Good Lifestyle

Maybe you had the same thingblender for years and you look at a new to upgrade or finally seek to get a mixer for healthy whippingsmoothies and homemadevinaigrettes and sauces. Anyway, even if you are a smoothie superstar, you probably make common mixer errors and forget some of the important features that can make all the difference.

We turned to some buffs of Blender for their best tips to maximize your gadget (and minimize your efforts using it). Learn more about mixer errors, everyone does and see how you can get the most out of this multipurpose machine.

If you get a mixer, you will want to make sure you get a good one. Mixers are composed of three main parts, explain Tess Masters, author ofThe blender girl: a motor, a blade and a container. The properly designed devices cause these three parts to work together so that the ingredients of the vortex to the blade mix quickly and easily. Look for high quality machines that have these three components made with robust materials, so your machine can last.

Masters itself usesHigh Speed ​​Blenders KitchenAid Because they are a lot of power to the blade to blend quickly, smooth and efficient, and because the die-cast metal base also offers stability.

Quality should not be coming to a price out of budget, according to Morgan Bolling, senior publisher forCuisse country magazine (Part of America's test cuisine) in Boston, Massachusetts.

"There is a great range in what you can do in yourblender Based on the money you are willing to spend. Here in the test kitchen, we love theVitamix 5200, which is able to crush the ice in a few seconds, slowly integrates the oil made to make homemade mayonnaise, make ultra-smooth almond butter and transform fine smoothies (even with a fibrous ingredient like cabbage) ) In addition, he has a 7 year warranty, "she says.

In this spirit, it notes that there are many cheaper models that are still strong for daily use.

"In our tests, they were often not capable of Puee Kale, a notoriously hard smoothie ingredient, both at Kale Smoothies, nor that they could not have such creamy almond butter, but we had very good results with the5-speed KitchenAid Diamond Mixer, which costs $ 100. It's a very good mixer, especially if you are mainly using traditional uses such as milkshakes, smoothies, soups and sauces, "says Bolling.

A common blender error does not come true that you can use it for more than mix things to enjoy the kitchen. There are tons ofnon-edible mixer things You can also do, too! Masters likes to use his mixer to make items to use all over the house, including the bathroom and the laundry room. Pinterest is packed with recipes for homemade skin care products (such as masks, lotions and capillary treatments) and cleaning solutions (including laundry detergents and bathroom cleaners) than You can agitate in a mixture with a mixer.

RELATED: We have foundThe best recipes of smoothie to lose weight.

We like to take advantage ofSmoothies mixedBut when it comes to food, this versatile device is good for more than things you can grove with a straw.

"In the test kitchen, we used mixers to grind seeds and spices, make the Dutch and mayonnaise, and crush the ice. The small base of a mixer helps grind seeds and spices More efficiently than a culinary robot, "says Bolling.

Keep it usefully for smoother pasta than ever crests of pancakes and cheesecakes, as well as for cookies and foams, also suggests Rebecca Miller Ffrench, author of the Ultimate Blender Recoveret, Writer Writer and founder ofThe table of state In Phenicia, New York.

You'd better be the leaf: remnants of extra fruits and vegetables (think: carrot tops, faded Roman and bruised apple pieces) that you do not plan to eat should also go to the mixer. The masters became, well, a master tocomposting, thanks to its mixer and its ability to give the composting process a beginning of the head.

In addition to the three essential components (a motor, a blade and a container), the masters advise to take stock of the quality of the JAR pad (the piece that cushion the container on the base) and the striking (the stick-shaped portion which helps push ingredients to the blade). The JAR buffer must be robust plastic and sabotage must have a spatula attached to easily guide the ingredients while the machine is running.

For optimal mixing speed and ease, add ingredients to your mixer in this order: liquids, powders, solids and frozen.

"Pour liquids first allows blades to move easily when you turn on the machine on the machine," said Masters. "Add the following powder ingredients so that they do not fit on the lid, then stack on soft foods, such as bananas and cucumbers, followed by hard foods, such as frozen fruit and raw vegetables."

The last of everything is frozen fruit or ice - the heaviest of all ingredients - to press the other ingredients to the blade.

Do you have a mixer that is made for smoothies or individual drinks? "Since you fill the container and place it reversed on the engine for an individual serving mixer, reverse the order," she says.

Like humans, mixers work better with a small breathing room and a big mixer error thinks you can fill the container up to the top.

"Do not fill a mixer bowl on an edge, especially when you mix hot things like creamy soup! Hot things create steam, and if you try to treat a full hot soup mixer bowl, the lid is Likely to offer you a hot soup mess everywhere and cooking, "says Bolling.

Avoid Oach by treating hot ingredients in batches and remaining under the capacity line on the container.

It is also wise to take your time.

"Start at low and work upward, then high. It reduces wear on the engine and blends all better," says Masters.

This is particularly important for recipes likeNut milkThis begins with most solids that need to transform the liquid.

"Tasting instantly sprays a lot on the lid and the sides of the container," she explains. "This means that your recipe will require more scratching, otherwise you will leave Chunky pieces in the mix."

Slice Vegetables, chop and griss the most fibrous group (like carrots, ginger and celery), to help them integrate more easily and facilitate the work of your device.

"The food measures more precisely in small pieces, and you can add tiny quantities to taste as the recipe meets," says Masters.

Do not come to settle and forget; Add this lid with a certain power to avoid a flying cover (and a food tornado all around your kitchen), says Masters.

If you can, invest in a device with a well-made lid comprising a removable central cap to help you alter and disseminate in the final recipe components.

"The Dutchman and Mayonnaise rely on the possibility of slowly burning in oil or melted butter while mixing to emulsify a sauce. Have a power hole at the top of the mixer lids allows you to blur slowly while The mixer is running, "says Bolling.

Give the knife of your chef at night.

"To chop vegetables such as cabbage or carrots of lightning - fast, put the vegetables in the mixer, fill them with three quarters full with water and pulses until the parts are the Size you need, "says Ffrench.

Pour the resulting mixture through a sieve or colander and cut to the next step of your recipe. Engineering!

The stops and starts are where magic occurs.

"Just embellish oats or nuts in the processor until finely solicited, and you have flour," says Bolling.

FFENCH intensifies its path to finely ground coffee and powdered sugar (start by granulum) too. Just be careful with the timing: "The most powerful blenders are so strong that they cause friction and can really cook things, which is great when it makes a soup, but not so preferable when making flour making Walnut. For a few seconds too long and flour turns into butters, says Ffrench. "Often, you just need some pulses to grind things. You can still mix more, but it's hard to reverse the effects of over-mixing."

All these homemade hacks can make a big difference in your global grocery budget.

"If you are ingluten free WherePaleo cooking, make the flours yourself can save you a lot of money, "says Bolling.

DIY Blender whipped cream, almond butter and hummus are also much more affordable than their counterparts purchased in store.

"With your mixer and your mixer and fresh ingredients, you can replace foods bought like soups and salad dressings not only more expensive, but also loaded with unnecessary sugar and sodium," says Ffrench.

It is wise to give a moment to the engine during difficult jobs, especially pasta, nut butters and thick dip, says Masters.

"To avoid overheating your machine, do short intervals about 30 seconds," she says.

If your mixer makes an acute noise or high grinding or grinding ingredients, turn without mixing, call a waiting time and add more liquid if necessary.

"Press" Off "and scrape on the sides of the container with a mid-term rubber spatula through the treatment. This ensures that all that is blocked on the edges of the mixer is actually incorporated," says Bolling.

A little liquid is useful for softening too difficult ingredients before mixing too. Masters absorb all walnuts with seeds with dried fruit "to save the stressful machine and improve the texture of your finished dish," she says.

For a brilliant example of this work strategy, mix soaked cashew nuts with a batch of fresh water, a squeeze of lemon, a spoon of nutritional yeast and a pod or two garlic and a season to taste a Vegan vegan swap ultra-cream.

Some love it hot; Your mixer does not do it. Allow burning liquids (think:Soupe, cooked sauce) to cool a little before blending, follow the secrets of the masters to success:
Fill the container halfway.
Put the lid on firmly.
Remove the removable central cap so that the steam can escape.
Cover the hole in the open cap with a towel.
Start at low, then increase up to the desired consistency.

Look, Starbucks.

"Yes, you can whipCoffee In a mixer! Add 1/8 teaspoon Xanthane gum to breasted coffee and mix it in a high-speed mixer, and it will become sparkling and creamy like a slat without milk, "says the parade.

Because it's whipping your java with such strength, the ingredients will heat naturally. Masters also uses its turbocharged mixer for creamy hot chocolate and moussa tea in Matcha.

Ben and Jerry will also find some competition from the blender.

Whether you go classic with an anti-nonculation cream based on condensed milk, thick cream and vanilla or you clarify things using a frozen banana and a spoonful of nut butter, the ice is easy with a mixer in your corner.

You can also create a "cream" without dairy products to drop on a bowl of fruit or a slice of pie or cake by mixing cashew nuts with water and vanilla, says Masters.

Now that you have mastered your mixer recipe, follow the French polishing game plan to get your new Clean Gragnating Digital Kitchen Tool in no time.

"Fill the two-thirds container from the path up with water, then add a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Run the mixer over a minute or two, then rinse thoroughly, using a sponge to clean All foods that crash-customers be rarely if you clean it immediately, "says Ffrench.

If necessary, attack the most serious jobs in the natural way.

"For stubborn spots, soak the container in a solution of vinegar, lemon juice or baking soda, then wash it and rinse again. For residual odors, try rinsing with a soft solution made at the Water and a little vinegar or vanilla extract, "Masters said.