Have you ever looked at your hand blender and wondered, “What can I do with this?” Chances are you only keep it around because you forgot you had it, or because you find it very useful for just one thing. Well, dust that hand blender off and put it to good use (or uses!). A hand blender, or immersion blender is a very useful and often overlooked cooking tool. Read through this article to make sure you are getting the most use out of your immersion blender that you can.
Tips for Using your Hand Blender. There’s a reason an immersion blender is called that: you need to keep it immersed so it can do its job. Otherwise, splatters or pieces of food will go flying and make a big mess. Keep the blade of your hand blender submersed in whatever you are blending. Release the power button before removing the blender. Another piece of advice in using the immersion blender is to use it in a taller, narrower container than you might normally mix your ingredients. This will allow a greater depth of liquid and help prevent the blade from spinning in the air, making a mess.
Hand Blender Use #1: Smoothies. Using a hand blender to puree a smoothie is definitely a time saver. You can dump your smoothie ingredients into a glass or cup and blend it right in the glass.
Hand Blender Use #2: Sauces. Use your immersion blender to blend sauces right in the pan. The blender will chop nuts in a sauce such as a stir fry or curry sauce, blend lumps, or puree other ingredients smooth.
Hand Blender Use #3: Baby Food. A hand blender is an easy way to make baby food. You can turn your dinner into dinner for your toddler by using the hand blender to chop up and mash the larger bits.
Hand Blender Use #4: Mashed Potatoes. Do you like smooth mashed potatoes, but hate all the effort? Or maybe you make mashed potatoes so rarely that you don’t own a potato masher. Use your immersion blender! It is a handy way to mash potatoes right in the pot.
Hand Blender Use #5: Emulsify Salad Dressing. Oil and vinegar based salad dressings easily separate when stored. Use an immersion blender to quickly blend your homemade salad dressing up again before serving.
Hand Blender Use #6: Puree Soup. If you have a hand blender, you can puree soup right in the pot. Transferring hot soup to a blender to puree it can be messy and dangerous. Pureeing soup in the pot with an immersion blender is a much better alternative.
Hand Blender Use #7: Whip Cream. Whipping cream with a bit of sugar is a pinch when using an immersion blender. This is especially helpful if you only want to make a little bit of cream, a difficult task for a mixer.
