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From kettles, to microwaves, to toasters, an appliance exists for just about any conceivable task in the kitchen. While these are useful in their own way, you cannot overlook the importance of a good quality countertop blender; stick blender and food processor in one’s kitchen. Since their introduction to the wider market many decades ago, today’s blenders and food processors feature much more than a simple 1-speed motor and simple on-off button. This article studies the advantages of each type of appliance, and the most well-known producers of each.

In addition to the milk shakes of the earlier and more innocent era, the blender has been used over the decades to create icy alcoholic drinks such as pina coladas and daiquiris. In recent years, however, non-alcoholic concoctions such as iced coffee drinks and smoothies have made good use of the appliance.

Health conscious consumers agree, blenders are a vital part of their kitchen armoury. Not only do they retain many of the vitamins and nutrients that are often lost when cooking, but their ability to easily mix ingredients ensures that all sorts of health shakes can be whipped up in next to no time. Many of today’s largest manufacturers even go to substantial lengths to illustrate these positive health benefits. KitchenAid, Cuisinart and Vita-mix are a few players that have made big names for themselves in the blender market over the decades.

Bamix and Cuisinart make some very fine stick blenders. Swiss-made Bamix is a higher-end product; the company has been focusing on stick blenders exclusively since 1955.

Finally, let us take a look at the machine with the oldest pedigree. Mixers are used for whipping, mixing and kneading ingredients. The motorised version of this instrument can either be hand-held or attached to a stand, with the stand mixers being the stronger of the two. The more elementary manually operated type, which was invented in 1870, is still in use today. Unlike blenders, mixers do not have blades per se (they are more like arms or sturdier whisks and are blunt), operate at slower speeds and do not break down larger food items.

A mixer would get plenty of use by someone who is doing a lot of baking. They are great for preparing batter, dough, icing and other such spreadables. They do what they say they do: blend.

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