The differences between a blender and an immersion blender

A blender is most suitable for smoothies and juices. You can place the ingredients like fruits and vegetables in the blender and mix them into a creamy smoothie. You can also make baby food in a blender. In some blenders, you can make warm preparations like soup. You can do this in a soup maker that first boils the ingredients, for example. There are also heat-proof blenders that you can mix warm ingredients in.

An immersion blender is most suitable when you want to puree ingredients. You can puree vegetables in a pan into soup or puree fruits into a smoothie. The result with an immersion blender is often slightly chunkier. The smoothie or soup has a bit more chunks in it than with a blender. An immersion blender is also suitable for making sauces and light batters.

Blenders often have a higher power than an immersion blender. This makes blenders suitable for mixing hard ingredients like nuts or ice cubes. Thanks to the high power, you can also mix with a blender for a long time consecutively without it overheating. There's also a clear size difference. Blenders are quite large appliances that you usually leave on your counter.

Immersion blenders have a lower power, so they're less powerful than a blender. When you want to crush ice with an immersion blender, you usually need a separate accessory. Immersion blenders are mostly suitable for short uses. An immersion blender is much smaller than a blender, of course. This means it's easier to hold and store in a cabinet.

You can easily prepare a large mount of smoothie in a blender. There are also blenders with a smaller capacity, but a blender is large enough to make juice for multiple people in one go in most cases. A blender also has a closed pitcher. That way, you don't have to be scared of splatters flying around while you mix.

Immersion blenders are mostly suitable for smaller preparations. With an immersion blender, you can puree very precisely. This makes pureeing large amounts more difficult. There are immersion blenders with an extra long immersion blender foot. This way, you can puree in a large pan more easily. With an immersion blender, you usually puree in an open container or pan. This means the chance of splattering is higher.

There are only a few accessories available for blenders. The most common accessory is a drinking cup with a to go lid. This way, you can easily take your smoothie on the go. Some blenders include a citrus press or food chopper accessory, so you can also make fresh orange juice or chop ingredients.

There are more accessories available for immersion blenders. You can choose from various immersion blender sets, for example. These sets might contain a whisk for making whipped cream, a food chopper for chopping nuts, or a food processor for cutting and grating ingredients. Almost every immersion blender also comes with a measuring cup that you can puree your ingredients in.

A blender has more parts to clean. Think of the pitcher, blade, and lid. Whether the parts are dishwasher-safe depends on the blender. It's usually best to clean the blade by hand as this prevents it from getting dull quickly.

Immersion blenders often have less parts to clean. An immersion blender consists of 2 parts: the immersion blender foot and the motor. The motor can't get wet, so you wipe that down with a cloth. In many cases, the immersion blender foot is dishwasher-safe.