Can it reduce cooked vegetables to a creamy soup or paste, or does it simply chop them up into little pieces?
I had thought about it as an alternative to baby food which is difficult to get into without injury (yes, I have had to resort to a knife resulting in a cut hand) and it has been suggested by the aide today. But the ones I have seen do not make it clear.
I can chop veg myself with a knife, and I have today mashed potato with a masherafter steaming but still with skins on, so don’t want to buy a pig in a poke.
Stick blenders are fabulous, you can make soup or puree or powder pretty much anything. Don’t use one for mashed potatoes though because you’ll get glue Lidl have them for about 10€, fairly regularly. Oh also fantastic for mayonnaise.
I have a small jug type blender with the motor in the lid. It does a large cup in volume and it’s great. I bought it originally to make garlic and ginger paste but I now I use it for all my smallish volume blending. I think it cost €8. No splashback with this one either
I’ll just confirm what the others have said, David. If you try a cheap stick one from Lidl and you’re really pleased with it, you could always get a more powerful one later but none of them are very expensive at all. I agree with hairbear about jug blenders being good too but a stick blender means that you can use it in the pan you’re cooking in and not have to wash out a separate object. If you rinse the head of a stick blender immediately after using, it rarely needs a more assiduous wash so you are unlikely to cut yourself on the blades.
Our Lidl doesn’t have them at the moment as it’s “laundry and bedding” season, but this is what they look like…
[quote=“vero, post:3, topic:42067”]
Stick blenders are fabulous, you can make soup or puree or powder pretty much anything.[/quote]
My ancient Braun stick blender is great for making soup. You just have to keep going while it turns from lumps to gritty bits and eventually to velvet.
The only drawback to a stick blender is that you need enough depth of food in the pan, otherwise your shirt and face will be covered. BUT many of them will also have a bol attachment for smaller quantities, so you could take out Fran’s portion and blend it in that.
That must be why the recipes for purée specify 50:50 potatoes:butter
Thanks again everybody, that’s very useful. The ones you link @AngelaR are the ones I have been looking at on Amazon but wasn’t sure if they would break down even cooked hard veg like turnips and parsnips.
The one you pictured @hairbear looks much more heavy duty, a bit like the things you break concrete with, but I’ll have a look if that is on offer too.
I’m not averse to larger quantities @Porridge from which I can retrieve a small portion for Fran because I can always add my spices afterwards for my own, so splattering is not really a problem? BTW I always put butter in my mash but not sure about 50:50.
I’ve not tried turnips as I don’t like them but parsnips, carrots and beetroot are no problem at all provided they are cooked. They’d be tricky raw I think
Here is a recipe for beetroot which we had with our turkey.
Take a pack of cooked beetroot and add half a red pepper finely chopped.
Whizz together, either with a stick blender or Magimix, add 125 ml of soured cream and put into an ovenproof dish. Top with buttered crumbs and heat through when wanted.
I did mean cooked @AngelaR , probably steamed and chopped by hand.
That sounds appealing @Jane_Williamson and I might give it a try. I am into Greek Yoghurt at the moment, I surpose that would substitute for soured cream.
… sometimes sold in the past under other brands… and always considerably cheaper in UK and weirdly, CH. The Emsa Superline 2L and 3L are also good for general cake and breadmaking, very longlived and resilient. You can use an electric cake hand mixer in those. But for a stick blender you’d choose the higher narrower one above
I do have deep bowls and even a narrow one like that, not sure what it came from, had it for years, so no worries on that score. But I think I have the answer from all that’s been said. I can blend veg with a stick blender. I’ll go and look at all the options now, or even stick with the masher I already have, at least I know that if it can mash non-peeled potatoes I am pretty sure it can handle anything else. Just a bit more elbow grease required. Whatever, anything is better than baby food containers causing knives to be sticking out of my hands.
Lidl have them for about 10€, fairly regularly. Oh also fantastic for mayonnaise.
