blendernjuicer.com

Kitchen blenders and food processors have become a necessity for every serious or casual cook. If you are a health conscious individual, you will love the benefits of a great juice extractor. At this site, you will learn how to choose or buy the best blender, food processor or juice extractor.

How to Choose or Buy the Best Blender

The first consideration is how you intend to use the blender. Blenders now come in two types: counter-top and immersion blender, also called stick or hand blender. The immersion blender is designed for pureeing soft food such as soup or vegetables by dipping the stick into a bowl, cup or a pot that contains the food. The countertop blender is equipped with a container jar, that measures anywhere between 32 and 64 ounces, and a blade. It sits on your kitchen table or countertop. You blend by putting the food into the jar, add a little water and turn on the machine.

Selecting Your Best Countertop Blender

The benefits of a countertop blender are many. This kitchen tool is commonly used for making smoothies, milkshakes, sauces and many kinds of drinks. Some blenders can crush ice, grind coffee beans and make soup hot enough to drink. Let’s go through features that you need to look for when buying a countertop blender. These features are more of a guide than a science.

Speed

Speed is one of the factors that determine how smooth you can blend your food. Usually 3 speeds are enough for most of your needs. Most blenders on the market today come with multiple speeds and you don’t have to look really hard for this feature.

Removable Blade

The blade attaches to the bottom of the jar. It needs to be removable so you can clean particles of food that can get trapped under the blade.

Container Jar Design

A few considerations need to be made about the jar. First, you need to ensure that the blender comes with the size that will meet your needs. The jar is normally designed to taper towards the base. This allows for better fluid circulation. The container material is of great importance.

Blenders may use plastic jar, glass or polycarbonate. With plastic container, you have to be ultra careful not to scratch it, as this can happen easily. Glass is breakable and heavy. Polycarbonate jar has high impact resistance, it does not break easily

Pulse Button

You are going to need the pulse option. The pulse button allows you to crush ice. It also allows you to generate short burst that is required to blend certain food items.

Capabilities

You have to find out what the blender can do. Blenders are not the same in performance. The ultimate reason for selecting any countertop blender is to make a number of food preparations. So find out if your best blender can perform all the food preparations you desire.

Top blenders can create the following food preparations:

• Blend smoothies
• Puree solid hard food such as raw carrot
• Puree soup and sauces with soft cooked vegetables
• Make hot soups
• Grind coffee beans
• Create frozen fruit puree
• Chop
• Juice
• Mix

 

 

How to Choose the Best Immersion Blender

The immersion blender, also called stick or hand blender, is a convenient tool to have in the kitchen. You can stick it right into the pot containing your food and blend. There are a few things to bear in mind when choosing your best hand blender.

Power

Power is an important factor in hand blenders, especially if you want to use it to chop food items. Ordinarily, when using the immersion blender, you will put the stick in the bowl with chunks of food and liquid, then turn the machine on at the lowest power setting. As the blade spins, the chunks of food items begin to break. Blending is achieved by increasing the power setting which causes the machine to turn faster and break more pieces of the food. The more power the immersion blender has, the better it’s blending capabilities.

Cleaning

The hand blender needs thorough cleaning since the stick goes inside the food. It must be dishwasher safe and easy to clean. You should be able to wash the blade by hand or simply put it into the dishwasher. Most immersion blenders come with detachable parts which are dish-washable.

Material

The material used in the design of the immersion blender should be considered. Cheaper brands are made of plastic. However, it will stain when tomato sauce gets on it. Once it stains, you cannot get it clean. The best hand blenders are made of brushed chrome or stainless steel.

Attachments

You will enjoy using the hand blender more if you can chop and mix. The top rated immersion blenders come with chopping and whisk attachment that allows you to mix egg whites. You will also need to store your immersion blender and attachments in a bag.

 

 

 

How to Buy or Choose Your Best Food Processor

The Food processor has become a useful appliance in the kitchen. It saves time when preparing large dishes during family gatherings. For individuals who entertain or cook often for large numbers of people, a food processor is a very useful, especially if you will use it for slicing, shredding, chopping and grinding. Many food processors come with mini bowls and  feed chutes. The chute allows you to gradually add food chunks to the bowl. The machine may have a number of speeds, reversible blades and a pulsing function. Top food processors must be able to perform the following preparations:

• Chop nuts and carrots
• Grind fresh meat
• Knead dough
• Create sauces
• Puree vegetables (Does not do it as well as a blender)

If you are considering buying this kitchen appliance, there are a few things you need to know in order to choose your best food processor.  Power is critical in performing the tough cooking preparations such as chopping fresh carrots, grinding coffee beans or kneading dough. Many top food processors are designed with motors that perform at 600 watts or more.

Capacity

The size of the bowl varies. You can get it as small as 3-cup and as large as 20 cup. The typical cook uses 11 or 12-cup size to cook for a household of four or five people. It’s your call and depends on what you want to make.

Cleaning

In order to get your food processor clean without wasting time hand-washing the parts, you need to put the parts in the dishwasher. It is imperative that the parts be dishwasher-safe. This saves cleanup time.

Price

There are many low priced food processors on the market. The top machines are a little pricy but  their values are worth it. Don’t get taken by $50 food processors. The leaders are Cusinart and Kitchen Aid. They are priced in the neighborhood of $170

 

 

 

How to Choose or Buy your Best Juicer

There are many juice extracting machines out there on the market. So which one do you choose if this is your first time? Below is information to help you through the decision process of selecting your best juice extracting machine.

What do you want to Juice?

It is important to be clear in your mind what food items you want to juice. There are many juicers on the market, but not every juicer can squeeze juice out of every food item.

For example, some juices can extract juice out of fruits and vegetables but not from wheatgrass and leafy greens.

Do you want a quick drink of fresh juice or do you want to juice for health reasons? You can answer this question by determining the type of juicer suitable for you.

Types of Juicers

There are a number of Juicer categories; however there are three main types. They are:

1. Centrifugal Juicers: Machines run at high rotational speeds of about 3000 RPM to 14000 RPM, to squeeze the juice out of fruit and vegetables. These machines have the tendency to create heat which causes oxidation and reduces the effectiveness of nutrients in the juice over time. However, they can produce juice in a matter of seconds. It is best to drink the juice right away. These machines are the least expensive among juice extractors.

2. Masticating Juicers: This type uses a single gear that runs at low speed, typically, 80RPM, to slowly extract the juice. The low speed prevents heat build up reducing oxidation and producing higher quality of juice than the centrifugal type of machine. The masticating process preserves more live enzymes and antioxidants needed by the body. Due to the health benefit of this juicing method and reasonable price, the masticating type juicers are popular among health conscious individuals.

3. Triturating Juicers: This type of machine is similar to the masticating juicer, except that it uses two gears. It runs at a low speed and produces higher yield and higher quality juice than the masticating juicer. It is considered the top of the line for juicing machines. They are also pricy.

Consider ease of cleaning

After using the juicer, you need to clean it. The easier it is to clean, the more likely you are to juice with your machine. You should be able to easily disassemble removable parts and clean in the dishwasher or by hand.

Warranty

Warranty is important. You need a juicer with a long warranty period. The good machines have warranty periods of 5 years or more.