Hold a knife for cutting food How to Hold a knife for cutting food This video shows the proper way to hold a knife and the proper technique for slicing and dicing. Watch and learn how simple it is. Make the knife an extension of your arm by pinching the blade with your thumb and index finger, proceed by placing your other three fingers on the handle of the knife.Someone asked me the other day about food processors vs blenders, so I thought I’d mention why I use both and what they’re good for. That way, if you don’t have either one, you can decide which to get first, and if you’ve got both, well hopefully these tips and pics will inspire you for your own creations! A food processor chops, slices, grates and grinds things really fast and uniformly. I use the ‘S’ blade most often (as in the picture, you can see the big white thing inside the food processor and it has a blade shaped like a giant S). It’s great for finely chopping veggies and/or fruit.

You can make tomato salsa for example, because the tomato and onion will be finely minced but not turn into mush…unless you leave it on too long! Here’s a picture of mine: You can use the S blade to make your own applesauce too, since it will mix the apples and raisins quite well, leaving you with a nice chunky sauce. I also use the ‘S’ blade to make dips, such as my Party Raw Spinach Dip: I put the spinach, tahini and other ingredients in, press the button and voila! You can also make a quick mixture of minced vegetables: toss in some roughly chopped carrots, red onion, a pepper or two and some bok choy, endives or other leafy greens. Press the button and voila, instant veggies for a salad, soup or stir fry! I usually make one big bowl that will last for a few days, making food prep really fast. You can also use one of the grating attachments (the one with small holes) to grate carrots for a salad very quickly. The slicing attachment (round with a long blade that spans the diameter of the attachment) cuts into thin slices, so if you wanted thin round slices of carrots you’d feed the carrot into the top and the blade does the work for you.

If you love salads, chunky dips and the texture of finely chopped fruits and veggies. It’s a real time-saver for chopping just about anything! Blenders are great if you want mixtures that are very smooth. If you like smooth soups and creamy sauces, a blender is a good piece of equipment to start with. Some blenders like the Vitamix have their own integrated fuse box. If for any reason you overwork the blender and it ‘dies’, you just flip the fuse switch and presto, you’re back in business! This did happen to me once and believe me it was very scary to think my new expensive blender might have just died! If you like smooth dishes, such as smoothies, soups and puddings. Large blenders are great also for making large quantities, which is worth bearing in mind if you’re making soup for 4, as I often do! There are many brands out there, but here are my favorites: I use a Tribest blender for traveling and it makes great smoothies, almond milk and everything else, although the jug is very small since it’s meant for one person on the road.

However if you only want small amounts, or if you move around a lot, this may be a good choice for you.Used Washers And Dryers Dayton Ohio The OmniBlend is pretty good if you don’t mind blending things a little bit longer, and using the tamper more often because of the wider base since apparently it doesn’t blend nuts as easily as the Vitamix.Farnborough Air Show Tickets Discount The wider base does make it easier to clean, and it’s cheaper than some of the other high-speed blenders.33in Tires For Sale I love smoothies, sauces, creams, dips and puddings, and after hesitating for over 2 years and burning out one supposedly ‘professional blender’ after only 1 year of use, I went for the Vitamix 8 years ago and haven’t looked back.

I make large quantities of food, and so it saves me time. Having said that, you can get by perfectly well with a hand blender for practically all of my recipes, as long as you’re willing to soak nuts and seeds first before making sauces and creams. You can also get by with the other excellent blenders that I recommend above – none of which were available at the time I bought my Vitamix! (pictured at the top, with chopping attachment) Why a hand blender? Because if you don’t have a high-speed blender, hand blenders can do a pretty good job on small amounts of soaked nuts and dried fruits as well as softer items, because the container is very small. They do a better job of blending soaked nuts and seeds than a lot of large, ‘standard’ blenders (except for the ones I recommend here, of course!) Plus you can get one with a chopping attachment, which is great for small quantities. Use it as you would the food processor with its ‘S’ blade. I’ve made small quantities of satay sauce in a hand blender using soaked cashews and some almond butter and soaked pitted prunes and it all blended together just fine.

Hand blenders are also good for blending soups right in the pan – you don’t have to pour hot liquid into a blender and pour it out again. If you’re on a budget and want a new piece of equipment to play with, but you aren’t sure if you’d use a good blender enough to make it worth it. Hand blenders are very inexpensive. Just make sure you get the chopping attachment too – the difference in cost is minimal, but in time is maximal! And to whet your appetite, here’s an example of a chocolate pudding that you can easily make with a hand blender:Get it right here! Right now, I’m off to eat it! Here’s to rocking your world! Age 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older Gender Male Female I have owned two Braun hand blenders in the past, and they have lasted for years. The latest one I had finally started having motor problems after 7 years of hard everyday duty. I bought this blender based upon price, being stainless steel, and having a wisk. It took 2-3 times as long to blend items in comparison to the Braun, and I was still finding chunks in the items blended.

It is very top heavy, and the attachment mechanism between the top and bottom piece are very weak. This is where my problem lies... the motor is still fine, and feels very powerful. However the attachment has broke, and now I have to hold the bottom piece on while I blend. Go with something else, spend a little more money so you don't have to buy something new in less than a year. Yes () No (4)  Report Yes () No (4) I bought this stick blender from my local Walmart 6 months ago for use with craft projects like homemade soaps & lotions. At the time, I didn't really have a use for the whisk attachment but recently decided to give a go with whipping cream. The 2 speeds that this blender offers are very helpful to achieve the desired effect and in less than a minute, I had a bowl full of thick, fluffy whipped cream that rivaled what my Kitchenaid stand mixer can achieve. I was both surprised and quite happy with the outcome. And, it's so much faster to put together than even my hand mixer with beaters.

The metal shaft is great for use in hot mixtures and is more durable than the plastic models out there. For the price, you can't go wrong. Yes () No (3)  Report Yes () No (3) Verified purchaser I was disappointed to read the instructions that stated, "don't use over heat source". Perhaps, I am wrong about my intended us. However, the purpose for me to use this type of device is the constant, long-time whipping of ingredients in a pot on the stove. I'm finding that some other immersion product's descriptions do not mention that you can't use over heat source. It's in the little insert that comes in the product. Perhaps, my use is not other cooks/chef's use. Yes (3) No (1)  Report Yes (3) No (1) Verified purchaser Firstly, this blender in VERY powerful. Ideal for mixing and blending sauces, gravy or other mixturea in large pots. Secondly, I would be VERY careful if you are blending and mixing in any small container. Due to its power, even on the lower setting, one can easily lose control of the mixture and send it all over your counter.

Yes () No (2)  Report Yes () No (2) This is a nice and powerful little immersion blender. You do have to hold the buttons down continuously (which my little hands found somewhat tricky). Be very very careful when attaching the motor to the attachments - if they are not completely tightened, you will strip out the drive piece (it's plastic) and you'll have a rather worthless motor (albeit strong enough that I'm wondering what around my house needs a little McGyver type of power tool ;)). I would not recommend getting this one as the slightest "oops" does render it useless - as I found out the 5th time I used it. Yes () No (2)  Report Yes () No (2) This is a really convenient little device. Instead of having to dirty my vita-mix just to make a shake, I can just simply drop this into the jar and turn it on. It's a snap to clean and it mixes things up nicely. I put peanut butter in the shake before and it completely liquefied it without problem. I can't speak of the durability because I haven't owned it long, but it certainly does what it's supposed to.

Yes () No (5)  Report Yes () No (5) The blade would completely stop moving once it hit anything other than pure liquid and it over-heated in three minutes. My plastic butter knife did more than this useless hand mixer. Please, save yourself time and frustration and don't buy this. Yes () No ()  Report Yes () No () I am loving this blender. The main reason I bought this was because a soup recipe called for one. Now I have used it every day, even twice a day! It blended my soup better than I wanted and with so much ease. I have then used it everday since, making fruit smoothies. It says not to be used on ice but works amazing on frozen fruit! It literally takes one minute to blend up a smoothie and the best part is you can do it right in the cup making clean up a breeze! Only one thing to wash! I have had this only two weeks but have had zero issues and am so excited to use the whisk tool this holiday season. No need to spend tons of money on a fancy one when this does the job so well.

Yes () No (2)  Report Yes () No (2) I bought this blender with high hopes and was immediately disappointed. The attachments do not lock in place and I had to hold the blender attachment on with one hand while holding down the power button with the other. During the blending process, the blade attachment STILL came off several times, causing me to make a huge mess everywhere. I was just trying to simply blend cooked broccoli in chicken broth and after 3+ minutes of fighting with the thing to keep the attachment on, there were still big pieces left. To make matters worse, the broccoli was extremely soft. I could have done better with a fork!!!!! Yes (6) No (0)  Report Yes (6) No (0) I had to replace my old hand blender and I chose this one to pure my baby's food. this one was so heavy and bulky and the its so bog around the blades which makes the fruit peices get stuck there. It also smells wiered when turned on. I have it for 2 days only thogh and still looking for another reasonable one in an affordable price.