The differences between a stand mixer and an immersion blender
Stand mixer and immersion blender comparison
| Stand mixer | Immersion blender | |
|---|---|---|
| Whisking, kneading, mixing | Daily use, main function. | For occasional use, you sometimes need an accessory. |
| Chopping, cutting, grating | Regular use, sometimes you need an accessory. | Regular use, sometimes you need an accessory. |
| Mashing | For occasional use, you sometimes need an accessory. | Daily use, main function. |
| Thick juices | Regular use, sometimes you need an accessory. | Not suitable |
| Thin juices | Regular use, sometimes you need an accessory. | Not suitable |
| Making pasta | Regular use, sometimes you need an accessory. | Not suitable |
| Prepare meat | Regular use, sometimes you need an accessory. | Not suitable |
Whisk, knead, and mix
Stand mixer: best choice for kneading
The most important functions of a stand mixer are that it whips, kneads, and mixes. This powerhouse includes a whisk, mixing hook, and dough hook by default to whip, knead, and mix for you. So you can take your time cleaning up the kitchen while your stand mixer kneads the dough.
Immersion blender: useful for thin batter
An immersion blender is ideal to whisk thin batter. While you whisk and mix, you keep the immersion blender in your hand. You need 2 hands to knead dough, because it takes quite some strength. An immersion blender isn't suitable for large amounts of cake or pizza dough.
Chop, cut, and grate
Stand mixer: useful cutting aid
You can easily expand the options of a stand mixer with special blender and food chopper attachments. This does depend on the sturdiness of the attachments. The sharpness of the blades are especially important with very hard ingredients like nuts and chocolate or very soft ingredients like cheese.
Immersion blender: useful cutting tool for small amounts
There are many attachments for an immersion blender that allow you to chop, cut, and grate vegetables. So you can easily turn it into a food chopper. The included mixing bowls of an immersion blender are usually quite small. If you make a salad for more than 4 people, you have to empty the mixing bowl in between.
Mashing
Stand mixer: useful for sauce
If you want to make a sauce or dip every once in a while, the best machine to use is a stand mixer. You can use the included blender attachment for this. You can make thick sauces directly in the mixing bowl, such as mayonnaise. You do have to make large batches, or the ingredients won't mix properly.
Stand mixer: best choice to puree
The immersion blender is by far the best kitchen machine to puree baby food, soup, sauces, and dips with. That's because you can puree food with it very well, so everything turns into a liquid mass. Thanks to its compact size, you can puree with the immersion blender directly in the pan.
Extra accessories
Stand mixer: lots of accessories to choose from
If you want to make a thin juice, use a juicer attachment with your stand mixer. With a blender attachment, you can make thicker juices, such as smoothie. You can also use a pasta or meat grinder attachment with a stand mixer so you can make fresh pasta or minced meat yourself.
Immersion blender: limited accessories to choose from
An immersion blender has many possible attachments, such as a food processor or food chopper. Unfortunately, a juicer, pasta maker, or meat grinder aren't among the options.
Conclusion
You can use a stand mixer for all kinds of preparations. This powerful kitchen machine is the best choice for you if you want to knead dough. And with the right attachments, you can also use it as a blender or even a pasta maker. You can't puree with it very well. That's what you use an immersion blender for. The immersion blender is very suitable for making all kinds of sauces and dips, because you can accurately make the preparation. It's especially useful for soup, because you can puree it directly in the pan without having to pour the warm soup out of the pan first.
