Hi! I don't use mine, so I am not an authority at all, but these sell for $5-10 at most kitchen stores. They are generally all metal these days. I have only found differences in the flexibiity of the blades and the sharpness of the blades. I assume sharper blades are good, and flexible blades aren't ideal since they won't cut cold butter if they bend too much.

I love that yours was your grandmother's, maybe you can hang it on the wall to honor her. I bet new ones are similar enough but are actually easier to use, too.

Mine is from Pampered Chef..It's all metal.

Does this one look like a good one? It is suppose to be easier on the hands.

Diana,
That looks like the one I own and it works just fine for me...but then it's the only one I've had too.

My first pastry blender was the wire one, which was much better than using two knives or a fork. The wire pastry blender was similar in shape/size to the one Diana posted a picture for above, but the wires bent easily. I now use one like the one in the picture and it's much better. A food processor will also do the job, but use a gentle finger on the pulse button. Avoid hands for blending fat into flour. Hands tend to be warm enough to melt the fat, and that's not what is needed for pastry.

There's also a pastry blender that looks like a potato masher that is supposed to work great because of the way it's held and a little bigger work surface. Another advantage is that you're hand is farther away from the mixture. I haven't had any personal experience with it.

Check out the Amazon.com link below for a huge selection of pastry blenders, including the "potato masher" style.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Pastry Blenders

I'll be the voice of dissent here and tell you that in my Culinary training, we use the cheap little plastic pastry scrapers. They are excellent for cutting in butter/fats. And very useful for scraping the bottom of the bowl because they are rounded on one side.

I have a very old wire one....and if they are no longer made, I best be searching the thrift stores as mine is beginning to wear out....but I do love the Cusinart for that job.
Linda C

Diana, that is the one I have used for years and I think it is the best pastry blender I have ever used. I do find it works best for me with a wider bowl with a slighly flattened bottom, as opposed to the narrow round bottomed bowl I used to use with my old wire one. I'm sorry your Grandmother's pastry blender broke.

I've been using the FP for cutting for so long, I don't know where my pastry blender is. If I found it, it would look like the one you pictured...the kind with the stationary blades. Might have one with the wire blades around also. Didn't like that as well.

Nancy

I overwork the dough if I use the food processor, and besides, a pastry blender is a whole lot less hassle to clean. I don't know what brand I have, but it looks pretty much like the picture you posted, Diane.

I use my pastry blender to chop hard boiled eggs, too. When I want to make egg salad, I push the egg through the blender one direction, into my hand, then turn the egg a different direction and push it through again, and I have chopped eggs. I know there's egg slicers out there, but if I can have one tool that does both jobs, that's just that much less junk I have to cram into my limited space.

Sally

Diana, The one you posted was the top rated one by Cooks's Illustrated a few years back. I was very happy when I replaced my old one with the wood handle and the wire blades.

-Robin

I just purchased the one in the Pic on e-Bay, so I hope its a good one. If not, at least it was only $12.00 new. Thanks everyone !!! Diana55

Mine is similar to the one you posted - it took me a while to find one, a lot of the stores were carrying the version with just the thicker wire, and that's not what I wanted. I use mine for all kinds of things, including making guac.