mammo8,

Welcome, I think you will soon have the opportunity to meet EJ.

I love mine for refried beans, split pea soup, etc....Things I can now blend easily and completely right in their pans and right at the stove. I used to use it for baby food, too, but no longer have that need. Some people use them for smoothies, but we do large batches of those, so use our regular blender.

We had a Braun for years that we were perfectly happy with. When it finally died, my sister got me a Cuisinart and I love it. The blender part snaps off to go in the dishwasher. The Braun was all one piece. It wasn't usually a big deal to blend up some soapy water to clean it, but once in a while it was difficult to clean and I was a little nervous about things not getting completely cleaned out and harboring bacteria.

Neither of ours were cordless and, sorry, neither of ours was red. I think that may limit your choices a bit! :-)

Who is EJ?

It's OK Denice....I get it. LOL!

Evil Jessy of course. Hand benders? LOL.

Duane

I had a Braun for years that was one piece and plugged in, and I liked it a lot. It had variable speeds, which I liked. Afterwards, I got a Cuisinart cordless, which comes apart for cleaning and for recharging, but it is one speed only. It's rather bulky also, and I don't like it as much as the cheaper Braun. Then of course I can use when while it is recharging, and I never know when it is about to go out. Perhaps I should charge it more often. The red light while charging is supposed to turn green when it is done, but that never happens.

I don't use mine for beans - I put those in the FP, but I do use it frequently for soups, sauces, marinades, etc.

I recommend cord vs cordless, and get the one with the most power you can find. You do mean hand blenders instead of hand benders, don't you? (Is that what the EJ reference is about?) Kitchenaid makes a nice red one.

Lars

I have a Cuisinart, with a cord, and like Lars, I recommend it over a cordless model. I mostly use it for soups and smoothies. I always have to remind myself not to let it touch the bottom of the soup pot when I'm blending, since I think it would scratch the pot if I did.

DONNA

I dunno I keep my hand straight, not bent, when I'm doing it

(I BET anyone reading this is trying it in the air right now!!!)

Are you talking about immersion stick blenders, or a

I have a corded Braun Multiquick, about $30 - $40 at Bed Bath and Beyond, but I think they aren't on the market anymore. I like to use it both for immersion blending of soups and for small chopping jobs (get the one with the accessories - ooops that info belongs in the paragraph above) and beating 1-3 egg whites (I love beating stuff).

EJ

We have an old one piece braun. I don'e use it very often because I too often have textured the kitchen ceiling, dear chef/dh likes it a lot for soups especially. It's a pretty useful little tool. The purple glen plaid is particularly attractive.

I've got a two piece Braun that I like. As long as you don't do any shallow water blending it works well. Otherwise you'll paint the kitchen like Tache said. If I want something really, really blended I use the food processor or blender.

I have some cheapie Rival stick blender I probably purchased at the Evil Empire, as Annie calls it, for 10 bucks. Two speeds. Seems to do the job, though I don't use it much. I suppose I'm not in the habit of reaching for it. Smoothies go in the blender. Other things go in the food processor.

I think Cook's illustrated or America's Test kitchen evaluated hand blenders last year when I was wanting one. They recommended Kitchen Aid for $50, the corded one. I tried an Oster first because it was only $20 came in red :) & the only Kitchenaid I could find was white. The Oster made a really odd noise so I took it back. A week later found my red KitchenAid. It works very well I think, you can put it easily in hot soup to puree. Some of them aren't really made to handle heat as well. It does a very quick job.

I just purchased the KitchenAid one, on the recommendation of Cook's Illustrated. I've never had one before so I have no comparison, but I do like it. Easy to assemble and take apart. Easy to clean. It seems to be very powerful. Cook's like the KA one because the shaft is stainless steel (rather than plastic), so it can be put in hot liquids. I wanted to use it in gravy making, so that was a must.

I've had a cheapo Hamilton Beach Turbo Twister for about two years now. It was around 20 bucks. It is my only blender, because I haven't any counter space for a regular model. It has two speeds, and came with a whisk, S blade, and milk shake mixer. I got it to see if I would like having a hand blender... I meant to get a nicer one (Russell Hobbs or Kitchen Aid), but heretofore, this one has met all of my needs. I have no reason to suspect it won't continue to do so. I mainly use mine for smoothies. It's perfect, because since I live alone, I never make very much. It blazes through the ice even though the manual says specifically not to use it on ice. I also use it for lentil and sausage soup (I wanted to use it on split pea soup, but I always cook that down so much that blending isn't necessary). I've tried using it to make bread crumbs with, but it clogs up fast when used for that purpose. The blade shaft twists on and off easily, but isn't dishwasher safe. It's white with a blue button... I think of you need a red one, it will have to be Cuisinart, Kitchen Aid, or a cheaper store brands and knock offs (Kaloric, and Wolfgang Puck come to mind). I would say to get a corded one if at all possible. I'll admit sometimes, the cord does get in the way. However, it has been my experience that cordless devices are not as powerful as their corded counterparts, nor to they last as long.

Please let us know what you decide!

My one-and-only Cuisinarts (corded) was bought years ago, and is still going strong. It is the only one that I have ever owned! There are many uses for it, but my favorite is that it is a quick way to make nayonnaise. No carefully dribbling the oil. Just put everything (at one time) in the stainless steel beaker that came with it....turn it on, and "miracle of miracles", instant mayo!

Like EJ, I have the Braun Multiquick with all the attachments :-) I love it. The motor section snaps on and off various attachments including an immersion blender, two sizes of food processor, an ice shaver (which I've never used) and a whisk. The various attachments are simple to clean and I use the ones other than the ice shaver a lot.

Evil Jessy glad to meet you, I don't think we have met before. It is not my spelling that gets me in trouble it is my typing. benders versus blenders. LOL

Have learned about EJ and many opinions on hand BLENDERS here this morning. I appreciate all the posts from everyone, now back to research. Thank you all!!

mammo8

I think mine scares me so I don't think to use it. That exposed whirling blade...

Well, it's not exposed when it's stuck down in the food....

I have a corded Cuisinart model. I use it for any recipe that says to "puree in batches in the food processor/blender". It's easy to clean - makes quick work of a lot of otherwise messy stuff.

Mine's white going on yellow....

seagrass