Blend In the Best You Can With Cuisinart

I’m a soup lover. I like to eat soup and I like to make soup. Unfortunately, I hate to make soup fit in my pot, therefore, I bought a pot from All-Clad to fit my quantities. Along these same lines, I abhor the juggling process that goes on when you want to make soup that requires some blending. Swearing under my breath as I try to take cupfuls of soup, transfer them to my blender or food processor and spilling quite a bit in the process. Pulling out another pot for the blended soup, while I continue bailing out of the chunky pot. Fiasco. But I want that perfect squash soup and I’m willing to go the extra mile. "NOT, ANYMORE", I said. I need a little kitchen help.

And, that little Kitchen Helper would be?

The Cuisinart Cordless Rechargeable Hand Blender (CSB-44), of course. This is a handy little appliance that does much more than smooth out your soups. It will blend your chocolate milk, assist with health shakes and fruit smoothies, mixes up a tomato sauce or a homemade salad dressing and, it will whip cream into a fluff in seconds.

What is this Hand Blender from Cuisinart?
It looks like one of those back massager things that you might find at Brookstone, they make similar sounds, too. It is a stick that is tall enough to slide into a tall soup pot and it will, also, whip the soup into a frenzy. It eliminates the middleman, the blender or food processor. All mixing can be done in the pot and cuts down your prep time considerably.

There are three parts to this gadget:

1. The Charger Handle. This is where the batteries live. Slide the button on the bottom and the plug slides out. Put the plug in the wall socket to charge up the unit. No cords are needed. This is easy and convenient. On the top of this piece is the start button, press down and you are good to go.

2. The Motor Body. This is where the motor is housed. Press the top button to detach the top piece and press the bottom button to detach the bottom shaft.

3. Detachable Shaft. This comes off for easy cleaning.

The thing I like most about any gadget, you can assemble and operate it without, once, looking at the directions.

What other accessories does the Hand Blender come with?

1. A metal whipping cup for making smoothies and the like.
2. A plastic measuring beaker for easy pouring. This beaker can go in the dishwasher.
3. A whipping Disc (Cream, egg whites, salad dressings)
4. A Blending Blade that can replace the whipping disc (for soups and everything else)
5. A storage unit that can sit on a countertop or it can be attached to a wall. I’m too lazy to put holes in the wall for this. It goes into the cupboard with the rest of the mixer family.

So, what other things make this blender so great?

1. The charge lasts for a full 10 – 15 minutes. While this doesn’t sound like much, you only use it for about 2 minutes to blend the product that needs blending (ie. Soup or a dressing). Within 3 hours it has regained more than half of its full power. A full charge will take 12-24. If you run a catering business and have multiple uses for it, and 15 minutes is not long enough. Reconsider a food processor or have a couple of extra ones on hand.

2. The on/off button is simple and shuts off by itself. Just press the pad on top and let go when you are finished.

3. The bottom shaft that is detachable can go in the dishwasher. Or it can be rinsed and dried. We prefer products that can go in the dishwasher.

One of the product negatives:

One big ice cube does not become pulverized it is recommended that you use crushed ice. A carrot tends to play hide and go seek with the blade.

If you are a soup lover and you do like to make your own soup, a little help from this gadget saves a lot of time and frustration. Dinner is served much, much quicker and the incentive to try new recipes is worth the $59.95 from Williams Sonoma.