Hand held Blender/Blitzer

As far my knowledge is concerned, you can go with black and decker blender which works absolutely fine and I can tell you out of my personal experience.

Mine came with a shield which you can put it through which then rests on the top of the receptacle you are mixing in. Otherwise just make sure the blades are well under the surface before you switch on and throughout the mixing.

Thanks Blinko, I'll try that next time .

Fennel, I find using a tall, deep receptacle prevents splashes.

I have one, and I wish someone would tell me how to use it without splattering stuff all around.

I still smile when I use mine and remember the Two Fat Ladies calling theirs the "kitchen vibrator".

I was first introduced to these when au pairing in France as a gel - way back.

Now, the French have a very laid back attitude to making cakes, and the lady of the house used a chocolate cake recipe involving melted chocolate She would mix through with the stick blender to get the lumps out of the flour.

I use one for lots of things, too, these days - the nice thing is they fit into a coffee mug and can be used to whip up one single egg for brushing the tops of pies. I even stir my cocoa with it! I think I got it free with coupons from somewhere.

I have this minute just whizzed up the lunch time soup - I find mine invaluable for stuff like that as it can be done on the pot in which you’ve cooked your soup without all the faffing about.

I've had my Moulinex stick blender for donkeys years. Still going strong. Damn, now I've said that, it will probably give up the ghost....

Look out for one with a metal stick, jam gets really hot.
Think the the stick blenders are one of the most useful gadgets ever invented, think milk shakes, mayo, lumpy gravy fixer.

I also have a bamix pricey but good envy of my pals

I Just brought a stick one a few weeks back in lidil and its fantastic best blender I have ever had. It comes with attachments and was really cheap.

If you buy a stick blender make sure it has a metal stick, not plastic- then it will last longer. My ancient kenwood hand mixer gave up the ghost recently and I opted to replace with a Dualit, a very solid machine.

I bought mine in Sainsbury's a few Christmases ago. It's very good, and you can blitz hot things with it as the blade end is metal.

Mine's a Siemens and it works perfectly. It came with attachments for a small mincer and a whisk. The only problem is that you have to remember to stand the mixing bowl on a piece of non-slip rubber or on a damp cloth if you need to use one hand for pouring oil when making mayonnaise or similar jobs, otherwise you have to hold the bowl to stop it careering across the kitchen table!

Look for one where you can detach the working parts so you can wash them without risking water getting into the electrical parts of the blender.

I have recently had to purchase a new one as the one I've been using for almost 40 years finally decided it had, had enough. It gave great service and was used for everything from mashing up baby food, puppy food, cake mix and even wallpaper paste!
You don't need to spend a lot of money, but my only recommendation would be to buy a model that has variable settings. I speak from experience having used one that had one setting (too) HIGH and splattered the kitchen with Instant Whip!

best to look out for one with a high wattage motor, rather than name. it really is much of a muchness comparing brands, also look for add ons , eg whisk

I have had a Bamix which I bought from Lakeland many many years ago. It was very expensive, but brilliant to use. If & when it packs up, I would buy a less expensive one, as there is so much choice on the market, which there wasn't back then.

I have a Braun electric hand blender. I don't know if the still make them as I bought it to blend solid food for my daughter when she was a baby and she is now 33. It has a few little cracks but I still use it to blend soup.

Hello
I have a Braun stick blender. Had it for some years now and very happy with it. It has a balloon whisk attachment and a mini blender, too. Both also useful.

Mine cost about £2 at Tesco's many years ago.
Make sure you try to get the best bargain... wait until parents start stocking their children for Uni. Wonderful bargains then!

I had a Bamix for years but wasn't prepared to pay the price this time round.

I got one from Lidl a few years ago its still going strong . I think it was £7.

The Rolks Royce of them all is the Bamix. More expensive but well worth it. It does everything!

I think that you can be very lucky with cheap electrical gadgets but if I have ever bought any things which are almost unlabelled in a supermarket etc I have found they last only a very short time.
I had a Kenwood hand held mixer - like a whisk with two heads - which lasted for almost thirty years - I replaced it with a Russel Hobbs and a Breville - neither of which lasted any time at all - DH took them apart and they both had plastic gears which just wore away in a few months.
I bit the bullet and paid twice the price for a Dualit one over ten years ago and so far so good - they are also good if there are problems with any of their products and will resolve them for you.