3 Useful Tips and Tricks on How to Make the Most of Your Blender

If you’re still not sure about whether to add a blender to your kitchen or not, understand that this is a versatile appliance and your kitchen should have it. If you’ve heard about making smoothies as the only use of a blender, you’ve come to know only half the truth. A blender can also make soups, frozen desserts, nut milks, sauces, dips, spreads, juices, sorbets, baby food and much, much more.

If you want to get more information about blenders, their benefits, features, functions and various brands, The Kitchen Magazine is a very reliable source. By going through the information given on this website, you can take a more informed decision about choosing the best blender.

Let’s take a look at some tips and tricks with which you can make the most of your blender.

1. How to Use a Blender Perfectly?

A good thing about a blender is that most of its components (except the motor) are detachable and thus washable. Thus, you’ll have a cup or two, blade/s, lid/s, lid plug and a tamper. The motor base houses the motor and features a control panel, and can be connected to an electric outlet.

Some common things to remember while operating a blender are:

• Some blenders need you to cut larger foods into small pieces, while some others don’t need any prepping. You can add whole ingredients like carrot, apple etc. to its feed chute and they will be processed.
• Most blenders of today come with a safety feature i.e. if you don’t place the lid properly, the machine won’t start. So, you should make sure you’ve placed the lid correctly.
• Start the blender at the lowest setting of speed and then go on increasing as required.
• Most blenders need you to be present before them as the lid can fly off.
• It’s a good idea to keep a napkin handy to cover the lid, especially when you need to add liquids like oil to a hot pulp since splattering and steam may occur.
• If the ingredients stop spinning, stir or push them down with the tamper.
• Similarly, remove air bubbles with the tamper if there are any.
• If the mixture is too thick, add liquid gradually to loosen it.
• Sometimes the cup may become hot. At such times, stop the work for some time to let it cool down.
• As a rule of thumb, leave 1/3rd of the cup empty while adding ingredients. This can be slightly more for liquids.
• If you plan to use your blender more for making hot liquids like soups, choose a model that can handle high temperatures.
• While all the detachable components can be washed with hands or in dishwasher, the motor base should never be immersed in water for cleaning. It should be wiped only with a damp cloth or sponge.

2. Basic Blender Functions

If you’re wondering about what your blender can do exactly for you, you can assume that it can blend, stir, puree, thin batters and mix liquids. Advanced blenders like a Vitamix blender can even grind coffee, liquefy fruits and vegetables to smooth, lump-free smoothies, crush ice and perform many more functions.

If you find it difficult to select the right speed or function to process your food, you can use the pulse setting which is often appropriate for several blending tasks.

Blenders that have an ice-crushing function have higher power and a specially designed stainless blade. Blenders with such extended food processing features usually are high-powered, have extra chopping accessories and usually come with a higher price tag.

3. Foods You can Blend

Make sure you read the user manual carefully regarding what foods you can add to your blender. Generally, you can puree soft or cooked foods, blend eggs, eggnog, creamed soup and gravy, frozen beverages, salad dressings, pancake or waffle batter, salsas, and more.

So, have you started looking for a perfect blender?