Choosing the Best Blender

Amazon.comA blender is one of the most useful small appliances in the world: You can purée soup, baby food, or soaked dried chiles; whiz up smoothies, shakes, or frothy cocktails; and grind up a supply of fresh breadcrumbs for the freezer. In general, a blender has it over a food processor in the sauce department because a processor tends to leak where the blade fits onto the base. I'm one of the heretics who uses my blender for making batches of pesto, hummus, mole and salsa -- I know that grinding ingredients by hand yields the ultimate flavor and texture, but I would bet good money on the fact that if the painstaking cooks of ages past had had blenders instead of mortars and pestles, they darn well would have used them.

THE BEST LESS EXPENSIVE BLENDERS

While blenders can be found for $30 or less, when it comes to this appliance, you get what you pay for, so it's worth bumping up your budget to the $50 range. The Kalorik BL 16909 (around $44 at amazon.com) has just two speeds plus a pulse function, but it delivers lotsa bang for the buck. It's very quiet, has a sturdy glass jar, and its six blades (two are serrated) do a nice job of pulverizing seeds and chunks of fruit.

Hamilton Beach's Dual Wave Blender, $69.99 at amazon.com, is equipped with a wide food-processor-type bowl and side-by-side single-serving jars -- a smart idea if you and your significant other have very different ideas about what constitutes the ideal breakfast smoothie. This blender is best for drinks; its powerful twin "dual-action" blades pulverize ice and blend margaritas in no time flat, but turn thicker mixtures such as pesto into foam that's more gastro-geek than Marcella Hazan.

The KitchenAid KSB560 5-Speed Blender (around $72 at amazon.com) has a few more bells and whistles; you can choose from five speeds and pulse at any speed for extra power and control. The generously sized polycarbonate jar is as tough as nails and comes with a genuinely drip-free spout; the cord storage underneath the base is a neat touch.

THE BEST MID-PRICED BLENDERS

KitchenAid's KSB580 5-Speed Blender (around $130 at amazon.com) is a fancier version of the KSB560 above. Substantial and sexy, it powers through ice, frozen fruit -- virtually anything, in fact -- with ease, and it stays cool through multiple batches of pesto and mole. But if you're simply looking for a countertop conversation piece to make great smoothies or protein shakes, then the L'Equip R.P.M. (around $163 at amazon.com) will fit the bill.

HEY, BIG BLENDER

At about $400 (amazon.com), you might want to think of the Vita-Mix as a lifestyle rather than a blender. With blade speeds of more than 200 m.p.h., this mean machine processes the leaves, peels, and stems of vegetables in addition to crushing ice uniformly, blending, and puréeing.