Guide to buying blenders and food processors

All you need to know before you buy

One of the questions I’m asked the most is which blender to buy. It’s a very good question and one to really get right, if you’re making the investment.

I’ve therefore compiled my honest advice, based on years of road-testing and using well-known machines I’ve bought myself and borrowed from other people.

The first thing is to understand which type of blender will suit your needs, so you can be sure any investment will serve you well, depending on the type of foods you prepare in the quantities that suit your requirements.

The second, is to think about your budget. Having tested and used a really wide range of machines, I really do think it’s worth the investment in quality pieces of kit. I have used some of the cheaper products, mainly at cookery schools, actually, and most of them are not really worth bothering with. They often have less powerful motors and flimsy attachments, which do not work especially effectively.

Processors

Without question here, my top recommendation is a Magimix. I have had my current model for over 12 years. I have used it so much, for really heavy-duty jobs, and I cannot recommend it more highly. The motors are really robust and they do such a good job.

I think they are especially useful for making sauces, such as salsa verde or pesto, grinding nuts, blending fruit or vegetables, making some cakes, grating or juicing. They often say they offer many more functions, but I think this is what they do best.

For my requirements, I prefer the largest version, the 5200. The 3 or 4 series are very good for smaller requirements. They do come with some small bowls for very small quantities, but I do not think they work frightfully well.

I have tested the Kenwood and Kitchen Aid equivalents extensively. They are both fine, but I don’t think they work as well or have as robust motors or hardware.

I always wash the bowl and attachments by hand, as I think the dishwasher makes them cloudy quickly.

I am not convinced that mini-choppers do the job especially well. Le Micro by Magimix is the best I’ve tried. I will often chop small quantities by hand and get a much better result. Sometimes a good pestle and mortar will work very well as an alternative. I’d say they’re only really worth getting if you need help with managing to do this manually.

Magimix and other brands offer blenders that heat to produce soup. Whilst they are very easy to use, and brilliantly useful for anyone not physically able to manage the work involved in cooking, I’m not convinced they produce a better soup than by making it from scratch. Remember never to put a lid on a green vegetable, which includes soup making, as well as cooking it for a side, as it will turn yellow.

Blenders

There are several types of blenders I recommend.

Stick or immersion blenders are brilliant for soups and sauces. They are quick to use and create very little washing up. I like to blend soups in the pan using a stick blender. They’re also great for sauces, such as pesto, dressings or even mayonnaise. I use mine often to make curry pastes. You need a corresponding tall jug, but a measuring jug can work for more liquid mixes. The Bamix is my very favourite, which works brilliantly, but it is the most expensive brand on the market. Cheaper brands, such as Kenwood or Bosch are perfectly adequate, although not as powerful. They have the advantage of twisting into two pieces, which is much easier to wash up than the one-piece Bamix. It’s the only flaw in the design in my opinion.

Single-serve blenders are another extremely useful piece of kit, with a twist-on cup. The Nutribullet is my favourite, but the Ninja is extremely powerful. I use mine often for sauces, dressings and smoothies. They’re really powerful, quick and easy to use and are really robust at blending tough ingredients, such as root ginger or frozen vegetables. I like to label the cups, to keep separate ones for curry pastes and smoothies to avoid flavour transfers. The cups aren’t brilliant to wash up, as they have ridges inside to help the blending process. Wash them by hand with a brush as soon as you can get around to doing it to make the process as possible. I have found some of the very cheap versions fairly useless, and I don’t think they’re a sound investment.

High-speed centrifugal blenders are very useful for many of the aforementioned tasks, such as making smoothies or blending soups. I have the Vitamix Ascent A3500i, which is an extremely powerful machine. It will crush ice, turn nuts to flour, as well as blend tough ingredients extremely effectively, getting a very smooth result with juices or soups, for example. They take up quite a lot of space, compared to a single serve, but will produce a more professional result. It will suit some people, but no everyone. The Ninja is a great machine, too. Sage and Magimix are very good, as are Cuisinart. I’ve had a Cuisinart machine for over 10 years and it’s very good. Although you can get away with juicing root vegetables using these really powerful blenders, if that’s what you want to make, I’d recommend buying a really good juicer. I have the Sage one, which is great.

Finally, we come to the multicooker, which will tackle a really wide range of tasks. The most widely known brand is a Themomix. This is a machine that will mix dough, make soup, blend and cook all manner of ingredients. I have tested one but have never owned one.  They work really well, and I know lots of people who love them. They are a serious investment, and the pricing isn’t entirely clear as one must book a consultation with a local representative and buy through them, which I don’t particularly like. They are a real time-saver for time poor home cooks, or anyone wanting some hand-holding with clearly defined recipes that work reliably. As I am always trying new recipes, I really like the freedom that other machines give me to create my own results and stay fully in control of the process, I can’t see myself investing soon, but I appreciate my way of cooking is different to many consumers.