An immersion blender is a type of blender that you might find unique. You can say that it is a sort of a "reverse blender". This type of blender is one that you can hold in your hand as you blend food in the kitchen. It is also commonly called as a stick blender, a wand blender or a hand blender.
The immersion blender is a useful kitchen appliance used to blend food as well as drinks. They are often used to puree soups and mix sauces while cooking them in the pan. Their advantage is that immersion blenders can be used with the food placed in any type of container. It does not require the use of a specialized container that is usually needed for ordinary blenders and food processors. Aside from that, immersion blenders are relatively easy to store, clean and use.
The first immersion blender came into being as the invention of Roger Perrinjaquet of Switzerland who, in March 6 of 1950, patented the idea of such an appliance. He called the appliance as "bamix" which is a word combination of the French words "battre en mixer" which means "beat and mix". And since its invention, the immersion blender has been in use in many professional kitchens in Europe since the 1960’s. Its use further spread and came into the US sometime in the 1980’s.
Immersion blenders look like a long wand that has a blender blade at the other end. The blades are usually immersed into liquids or soups and turned on to do their magic. Immersion blenders are powered by electricity and usually has a number of different blending blades that can sometimes be interchanged to perform different tasks.
In buying a good immersion blender, one needs to look at its power rating. The range may fall between 150 watts to 550 watts. Higher wattage usually means better performance in terms of blending quality and speed. Another thing to look for when choosing immersion blenders is the attachments that come with it. The blades should be made of hardened stainless steel to be good enough to withstand blending harder ingredients like ice. A good immersion blender is also one that is very comfortable to handle and would not put the hands and the wrist to too much stress when being used.
High quality immersion blenders usually have detachable wands to enable more convenient storage and cleaning. A detachable band allows you to put the wand in the dishwasher for cleaning separately and not having the blender motor risk getting wet. There are also some models that are cordless or battery powered for more convenience. Other immersion blenders also offer additional attachments as well as other tools for some added features and functions.
