Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Does it matter much what kind of immersion blender I buy? "Cooking with Chocolate" cookbook says I need one
Nancy

They definitely are useful. I had a Kitchen Aid for many years, and it did well, until I burned it out, but that was my fault. Now I have a Viking, which also works well. Just don't get a cordless - those lose power before finishing a large pot of soup, or something like that.

You want one with decent power. I have a Kitchen Aid and it works much better than my old Braun, although I do agree with CI that the holes are a bit too small. I usually have to lift it a little to get a good vortex going. Still, it does a bang-up job and I wouldn't trade it in unless it went kaput. I also love the mini-chopper that came with it. I use it all the time for nuts, bread crumbs, and large batches of garlic and/or ginger.

I had 2 Brauns that I liked and killed and now have a Bamix that I love. It is a ton of power and the mini chopper is awesome.

Mary

Nancy,

It's important to get one with variable speeds. The one-speed ones are "much to fast", and the two-speed ones are "much too fast" and "Jackson Pollock". I have a 10-speed, and the speed I use most often is "1".

Between the KitchenAid and the Cuisinart 10-speeds I recommend the KitchenAid, because for the KA you detatch the whole shaft for cleaning, but for the Cuisinart you take off just the little blade, which means after a couple dozen uses you lose it and you can't buy a replacement.

Have not tried the Bamix.

Oh, also, spring for the whole kit with the cup and the herb chopper and stuff. Generally it's only $10 more, and you can't buy the accessories separately.

The Bamix does only have 2 speeds which does not bother me but I do live in fear of losing one of the blades. I have had it for as out 5 years now so I have been lucky or careful enough. I am leaning towards lucky.

Sidetrack: I find the best way to clean an immersion blender is to run it in a container of soapy water.

Mary

I took advice from this thread and got a Bamix. It was in an entirely different class than the Braun which it replaced.


viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1224&hilit=bamix

I used one the last two times that I worked at the Assisted Living for the soups I made. I didn't even look at the Brand name, but I do know it had two speeds. They do come in handy when you have to make a large volume of soup. 1 Sale a day had KA Immersion Blenders on sale last week. I don't remember the price. I will post next time I see them at this site.

I purchased a 10-speed Braun Minipimer in 1985 that was incredibly durable. I called it my "Evinrude" and could easily mix cement with it. Sadly half the blade broke off; yes, it kept on chugging pretty nicely.

With my W-S gift cert. I looked at an All-Clad with two speeds. The speeds were like 9 and 10 on the Evinrude. The Bamix Pro has filled the void pretty well.

Tim

I kind of like my KA. Here are my complaints with it:
- The cord is too stiff. If you try to leave it standing up in something (frequently done, 'cause I want to give it one last quick whir just before service) the cord tends to pull it over. It also is just a PITA. Power hand tools should have soft supple cords. C'mon ppl, get with the program.
- It doesn't go quite low enough (to the bottom). It would be nice if it worked with a little less liquid when you need to whir a small amount of stuff
- It should be soft-start
- The design appears to allow the wand bit to attach to the motor bit in a variety of orientations (hex design), but on mine only a single orientation works, and there is no marking telling me which that is. However, this may well be a defect in my sample, not in all samples; I don't know, I've not tried another.

All in all, not bad, but could better for the money. The problem with all these things is that people (traditionally at least) have little basis for comparison, and buy them very infrequently. So all the manufacturer has to do is have a good name rep and a model which looks good in the store. Product design for most appliances is crappy.