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While the leaves fall, the temperatures drop, and your Instagram feeds fill up with images of picked-over orchards and poorly carved pumpkins, you can take solace in knowing that Soup Season is upon us. And, as we shift into soup mode, we need to focus: Though soups and stews aren’t always the most hands-on recipes out there, you have to make sure your kitchen arsenal is stocked with the right tools for the season if you want to achieve perfect texture and taste.
Now, delicious chicken noodle soups or rustic minestrones are great, but if you don’t have a solid blender, you’re seriously limiting yourself in the recipe department. And, while there are plenty of recipes where you can get away with a fine dice or mash, there’s really no substitute for the smooth, velvety texture that’s crucial to a good puree. However, this Soup Season, I decided to invest in what’s already become my new favorite go-to tool in the kitchen: this affordable immersion blender from Amazon.
If you’re not familiar, immersion blenders — also known as stick blenders and hand blenders — are exactly what they sound like: blenders on a stick. They allow you to turn any dish into the chamber of your blender by simply submerging the head into whatever you want to blend. This means you can sauté ingredients in a pot, then simply add liquid and blend in the same piece of cookware, which saves you from having to funnel scalding-hot liquid into a blender, constantly being on the lookout for splattering and continuously scraping down the sides and shaking the machine to get every bit to blend — then pouring it back into the pot, and finally having to wash the blender itself. (I’m getting tired just thinking about it.)
The Peach Street hand blender, however, has been my saving grace these past few weeks, since I’ve been able to skip the entire blender portion of my soup process. It has two variable speed settings, a detachable base for easy cleaning and storing, and the blender head is dishwasher-safe. This gadget also takes up virtually zero cabinet space compared to a traditional blender, and it has plenty of applications beyond soup, including DIY mayonnaise, salad dressings, smoothies, sauces, salsas, and more. The best part, though, is that it’s way easier to control the final product, in that I can see exactly how far I’ve pulverized my ingredients, and can dial in the perfect texture for whatever I’m making.
And, I’m not the only one fawning over this thing — it has over 700 five-star ratings on Amazon and plenty of positive reviews. “I’ve never used an immersion blender before so I didn’t want to spend too much on one while using it for some basic homemade soups,” one reviewer writes. “This one is not just affordable, it works great! It has pulverized potatoes, onions, carrots, and tomatoes into creamy soups like a dream! … Then you pop the top blender part off, throw it in the dishwasher, and put the bottom handheld motor part away. My fridge has been full of different homemade soups every week since I’ve gotten this, and I’ve sent the link to two friends who are similarly intrepid in their home cooking ventures.”
So, if you’re looking for an affordable tool that takes the place of a clunky countertop appliance, look no further than this easy-to-use immersion blender from Peach Tree.