You NEED one -- you just don't know it yet!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Versatile, easy-to-clean, minimum storage space, blade won't cut skin, nice price, cuts down on kitchen clutter, good instructions included

Cons: Does have limits to its capabilities, but considering the design and size that should be a "given"

Author's Review
As a fan of the Food Network I have watched both Emeril Lagasse and Sara Moulton switch on an "immersion blender" or "hand blender" and stared, amazed at the quick results. Of course, they have clean-up crews, so I never knew how much soap, water and scrubbing take place, but I kept finding reasons to have one, too. I really enjoy gadgets, as a rule, but that isn't good enough, when it comes to an electric appliance that needs storage space.

I also enjoy making soups, dessert sauces and whipped cream, as well as milkshakes. Many times, I become frustrated by having to get out an extra container to store a pureed portion of soup/sauce while I blend up the rest of a batch, only to put it all back in the original pot. Then I get to wash TWO pots, and all the parts to my blender. With small batches of about 6 cups, this isn't a problem, but I like to freeze portions for later use (especially since I'm expecting our second child in 3 months) and my regular old blender makes a lot of extra work with large batches.

A friend of mine, married almost 20 years, has never owned a standard blender. She can't imagine using anything but an immersion/hand blender and uses it for everything. Her children, ages 9 and 12, even use it (with supervision) to make their own milkshakes. I figured I couldn't lose!

I put "immersion blender" on my Christmas list and received this Cuisinart model, much to my surprise and delight. I don't know if other manufacturers in the common marketplace even make one of these little wonders, and I don't need to look because this one is all I imagined.

The day after Christmas I started a big pot of Cream of Onion soup -- got everything simmered up to the big moment and pulled out the Cuisinart QuickPrep. I placed the blade end into the soup, hit the "low" speed button, and I am not kidding here -- in less than 30 seconds I had a 3 quart batch of soup pureed to perfect consistency. I used ONE pot, and after rinsing the hand blender I hardly needed to wash it, though I did. I could hardly keep myself from making more soup that day, so I didn't. I made up some Roasted Garlic soup (lots of potatoes to puree) and was happy as a lark!

Interestingly, the "blade" on this magic machine is not sharp. You can run a finger along it without a scratch, yet it whips up anything as if it had 6 whirling machete blades in there. Milkshakes whip up frothy and smooth, as do sauces. Even mashed potatoes, with liquid added in the beginning are a breeze.

The instruction manual does a good job of covering several foods and methods on how to blend them. It even lists a few that state boldly NOT to use the hand blender.

Storage space is not of consequence with this blender. It can lie in a drawer, sit alongside baking dishes or in them, or even slide into a space that has no other use. It is about as big around as a wrapping paper tube. The cord is a good length, and the blades are contained inside the plastic sheathing, so even if they were really sharp you'd have to work at cutting yourself. Clean-up, whether running the blender in soap and water in the plastic cup that comes with it, or washing the blender end ONLY with a dish cloth is easy and quick.

I have seen this appliance priced from $29.99 to $39.99, and know that the Lechter's stores had a coupon before Christmas that gave an additional 25% off the $29.99 price -- if they run that sale again it's a bargain you shouldn't pass!

Please excuse me . . . I have more blending to do!