With so many good cooks on this message board I thought I would pose a question about immersion blenders. We have never owned one but it looks like the tool for making soups, sauces, dressings, etc. In poking around on the web I have found quite a range of immersion blenders with many underpowered units overheating easily. At the moment I’m looking at the lower end of the Bamix(Swiss) and Dynamic(French?) blenders as they seem to be units that can work well and have longevity. If someone has personal experience with these can they comment on the pros and cons. Also there seems to be single, dual, and variable speed units…how important is it to have dual or variable speed? How easy are these blenders to keep clean?..Thank you, Gary
I love my immersion blender and use it all the time. It’s a Braun and I don’t think I spent a lot on it. I’ve had it for a long time. Single speed. Don’t know why you would want more than one speed. Super easy to clean. I’m surprised at your comment on units overheating. I mean it is so quick that I don’t see how it has a chance to overheat.
The old Braun units are much more durable than the newer versions. Mine must be close to twenty years old. Don’t try making mayonnaise with it, but I puree potatoes and other veggies, soups, tomatoes, etc…
Bamix and Dynamic are great if you’re in a professional kitchen, but for home use it’s a little bit of overkill.
Years ago (25+) I had a Braun Mini Pimer and loved it. Recently I purchased a Viking immersion blender and it has been a huge step up. Makes short work of soups, sauces, and general grinding blending jobs that are messy and time consuming in a blender or food processor.
I have used the same Braun for 25 years. I use it for soups all the time and for a smoothie every morning. When making smoothies, I really beat on it to get the frozen fruits going. It is finally starting to have some problems. I was given this http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-724385/Cuisinart-SmartStick-Immersion-Blender-Berry-Blue for Christmas but haven’t used it yet.
My stick blender is one of my favorite tools.
Super easy to clean. Just fill something with water and a little soap. Blend away. I have no idea why these are now made to go in the dishwasher. That would be more work.
Thanks for the replies. In reviewing your responses and the information on chowhound it seems the older >10yrs models for many popular manufacturers pre-date their economic move to Asia for cost-effective manufacturing. Also based on the info I ended up purchasing the Dynamic Mini-pro at a substantial savings from a restaurant supplier. Parts for these units are widely available in the US…Gary
The attachments are really awesome, particularly the whisk. The immersion part is stainless steel which comes off and can be popped into the dishwasher. It has a number of different blades for different tasks and a powerful motor: 550 Watts
I have the Cuisinart stick blender with the included accessories:
It works well and is reasonably-priced. I really like the chopper attachment, as it’s excellent for chopping up smaller batches of
things without dragging out the big Cuisinart. Of course, it’s not for heavy-duty chopping, but it’s worked fine for most items.
The Dynamic immersion blender made quick work to blend the softened apple-turnip-leek ingredients in a chicken stock-apple cider base to give a hot apple turnip soup(Sunset Mag recipe). Since I wanted to try this recipe as a cold soup I chilled the soup in the refrig before serving. When served I added a dollop of creme fraiche which nicely cut into the fruity character of the soup. I would do this recipe again in a heartbeat. BTW the spouse turned the extra soup into spice bread muffins to feed the granddaughter. The Dynamic blender also made quick work of blending chopped canned tomatoes, red wine, and herbs to make a quick and easy marinara to go with an eggplant parm with prosciutto dish. Using the blender is easy but I found out from my son that you tilt the blender slightly and keep is off the bottom to get good mixing and avoid cavitation and keep it from sucking downward. I did use the variable speed in slow rpm mode with chunky ingredients and then moved to higher rpms when the initial chunks broke up. Cleanup is easy with a quick rinse in water and a wipe down. With this I plan to make many more soups. Next up might be potato leek soup since I have a couple of leeks left over from the apple turnip recipe…Cheers, Gary