I use mine at least once a day. Smoothies for breakfast are so quick when you don't have to do any pouring from one vessel to another and the only cleanup is a quick rinse of your stick blender. Get the version that comes with the mini food processor attachment and you're set. Far from being a uni-tasker, I think this tool is one of the most versatile in my kitchen.

Thank you for this post! My husband and I live in Spain and our tiny, European kitchen has barely any counter space or cabinet space. As such, my husband told me that I have to choose between a blender or a food processor. We cannot conceivably fit both! I used to use my food processor for hummus, pestos, lentil burgers, etc and the blender for smoothies and soups. I never thought to look into an immersion blender that can do all of these things!

Every time there is a post on immersion blenders, I feel compelled to say they are the best. But, Anjali, I did not know I could use it for whipped cream. How do you do that? Do you need an attachment? Make it in a glass? Thanks!

When my mom moved from Germany to Canada in the mid-70s, immersion blenders were not yet available in North America. She insisted on bringing hers with her and had an electrician build her a power converter so she could use it here. She still uses it all the time, and I use mine now too. I grew up calling it the magic wand.

I too would appreciate knowing how to make whipped cream with an immersion blender!! Mine gathers dust in the cabinet because I can't come up with uses for it, and also because I tend to make small batches of things and the immersion blender is very powerful and splatters all over the place. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the measuring cup attachment which might have made things easier. Any ideas would be appreciated!!

I have this exact same model and LOVE it! It is really easy and makes things so creamy. I don't use it that often, only when I am making something pureed. My girlfriend uses hers to make her own pasta sauce.

I think we have the same blender, but it came with a few different attachments that we use constantly. The first is the immersion blender that we use for... blending... Anyway, the second is a food processor blade and base that holds about a cup of nuts or other such and is so much easier to work with for those small quantities. The last is the least favorite attachment and is the whisk. I thought this would be a huge time saver, but it only slings things everywhere because there is no real control. Maybe for larger quantities, but we only cook for the 2 of us plus our 18 month old.

i LOVE my immersion blender. i got the one that comes with a whisk attachment and the small food processor, i use it all the time. i've made whipped cream with the whisk attachment, but haven't tried with the regular blender attachment.

I have the same one pictured and have only used it to puree soups and whip batters. I'd be interested in using it for smoothies, but I'm curious to know if it can handle fibrous additions like spinach or kale.

anya221 - The story about your mom's devotion to her immersion blender made me smile. And I love that it still works after all these years. Thanks for sharing.

What I would like to know is if this smart stick can really tackle frozen fruit. I find that even the most powerful blenders (short of a Vitamix or a Blendtec, which I cannot afford) can't crush frozen fruit particularly well. At best, I get maybe 6 months worth of semi-reliable frozen fruit smoothie blending. After that, the motors tend to give out.

Love, love, love my cuisinart immersion blender! I use it to make smoothies right in my travel mug in the morning, puree soups in the pot and smooth out lumpy sauces. Soooo much easier to clean than a regular blender but much sturdier feeling than a lot of immersion blenders out there.

I think I might like mine if I had a better quality one. I have a Kalorik. If I run it for more than 20 seconds it starts to smoke and smell like burning electrical bits, so I don't use it too often. The instructions even said to not use it for more than 30 seconds per use. They aren't all like mine, are they?

I love my stick blender too! I hadn't thought of trying it for frozen fruit, whipped cream, or hummus, but will try them all now. I've been kind of a one-hit wonder with mine, using it mainly for soups. I just can't get over how wonderful it is to not have to transfer hot soup to a blender.

LOVE the Cuisinart Smart Stick!
Mine too came with the whisk attachment as well as the food chopper assembly and it really has transformed the way I cook.

Whipped cream, apple sauce, soups (right in the pan since the casing is metal!), super smooth pizza sauce and so much more.

I haven't been gutsy enough to try a smoothie yet though but maybe now I will after seeing this post.

@Lynell, The blender pictured is a good balance between cost and functionality--you can get ones that are way more expensive, but this one is definitely the best in the reasonably priced range. If your frozen fruit is in small pieces (like sliced or chopped strawberries as opposed to whole) it does pretty well although big chunks can be hard on it. It doesn't do well with solid ice either, although that might be a problem you could solve by getting smaller cubes or already-crushed ice if you wanted to use it to make drinks for a party or something. But overall it does a great job and is durable and easy to clean.

I thought mine would be a unitasker too--blended soups weren't even really on my radar because I'd always avoided them because of the mess and hassle of pouring into the blender. I'll admit it, I got mine for one reason only--making perfect homemade mayo! We use it all the time though, for soup and smoothies and whipped cream and emulsifying. Lately we've been having a lot of banana peanut butter smoothies made in the measuring cup that came with the blender.

I like my stick blender, and I use it frequently, but I like my food processor more. Contrary to the description above, my stick blender is heavier than the food processor, and more unwieldy, so I only use it for things with too much liquid that would leak out of the food processor (like soups, whipped cream, smoothies, etc.).

I got rid of my blender, in favor of one of these. I was killing a blender about every year because I drink smoothies every morning. I got tired of expensive blenders, and went with an immersion blender. I have yet to be disappointed. If I do inevitably burn out the motor, the cost is far less to replace. I've also hit the two year mark on mine with no issues. I loved it so much when Costco had the cuisenart version on sale for $20 with all the extra attachments, I snapped it up.

ALICE.RADLEY I use mine for frozen fruit all the time. Ice cubes are a total no-go, but the frozen fruit works just fine. In fact, I prefer it for frozen fruit smoothies, than a blender because there is nevera any missed chunks. The key is to make sure your milk/ricemilk/water/juice or whatever for you smoothie is in the container, and then it's fine.

I have one with the food processor attachment. I use it to grate parmesan, and make pesto. Much easier to clean than my Vitamix for these small jobs.

I adore mine. I have the kitchenaid one and it has the attachments (a whisk I use ALL the time especially on weekends to be quiet and not wake everyone up if I'm whipping egg whites, and a mini food processor I use tons) and I use this guy all the time.

I'll say though, I don't like it for super creamy smooth soups compared to a blender. It's great for most soups I just want "smooth" but no matter how cooked or how long I process it, the soup still has a texture to it that you get rid of by whizzing it in the blender.

Yes, but "will it blend"..... iPods? :-)

I just got a Cuisinart immersion blender as a giveaway at a local grocery store. I was always a doubter, but after using it a couple of times, I am beginning to see the error of my ways. Yesterday I made the barbacoa recipe from this website and I just threw all the sauce ingredients in the bottom of the slow cooker and mulched them up with the immersion blender, right in the slow cooker. WAY easier than dragging my regular blender out - not to mention cleanup

Absolutely amazing tool. Pulverizes anything.

I have a Braun one with all the various attachments mentioned, and the one I love the best is actually the whisk. I like how I can whip a small batch of egg whites for pancakes, waffles, or a souffle in a small bowl rather than a big bowl required for the hand mixer. (I know, I know--small bowl, big bowl, what does it matter? But it's the little things for some of us. : )

I also like the chopper attachment, since I don't have a regular food process and generally only do smaller batches of things like that anyway. Although I recently broke it trying to make breadcrumbs out of some overly tough crusts...it still kind of works, but a little wobbly. They don't make my Braun model anymore, so maybe I'll look into replacing it with that Cuisinart one...

I actually almost never use the main blender stick! I find whenever I try to puree soups or sauces with it I just end up splattering a lot (maybe because, again, they're usually smaller batches so the blender doesn't get buried enough). Because of my splattering experience I've never tried it for smoothies...but maybe I'll see if I have a container that would work...

I have one with just the regular blender attachment, but am considering getting one with the whisk + mini food processor attachments.

When I purchased my immersion blender, I only imagined making pureed soups. But now the thing I use it for most often is salad dressing. When blended with my Cuisinart, a mixture of honey, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil will stay suspended for several days (kept in the fridge). My other favorite dressing to make is blue cheese - just buttermilk, a little mayo, a hunk of blue cheese, and a generous amount of black pepper.

This has to be one of my favorite appliances. I used it last week to make creme anglaise and hollandaise sauce...it's soooo much easier to cook the eggs without making scrambled eggs by mistake

OMG! I was waiting for a new immersion blender for like 2 years. I couldn't find the "right" price or quality. I got my Cuisinart at Costco with the whisk and the chopper attachments included, for $29.95! Can't beat that. I use it EVERY DAY. I make pico de gallo constantly, smoothies, salad dressings, all kind of add ins for recipes that call for chopped stuff. It cuts my prep time way down. Check out Costco. I think I saw the same model for $19.95 last time I was there.

I got one recently (Mellerware Robot Stick Blender). If you're looking for a new one, the wavy bottom makes more of a splash than a solid rim with only perforations. It creates suction and pulls the blender to the bottom of the container.

I've used it on frozen fruit that had been cut into chunks, no problems, just do it in short bursts. Also, adding yoghurt or milk makes blending easier.

I haven't used the other attachments yet, they are still in the box.

I got a Kitchenaid version as a gift several years ago and I use it all the time. I also received a blender around the same time and have used it *once*. I use it for soups, smoothies, whipped cream, apple sauce, quacamole, refried beans...the bonus is how easy it is to clean, plus it came with it's own container so I don't have to dig out a bowl every time. By far it's the most useful, and most used, thing in my kitchen.

I broke down and bought a Breville immersion blender not too long ago. The first thing I thought of as I was using it for the first time was, "Where have you been all of my life???" LOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT.

I haven't used it for a wide variety of thing YET, but the fact that I no longer have to transfer soups to my blender makes it worth the price. No more mess!

I. too, have the Cuisinart immersion blender, and I use it for smoothies pretty frequently. As long as there's enough juice and/or yogurt, it can blend frozen fruit just fine. And Carolyn's Kitchen - I was working in Atlanta for a few weeks this past summer and realized I'd forgotten the measuring cup part of the immersion blender - so I went to Target and bought a plastic cup and it worked just fine! So I bet you could sub in a sturdy plastic cup to use with your blender.