Confused by something you heard in an advertisement? Maybe the overexcited blender salesman pitched you a term that you had never heard before? With every brand trying to differentiate themselves by offering something new and exciting, blender jargon has become quite massive. Here are a few commonly used terms explained in short.
Buyer's Guide Table of Content
Alternating: Alternating speeds in the blender to get a right texture of the ingredients that are being blended.
Aerating: A process where you allow air to get into the mixture that is being blended. Typically, aerating is done using a handheld blender and by moving the shaft up and down while blending.
Accessories: Accessories are additional products, like jars, tamper, and blades, which come along with the blender.
Bamix: It is one of the first companies that came out with a handheld blender in 1954.
Beaker: A beaker is a container (jar) that can be used on a blender and it has a spout which pours out the blended material. Sometimes, a beaker is also used as a measuring cup. Several blender brands now offer a beaker as an accessory.
Beater: A beater is a separate extension of blender accessories. It is a medium-sized container that is used to beat ingredients, like eggs and batter, using the blender.
Blender: A blender is a kitchen appliance that is used for various purposes, such as blending, grinding and pureeing ingredients.
Blades: Blades are an accessory that comes with a blender. Different kinds of blades are used for different purposes.
Container: A container is a jar that sits on top of a countertop blender and it holds the ingredients that have to be blended.
Cutter: A cutter is a kind of blade that comes along with blenders and is used to cut vegetables and fruits.
Chopper: A chopper is a kind of blade that comes with a blender and it dices vegetables and fruits.
Crushing: Crushing is an action performed by the blender. For example, ice cubes are crushed, so that they can be used in drinks and smoothies.
Emulsify: Emulsification is a process where two or more ingredients are mixed to form a fine blend. Mostly it applies to liquids, where they have to be mixed together to get an even texture.
Handheld Blenders: Handheld blenders are also called a stick or immersion blenders. They are small and compact. They are easy to use and ideally suited for small blending needs.
Immersion Device: It is a kind of handheld blender which can be immersed into the food that needs to be blended. It is best used for soups and smoothies.
Mixers: A mixer is a kind of blender that is used to mix drinks like cocktails mainly. They can crush ice and mix drinks separately.
Pulse: Pulse is a kind of setting used in blenders. This setting is used to just grate ingredients or break them down into finer particles. A pulse setting is only used for a few seconds on a blender.
Puree: Pureeing is a process where vegetables and fruits are made into a fine paste. The paste can be used as is or the juices can be extracted from it with the help of a fine-mesh strainer. The blender produces a fine paste of the ingredients when they are pureed.
Processing: Some blenders can perform the actions of a food processor. They can dice vegetables and fruits for a salad or stir fry. They come with separate attachments for this process.
Shaft: Shaft is a part of a handheld blender. It is the rod-like part of the blender that is fixed to the motor at one end and the blender blade the other end.
Smoothie Blender: These blenders are a single jar device, which is only used to make smoothies. They can convert any kind of vegetable or fruit into a smoothie. They cannot be used for any other purpose, such as grinding.
Wattage: Watts or wattage determines the power of the blender at which it operates. The wattage also determines the amount of power consumption by the device. Wattage varies for every different type of blender.
Whisk: Whisking is a process which is widely adopted in baking. One can whisk ingredients using a blender also. Whisking requires different kinds of blades. Usually, these blades are disc shaped.
In the next section, we look at some Frequently Asked Blender Questions. Read the Blender FAQs , Next!
