Buy a Braun handheld blender online: a great buy among hand blenders

If you've read my cooking hubs, you might be surprised to hear that my other half does most of the cooking in our house - I just take over the reins occasionally, to keep my hand in! He has a helper in the kitchen, whom he calls his "Kleine Eva" ("Little Eva"). It's so-named because of Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun… it's a Braun Multiquick hand held blender. (Perhaps it's just as well we don't live in Germany, where they're quite sensitive about this sort of thing...someone in Berlin was actually prosecuted for naming his dog Adolf and teaching him to do a Nazi salute. But I digress.)

The particular model we use is the Braun MR5550 M BC HC, although this has now been superseded by other models. In the UK at present, the Braun Stabmixer Multiquick 5 MR 540 is the closest match. Below is a link to that particular product on the UK's Amazon site.  But if you're not from the UK, scroll on down for more descriptive stuff!

I bought our Braun handheld blender for my OH as a Christmas present a few years ago, and it's proved to be a worthwhile investment. Like its newer counterpart, it consists of:

• A motor part and a blender shaft - clip the two together and you've got a handy "wand" for blending sauces and soups, and getting the lumps out of gravy
• A large chopper unit (you insert the blade, fill the chopper with whatever you're chopping, put the lid on and clip the motor to the lid)

• A smaller chopper unit
• An ice crusher insert for the big chopper - we use this for making breadcrumbs out of hard, stale bread - it breaks them up into smaller chunks which can then be transferred to the big chopper to finish the job!
• A whisk attachment to do things like egg whites and whipped cream
• A measuring jug - great for making smoothies!

The motor is 400 watt, which is powerful as blender motors go. The motor has two speed settings - variable and turbo. The best thing of all about this blender is the convenience; since everything is modular, you can easily dismantle it and wash the bits you've used (don't immerse the motor though!). Not only that, but it doesn't use up a vast amount of space - something that is at a premium in many kitchens.

The Braun Stabmixer Multiquick 5 MR 540 costs around £99 on the UK Amazon site at the time of writing, so it's not cheap, but it's so versatile that it's definitely a worthwhile investment for any serious cook. But if you don't want to spend that much, Braun does other models as well.

© Empress Felicity November 2009; updated September 2010

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