What is considered a "good" stick blender?

[PrimDawg]

I keep reading where experienced soap makers recommend that you need a good stick blender. Are there features or brands that I should look for? I'm not rushing out to buy one now, but if I run across a good deal I'd like to know some options.
My other thought is that my husband will be asking me soon for ideas for a Mother's Day gift so I'm thinking soap making supplies!

 

[toxikon]

I wouldn't recommend plastic ones. The two plastic ones I've had (I think Oster) got warped and became impossible to clean because soap batter would get inside the cavity.

I switched to a stainless steel one and it's fantastic. Other than that - get one that has a detachable head for easy cleaning. And one with a decent motor - sometimes the motor can get burnt out quick trying to reach trace.

This the the one I have: http://a.co/0AdfjmE

 

[dibbles]

I think 'trusty' would be a better adjective than 'good' when it comes to a stick blender. You want one that will get the job done and hold up. I can't speak for others, but here is my experience.

When I started making soap, I took an old (15+ years) Braun stick blender from my kitchen. It is very basic, no bells and whistles. A couple of months ago, because I was beginning to worry that it might conk out and I had coupons like crazy, I was able to get a new Kitchen Aid stick blender for $11. Having used both, I prefer the trusty old Braun. If they are both clean, I will use that one first. But both work just fine. I would look for one that comes apart - that feature is the only thing that is really important to me. It's better for cleaning, and if I need to pause for some reason I think it is safer to be able to detach the motor. I say this because I like to leave the bell submerged in the batter so it lessens the chance of air bubbles. I wouldn't do that with a one piece blender - too top heavy.

 

[BattleGnome]

I also vote for a detachable stick blender. I have a plastic one currently and have no problems (but I only make one or two batches a month at most).

There are a bunch of YouTube shapers I watch who have back up stick blenders and interchange the bells. A good example would be for multiple colors in a large batch. Or mixing multiple batches without wanting to pause and wash everything.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

This the the one I have: http://a.co/0AdfjmE

Good one & good price.

When I started making soap, I took an old (15+ years) Braun stick blender from my kitchen. It is very basic, no bells and whistles. A couple of months ago, because I was beginning to worry that it might conk out and I had coupons like crazy, I was able to get a new Kitchen Aid stick blender for $11. Having used both, I prefer the trusty old Braun.

A lot of soapers have a Braun. "Trusty" is my experience as well. I bought one at a garage sale for $5 and found one at a thrift store and bought it for $5 as a back-up.

My first SB was an Oster that I got at Target for $10. It lasted 9 years before it melted while making glycerin LS. LOL That's when I bought a Cuisinart with a steel shaft, on sale at Bramble Berry. I currently have 4 SBs -- one for soap; one for lotion; 2 for kitchen use. One of the kitchen ones came with attachments like a handy dandy chopper for chopping up herbs to infuse in oil.

If you want to have a matching blender and goggles like Soap Queen Anne Marie, I think Bramble Berry still has them.

The main thing to remember, to my mind at least, is, according to a study done by "Cook's Country" a few years back, you'll be hard-pressed to find a stick blender that isn't made in China. Including the most expensive ones, some, but not all, fail within the first 4 months of use. So be sure to keep receipts and send in the registration card.

HTH :bunny:
​

 

[navigator9]

This is another one of those areas where there are a wide variety of opinions. I don't even remember my first SB, it was that long ago. I killed it trying to make salt bars. So I went out and got a Cuisinart, metal, detachable head. It works fine, but I did notice that no matter how hard I tried to "burp" it, air always seemed to bet trapped under the bell and get whipped into the soap, causing tiny little bubbles. Not a problem, except aesthetically. The soap just wasn't as smooth as I would have liked it. Remembering the fiasco with the salt bars, I thought it might not be a bad idea to have a back up SB, just in case the Cuisinart ever died mid-batch. So I grabbed a cheap plastic one at Ocean State Job Lots for about $10. I thought I should test it out, just to see how it worked, and I ended up liking it better than the Cuisinart, so the Cuisinart became my back up instead. The plastic one also has a detachable head, and I've had no problems with the plastic warping. It also doesn't whip air into the soap, and I have no more tiny bubbles. Sorry if this just further confuses you! :-D

 

[dixiedragon]

Agree with detachable and stainless steel.

If you can, open the box and look at the way the wand connects to the motor. One of mine connects with 2 little plastic clips. Well, the motor is fine and the wand is fine...but one clip broke. So because of the failure of less than 1 gram of plastic the entire thing is useless.

Scroll down to the second picture.
https://www.engadget.com/2015/12/01/the-best-immersion-blender/

The one on the far right is the type of connection you want. When you are stirring thick soap (which will happen at some point) you don't want all that pressure in two teensy plastic clips. As far as I can tell one brand doesn't stick to one type of connection - I've got a Braun and a Cuisinart with that connection and I've seen Kitchen Aids with it. My kitchen aid is the one with the little clips.

 

[dibbles]

Remembered something else. One of the manufacturers has added a safety feature that requires you to depress a button to be able to run the blender. You want to avoid that. I can't imagine how annoying this would be.

Also, my Braun is plastic and I haven't had any problems either. Just FYI. All other things being equal, I'd opt for SS.

 

[dixiedragon]

Another thing to consider is, is it easy to press the button with gloved, slippery hands? One of mine doesn't have a button you press inward, but a plastic bar you move down vertically. It's a pain to do with slippery, gloved hands - I have to wedge my thumbnail above the bar.

 

[PrimDawg]

The one I have in my amazon cart is a cuisinart. I have a plastic Braun that I've used for years so will keep that as my cooking one and the new one for soap. I think buying an extra shaft or two is a great idea.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I bought this Cuisinart in September of 2015 and it's served me well through about 40 batches. A great tool for less than $30.

 

[Viore]

I also vote for the stainless steel shaft and bell. I'm a bit klutzy and having dropped my plastic stick blender a few times the bell broke and a long crack developed in the shaft. My stainless steel Kitchen Aid stick blender has also been dropped a few times, but shows no damage anywhere.

That's also the reason I vote for having a detachable shaft. The reason I kept dropping my stick blenders was because they were too top heavy when I needed to stop and grab something (like additives). With the detachable shaft, I'm able to safely remove the motor and leave the shaft and bell in the soap batter. Reconnecting the motor is a breeze and doesn't slow me down.

 

[sweetbean]

I have both plastic and stainless, but I enjoy my plastic one more. Like someone else said, my metal SB always whips air into my soap. Never had that problem with the plastic. Plastic is also a lot lighter which I think is a great feature. I got a cheap one at Walmart for $9, and I love it. My SS SB is my backup. *

 

[IrishLass]

I have 3 different brands of stick-blenders- a Hamilton Beach with plastic detachable wand, a Cuisinart with detachable metal wand, and a Kitchenaid with metal detachable metal wand.

My favorite of the 3 is my 2-speed Hamilton Beach with plastic detachable wand. It's the first stick-blender I ever bought for soaping and believe it or not, it is still going strong after 11 years of soaping with it (yes- the same one!). The higher speed option is the perfect speed for my soaping needs (not too fast and not too slow), and the bell housing and depth of where the blade sits in it are designed in such a way that it never needs to be 'burped' and never gives me get air bubbles in my batter.

The design of the bells on my other 2 stick-blenders are very different, as you will notice below (pictured L-R- Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart, Kitchenaid).

Notice how the bells on the 2 metal wands are quite concave/deeper compared to the plastic one, and how the blades sit higher in each.

Also notice how the 'air-slits' are designed in each. The plastic Hamilton Beach has an 'open-ended' design while the 2 metal ones do not (the slits are closed off). The 2 metal ones give me air bubbles and need to be burped, but the plastic one does not:

I only use my metal ones when I'm working with my glycerin liquid soap or HP where the batter can get pretty hot, but I use my plastic one for all of my CP batches where the temps can still get pretty hot, but just not as hot as the aforementioned soaps.


IrishLass

 

[aihrat]

Double-check the rod that connects the blade to the shaft, because if there isn't a permanent, tight seal between the blade rod and the shaft, you will end up with a very large amount of air bubbles in your soap batter no matter how much you "burp" the blender.

An example of a good blender to avoid in soapmaking is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RF7QJW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 . I have one for food and love it for that purpose. But when I used it to blend some additives in my oil I was alarmed at the foam it generated in my oils.

 

[styarr]

I have a cheap plastic stick blender from walmart. It works fine and was around $10. I haven't used anything else (though I just bought a cuinsinart that was super discounted as a backup- haven't used it yet).
Mine doesn't have a detachable bell, however cleaning is easy. I run water as hot as it will go in a bowl (usually my soap making bowl) and pulse the blender in the water. Usually after a minute or two all the soap is off and I run a cloth or sponge around the inside to get any leftover residue.

 

[littlehands]

I bought this Cuisinart in September of 2015 and it's served me well through about 40 batches. A great tool for less than $30.

I've had the same Cuisinart since I first started soaping, oh, 3 years ago? It's made over 500 batches and is still going strong. So, another vote for that one from me.

I actually like my old original one better than the newer one that I have for my kitchen. The new one has that safety feature where you have to push two buttons to get it to go, which is pretty annoying for soaping.

 

[Obsidian]

I can't remember what brand my first SB was but it was cheap (under $20) at walmart. It had a detachable stainless shaft and I loved it but I dropped it a few times and killed it after two years. It had a super fast motor and worked fantastic.

Ended up replacing it with a kitchen aide that I don't really care for. The kitchen aide is well made, a very good SB but its top heavy and will fall over if stood upright on the counter and the shaft is a bit of a pain to detach. It has a powerful motor but is slower, takes a bit longer to completely mix the batter.

 

[IrishLass]

Ended up replacing it with a kitchen aide that I don't really care for. The kitchen aide is well made, a very good SB but its top heavy and will fall over if stood upright on the counter and the shaft is a bit of a pain to detach. It has a powerful motor but is slower, takes a bit longer to completely mix the batter.

[Bolding mine] That's been my experience with my Kitchenaid as well- it's highest speed is much too sluggish for my liking. If my favorite (the Hamilton Beach with plastic shaft) also happened to come with a medium speed, I can't help but think that it would be the speed-for-speed equivalent of the Kitchenaid's highest speed.

Of my 2 stick-blenders with the metal shafts (Kitchenaid & Cuisinart), I prefer the Cuisinart because its highest speed is quicker in comparison (and about the same zippy quickness as my Hamilton Beach, actually).


IrishLass

 

[Zany_in_CO]

My favorite of the 3 is my 2-speed Hamilton Beach with plastic detachable wand. It's the first stick-blender I ever bought for soaping and believe it or not, it is still going strong after 11 years of soaping with it (yes- the same one!).

The sight of your plastic SB reminds me of a discussion about SBs on another group. This soaper loved her plastic SB but, over time, it lost a couple of "teeth" and couldn't stand up straight. It made her sad knowing she would have to replace it.