Blenders, food processors and electrical mixers — freestanding or in any other case — are all small kitchen home equipment whose core perform may be distilled right into a easy idea: to mix. But all of them independently exist, with totally different designs and seemingly for various functions.
When you discovered your self eye-rolling on the headline right here, ask whether or not you’ll be able to really delineate every of their distinctive traits and the way they really do what they do. And in case you’re a cooking and baking beginner with little concept to start with, welcome in.
When you’ve ever needed to justify the necessity for myriad appliances (maybe with somebody like a roommate or partner who shares kitchen house with you) or in case you’re newly outfitting a kitchen and questioning what is perhaps obligatory and what would possibly find yourself being merely ornamental in your cooking repertoire, moving into the nuance of those home equipment is vital.
For the needs of kitchen relationship concord, then, or to allow you to justify one other small equipment buy — to your self or anybody else — here is an examination of the distinction(s) between a blender, meals processor and stand mixer.
Blender: How does it work?
A blender is a real energy machine, whipping components right into a fantastic consistency however with little management or precision.
Blenders sometimes encompass a heavy base with a motor and a plastic or glass jug with a set of rotating blades on the level the place the jug connects with the motor. The blender combines no matter components you add with a singular purpose: to liquefy. The historical past of the blender, in actual fact, begins with its perform as a milkshake maker. A vortex created by the fast rotation of the blades creates a vacuum that pulls no matter is within the jug towards the blades, pulverizes it, then funnels it again up, advert nauseam, till you hit cease.
Our favourite small smoothie blender, the Ninja Tornado, is subsequent to a full-sized mannequin.
When you’ve ever put numerous elements within the blender and had the combination rapidly come to a standstill, clinging desperately to the edges of the jug out of the attain of the blades, the catch-22 of a blender’s perform is that it normally wants slightly liquid to start with with a view to successfully kick off the liquefaction. Sure stable objects which might be mild or have small items, akin to nuts or bread cubes, may be put within the blender; nevertheless, on this case, the blender’s perform is to grind.
Excellent for the blender: smoothies, shakes, cocktails, sauces, gravies, fluid nut butters, moist batters for pancakes, crepes or coatings.
Blenders are greatest for mixing components right into a clean consistency. They don’t seem to be pretty much as good for course mixtures like pesto and salsas.
Superb meals to make in a blender
- Smoothies
- Protein shakes
- Frozen drinks
- Soups
- Sauces and dips
- Nut butters
- Child meals
- Pancake batter
Meals Processor: How does it work?
Meals processors are much like blenders however supply extra precision and even mixing of coarse components.
Like a blender, a meals processor typically depends on blades, however might also make use of discs or different inserts particular to the job you are asking it to do. The container in a meals processor is extra of a bowl or cylinder than a jug, and liquid and gravity are much less vital to its correct operation. Whereas it may be thought of an equipment that mixes numerous components — as with salsa or hummus — it sometimes does so by chopping all the pieces collectively, although not as finely as a blender, and may also be used strictly for that goal on a single merchandise.
meals processor could make recipe prep a lot simpler.
Numerous meals processor attachments might also assist you to shred, slice, julienne, or juice, with a large entry channel that allows you to add components and push them by way of the attachment, which is usually mounted on the high of the bowl. Some fashions might also embrace inserts that connect to the motor base that whip or knead. Although a blender sometimes ends in extra of a fantastic puree than a meals processor can do, a meals processor is extra versatile by way of the varied shapes and textures which might be potential with its use.
Excellent for the meals processor: grating or chopping stable components akin to greens or cheese, chunky or thick sauces akin to pesto, hummus, or salsa, thick nut butter, pasta or pastry dough.
For exact management over a combination’s consistency and coarseness, a meals processor is right.
Superb meals to make with a meals processor
- Chopped greens for sofrito, mirepoix, and many others.
- Pesto and sauces
- Hummus and dips
- Shredded cheese
- Nut butters and nut flours
- Cauliflower rice
- Vitality balls and no-bake treats
- Breadcrumbs
- Floor meat
Stand mixer: How does it work?
Stand mixers are a baker’s greatest pal, however these machines can do greater than combine dough and batter.
Stand mixers are strictly mixing gadgets that may mix components, however do not break them down into smaller items by way of blades. On a stand mixer, a heavy base holds a bowl in place whereas a motor rotates an attachment akin to a paddle, dough hook or whisk. (Hand mixers carry out the identical perform, however your palms are each the ingredient that retains the bowl in place, and that which holds the motorized attachments.)
GE Profile launched a wise stand mixer in 2023 that weighs components as you add them.
At greater speeds, a stand mixer may also introduce air into the combination. The motion of a stand mixer is gentler and simpler to manage than that of a blender or meals processor, making it perfect for cake batters that require minimal mixing, the place the purpose is solely to mix. Armed with a dough hook, nevertheless, the mixer may also strong-arm gluten growth for crusty breads.
Stand mixers might also have numerous attachments out there to extend their utility, together with ice cream makers, pasta rollers, meat grinders, spiralizers, juicers, and even choppers that begin to creep into meals processor territory.
Excellent for the stand mixer: dough for bread, pizza, pasta, and cookies, all batters, icing and frosting, meringue or whipped egg preparations, whipped cream.
If kneading dough is your least favourite a part of making bread, a stand mixer will step in gallantly.
Superb meals to make in a stand mixer
- Bread and yeast doughs
- Cake batter
- Cookie batter
- Whipped cream
- Meringues
- Frosting
- Mashed potatoes
- Pasta dough
- Shredded rooster or pork
- Pizza dough
Crossover use between them: The mashed potato experiment
Mashed potatoes may be made creamy with only a few seconds within the meals processor.
Naturally, there are issues that could possibly be achieved in any of those home equipment, given desired outcomes. Egg whites or cream may be whipped, batters may be blended, and sure doughs may be fashioned in all three of them. This isn’t a case in opposition to a stand mixer, nevertheless. Although its perform tops out at “combine,” it’s nonetheless the required equipment for sure varieties of cake or cookie doughs. To not point out the shortage of blades and its stainless-steel bowl, which makes it a lot simpler to scrub.
I made mashed potatoes in all three
Making mashed potatoes illuminated every machine’s strengths and weaknesses.
To greatest illustrate the outcomes of those numerous home equipment when given the identical job, I selected mashed potatoes, which may be efficiently achieved by both liquifying, chopping, or just mixing its elements. Potatoes had been cubed and boiled, after which (as a result of I am not a monster) put to the check together with a splash of milk and a dab of butter.
- Meals processor: required only a few pulses to show cubed potatoes into mashed potatoes. I like them with slightly texture, however just a few extra pulses would provide you with a clean puree.
- Stand mixer: requires essentially the most time however permits essentially the most quantity. You will by no means get a silky puree if that is what you are going for, and you might find yourself with some bigger chunks, however this methodology might most simply feed a crowd with out the elbow grease of hand mashing.
- Blender: required further milk with a view to get going, and in very brief order turned cooked potatoes into one thing that extra resembled pancake batter than mashed potato, a robust consideration in case you’re really making gnocchi.
