Braun Multiquick 9 SmartSpeed Hand Blender

I bought my first hand blender (Braun, of course) many decades ago (for something like one third the price of this one, on sale at the mall) and realized it was finally time for a replacement when one edge of the plastic casing went flat after having been heated in a pot of soup and then rested on the countertop. It still works, but still. Time to move on. This new one's taller, so I think it'll be more useful when dealing with large batches. The casing is metal, so it won't melt like the old one did. The new one is heavier, more substantial, and a bit top heavy, but I guess I can live with that. I keep it beside my stove-side knife blocks in a tall, antique cylindrical glass mixing container with a spout that comes in handy when making mayonnaise. Haven't made my own mayo in a while, but at least the container serves a purpose while waiting around for me to do so. The new mixer doesn't have slots in the sides so things don't spray around. This comes in handy when you decide you want to puree your soup after you've put it in the serving bowl. That wouldn't work if your bowls are too shallow, I don't think, but YMMV. All I know is that I have been making soup out of leftover vegetables all the time lately specifically because this new design makes it easy to blend in a tall sided bowl that's not too full. Add some broth, blitz it quick, and dinner's ready. Easy meals, using up leftovers without complaints, and little to no mess along the way? Yes, please. I haven't yet gotten accustomed to the height and weight of this new unit, but it's not a deal breaker. The speed control baffles me, but I guess that's just because I only use it for one purpose, and for that, it seems any speed will do. Maybe if I get adventurous I can whip some egg whites? When I was younger the infomercials selling some less well made iteration of the same idea would ramble on and on about how you could make milk foam with very cold fat free milk, as though that were a reason to purchase a not-cheap gadget through an infomercial? All these years later and no, I've never tried to make milk foam with an immersion blender, but now that I think about it, I'd bet it would make a nicely frothy cup of cocoa. For what it's worth, I haven't yet run the washable bits through my dishwasher, a quick spin with some water and soap seems to clean the lower assembly perfectly well enough for my uses. The tall plastic cylinder works well in helping me do that, but I do have to wonder how long it might endure at my house.

This works well for shakes and to puree vegetables for soups or recipes and I like that it comes with the container to use for both purposes. It's easier than having to use a big blender or mixer for quicker recipes.