Buy blender: what do you pay attention to?
Are you planning to buy a blender? Then think about what you want to do with the blender. Blenders are especially good at mixing and mashing. Maybe other devices are more suitable for what you want to make. With our buying tips, you go to the store in good information.
What can you do with a blender?
With a blender, you can mash and mix. For example, you use a blender to make smoothies, sauces and soups. You can also mash baby food with it and chop ice cream into pieces, but they don’t all do well.
A blender has a dense mixing bowl, useful for mashing liquid or semi-solid food. You can easily prepare large quantities with it, provided you buy a large blender
Blender or hand blender?
If you are looking for a device to mash especially, both blenders and hand blenders are suitable. Which best fits your wishes?
The benefits of a blender:
- The dense mixing bowl prevents tampering.
- It is suitable for larger quantities.
- Often a higher power which allows them to mix longer.
- Some blenders are suitable for crushing ice.
The benefits of a hand blender:
- Low price
- Small, so easy to store and clean
- You can move it back and forth in a pan or container. This makes it easier to puree firmer ingredients
- Often extend with a chopper, or with a whisk.
What do you pay attention to when buying a blender?
Power: The power of blenders varies from about 200 to 2000 Watts. High power blenders, on average, are slightly better at mashing, mixing and crushing than lower-power blenders. A good smoothie does not require high power.
Content can: how much do you want to prepare in it? They’re roughly 3 categories: up to 1 litre, 1 – 1.5 litres or 1.5 litres or larger.
Glass or plastic: a glass jug is more attractive, less prone to scratches and becomes dull less quickly than a plastic jug. It is also better suited for mashing hot soup. He’s heavier.
Weight: blenders weigh 1 kg to 6 kg. A heavy blender is not useful if you need to remove it from a kitchen cabinet before each use.
Extra accessories: some blenders come with extra accessories for chopping or grinding or a juice-making filter. You can also opt for a smoothie blender or vacuum grower.
Special blenders
Power blender
Power blenders, or high-speed blenders, have high power. Often they are just slightly better at mashing, mixing and crushing than lower-power blenders. They are usually more expensive and noisier. And in some models, the food warms up a bit because of the warmth of the engine. If you are looking for a blender for smoothies, you don’t need high power.
Smoothie blender
A smoothie blender or ‘blender to go’ has a small jug. After preparation, you can drink the smoothie immediately or take it with you. There are blenders with a normal and a smoothie jug.
Vacuum lender
The idea behind a vacuum lender is that vitamin C and other oxygen-sensitive ingredients are preserved for longer. Vacuum suction of the blender slows down the oxidation process. If you drink the smoothie a while later, the vacuum will keep it fresher.
Steamer blender
Also called baby food processor. It can both steam and blend. When steaming, more vitamins are retained than when you cook vegetables. This way you can prepare healthy baby snacks.
How much money do you want to spend?
There are blenders of a few tenners, but also of more than €400. The price difference lies in all sorts of factors:
Material use: Blenders with a metal casing and glass can be more expensive than blenders with an enclosure and can be made of plastic. Glass and metal are more robust and generally last longer than plastic.
Content: A larger blender is more expensive than a small one.
Power: Higher power blenders are more expensive than low-power blenders.
Design: blenders that can be seen on the counter are more expensive than blenders that you’d rather mop up in your kitchen cabinet. The design doesn’t say anything about how good the blender is, bites out of our test.
What are the alternatives?
Hand blender
A hand blender is suitable for mashing food. With a whisk and chopper as an extra accessory, you can also beat, mix, stir and chop.
Food processor
Looking for a versatile kitchen appliance? A food processor is good at baking jobs such as whisking, kneading and mixing. A food processor is an all-rounder and can also chop, cut and grate.
Juicer
With a juicer or slow juicer, you get the juice from fruit and vegetables. A smoothie from a blender is healthier. In the blender, you can process whole pieces of fruit and vegetables, with a juicer or slow juicer all the fibres are left in the pulp.
