<p>I have been interested in immersion blenders. I have a regular stand-alone blender, but very seldom get it out as it is cumbersome and heavy. The immersion blenders look handy for smaller scale recipes, purees, soups, salsas, and such. Any one have advice, recommendations, or experiences to share?? </p>
<p>I wouldn’t use it for salsa (which I like a little chunky) but i love it for cream soups and other purées. I have a Braun that’s about ten years old. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done.</p>
<p>I have an old Braun also–love it. So easy to use and clean for small batch stuff. Just rinse off and your ready to go again. If you’re careful you can do salsa, but it whips pretty fast! </p>
<p>I have a Cuisinart. Probably bought it on Amazon. It’s great for sauces and soups, and so easy to use.</p>
<p>I have a Braun that’s about 15 years old I think. Has a tiny crack that appeared recently but it’s held up well. I figure the crack may eventually grow and be a problem but so far it hasn’t. Very handy for soups. </p>
<p>Anyone have a particular brand to avoid?? Anyone use Calphalon, KitchenAid? Is it OK to go low-end-ish, or do you really get a better product with the higher end? What qualities should I look for?</p>
<p>Well, when I bought mine it was on super sale. The appliance doesn’t have a lot to do but whirl around. I would think most would do the trick. Just see that it’s easy to clean.</p>
<p>Ours was from a gift catalog H got from donating blood at his office. Works great for puréed get soups. </p>
<p>I have a pretty cheap one and it works just fine. It is some off brand.</p>
<p>I have a Bamix immersion blender and really like it (got it from Williams Sonoma a while ago when they had some sort of a promotion). </p>
<p>Costco sometimes has them with coupon and has a bunch of attachments. I just use it plain–great for butternut squash soup, which is pretty much all I’ve used it for so far. </p>
<p>Agree ease of cleaning is key!</p>
<p>What I like about mine is it doesn’t need to be plugged in. The plug can be inconvenient depending on how close your stove is to an outlet. I got the kitchen aide last year. </p>
<p>D and I did the New Orleans Cooking School in May. One of the dishes for our session was a shrimp & artichoke soup. The instructor used an immersion blender and she told people who don’t have one (that’s me) to get their Bed, Bath, & Beyond coupon and to just go get a low end one for $20-30. I dod think eymamom’s comment about a cordless one makes great sense.</p>
<p>I have a Braun one with a cord. I would say it’s definitely best for when you want something mixed, like a shake or a pureed soup. I don’t think salsa would be a good match unless you get one with attachments for chopping.</p>
<p>I have a cuisinart and I like it. Just be sure not to do what I recently did…I was using it in a shallow pan of pasta sauce and I didn’t keep it fully immersed…oops…red sauce everywhere. Lesson learned.</p>
<p>They are invaluable for soup and also good for whipping stuff. Trick is to put it in all the way, like to the bottom of the pan, ideally vertical, and turn it on at low and then increase speed. If you turn it on high to start or not submerged or at a big angle, it may throw hot soup all over. The other trick is to slow it down to off before removing, for the same reasons. Other than that, they are amazing things. </p>
<p>We don’t use ours as often because we have a vitamin but if there’s a big pot of butternut squash soup to puree, the stick is it.</p>
<p>I love immersion blenders. Mine is Braun. The cord doesn’t bother me because I have a small galley kitchen.</p>
<p>Depends what you mean by “salsa” – it isn’t the right tool for pico de gallo, but I use it to make roasted tomatillo salsa in a snap.</p>
<p>Wow - you all are great - I just KNEW that CCers would have good advice to share!! For the cordless ones, do you notice any problem with the power wimping out? I am leaning toward a corded one because of that, though I can see the temptation of a cordless. 
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<p>Have never had a problem with my corded one–we have outlets fairly handy in the kitchen and never had the cord get in the way. Agree–be sure the blender is fully immersed and start and finish slow to minimize cleanup. ;)</p>
<p>I agree that it’s not for chunky salsas or pico, but I do use it to “de-chunk” Costco’s mango-salsa. I think it tastes better when it’s not as chunky.</p>