plus other good stuff: Why I Love My Immersion Blender

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My immersion blender is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. I've only had it for about a year, and I can't believe I waited so long to get one.

Also known as a stick blender or hand blender, the immersion blender's purpose is this: you stick this thing into a pot of soup, a cup of smoothie, or a bowl of pancake batter, and with the press of a button, puree it as much or as little as you like. I think it is an almost essential addition to every real food kitchen, especially if you have limited time. And who doesn't have limited time?

If anyone asks me about my immersion blender, I rave on and on about it. I thought I should share the love with you, too!

My Favorite Uses for My Immersion Blender

1. Pureeing Soups.
This was the main reason I got my immersion blender. I was tired of having to pour soup into the blender, then pour it into another pot or bowl, then repeat the process with the whole batch of soup, splattering soup all over the kitchen and dirtying tons of dishes in the process. Now I just stick the immersion blender into the pot, whiz it around a little, and call it good! I can puree completely, or leave it chunky, depending on the kind of soup and my mood. It's worth the forty bucks for that use alone!

2. Making Smoothies.
If I'm just making a smoothie for me (which is rare since I usually share them with my toddler), I make it with the immersion blender right in the cup it came with. It majorly saves on dishes: instead of washing my blender with all its pieces and a cup to drink out of, I just have to wash the part of the blender that was immersed, and the cup that was used for both blending in and drinking out of.

3. Homemade Ice Cream.
When I make homemade ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home (you ready for my series on that coming soon?!), I have to boil the milk and cream. Sometimes when I do that with my raw milk, it curdles. Agh! However, with a whiz of my trusty immersion blender, is becomes smooth as silk again and you'd never know. Phew! It's also helpful for mixing the ice cream base together, especially if it involves pureed fruit.

4. Pureeing Squash.
If you read Cook Squash the Safe and Brainless Way, you'll see how I use my immersion blender to help preserve winter squash. Easy peasy.

5. Pancake Batter.
Throw the ingredients in a bowl, mix with good ol' I.M., and you're ready to flip some pancakes. I first tried this with Katie's Orange Vegetable Pancakes, which my then just two-year-old called "Pum Pum Cakes." Cuteness alert!!!

6. Mayonnaise.
This might just rock your world. You can actually make homemade mayo with this sucker and say goodbye to the tedious and messy slow pouring of oil. And of course using your immersion blender means less dishes! Woohoo!

I'm sure I've used this handy kitchen tool for many other things, but these are the ones that come to mind first. Sometimes, I use it two or three times in a day! Definitely worth every penny of the $35 I spent.

What kind of immersion blender should you buy?

I have this Cuisinart, and so far so good. It's powerful enough to puree frozen fruit for smoothies, and I think that's the biggest challenge I'm ever going to give it. But even this $17 Hamilton Beach has four out of five stars on Amazon. I know my mom has a less expensive one and has been very happy with it. So choose one that fits your budget and has relatively good reviews; I don't think you'll go wrong!

Happy immersing! :)