If you want an appliance to help mash potatoes you might want to try an electric hand mixer. That will do the trick. The immersion blenders work well for creaming soups and making sauces. I don't think you will find a brand that can handle potatoes.

Thanks, I surely learned that lesson real well, I won't be doing that again!
That's why I am asking what kind others have and how they use it.
Red

Once I learned how to use mine, it became one of my favorite tools. I thicken gravies and sauces by blending the cooked veggies into the liquid. It works amazingly on brisket! Also I puree soups (roasted butternut squash, broccoli etc) and I can give cream a quick whipping. It's versatile and fun. Mine is an older Braun model with 3 different attachments-- blender, whisk and chopper-- but In reality I mostly use the main blending tool.

Here is a link that might be useful: Newer version of my Multiblender

I love mine! After about 25 years I just replaced my old one last week with a Cuisinart, two speed. I think that it's called a Smart Stick? Purchased at Kohl's.

I also made the mistake of making wallpaper paste once too. Nothing could fix that mess. :) We use ours for soups, sauces, gravies, beating eggs for omelets and scrambled eggs. Also smash up fruits for my husband to put over ice cream or some type of cake (pound, angel food).

But my favorite, and something we do almost every morning, is to make what we call our breakfast milkshakes. Which includes a banana, a little ice cream (we only use 2-3 tablespons), an Instant Breakfast and milk. I don't care for fruits so this is the only fruit that I can get down. My husband will occasionally peel an apple, peach or some other fruit and use that in his morning shake, all mashed with the immersion/stick blender.

Definitely, a hand mixer for mashed potatoes, unless you like to rice them. I also have arthritis in my hands and wrists (along with the rest of the body) and both these tools I use often.

Jenna

We have two. My Cuisinart was purchased at Goodwill for a couple of bucks, they are there pretty much all the time. Elery's is a Braun.

They mostly take up space in the cabinets. The grandkids use them to make shakes and smoothies. I seldom make gravy but I do use one occasionally to puree some vegetables to thicken soup.

I use a small (read "cheap") handheld mixer for mashed potatoes as they will become like glue with the blender (immersion or otherwise), at least when the kids come over. I kind of like my mashed potatoes lumpy, so a hand masher works fine for me but they are much smoother with a mixer (and easier on the hands, which would make a difference to you).

Annie

I used my old immersion blender for creaming soups. Unfortunately, SWMBO used it for mixing paint. So now I use my new one for creaming soups.

It seems like the liquid needs to be reasonably deep for the immersion blender to function well, which makes the tool not so useful for gravy, sauce, etc which I don't usually make in such quantity.

I posted my youtube video sometime ago.

You can make your blender a lot more useful by making this very simple tool.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: Stirrer

dcarch 'I posted my youtube video sometime ago.'

Ah yes, the '70s. My Sears Waring blender is still going strong too. ShouldnâÂÂt you spray your stirrer spoon 'aztec gold' or avocado green?

"------ShouldnâÂÂt you spray your stirrer spoon 'aztec gold' or avocado green?---"

Great idea! :-)

One thing to look for in buying any blender. The jar should not be round.

Effective blending is achieved by having the biggest difference in speed between the blade and the food particles.

If the food travels at the same speed as the blades, nothing will get chopped.

You will notice better blenders all have squarish jars.

Square shaped jars create a lot of turbulance, and that is very good.

dcarch

This thread is about immersion blenders. I don't use mine often but when I do I'm glad to have it. Nice to purée a soup or sauce right in the pot rather than transfer the hot liquid to a blender or FP.

FOAS, "This thread is about immersion blenders. ----"

LOL!

I read the title "Emmersion blender" too quickly, I thought it was about "Emmerson blender" (Emerson)

dcarch

I have a Braun, like Elleen. Had it for about ten years. Tried others but this one is the best. The whisk attachment is actually quite good. I use the whisk, for whipping cream, egg whites and when making Hollandaise sauce.

I know that someone will tell you that the number of watts doesn't necessarily make a difference, but from my experience, a 200 to 250 Watt blender is not nearly as powerful as one that has 400 or 500. My old Braun is a 400.

~Ann

Power is important, but most important is rotational speed. (RPM). You can have a 10,000 watt motor that runs at one RPM.

Unfortunately they don't normally tell you blender RPMs.

A counter type blender can be higher than 30,000 rpm, and hand blender is generally less than half.

The problem also is blenders use universal high speed motors, which generates a lot of heat. Counter top blender motors have built-in turbines to ventilate the motor.

To avoid electric shock, a hand blender motor is normally not ventilated. That's why some of them tell you not to run the blender more than 5 minutes.

A high powered high RPM hand blender is difficult to make.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 11:51

FOAS & dcarch,
While I am truly sure I deserve more, and I know you are each capable of more, please I beg of you only one whip will be necessary!
I have more important things to worry about . . . rather than spelling or punctuation. If it makes you more comfortable, I will try to do better or quit posting. I don't post that much and probably won't miss it.
Why is it, someone always has to make a tongue in cheek funny, at someone else's expense? Better yet just ignore me all together , NO PROBLEM ! ! !
Most of the time I just need a little help not a dissertation or be the butt of a joke.

I know I am very sensitive , when you get my age you really don't give a FRA.
No bad feelings just the way it is!

Red

I apologize, Red, I meant to make fun of myself for being a careless reader. I am the worst speller around. I also make a ton of grammatical mistakes.

Also, FOAS was making fun of me, not you. You see he teases me a lot.

One of this days I will do something terrible to him. :-)

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

dcarch

Agreed dcarch, I was only stating that you misread the question, wasn't picking on you (for a change!) and your response explained why you interpreted it wrong. Red, this most certainly wasn't a case of the spelling police coming after you, and I'm sorry you took it that way.

Given a choice of ONE of "jar" blender or stick blender I'd choose jar. But you would still need a stand or hand-held blender for whipped cream. I'm not sure that "one tool does all" is possible. (Too many different tools called "blender" that don't do the same thing!)

Thanks guys, guess I misunderstood too. The reason I post at all is, some info and it lets me know, there are people still out there. Don't get out for now the way I used to. Maybe some day !

Thanks for the replies, made my day,
Grinning Red

To me, the main advantage of an immersion blender is being able to blend right in the cooking pot, so it isn't necessary to transfer hot liquids into or out of a blender jar or to blend a large quantity in several batches.

Mine is a Braun and I am very happy with it. It has a couple of accessory jars which are handy for small amounts and easy to clean.

Jim

Red, I'm glad that you received some USEFUL information about your blender on this thread! I heartily agree with Jimster-- my immersion blender saves me from cleaning up one more dirty item like a blender.
Feel better soon!

I have a vintage Braun. One speed and you need to hold the switch on to work. It does one job and i use it more often than i think. Blended a tomato sauce last night that i wanted less chunky for a harvest lasagna. It does splatter so i have to put the pot in the sink and mock a foil lid. Good for quickie jobs and easy clean-up.
My mother-in-law has one with all the attachments and loves it. Living alone and cooking for one it has replaced other appliances that are heavy and too big for the job. Immersion blenders can be a huge help to cooks suffering from arthritis. This may seem odd, but the large body of the blender is easy to grip, and ones with an on/off switch (rather than a button you have to hold) can make many otherwise difficult kitchen tasks easy. Just make sure the weight is easy to hold with one hand.
the Dualit has attachments that are easy to interchange. Others at half the cost seem just as good. The Miallegro has good reviews and will do mashed potatoes without gumming.
A good trick with mashed potatoes is to put the cubed potaoes in cold water and bring to a boil very slowly. (does something to the starch and sugar). I like mine rustic chunky with the skins on so i go the old fashioned way and smash.
Nice to have one that goes in the dishwasher so i would make sure of that.

Here is a link that might be useful: stick blender

I have a Braun that DH bought me one year, but I've never used the attachments and don't even know where they are. In fact, just found the Braun again several months ago - its a long story. Also have a less expensive one that I bought at some point in time. Have used both, but the less expensive is going to the niece in Florida when we visit her this winter because I can't see having two of the same item and won't give up the one DH gave me. I use mine normally to puree soups in the pot. Mashed potatoes get the hand mixer. Oh, I do have a big old blender that's really nice, but its in one of the lower cabinets and hasn't been used in years.

I have begun to juice a large number of lemons at one time and freeze the juice in ice cube trays, then "decant" them into bags in the freezer. I put two lemon juice ice cubes in a glass of water with a bit of sugar, then put the immersion blender into the top of the glass. The frozen juice floats to the top where it is quickly blended into the water.
Instant lemonade.

Bellsmom, that's a good idea, the kids would love that in the summertime, I'll bet.

Sleevendog also made a good point. Both of mine require me to hold the button, they won't stay on by themselves. In your situation, I think I'd want one with a switch, so it could stay on without holding the button in.

I didn't even know they made them that way.....

Annie