Best Hand Blenders

Basic hand blenders are durable, easy to use

We found quite a few recommendations for Braun stick blenders. However, Braun announced this year that it will no longer sell kitchen appliances in the United States. That leaves Cuisinart and KitchenAid as the main competitors among hand blenders. We found few recommendations for other brands.

Editors at Food & Wine like the Cuisinart SmartStick CSB-76 (*Est. $30) for its one-speed simplicity and say the "sharp blade purees beautifully." The Only Cookware Blog also evaluates this hand blender, noting the 200-watt hand blender's mixing power and ability to blend thick substances, but testers did have some difficultly blending ice in a frozen drink.

Most notable is the SmartStick's first-place finish in six out of 10 categories -- blending soups, durability, mixing, making cocktails, making milkshakes and making smoothies -- at Wowzio.com (Wowzio.com summarizes and analyzes user reviews at Amazon.com). The vast majority of owner reviews on Amazon.com rave about the SmartStick, although a few wish it had variable speeds. The only blemish? One professional testing organization gives the SmartStick CSB-76 a middling rating because it failed a tough pesto-making test. The Cuisinart SmartStick CSB-76 can be used as a regular immersion blender, but it also comes with a 2-cup plastic beaker that makes it easy to whip up a small beverage or single serving of baby food. Cuisinart backs this stick blender with a limited three-year warranty.

The pricier KitchenAid KHB300 (*Est. $80) is more than a stick blender. It also has a four-piece chopper attachment that makes quick work of chopping small amounts of herbs, vegetables, fruits, cooked meats, nuts and cheese. The KitchenAid KHB300 also comes with a stainless-steel whisk to whip cream and fluff egg whites. The larger 3-cup plastic beaker with lid comes in handy for whipping up small batches of salad dressing, tomato sauce or hummus. According to the review of hand blenders in The Washington Post, the nine-speed KitchenAid blender is powerful even at low speeds, but the motor is loud and the on button can be difficult to press. Additionally, editors say the handle became hot after more than 30 seconds of blending. Reviewers at Only Cookware Blog appreciate the 5-foot power cord on the KitchenAid KHB300, and say the stainless-steel blades work well on both cold and hot foods. Owners posting to Amazon.com agree that the KitchenAid immersion blender is an excellent performer and they praise KitchenAid's no-hassle replacement policy, which is good for one year.

The cheaper KitchenAid KHB100 (*Est. $50) is identical to the KitchenAid KHB300, but is only sold with a beaker and lid. Professional tests say the KHB100 does a nice job with everything from soup to pesto, but some testers find that continually pressing the on button can be fatiguing. AmericasTestKitchen.com and KitchenGadgetGals.com both include the KitchenAid KHB100 as one of their top picks. However, the KitchenAid KHB100 is more expensive than the highly rated Cuisinart CSB-76 (*Est. $30), so you're essentially paying $20 more for a lidded beaker.

On the other end of the price spectrum, reviewers at The Washington Post found the Swiss-manufactured Bamix Mono (*Est. $130) blends quickly and has a motor that is "fairly quiet." The blending shaft has an unusual design with no flange, which results in more splattering than other models during the magazine's peanut-salsa test. Editors at Australia's Choice magazine give the Bamix Mono very good performance scores, but they note that the Bamix struggles to grind hard ingredients to a paste. Although the Bamix Mono comes with additional whisk and beater attachments as well as a plastic beaker and wall mount, it's a lot more expensive than other immersion blenders. Another Bamix hand blender, the De Luxe (*Est. $160), has an additional grinder attachment and a counter stand rather than a wall mount. Bamix appliances are hard to find in the United States.

Although it's the least expensive hand blender we saw in reviews, the Hamilton Beach 59780 (*Est. $28) is chosen as the favorite by reviewers at The Washington Post for dominating the challenging peanut-salsa trial and performing admirably in the other three tasks. Testers say the clear plastic flange at the bottom of the blending shaft could be less durable than stainless steel, however. The option of two blending speeds is a plus, but reviewers say the 200-watt motor sounds like "dentist's equipment." This model also comes with whisk and drink mixer attachments, but they aren't dishwasher-safe.