handle large batches.
On the other hand, immersion blenders are perfect for blending large volumes directly in pans, pots, bowls, jars, and other vessels. It’s convenient for blending a large pot of soup or pureeing vegetables in bowls without experiencing the frustration of the blades not reaching any contents. As the blades are directly attached to the stem of the handheld blender, they can be used from any angle as per the cook’s requirement and increase the tool’s utility.
Consequently, immersion blenders ensure that everything gets mixed, blitzed, pulsed, or crushed in the same vessel used to prepare food. In contrast, blended contents often get wasted in traditional blenders by sticking to the sides of the blender jar. It also makes blending hot foods easier and mitigates the risk of fire hazards as there’s no need to transfer ingredients to the blender jar or any other container.
Easy to Clean
The immersion blender has a straightforward design, and any additional attachments can easily be configured to the blender arm. Therefore, it’s easier to clean than traditional countertop blenders. Similarly, traditional blending machines also increase the number of dishes to be washed because of the different blender jars required for different foods.
Portability
Portability is one of the biggest reasons to buy an immersion blender. Yes, traditional models used to come with a power cord, but newer variants now provide cordless options as well.
Moreover, both versions are more convenient to move around the kitchen than lugging heavy countertop blenders. Additionally, the cordless models reduce the reliance on power sockets in kitchens and increase the device’s utility. The cook can move around the kitchen from the stove to kitchen top counters, effortlessly blending or pureeing vegetables, fruits, and sauces.
One-Size-Fits-All Solution
At the beginning of this article, it was mentioned that the immersion blender affords a cook superior versatility in terms of blending options. In fact, the kitchen staple is as close to a one-size-fits-all blending solution as cooks can get.
Immersion blenders can be conveniently equipped with several versatile attachments that can also transform the handheld tool into a whisk or chopper. Therefore, the same portable equipment can be used for various tasks without wasting extra dishes and containers.
Consequently, you can use immersion blenders to blend soups and lentils, puree sauces, whisk cream, and even chop herbs and vegetables in one go. Immersion blenders offer unmatched diversity of operations.
Variable Speeds
In addition to being well-suited to both small and large food batches, immersion blenders can also handle a variety of food types. These devices are coupled with variable speed options to handle different food textures, from hard and fibrous to soft and mushy types.
For instance, you can dial down the speed settings for handling liquids and semi-solid substances, like creams, batter, and gravies. Similarly, for pureeing a hot soup pot, you can increase the speed of dealing with chunky vegetables to produce an ultra-smooth texture. High-speed options are also excellent for making smoothies with fibrous fruits like peaches and apples.
Verdict
To summarize, immersion blenders are handheld devices that offer home cooks a cheap and affordable solution. Compared to traditional blenders, they offer the versatility of operations and increased portability.
Moreover, they’re particularly good for several super-tasty food recipes -stay tuned for our immersion blender recipes article- and don’t take up a lot of storage. Considering the price comparison between these and traditional blenders, we conclude that immersion blenders are worth purchasing. You could even entirely replace your countertop versions in many cases.
We hope you liked reading this article. We discussed several important reasons to buy an immersion blender. Which one did you like, and what is your verdict? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!
