Stick Blender Questions

[mel z]

Hope I am not the only newbie with this rather silly question.

Does anyone have a video on how to properly soap with a stick blender?

I ask for two reasons. I never used one before in cooking, so it was sort of surprising how it works and sucks to the bottom. I have been hand stirring for hours sometimes until I got the stick blender. Ugh.

Also, I am short, the cabinet level is up to my breast level. I have splashed soap on my face twice. Very dangerous! I do wear goggles and a paper face mask, but there are a few slight areas exposed. Fortunately, I have some high powered cortisone cream. (I have used it a few times and not splashed, but it gets stuck sucking up the bottom of the pot.)

Short of buying a face shield, which I still might, I think us newbies may need some instruction. At least this one does. I don't use it with 2 lb and under batches.

Thanks in advance for any Stick Blending for Idiots Guide!

 

[danahuff]

I use it in all my soaping videos (danahuff on YouTube). I think you need to find a lower surface. You should be looking down. Breast level is too high. I soap on my kitchen table because I have zero counter space. You may need to get yourself a table suited to your height. Check thrift stores. They are great resources for this kind of thing.

 

[mel z]

Thanks danahuff. Watching one now (or what youtube will stop glitching through, darned youtube!), and I see that your table is low in comparison.

I also do not notice that the blender is sucking to the bottom, and no splashes coming off.

Fellow newbies, and there are a lot of us on here right now, it is not good to get soap that is being made on your skin. Follow the safety precautions and wash it off as soon as you notice it, it can burn very deeply if not! Watch all the videos on how to safely soap too.

 

[mel z]

Wanted to add, I see you raise the stick blender up from the bottom a bit too before you blend. That is what I did not know.

 

[DeeAnna]

Some things that I find helpful:

Tip the stick blender a bit to the side, not just straight down, although the opening of the "bell" MUST be below the surface of the liquid, or you'll splash batter everywhere. With your small batches you will have to be careful, especially if the soap batter in your mixing container is not very deep. Tipping the blender keeps it from pulling down quite so hard and makes it easier to control as long as you remember to keep the bell submerged.

When you start blending, pulse the blender on and off a few times until you see if it is going to behave itself and not throw soap batter every which way. Then when you're fairly sure its safe, you can run it full on for a bit. Don't run the blender for long periods. Turn it on for, oh, maybe 10-15 seconds, turn it off and use it to stir by hand for about the same time, on again, etc. That will help keep the blender motor cool. If the blender smells "hot" or if the motor changes its sound, you are probably overheating it. It will also help you keep better track of how the soap batter is coming to trace.

--DeeAnna

 

[mel z]

Thank you Dee Anna. Very, very helpful info!

I got the only run it for a minute at a time part. Everything else I needed to know. Can't believe I've been cooking for nearly 50 years and never thought to use one of these things.:eh:

 

[nebetmiw]

You might want to use a table that is better fitting for you. I put my bowl in the sink for stick blending and that puts it mid tummy high at the top of it. So I would use a table that put bottom of bowl at least waist high.

 

[mel z]

Good idea nebetmiw! Thanks, I'll do that until I can get a short table. I do think that is part of the issue, and user ignorance.

At least I now know age isn't the only reason I've had trouble cutting cabbage and squash the last couple of years. It is the apartment counters. I don't think I'm so old I can't cut those right anymore and have to buy the smallest ones, ha!

 

[liafrank]

One of my favorite movie quotes, said by Stella in Silverado, "The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn't fit, you make alterations."

 

[houseofwool]

I would look at finding a cheap (but sturdy) table via craigslist or a second hand shop and then cut the legs shorter so that they match your height. I like my work surface to be somewhere around my hips (top of the pelvic bones). That way I can get great leverage when cutting and I am looking down on my work.

 

[mel z]

I would look at finding a cheap (but sturdy) table via craigslist or a second hand shop and then cut the legs shorter so that they match your height. I like my work surface to be somewhere around my hips (top of the pelvic bones). That way I can get great leverage when cutting and I am looking down on my work.

I will be looking for a nice sturdy, yet low table second hand. Good suggestions!

However, even using a mitre box to cut soap, I do not cut evenly. Ask the bed boards I cut, lol. They are in a bit crooked b/c I cut them crooked. Soooooo, I'll be on the look out for one short enough already. Don't want rocking chair sturdy but unstable table.

 

[Badger]

I can't cut straight lines very well either, I am slowly improving my techniques and my new cutter is helping... it has a guide in the front, so I can have my soap against that and against one of the sides and use the cutter in the slots and it is much neater then I had been doing... sadly it doesn't work well on my round soaps because they are too tall for it.

 

[mel z]

I can't cut straight lines very well either, I am slowly improving my techniques and my new cutter is helping... it has a guide in the front, so I can have my soap against that and against one of the sides and use the cutter in the slots and it is much neater then I had been doing... sadly it doesn't work well on my round soaps because they are too tall for it.

I thought about rigging up the mitre box with a cardboard flat surface duct tapped really well in there at the right spot. It is a plastic box so I don't want to try to cut an extra slot, that would end up crooked too. The trick to rigging it with cardboard is getting the first cut straight to begin with though. Or, I could just leave the ugly end on and trim it down later.

I like using the mitre b/c you can put the taller or round soaps in there. Also read someone used a box, a wire, and some way to attach to the wire to the sides to use as a cutter. You slide the soap through the wire, soaping standing on end instead of laying flat. Not a bad idea either.

 

[houseofwool]

Badger, for my round soaps, I put them back into the PVC. Using a paint stick as a guide (it is 1" wide), I slide the soap out of the pipe until it is flush with the paint stick. Then, holding it in place with my left hand, I against the end of the pipe as a guide. They aren't perfect, but they are significantly more consistent than the loaf soaps I cut with my miter box. Those look like an epileptic monkey hacked at them. None are the same size. I think I need to glue in some sort of guide (probably another paint stick as they are cheap).

 

[mel z]

LMAO houseofwool! Guess my cuts come out the same. Something cut them, but whatever it was, it just isn't right. Hahaha!

 

[Badger]

LOL! I love that description, houseofwool Yes, I started using the edge of the PVC as a guide when I am cutting my round soaps and they are coming out much better now then they were. The first few loaves I just won't talk about how uneven they were!