My favorite kitchen gadget – Hand Immersion Blender.
That sounds like a mouthful!
What is it? It is a handheld device that allows you to puree anything in the pot you are preparing it in. Need a soup pureed? Use the immersion blender to puree it in the pot on the stove! Making homemade tomato sauce in the crockpot? Just blend in the crockpot and continue to let it cook!
I realized this was my most essential kitchen tool the other day since I was getting ready to post yet another recipe and noticed “emulsify” was in my directions, and it often is. It occurred to me that I give people directions to emulsify things quite a bit, but I have not explained the tools I use to do so! Well, here she is.
What I love about my immersion blender is that it has two attachments: one for emulsifying, one for whisking. I often use the whisk one surprisingly a lot, since it is a lot easier to make some whipped cream, or nice firm egg whites, versus getting my big monster mixer down out of the cupboard.
Sauces, soups, desserts, frostings, whipped cream… my immersion blender frequently is put to use for these.
Here are a few recipes I have blogged that I rely on my handheld immersion blender for:
Crockpot Tomato Basil Soup
Cauliflower Puree Soup
So, fellow foodies – what is your favorite kitchen gadget? Do you have a handheld immersion blender at home, and do you use it?
Recommendations for your favorite appliances welcome 🙂 I want to hear them!
If you are interested checking them out, here are some links to immersion blenders like mine (Affiliate):
BELLA Hand Immersion Blender with Whisk Attachment, 250 Watt RED 14460
KitchenAid KHB2351CU 3-Speed Hand Blender – Contour Silver
Abbey Co. Seattle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I am not sponsored by any of these products, but am bringing you info on how to purchase them because I LOVE THEM!!!
I agree! I can’t live without this little blender when making cream soups! Yum!!
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Having moved a lot over the years, living in furnished houses and out of boxes, the essential item is a good knife. Goes with me everywhere…
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A good thermometer(thermoworks or thermopop) a sharp knife (mac is my favorite, victorinox for budget picks), and cast iron from lodge. You can do just about anything with those 3 things. I miss the crap outta my stand mixer, though….
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So far out of all the comments I think a good knife is the all around popular vote! I agree a good cast iron is essential too.
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A good cutting board and the right knife is essential tools!
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I agree about the knife! My favorite knife I call my “chopper”… hubby knows that my chopper needs to be clean if its my night to cook dinner because I can’t cook without it!
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Ha! I love mine too. Although in our family we call it a “zhoozher” because of the noise it makes when you use it. I never really thought it was weird until this moment 😂. Also, not so much a gadget but I love my stone bake wear.
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Haha that is supper funny! I love how families come up with all those silly names… when I was little my dad made a French beef recipe and couldn’t figure out how to pronounce the French word for beef (boeuf). My mom called it “boof” and that was our word for beef for years.
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Ha too funny. I love them too. They are the best!
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My Food processor is my kitchen baby, hands down! It slices, it dices, it minces, it juices, it mills, it whips, it blends! I couldn’t bare to be without it 🙂
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I think my food processor is my runner up. I think this is my favorite too because I like that I can hide it away easily when I’m not using it. I don’t think my food processor juices! If it does, I don’t know how to use it, haha!
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Oh, I have a wham-bam food processor that has a juicing attachment, mill attachment, blender attachment, etc. It’s a godsend!
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Wow that’s awesome
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I had a conversation with a friend about this the other day! For me it has to be my blender, closely followed by my spice grinder, they both work magic 🙂
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I think my food processor is my second fav. A spice grinder sounds pretty amazing, I have never used one!
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Hi Abbey
One day I thought I had enough of grinding and bought a wet and dry spice grinder. It is just amazing, the spices take no time at all and you can put wet food in there as well, like ginger, garlic, I have even made a spinach puree when I only needed a little! 🙂 Isn’t it funny how attached we get to some of the kitchen gadgets? 🙂
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The husband. He makes the coffee. 😉
But actually a good set of sharp knives and a nice cutting board.
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Haha that’s awesome! Hubby has coffee duty in my house. I agree that there is nothing like a great knife!
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We have one and while I don’t use it a ton when I need to puree a hot soup I am always really glad I have it! Honestly, I love my KitchenAid mixer. I’ve had it 14 years and it’s still going strong!
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Nothing like a good stand mixer! I have a KitchenAid too but I have been drooling over that new matte black one they just came out with!!
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Mine is definitely my Ninja “slow” cooker. It actually has a ton of different settings and accessories – you can use it as a crock pot, roaster, a stovetop, a fryer and even an oven! It’s easy to use, fairly large in size, and SO easy to clean. It makes meal planning and preparation so simple for me.
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Wow that’s a good idea, I would never have thought to use mine as a fryer! I am going to have to check this out and see if I can because that is smart!!
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Just make sure you have a splash protector – that was my mistake the first time I used it as a fryer! I got some grease burns. My arms learned the lesson for me the hard way. But! It can be done. I use the roasting rack the most to do pork loins and chops and have veggies underneath.
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I love all of my kitchen gadgets secertly I love all of my Cast Iron the most. But there isn’t a day where I’m not using 1 if not all of them for some odd reason. From Vaccum Sealing to my mini slicer to the immerson to the mixer it never stops
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Cast Iron is a good one! We only just purchased a cast iron skillet this year and felt like total slackers that it took us so long to get one. A total kitchen staple! My mandolin is another one of my favorites.
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Oh mandolins they are the only thing that actually terrified to use. I have like 15 different cast iron pans at my disposal
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My favorite kitchen gadget is my slow cooker, or atlas it was purchased as a slow cooker. It has 8 settings (Rice · Quick rice · Brown rice · Cereals · Oatmeal/Porridge · Steam · Slow Cooking/Soup · Cake) and the rice it makes is INCREDIBLE! Just a shame it’s quite bulky, and used so often i can’t tuck it away neatly in the cupboard!
I don’t currently have an immersion blender, but your post has made me want one… My mum has a great one which also came with a potato ricer head for great mashed potato… maybe i need to invest!
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