Uses For Different Mini Blender Styles

Depending on the style of mini blender that you get, it will be best suited to different types of cooking uses. For the most part, these blenders hold no more than a few cups of food. But other things, which need to be done in smaller quantities, are ideal for the mini food processor or blender. This means that they are not good to use for things like cookie dough, or for chopping many vegetables for a large batch of stew.

Here are the two main types of electric mini blenders (and a third, non-electric blender bottle), and some of the ways each can be used.

A mini blender, mini food processor combination is a wonderful tool for a number of uses around the kitchen. As with most kitchen tools, this will not be ideal for every recipe, but for certain recipes and tasks, it will be perfect and will do the job better than almost anything else you might try. This is ideal for:

• Salad dressings
• Pesto
• Hummus, salsa (small portions)
• Mincing/pureeing garlic
• Chopping/grinding nuts
• Powdering sugar

An immersion blender is a blender that, instead of a blade attached to the bottom of a vessel, is simply a blade on a hand-held motor. It is inserted into the food and moved around (rather than the food being poured into it). Immersion blenders can't handle very hard or tough blends, but are ideal for pureeing or thickening hot and liquid recipes. A few examples include:

• Soups
• Stews
• Smoothies and yogurt blends
• Sauces
• Gravy

Immersion blenders also come with attachments, most commonly a whisking attachment. With a whisk instead of blades, immersion mini blenders are great for whipping cream, eggs, pancake batter, and sauces or dressings.

Finally, mini blender bottles. Designed for people on the go, a blender bottle is like a sport water bottle, except it has a free 'blending ball' inside. When the bottle is shaken, the ball (often made of wire), is designed to break up the contents like a blender would, except without the need for electricity. This is good for athletes or those who want smoothies or shakes on their way to work.