I am Blender Challenged!

13 years ago

I make a wonderful Caesars salad dressing (actually it's Marilyn's recipe from here) and I make it in a blender. I've seen chefs on TV dressed to the nines making salad dressing in their blenders. Giada is always perfectly clean, Rachel makes everything look easy, Anne Burrell uses her blender rather neatly all the time, the Contessa does everything with class and perfection and then there's me. When they slowly pour the oil in through the top of their blender caps they don't get salad dressing in their hair, on their glasses and down the front of themselves. Their salad dressing doesn't erupt all over their counters. What am I doing wrong? I've tried all the settings my blender has and every single setting spews salad dressing all over me. I now drip the oil in, cover the hole with my clean palm, blend, scrape palm off and repeat. Is there an easier way or should I just use my whisk and forget the blender thing?

Thanks, and Happy New Year

Andrea

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Comments (12)

ynnej
13 years ago
bad blender?
Chi
13 years ago
Your blender probably doesn't go to low enough speeds. I have a Vitamix and I can turn it on so that it's just barely churning (1-10 levels) but if I turn it on higher with just a little liquid, it'll go all over the place.
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Jasdip
13 years ago
Oh, I'm sorry, but your post made me laugh at the visual picture you painted. Even scraping the oil of your palm!

Hmmm I've never done it, even though I want to. I guess I don't make dressings enough. Now I'm even more reluctant!
Jasdip
13 years ago
But you're right. Ina and Giada do it with ease, and they are just using regular, everyday household blenders.
User
13 years ago
You really don't need a blender to make a salad dressing. I use a whisk to make my Caesar Salad dressing. It really is easy to whisk in the oil by hand.

Ann
paprikash
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for your replies. I'll bet it is the fact that I can't adjust the speed. I have a KitchenAide with the poly-something light-weight container and it has five or six settings like mix, puree, liquify, etc. but no low to high setting. Right now my blender is vacationing in Florida and I'm in the frozen tundra of Ohio so I can't experiment with it further. Unfortunately it was kind of a new purchase so I hate to replace it but, last week when it misbehaved right before my company arrived, I was ready to flush it.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
It is not you. It's the blender.

The behavior of liquid in the blender when you are using it is dependent on the shape of the jar and the fluid dymanics of the blades.

You can try bending the blades to modify the dynamic characteristics, which I don't recommend unless you have the confidence of tinkering this sort of things. I have done it with my blender.

There is a very practical way you can have the feature that is on very expensive blenders, namely soft-start.

Buy a motor(router) speed control from Harborfreight ($20.00). You will be able to vary the speed of your blender from 0 to full, just like soft-start. or any speed in between. No more salad dressing on your ceiling.

You can even run your blender at such a low speed that you can cramble eggs.

dcarch
John Liu
13 years ago
I don't use my blender for dressing. We whisk. Or pour everything in a jar, seal it, and shake. Like you're making an oily martini.

I like the variable speed control idea. It might be useful for a food processor too. Those usually have only one speed - very fast - and a slower speed might be handy when kneading dough.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
John,

Actually, that may not work.

Blenders always use what's known as "universal" motors (carbon brush motors), that can be controled by a motor speed control, which also uses PWM design to have high torgue at low speed.

A FP mostly use induction motors, which cannot be controlled by a PWM speed controller.

dcarch
Lars
13 years ago
I use a Kitchenaid stick blender to make it as well as mayonnaise. It's also a bit tricky, but I have a bowl with high sides that makes it easier. I don't like cleaning out mayonnaise from a blender, but the stick blender is fairly easy to clean and it has very good low speeds. The trick is to remember not to leave the stick blender standing up in the bowl because it will fall over with just the slightest glance.

Lars
John Liu
13 years ago
Ah, okay. I was looking at an old variable speed controller for a Dremel, in an antique shop. Thinking about trying it out on my Cuisinart. Glad you posted.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
John,

Not so fast.

A dremel rotary tool draws less than 2 amps.

An older blender may be 5 amps.

A speed controller for dremel may not be good enough for a blender. Check the labels.

The speed controller from HF is 20 amps good enough for most high power blenders.

BTW, a hand blender uses mostly a perminent magnet motor, and that too can be controlled by a PWM speed controller.

dcarch

I am Blender Challenged!

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ynnej

Chi

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