Blenders

These extremely versatile small kitchen appliances puree, stir, mix, chop, liquefy, pulse, crush ice and more. You may want a blender so you can make a daily smoothie or milkshake, but that's just the beginning of your blending opportunities. Pesto, dressings, soups, peanut butter, puddings, pizza sauce, pureed vegetables, almond milk, applesauce, gazpacho and more all can be prepared with a food blender or smoothie maker. Or you can use your tablet to discover hundreds of recipes online.

You can use a kitchen blender to thoroughly mix all the ingredients for pancakes, including fruit and other ingredients, before pouring onto a heated griddle. New mothers often use a quiet blender to precisely manage the ingredients in baby food without waking the baby. Plus, several blender models are powerful enough to grind coffee beans for your espresso machine, whip nuts into butter, and thoroughly crush ice. Choose a scratch-resistant glass blender or one with a shatterproof plastic pitcher.

You may be looking for the best blenders for smoothies, or for the best blender that offers the most food preparation options. There are four main types of blenders to choose from. High-performance blenders, with powerful motors and fast-spinning blades, can make frozen drinks, hot soup or churn-free ice cream. A smoothie blender, or a kitchen blender with a jar or jug plus a lid, is designed to whisk liquids at high speeds to create purees. Personal and single-serving blenders are great for making power shakes and yogurt-based smoothies, but are not intended for hard-core blending. And immersion or hand blenders, also known as stick blenders, mix foods in their original bowl or container.

You can quickly master the art of the smoothie. Put ingredients in your blender, hit the blend button, pour the mixture into a glass and drink it. Because you control the ingredients in homemade smoothies, they can help you lose weight and stay in shape. Of course, smoothies are only a part of a health and fitness plan, which should include eating other healthy foods and getting regular exercise. Many people use exercise equipment, pedometers or other step-counting devices to motivate them to stay in shape and reach targeted, daily health goals.