Handheld Immersion Blender
Will an immersion blender sucessfully puree non-liquid food (ie soup) My soul purpose for considering one is to make hummus I can never get it to that very creamy state like store bought.
So, the question is, if I put a drained can of chick peas with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice in a bowl, will the immersion blender get it to that smooth consistency?
happiest girlImmersion blenders are great for soups, sauces, and anything that contains a good amount of liquid. When it comes to hummus, your best bet would be a mortar and pestle, but I also realize that is not very practical since it is not a common en accessory. That leaves us with the food processor, which works great. Start by adding the garlic first and getting it very fine. Then add the drained chick peas, tahini paste, and lemon juice. Process on medium and slowly add in th olive oil. Works quite nice. Good luck!
happiest girl - Short answer, no. Longer answer is actually a question. Do you peel the chick peas? Take off the outer covering? If not then you'll never make a smooth hummus no matter how you make it. Peel the beans and you can make it in any food processor, regular blender, immersion blender, hand made, whatever. Seriously. Try it. ;-)
GC OMG --- who knew? Could I train my pet monkey to pop those little ceci's out of their skin?
I looked for techniques, and will try the one where you add cold water to the cooked beans and then rub handfuls. Is this what you do, GC?
While looking online, I discovered you can buy dried chickpeas that already have the skins removed --- a product of Greece.
What a revelation!
happiest girl - What I do is called "Zaytun's". ;-) That's where I learned what the secret was. Our very own cbel is the one who commented on the creamy hummus there and asked. But if you want to do it on your own, I think this would be the way I would do it -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hh9tDJoUjw
It says a med cookbook gives a trick about baking soda dissolving the skins. They confirm the best way to do it with the least work.
On a PS sidenote - I do suggest an immersion blender. I don't think there's anything better for making aioli. That I definitely do not buy but make myself.
Two things on my shopping list for tomorrow -
Baking soda, and 100 shares of Arm & Hammer stock.
My monkey is totally relieved.
Thanks GC. I'm all set to try and make my first batch of hummus.
+1 on the immersion blender. I use it for soups all the time. Made a great corn chowder tonight.
MeisterNJ Although not garlicky, if you ever come across Kewpie mayonnaise, (Japanese mayo) try it. It's awesome!
The immersion blender is a one-trick pony that doesn't do anything that a good Cuisinart can't do. I suppose it gets points for convenience when you don't have to pour the soup from the stock pot into the food processor... but if I had to choose one or the other, the Cuisinart is a helluva lot more versatile.
ianimal ianimal, Surely the cuisinart costs alot more? What about the convenience of easy clean-up with the immersion blender? And the soul purpose was to make hummus?
Anyway, without the "skins" I'm sure even a potato masher will work just fine !!!
Number one, the Cuisinart didn't cost me anything. Number two, clean-up is someone else's department (-;
If you have enough room that you can devote the space solely for a unitasking "hummus maker", gods bless you... My pantry is rapidly filling up with bottle sanitizers and Baby Bullets, lol.
ianimal - Sorry but I disagree. The Cuisinart won't areiate liquids and make them smooth. That's not just hummus. Ever try mayonnaise in the Cuisinart? You'd get vinegar slurry. How about a smoothie? You'd get a lumpy. You can't tell me you want lumpy pancakes. You might want chunks of potato in your potato soup, but if you want it creamy all the way through you'll need a blender. And if you want to fluff up your mashed in an instant, that Cuisinart won't help.
The difference between a food processor and a blender is crushed tomato and actual sauce. They have difference purposes and it depends on what you want. But a blender is not a one trick pony. And the immersion blender is a good choice if you already have a food processor but wouldn't use a full sized blender much.
I love the immersion blender. Just pulled mine out a couple of days ago to make mayo. So much easier to use to make mayo instead of a food processor or blender.
Also great for making soups - was just planning on putting together some cream of broccoli soup. The immersion blender is perfect for this!
Coralie 
Personally, I've never made my own mayonnaise, but I've seen it made in a food processor dozens of times and it always seems to come out fine. How do you slowly add the oil to it while running a stick blender at the same time? I think the Cuisinart is much more perfectly suited for that application.
And as for one-trick pony, all a stick blender does is "blend"; the Cuisinart can do that reasonably well, as well as shred cheese, slice and dice vegetables, mix dough, grind meat, make bread crumbs, chop nuts, crush ice, etc... I didn't mean that it could only blend one thing.
If you're mixing pancake batter in a blender, you must have the worst pancakes in town. The key to great pancakes is not to over mix... a few lumps are perfectly fine, in fact.
I do have a blender, though....
MB Tell me about it, MB. But if I bring it up, I'm an ogre who doesn't care about my children. But, again, it's not like I personally had to pay for it.... and it does have a smiley face on the side of it; that's very important.
On the plus side, I'm sure it would make a great "smoothie" if I ever went metro enough to want one, lol.
Ianimal, I like the immersion blender when doing hot things like soup. I've had some catastrophes putting hot stuff in the Cuisinart. Immersion is much safer. No more cleaning schmutz off the ceiling!
Lady Jayne I like the immersion blender for that exact purpose: easier cleanup. Much better than transferring to a cuisinart. We actually have two as my wife and I each had one before we got married. Also, when you still have things to add after blending to resume cooking, you would have to transfer a second time back from the food processor. For the corn chowder I made last night, there was still cream, seasoning, and corn kernels to add after blending and cook down for a few more minutes.
We have the little cuisinart and the big one. As well as a stand alone blender. They all have their merits.
Truth be told, Lady Jayne... if someone spent 10 minutes looking through the Rubbermaid tubs in my pantry, I'm sure they'd find a stick blender in there somewhere.
I bought it over 10 years ago to puree a split pea soup that I made (I was unmarried and living in an apartment with only a Cuisinart Mini to take care of my food processing needs.... the horror) .. it took forever and did a really crappy job. Kind of turned me off to the whole stick-blending appliance genre, but it might just have been that a $15-20 Oster makes for a crappy stick blender, lol.
I have pureed soups in the full-sized processor and it comes out fine, smooth with no lumps. But, you are definitely right that it's a pain in the ass if you have a big pot of soup, because you have to do it in batches... the first batch or two, I usually put right into pint and quart storage containers, just to avoid having to dirty a second big pot. But, I never had to clean the ceiling, lol... actually, the immersion blender made a much bigger mess... you should never take it out of the pot while it's still running, especially when you're making split pea... definite Exorcist moment, lol.
I have an "ancient" food processor (and I mean "ancient ... 40 years old) But I DO have a great blender and I will take GC's advice and use it for my first "skinless" hummus.
MNJ, didn't you strain the corn chowder after blending it anyway? What's the difference if you blend it in the processor and then pour it back into the pot through a strainer or if you blend it in the pot and then pour it into a third container through the strainer? Seems like you'd be dirtying the same amount of items... unless you leave the cellulose skins in the soup?
Using the immersion blender for the mayo is much easier than the food processor.
Just put the egg yoke, lemon juice, mustard in a tall container (I use the container from the magic bullet - perfect size). Let all sit to come to room temp (a good hour). Then add in the oil (I use extra light virgin olive oil) all at once. Use the immersion blender and it comes together within a minute.
Much easier that drizzling oil as the food processor is running.
No straining ianimal. Not necessary. I blended it for about 5 minutes. Came out very creamy and smooth. The base is a mixture of potato, onion, chicken stock, and corn kernels. And no mess. Once you get the hang of it, you don't get splatter or ceiling art.......
I don't know, Coralie... drizzling oil isn't all that difficult (-;
But, now that you explained the process, it makes a lot more sense. I was visualizing mixing it in a bowl with the stick blender in one hand and drizzling oil with the other hand... for me, that's a disaster waiting to happen, lol.
I concede that the immersion blender is in fact a better tool for some situations (and apologize for the waste of time arguing about it)... but I can always use the food processer in a pinch and it will turn out fine. On the other hand, I'd like to see you try and shred cheese with an immersion blender (-;
It's all about HP and right tools. Not only can this one make quick work of hummus but it can shred cheese and the cow that the milk came from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDlMLqdvHzI
emaxxman I shred cheese with a plain old shredder that shreds it directly into an attached container. Takes thirty seconds to shred and thirty seconds to clean. I'm not going to clean a food processor just for a cup or two of cheese.
How much cheese shredding do you do? You making pizzas for delivery at night ianimal?
Hell, for a cup or two of cheese, I won't even dirty a cheese grater, I'll buy a bag of Sargento (-;
But, around the holidays... yeah, there's a whole lotta grating going on.
Back to the chickpeas.. do the canned ones need to be peeled? Or are you using dried ones that you cook first? Do both have skins?
I too have a pantry cluttered with too many gadgets. Food processor, immersion blender, NutriBullet (no smiley face tho) ice cream maker, griddler, slow cooker, pressure cooker, electric food mill and more. SMH. It happened when I started watching Food Network. sigh
hktownie The griddler is great. Made some cuban sandwiches with it last night to go along with the chowder.
Going to make hummus to go along with fattoush salad (A Mediterranean salad with greens, cucumber, tomato, pita 'croutons', and a sumac/pomegranate vinagrette). Maybe tomorrow night. I've been on a Mediterranean kick lately.
hktownie, check GC's 2nd post where there is a lnk to the youtube.
He shows exactly how to do it with canned chichpeas.
thanks GC and happiest girl.. those Americas Test Kitchen people always seem to have the answer!
Americas Test Kitchen is good. I subscribe to Cooks Illustrated. So many good tips / hints.
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