How to choose between a blender and a chopper

These are the difficulties of the “kitchen” choice - blender or chopper? And why can they calmly coexist in the same kitchen? What is better to choose if it is not possible to purchase both? The answers to these questions are in today's review.

What is a blender

These are household appliances aimed at finely cutting food. With its help it is easy to prepare a homogeneous puree or emulsion. Also blender works well for shaking cocktails or crushing ice.

There are two types of these kitchen aids: stationary and submersible. The first one is distinguished by a relatively massive body and a set of bowls with blades, which are installed on top of the base.

An immersion blender is more compact and relatively inexpensive. The latter is often achieved through a more modest configuration, which sometimes includes only a body-handle with a motor hidden inside and a basic attachment for making purees. In this case, any deep container of a suitable size can serve as a bowl.

Benefits of a blender

Compactness, ease of storage and safe operation of household appliances have long become not so much an advantage, but rather a mandatory attribute of high-quality kitchen helpers. Therefore, let's focus immediately on the main thing:

• quick preparation of purees, emulsions, cocktails or batters;
• the ability to grind solid ingredients to a powder state (optional);
• cutting food into small pieces.

At the same time, the immersion and stationary blenders are easy to keep clean. It is enough just to thoroughly rinse the bowl or attachment in running water immediately after use.

What is a shredder

As the name suggests, these household appliances are focused on chopping food. In this case, the initial task is not to turn the ingredients into puree, but to cut them into quite tangible pieces of the desired size (large, medium or small).

Among the design features, one can highlight a body with a motor, which is always placed above the bowl and never acts as a handle. It should also be noted that the attachments have a slightly different structure: the knives are arranged asymmetrically, in two rows or at an angle.

Shredder advantages

The main difference is the ability to adjust the size of the pieces into which the ingredients are cut. This means that the chopper can easily replace a grater and a meat grinder when it comes to preparing salad or minced meat.

Another advantage is the high power of the motor, because the equipment is also aimed at cutting raw and hard vegetables. If for an average blender the norm is 500–800 W, then for a chopper the most typical range is 600–1200 W.

Caring for this kitchen assistant is simple: the attachment is not connected to the bowl in any way, which makes washing the ingredients easier. Storage will also not cause problems, because replaceable knives do not take up much space, and the device itself also does not have significant dimensions.

So what should you choose: blender or chopper?

A sound assessment of your needs will help you decide on the most suitable option for household appliances.If you want to make it easier to cut ingredients for salads, side dishes or liquid dishes, then a chopper will do the job better. But for preparing baby purees, mousses and various cocktails, it is still advisable to purchase a blender.

It is important to understand that multifunctional equipment copes best with immediate tasks, and much worse with secondary options.

This means that using a blender you will not be able to cut ingredients as neatly as you can with a chopper. Even if the manufacturer has provided such an option. The rule also works in reverse: it will not be easy to obtain the desired homogeneous puree consistency in a chopper.

And this despite the fact that the cost of multifunctional models is extremely rarely lower than the sum of the prices for simple versions of a chopper and blender, purchased separately.