Blenders

Choosing the right blender for the way you prepare foods is the trick. You may find you need more than one.

Which blender best suits your style and the foods you prepare? Blenders usually excel at mixing icy drinks. Stick-shaped immersion blenders are handy mostly for stirring powdered drinks or puréeing vegetables in a saucepan.


WHAT'S AVAILABLE



Blenders. Rugged construction and increased power are driving blender sales. Ice-crushing ability is one of the key attributes that shoppers look for in a blender, according to manufacturers. But appearance matters as well, since a blender is one of the appliances consumers are more likely to leave on the countertop than store in a cupboard. As a result, you'll see more colors and metallic finishes. Hamilton Beach and Oster account for more than 40 percent of countertop-blender sales. Other brands include Black & Decker, Braun, Cuisinart, GE, KitchenAid, Krups, Proctor-Silex, Sharp, Sunbeam, Vita-Mix, and Waring, a product pioneer.

Price range: $10 to $400.

Immersion blenders. These stick-shaped handhelds with a swirling blade at the bottom--are on a power trip, with models juiced up to 200 watts or more. With these devices, power seems to make more of a difference than with countertop blenders. An immersion blender in the 100-watt range didn't even have the energy to mince onions in our tests. Immersion blenders are popular for stirring soups and puréeing and chopping vegetables. Increasingly, they're being paired with accessories such as beaters, whisks, and attachments to clean baby bottles. Braun controls the handheld segment of the market.

Price range: $10 to $100.


HOW TO CHOOSE



Choose the right machine for your cooking tasks. Blenders excel at puréeing soup, crushing ice, and making fruit smoothies. Most blenders we tested are competent at various tasks; most have the oomph to crush ice. Most are convenient to use. Choose a blender by noting the specific strengths of the models we tested.

Consider your budget. With blenders, power, performance, and price don't always go hand-in-hand. In past test, some modestly powered, inexpensive blenders turned out smooth-as-silk mixtures, while some bigger and fancier blenders left food pulpy or lumpy. Spending more for any of these appliances will typically get you touchpad controls, extra speeds and power, and perhaps designer styling or colors to match your kitchen's décor. You'll pay more for a blender with a stainless-steel or other metallic jar than you will for one with a plastic or glass container.

___ \'\'\'blender\'\'\' or \'\'\'liquidiser\'\'\' (UK) is ___ [[kitchen appliance]] used to mix ingredients or [[puree]] food. ___ term typically refers to ___ stationary, upright electrical device, which is to be distinguished from ___ hand-powered or electric mixer that may be used for similar purposes. Blenders are also used in [[laboratory]] applications.

___ blending container can be made of [[glass]], [[plastic]], or [[stainless steel]], and often has [[Graduated cylinder|graduated markings]] for approximate measuring purposes. At ___ top of ___ container is ___ lid to prevent ingredients from escaping during operation. At ___ bottom is ___ blade assembly, sometimes removable for cleaning purposes. In cases where ___ blades are removable, ___ container should have ___ [[o-ring]] between ___ body of ___ container and ___ base to seal ___ container and prevent ___ contents from leaking.

___ container rests upon ___ base that contains ___ motor for turning ___ blade assembly and has controls on its surface. Most modern blenders offer ___ number of possible speeds. Low-powered blenders require some liquid to be added for ___ blender to operate correctly. This is because ___ liquid is used to move ___ solids around ___ jar and bring it in contact with ___ blade as ___ \"whirlpool\" fluid movement brings items from ___ top to ___ bottom. High-powered blenders are capable of milling grains and crushing ice without such assistance.

Another type of blender is ___ [[immersion blender]]. This has no container of its own, but instead has ___ mixing head with blades that can be immersed in ___ pot of soup, for example.

Some of ___ functions of blenders have been taken over by [[food processor]]s. In particular, thicker mixtures such as [[mayonnaise]] and [[hummus]] are easier to make in food processors.

==Applications==

Blenders are used both in home and commercial kitchens for various purposes:
* to crush ice in drinks such as [[margarita|frozen margaritas]] and [[Frappucino]]s
* to crush ice and fruit in drinks such as [[smoothie]]s
* to [[emulsion|emulsify]] mixtures
* to make smooth [[purée]]s of semi-solid ingredients, such as cooked vegetables and meat
* to reduce small solids such as spices and seeds to powder or [[nut butter]]s
* to blend mixtures of powders, granules, and/or liquids thoroughly
* to help dissolve solids into liquids

Blenders also have ___ variety of applications in [[microbiology]] and [[food science]]. In addition to standard food-type blenders, there is ___ variety of other configurations of blender for laboratories.

== Development ==
Stephen J. Poplawski, owner of ___ Stevens Electric Company, invented ___ drink mixer in 1922 to make [[Horlicks]] malted [[milk shake]]s at [[soda fountain]]s. He also introduced ___ liquefier blender in 1922.http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blblender.htm Stevens Electric was sold to Oster Manufacturing, ___ manufacturer of barber equipment, in 1946. Oster commercialized ___ liquefier blender under ___ [[trademark]] \'\'Osterizer\'\'. Oster was bought by [[Sunbeam Products]] in 1960.Information from ___ Oster site; now only available at ___ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:t-wT_if2rhEJ:www.oster.com/history.aspx+site:www.oster.com+1924&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Google cache].

In [[1935]], Fred Osius invented another kind of blender. He approached [[Fred Waring]], ___ popular musician who financed and promoted ___ \"Miracle Mixer\", which was commercialized in 1937 by [[Waring Products]][http://www.foodreference.com/html/art-waring_blender-801.html Orchestra Leader Fred Waring and ___ Waring Blender] at foodreference.com. They credit [http://waringproducts.com Waring Products\' web site], but ___ content is no longer available there, now part of [[Conair]]. Waring popularized ___ [[smoothie]] in ___ 1940s. Waring long used ___ spelling \"blendor\" for its product.

With ___ rising popularity of [[smoothie]]s, [[Frappucino]]s and other frozen drinks prepared in front of ___ customer, new models of commercial blenders often include ___ sound-reducing enclosures and computerized controls.

Specialised blenders for making smoothies are becoming popular, chiefly resembling ___ ordinary model with ___ [[spigot]] added for quick serving. Some models also feature ___ gimballed stirring rod mounted on ___ lid, constructed so that mixtures can be stirred whilst ___ machine is running with no chance of ___ stirrer fouling ___ blades.

== Mechanical Operation ==
[[Image:Blender_mechanical_assembly.jpg|thumb|200px|___ powertrain of ___ blender.]]
___ blender consists of ___ housing, motor, blades, and food container. ___ fan-cooled [[electric motor]] is secured into ___ housing by way of vibration dampeners, and ___ small output shaft penetrates ___ upper housing and meshes with ___ blade assembly. Usually, ___ small rubber washer provides ___ seal around ___ output shaft to prevent liquid from entering ___ motor. Most blenders today have multiple speeds.

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blender, smoothie blender, drink mixer, smoothie maker, waring blender
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