Gadgetology 1: Immersion Blender

One of the best parts about being a home chef is the wonderful assortment of gadgets I have ended up with over the years.  Some are, as Alton Brown would say, unitaskers, things that really can only be used for a single purpose.  Take your average citrus juicer, for instance.  It is really only useful for juicing citrus.  To try it in another purpose seems rather wasteful, and hence it sits in the back of a cupboard until needed.  Other gadgets are much more useful, and this is the first in what will be a series about these amazing objects.

If you have been following this blog, you will notice that I use my immersion blender a lot.  I mean, an awful lot.  There are a couple reasons for this.  First, it is very handy.  When I make a soup or sauce that needs to be blended, I can simply blend it in the pot it is already in.  That saves time and dishes.  Secondly, there is no limit to the amount it can blend, so it is not important to have too many blenders of varying sizes (and yes, I have at least 4 others that I can think of off the top of my head).  But most importantly, an immersion blender - or boat motor as it is lovingly referred to in the kitchen - is really really fun!

So how does this lovely creature work?  The shiny blender portion is an attachment, coming apart for easy cleaning.  You put the blender end into your substance that needs to be blended and turn it on.  Mine has power settings 1-10 with the same settings also available on "turbo."  Testing Turbo 10, I put a pot of water in the center of my kitchen floor and could spray every wall at once.  It was quite exciting!  Now, the average immersion blender comes with a few other attachments, like a whisk, but really, blending is joy enough and those other parts just sit in a drawer, while my toy typically is out on the counter, waiting to be used.  (On a side note, my sister does leather working and offered to make me a holster at one point.  So, Karen, where is that?)

But, you ask, I don't really make soups, so why do I need one of these?  Well, it is a wiz on mashed potatoes, great for sauces, useful for smoothies, capable of shaving ice and, if you use the other attachments, able to whip meringue in a fairly efficient manner.  And look at it!  It is awesome!!

So if you don't yet possess an immersion blender, take it from your friends here at THP, and go get one.  You will never look back (except maybe to clean up what you have sprayed all over your kitchen on Turbo 10).