I have been making smoothies lately on a daily basis, and anytime my
smoothie mixture is a bit too thick, I can smell my blender starting to
cook itself. Therefore I either have to add more liquid, or go easy on
the blender and perhaps end up with some fruit or ice chunks (would
rather not have chunks).

Right now I am using a Hamilton beach 450 watt unit, bought for $20 at
Kmart. I have also tried an Oster 450 watt unit ($25) which I burned up
in 2 days from thick smoothies.

It occurs to me that there are manufacturers of inexpensive corded and
cordless drills with motors that seem to be much stronger and durable
than these (ok, cheap) blender motors which can't even spin some frozen
bananas and strawberries. Even a $50 drill will drive hard screw after
hard screw for a long time without burning up.

2 questions;

1) Is there a blender (other than a vitamix) which can handle heavy
duty tasks and has a motor that could function in a modern drill? I
hate to think of a smoothie as heavy duty, but the cheap blenders seem
to think they are.

2) Is there some instruction available on how to fit an actuall drill
motor onto a blender base?

Warm regards
Dave

Dave wrote:
> I have been making smoothies lately on a daily basis, and anytime my
> smoothie mixture is a bit too thick, I can smell my blender starting to
> cook itself. Therefore I either have to add more liquid, or go easy on
> the blender and perhaps end up with some fruit or ice chunks (would
> rather not have chunks).
>
> Right now I am using a Hamilton beach 450 watt unit, bought for $20 at
> Kmart. I have also tried an Oster 450 watt unit ($25) which I burned up
> in 2 days from thick smoothies.
>
> It occurs to me that there are manufacturers of inexpensive corded and
> cordless drills with motors that seem to be much stronger and durable
> than these (ok, cheap) blender motors which can't even spin some frozen
> bananas and strawberries. Even a $50 drill will drive hard screw after
> hard screw for a long time without burning up.
>
> 2 questions;
>
> 1) Is there a blender (other than a vitamix) which can handle heavy
> duty tasks and has a motor that could function in a modern drill? I
> hate to think of a smoothie as heavy duty, but the cheap blenders seem
> to think they are.

Why don't you google for "Immersion Blender"... There are a number of
really heavy duty ones out there that commercial kitchens use to stir,
blend 20 quarts of soup, stock, sauces, etc. I bought a small unit
called a Ba-Mixer, it's a Swiss immersion blender. It's not for 20 qt.
jobs, but it is high quality, fairly powerful and I use it daily. It
makes smoothies for me... no problem.
Regular blenders are difficult to clean and do not have much
flexibility. With an immersion blender, you move the shaft around. The
mechanical energy is more focused, and, its action can be distributed
more efficiently as you direct it. The typical blender sits and
churns...




>
> 2) Is there some instruction available on how to fit an actuall drill
> motor onto a blender base?
>
> Warm regards
> Dave

"Will" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
>
> Dave wrote:
>> I have been making smoothies lately on a daily basis, and anytime my
>> smoothie mixture is a bit too thick, I can smell my blender starting to
>> cook itself. Therefore I either have to add more liquid, or go easy on
>> the blender and perhaps end up with some fruit or ice chunks (would
>> rather not have chunks).
>>
>> Right now I am using a Hamilton beach 450 watt unit, bought for $20 at
>> Kmart. I have also tried an Oster 450 watt unit ($25) which I burned up
>> in 2 days from thick smoothies.
>>
>> It occurs to me that there are manufacturers of inexpensive corded and
>> cordless drills with motors that seem to be much stronger and durable
>> than these (ok, cheap) blender motors which can't even spin some frozen
>> bananas and strawberries. Even a $50 drill will drive hard screw after
>> hard screw for a long time without burning up.
>>
>> 2 questions;
>>
>> 1) Is there a blender (other than a vitamix) which can handle heavy
>> duty tasks and has a motor that could function in a modern drill? I
>> hate to think of a smoothie as heavy duty, but the cheap blenders seem
>> to think they are.
>
> Why don't you google for "Immersion Blender"... There are a number of
> really heavy duty ones out there that commercial kitchens use to stir,
> blend 20 quarts of soup, stock, sauces, etc. I bought a small unit
> called a Ba-Mixer, it's a Swiss immersion blender. It's not for 20 qt.
> jobs, but it is high quality, fairly powerful and I use it daily. It
> makes smoothies for me... no problem.


> Regular blenders are difficult to clean and do not have much
> flexibility.


Regular blenders are difficult to clean ...

Can you tell me how you clean the immersion blender stick? One cannot
immerse it (no pun intended). I'm always afraid of cutting fingers with an
immersion blender, as well as the blades inside the housing of a regular
blender.
Thanks,
Dee

Dee Randall > wrote:
>Can you tell me how you clean the immersion blender stick? One cannot
>immerse it (no pun intended). I'm always afraid of cutting fingers with an
>immersion blender, as well as the blades inside the housing of a regular
>blender.

My wife and I bought a "Braun MR5550MBC-HC Multiquick Profesional
Hand Blender" from Amazon for about eighty bucks. I'd recommend it
in a second over the similar unit they sell at Costco, which has neither
the stainless steel version of the blender attachment, nor the whisk.

Its "immersion blender" attachment is detachable, and the operating
part is made entirely of stainless steel (if you've used immersion
blenders before, and been annoyed by the splashing they make, this
Braun model has a new shape to the blender attachment that makes
splashing much less of a problem). They claim that piece can go
in the dishwasher, if you want. In any case, it's totally fine to
wash it under the tap.

The whisk is also washable/immersible, being a simple whisk with some
slotted fittings on the end to mate it to the gearbox, but said gearbox
(which reduces the effective RPM of the powered handle by some
reasonable factor) cannot. This whisk, and the continuously-adjustable
motor, make this unit amazingly good for beating egg whites for
chiffon cakes.

Haven't really used the two choppers yet, so I don't have anything to
say about them.

Donald

Dee Randall wrote:
>
> Can you tell me how you clean the immersion blender stick? One cannot
> immerse it (no pun intended). I'm always afraid of cutting fingers with an
> immersion blender, as well as the blades inside the housing of a regular
> blender.

First, let me say quickly, all immersion blenders are not equal. So you
get what you pay for. Do not get something plastic and cheap. IIRC the
Ba-Mix model I bought was about $160. If you make soups, enjoy fresh
vegetable and fruit sauces, or use a slow cooker... it is almost
indespensible.

As for cleaning, I rinse mine in the sink and I run it, blade attached,
in a tall water glass briefly. Cleaning takes about 30 seconds.

"Will" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
>
> Dee Randall wrote:
>>
>> Can you tell me how you clean the immersion blender stick? One cannot
>> immerse it (no pun intended). I'm always afraid of cutting fingers with
>> an
>> immersion blender, as well as the blades inside the housing of a regular
>> blender.
>
> First, let me say quickly, all immersion blenders are not equal. So you
> get what you pay for. Do not get something plastic and cheap. IIRC the
> Ba-Mix model I bought was about $160. If you make soups, enjoy fresh
> vegetable and fruit sauces, or use a slow cooker... it is almost
> indespensible.
>
> As for cleaning, I rinse mine in the sink and I run it, blade attached,
> in a tall water glass briefly. Cleaning takes about 30 seconds.

Great. Thanks. I appreciate it your information. That will work for me.
Basically, turned inside out, that's the way I wash my vitamix - put a
smidge of soap on, turn it on, rinse.
Dee
>