Stationary blender

The stationary blender has become a loyal assistant in the kitchen for many housewives. It allows you to easily cope with everyday tasks, facilitates the preparation of blanks, helps to take a fresh look at familiar dishes. If you like to experiment, but do not want to mess around for a long time, then the blender is what you need!

A good stationary blender is often called a professional; it resembles food processors that Soviet women dreamed of. He will have fewer functions, but he does a great job with the most culinary tasks - to grind, chop, beat. Of course, there are some downsides:

• Requires a certain place (less than a combine, but more than the submersible blender needs);
• It creates noise when working (it is necessary to take into account if there are kids in the house);
• It is more expensive than "manual" blenders.

But the advantages are much more!

• Professional models can replace mixers and the meat grinder, carry out many functions, easily coping with both small products (nuts), and with firm (vegetables, ice);
• Convenient to use, frees hands - while it works, you can do something else;
• Significantly saves time;
• Such a blender can be used every day, it is easy to wash the details (much easier than washing the dishes and cleaning up after manual rubbing).

Experienced cooks believe that a blender can help in the preparation of any dish, simply indispensable in the kitchen. However, choosing your ideal assistant, you should clearly understand how often and for what purposes he will come in handy. If we are preparing only cocktails before the parties - then a shaker can come up. And if you need a hardy and multi-tasking device, there is enough space in the kitchen, then you should look at the stationary models.

The decision to buy a blender is often associated with the appearance of young children, to make mashed vegetables and fruits. For cooking baby food is better to look for a silent assistant. This criterion often corresponds to blenders with a power of up to 800 watts. Besides.they cope with ice, suitable for vegetables.

But for the tasks more serious - for meat, cooking stuffing - you need powerful models from 1000 watts. They will be able to work for a long time (several minutes) in the chosen mode, which can be done perfectly. It is better to look for them immediately with nozzles and a glass bulb, which will prevent splashing of mashed potatoes and other food in the kitchen while the blender is working.

Regardless of the power, it is worth looking at the package bundle in order to understand what kind of work can be entrusted to the assistant. Models with a whisk for whipping will help to whip proteins into foam, with a grinder for meat and vegetables will not fail after a difficult load.

Medium-sized and small-capacity blenders should have mini-glasses and small knives-shredders in the set, because they are oriented to work with small portions of products. Mini bowls may be needed for powerful units, but they must have full-sized bowls and flasks for work.

The more often you plan to use the blender, the more serious the power and load will be, the more attention should be paid to the presence of additional useful functions (for example, protection from leakage and overheating, self-cleaning).They will not only prevent incidents, but also greatly facilitate the kitchen work and care for the blender.

At the household stationary device power will tell a lot. This is a kind of equivalent of capabilities and quality compliance with the declared functionality. On sale you can find blenders with a capacity of 180 - 2270 W, this is a large range, it includes models for home and professional kitchen:

• 180 - 300 watts - This power is enough to make a light cocktail of soft and liquid ingredients. With ice the device will be controlled not less than 300 watts. Longer work or grinding of solid products should not be expected from such machines.
• 300 - 650 W - medium devices for the rapid grinding of soft or pre-prepared vegetables and fruits (for example, boiled). Help to make mashed potatoes for the baby and cocktails.
• 650 - 1000 watts - an excellent blender that can grind various products (including “tricky” - nuts, dried fruits, some cereals and grains, meat fillets without films, hard vegetables). For home cooking - a great choice!
• Over 1000 W - the professional unit for work with any products in large volumes in a short time. He not only knows how to whip proteins and cream in a thick foam, but also to cope with kneading dough (for this there must be special nozzles). This is a “jack of all trades,” the truth and its value will be much higher. If there is no need to pay for such “skills”, then look at less powerful, high-quality blenders.

Capacity ranges from 0.4 to 2 liters., it shows the amount of product that a blender can handle at a time. In order for the unit to work, the bowl cannot be fully loaded, leaving a volume reserve of 15-25%. For the preparation of a cocktail for 2 people suitable dishes for 1 liter, for 4 persons - 1.5 liters.

The material of the bowl is not only aesthetics, but also the service life, possibilities and safety of cooking. Usually the glasses are made of plastic, glass, metal or composite materials. These materials have their own characteristics:

• Ultralight plastic is durable, inexpensive and can be easily replaced. And it is necessary to change transparent plastic more often: it becomes cloudy and scratched, absorbs unpleasant odors and transfers them to food. Plastic is not suitable for working with high temperature products.
• The transparent composite does not have these materials, but it is difficult to replace it, and it is not cheap.
• Metal utensils have the same drawbacks, besides it doesn’t see what is happening in the bowl, it is more difficult to control the process.
• Glass bowls are heavy and relatively fragile. But with everything else - high temperature, odors, cost, ease of replacement, resistance to oxidation, etc. - they cope easily.

The functionality and utility of a blender is largely dependent on its configuration. It may differ from stationary devices not only of different brands, but also of different models of the same brand. And here you should focus only on personal tastes and expert advice:

• Main work bowl - its material and volume will determine your capabilities;
• Additional tanks: small dishes, chopper, pressurized glass, mill, set of bowls. A smaller bowl is needed to make small portions of food. Chopper is suitable for quick preparation of non-solid products (chopping greens, for example), but the mill is equipped with a special knife to grind "complex" ingredients (coffee, ice, etc.). Hermetic glass will appeal to active people: cooked smoothies and took with him , even pour it is not necessary. It would seem that the more glasses - the better, but they need to be stored somewhere, so there must be at least 2 bowls in the set.
• If there is not much space in the kitchen, then pay attention not to the number of bowls, but to the set of knives and nozzles: universal, for solid components, for meat. For a large and small bowl, these knives can be repeated. The universal knife can be with direct edges, and here the curved form allows to grind and mix mashed potatoes more qualitatively. Often the whisk for whipping is included in the set, designed to work with proteins or light products. For the test, the speed of the blender and the usual whisk are not suitable.

The shape of the knives is also important. - in a standard knife for a blender 2 blades, but if there are 4 of them, the grinding will be uniform and fast.This feature has almost no effect on the final price of the device.

Different products (nuts, egg whites, ice, meat, vegetables) are ground at specific speeds. Manufacturers offer simple models (single speed) or improved (up to 20). In practice, 5-10 modes are enough, which depend on your culinary skills and preferences. More than 10 speeds are useful to those who love smoothies and cocktails.

It is believed that the higher the speed, the faster the stationary blender will mix the product into a slurry. Here it is better to trust instructions, because the speed for grinding solid components are limited, and these rules must be observed.

Sophisticated details make use of the blender in the kitchen comfortable. There are two types of models on the market: mechanical or touch control. Modern electronic panels are not inferior in reliability mechanics, on the contrary, they are more convenient and easy to use, so the price difference pays off easily. The question matters only with a limited budget or a fundamental love of mechanics. What else brands offer for your convenience?

• Non-slip bottom stationary blender or legs will make it steady on any surface at any speed.
• Additional supply of products. - if there is a curtain in the bowl lid for loading a new portion without interrupting work, then this can save time. Being accustomed, you will appreciate it - you don’t need to stop the blender, open it, close it again and install the program.
• Spout for filling - A useful trifle for liquid products, useful when transfusing.
• If you are preparing cocktails, then you will like the special tap and the “foaming” mode: the ready mix with a delicate froth cap can be easily poured into glasses.
• Overload protection will save the blender from breakage. If you measure food by eye, the mode is incorrect or the motor is overheated from the load, the device will simply turn off. A few minutes later he was ready to work again.
• Self-cleaning will also please many hostesses: pour water and dishware, close the lid and turn on mode. Drain and wipe the bowl dry. Blenders without this function are cleaned like this: the bowl and the knives are washed under a tap or sent to the dishwasher. If you do it immediately after cooking, then the leftover food is washed away without effort.

Sometimes, in order to make a purchase decision, you should look at those models that are especially popular. And here it is necessary to immediately divide into categories:

• Specialized "kitchen brands" (for example, Kitfort, KitchenAid, Caso, Smeg);
• Famous brands of different household appliances (Panasonic, Tefal, Zelmer, Binatone, Bosch, Braun, Philips);
• Available brands (Saturn, Centek, Galaxy, Mystery, Supra, Sinbo, Polaris, Vitek, Scarlett);
• Low cost options from Chinese manufacturers.

Brands with the name always offer a technique that is one step ahead of your expectations. KitchenAid and Smeg they rely on durability, design and ergonomics, they will delight you with a stylish color scheme and make the device a decoration of the kitchen. Externally and according to the parameters, the technique is similar - very powerful, with functions of splitting ice, grinding meat, with a dimensional scale applied to the jug, made of high-quality materials. These are not only helpers blenders, but also an investment in family happiness and health. Prices correspond.

Reliable equipment produced and well-known brands Tefal, Zelmer, Binatone. They can find and available, simple in functionality of the model, and advanced advanced. Blenders will appreciate the simplicity of control, ergonomics and functionality. About such purchases rarely regret and do not soon change. You can choose according to the budget and personal preferences of brands - you will not go wrong.

Available brands are a vast market mainly from Russian or co-producers. They can also be chosen according to personal preferences, the service life depends on the frequency of use and compliance with instructions. Focus on the power of the device, compliance with this technical characteristics of the stated capabilities. Such manufacturers make "universal" options, offering a large complete set of bowls of knives, but not always successful in design. However, this is a good solution for home if you use the blender for its intended purpose.

Speaking of Chinese manufacturers, they often recall super-cheap copies and fakes. They really rarely are designed for long service and are more suitable for the manufacture of cocktails, their decoration, than to work with a variety of products. In fairness, it is worth noting that many world leaders prefer to make equipment in China (the United Kingdom or the Czech Republic) to reduce the cost of it, but this does not affect the quality. But still these are different price ranges.

What you need to know before you buy: it is still better not to do mashed potatoes with a blender, because not everyone likes this consistency.And for whipping eggs, cream, milk, a whisk is more suitable, not a universal knife.

Any kitchen has a job for a blender - make a refreshing cocktail or vitamin smoothie, grind seasonal berries for jam, make a healthy mash for a kid ... But additional functions in high quality will cost a lot of money or leave them for another device (meat grinder, mixer, for example ). And what do you need from a blender, what to expect from a purchase - now you know!