Two things to consider when buying a blender

Blenders are must-items in every household nowadays especially if you are very health conscious. You see, blenders are pretty nifty when it comes to making fruit juices that are rich sources of vitamins and minerals. On top of this, you can also use this gadget to create vegetables dishes that can resemble meats. This is the reason why most people who are into a specific diet plans or those who have become vegetarians are investing in good blenders. After all, you will be taking in only fresh foods and drinks with it.

Even those who have restaurants also invest in blenders for their ingredient preparation. Like a food processor, blenders can help in mincing and in grinding ingredients. In fact, it can even turn some hard to bit into ingredients into powder form. Chefs do this with spices that may be bitter when bit into. In a powder form, these spices can easily flavor the food that they are cooking.

But with all the different kinds of blenders in the market, one cannot be sure of just what to buy for the home or for the business. Another question is if a blender is the right choice or would a food processor be better. Here are some tips to help you in your decision.

1. Function

One of the things that you should consider before buying a blender is what you will be doing with it. A lot of things will depend on the answer to this question— the price of the blender, the power, the brand and even, the dilemma between food processor and blender.

If you are planning to use it for making shakes and juices at home, the blender is the obvious choice. It is after all not called a liquidizer for nothing. A blender can be best used when making liquid concoctions, from milkshakes to alcoholic drinks. You can create Zombies and margaritas with this gadget.

If you are planning to crush ice with it, go for the more expensive blenders as the smaller cheaper ones will not have enough power to do it. They may be able to do the job once or twice but crushing ice often will cause the blades and the machine to big down.

If you are however planning to use it for preparing ingredients when you cook a meal, the best thing to buy is actually the food processor. With this gadget, you can slice your tomatoes, mash potatoes, mince pork and shred cabbages. You can even grate cheese with it. You see, food processors have with it interchangeable razors and blades that you can use. These blades perform a variety of function, depending on what you want.

Between the two, the food processor is actually the more versatile as it can also make juices for you. It will be a harder job but it can be accomplished.

2. Budget

Another consideration when buying blenders for your food and drinks is the price range that you can afford. If you really want a good blender, I suggest that you save your money for the expensive ones with a good brand. That way, you won't need to worry about it not being able to do the things that you want to do. After all, you cannot be too sure just what you will need the blender for in the future.

The Blender Buying Guide

You should know what to look for when you want to buy a blender. This is because no kitchen is complete without it so to help you out, here is buying guide for you customers out there.

First, the blender must be able to do some basic tasks in the kitchen. These include crushing ice and combine liquids as well as solids.

The capacity of the blender is also important. The carafe’s as they are better known may be able to hold 1 to 3 liters so knowing which one to get should be based on your blending needs.

Since the capacity also dictates the size of the unit, you should also consider the amount of storage space when this is not needed. If this can’t fit inside the cabinet, perhaps this can be placed on top of the shelf instead.

Surely, you don’t want your blender to break down only after a few months. To prevent this from happening, make sure you get a trusted brand. Look at what material is used in making the body and the carafes. The footing should also be stable so it doesn’t fall to one side especially when you are blending. If you are to choose between plastic, glass or stainless steel footing, go for the last as it is the sturdiest.

As for your carafe, stainless steel happens to be the sturdiest however you are not able to see what you are mixing. This is why glass is much better even if it is heavier and more expensive than plastic.

Regardless of the capacity of the carafe you choose, don’t make the mistake of putting in ¾ its capacity. Doing so will create a mess even if it does come with a lid.

Looks are also important when buying a blender. Why? This is because the blender should also complement the rest of the kitchen. Fortunately, most companies have this available in various colors so you will just have to choose one from the rest.

The ideal blender should have various functions. Since there are so many to mention, just choose one based on what you plan to do with it. If you want to try new things with your blender, always read the instructional manual so there won’t be any problems when you use it.

The strength of the blender depends on its wattage. Usually, these are between 300-500 watts for small blenders and 1200 watts for heavy duty models. This makes the speed settings vary as well. Some units have 13 while others have 16 but for the people at home, sticking between 300 to 500 watts is sufficient.

The blender must also be user-friendly. At one point, these were sold with push button controls. The problem was that they were very difficult to clean. The grooves seem to attract spills and this doesn’t go away no matter how many times you clean it.

There are also models that have dials which are probably easier to operate than push button. The drawback is that they don’t look sleek enough to impress people who see it.

The best once to get are those with touchpad controls because it is easy to clean. For a few more dollars, you can even one that has programmed settings even if some find it hard to read.

The blender buying guide should help you find the right blender depending on your needs. The only thing you have to do now is check out your nearby appliance store or online to find what you need for your kitchen.

What you should know before buying a blender

Blenders have become a staple at home in recent years. This is perhaps because of the increasing awareness on the importance of taking in fresh and healthy food and drinks. Most vegetarians now, in fact, have either the blender or the food processor at home. Some even have both. They use these kitchen gadgets to prepare fruit juices and salads for their meals.

Although it is pretty easy to buy a blender nowadays because of the many brands and models to choose from, it is always good to research first and see just what you are buying. Looking into its variety of function will also help you decide on what models to purchase and how much budget should you allot for it. Here are some of the things that can help you.

1. It specializes in liquids

Blenders are generally used for making shakes and juices. Also called a liquidizer or a liquefier, this handy kitchen tool deals well with anything that is liquid. In fact, it is primarily used in mixing drinks and making smoothies. You can create Zombies and margaritas with this gadget as well as milk shakes that children often love.

If you have a baby at home, the blender will also be useful in creating purees and semi-solid foods that they eat during the first and second years. Babies do not have yet a strong digestive system in place. This is why their foods are often mashed and crushed for easy digestion.

However if you plan to use the blender to help you with the mincing and the mashing, a food processor is a better choice as this appliance can also slice and dice as well as grate depending on which blade you use. You see unlike the blender, the razors of the food processor can be changed into another. Each blade will perform a certain function.

2. Oster is a good brand

If you have a good budget, opt for the Oster brand as it is considered the sturdiest. Their blenders have very powerful motors that can easily crush hard objects such as ice. Blenders is even called osterizer sometimes, a term that the company popularized before. In fact, if you are planning to make shakes with ice on them, be sure that you allot a big budget for your blender. The cheaper ones may not have a powerful enough motor to deal with hard ice.

3. Blenders and food processors have similar functions

Blenders in general have the same functions as the food processor. This is why they are often referred to interchangeably. Some do not even know the difference between the two. They do differ from one another though. The food processor deals well with solid foods, the kind that you put as ingredients on the dishes that you cook. The blender on the other hand is more into making liquid drinks and food for babies. Between the two, the food processor is however the more versatile one. With the right blade and the right settings, you can also make juices using this.

If you have the money, it is better to have both at home. Both food processor and blenders are great help in the preparation food and drinks for you and your family.