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COPYRIGHT 2002 Australian Consumers' Association
They're useful for pureeing cooked vegetables, soups or sauces; blending, say, mayonnaise, fruit smoothies or milk shakes; and some can also manage other tasks -- chopping dry ingredients, from nuts or carrots to breadcrumbs or herbs, whipping egg whites or cream and/or crushing ice.
The long, thin shape makes it easy -- there's no need to transfer the contents of a jug or saucepan into a bowl, just pop the rod straight in. And if both the blade and the blade shaft are removable for easier cleaning, that's even better.
WHAT CAN THEY DO?
If you want to chop more than the occasional few nuts, you're best to get one with an attachment designed for it. Models with this attachment were mostly excellent for both carrots and nuts -- the table shows which attachments each model has. For chopping larger quantities of raw vegetables, however, you'd be better off using a food processor, as the chopper attachments can only manage small amounts suitable for, say, a garnish or sandwich.
Nine of the blenders cost well under $100; the BAMIX Mono 00120 was $195, but was the cheapest model available in that brand. See Performance, below, for the foods we tested them on.
They're all great with soft foods and most managed mayonnaise well. If that's all you'll use one for, you can pick quite a cheap model -- see What to buy, right, for our recommendations.
IN A NUTSHELL
* On test: 10 stick or `stab' blenders, for performance, ease of use (including cleaning) and safety.
* Blending soft foods is a breeze for all the blenders, but you'll have to pay more for a model to chop hard foods as well. The What to buy list has models for both needs.
WHAT TO BUY * For soft and some hard/dry foods: SUNBEAM Stickmaster Plus...
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