A “hot and cold blender” is a specialty blender that brings together a high-speed blending blade and a heating element into one appliance. So, unlike the usual blender for juicing and smoothies, you can also warm/ cook soups or sauces instantly.

Unlike other models we tested, the Zwilling Enfinigy power blender only has two blades. These stainless steel blades are specially designed with serrated piranha-like teeth to enable optimized blending. Despite only having two blades, we thought the results were some of the best. I used salted butter to sauté the onions, but you can use any oil you like or skip this step and just throw the onions in with the potatoes to cook OR if you are using crispy bacon to top your soup, you can replace the butter with 1-2 Tablespoons of bacon grease.I made the strawberry jam recipe supplied in the book. I did alter it slightly because I couldn’t get hold of any fruit pectin – I could only find jam sugar in my local supermarket. What I really hope you will try are the crispy potato skin strips. They are amazing and add a nice crunch to the soup. The roasted garlic in this recipe imparts such a great flavor that I urge you to try it, however if you want to use raw garlic, only use 1-2 cloves and mince or chop them and sauté them with the onion and butter.

The Ascent 2300i can be used to make your own butter (no churning by hand, yet all of the wow factor at your next dinner party), dips, nut butters, mayonnaise, non-dairy milks, hot soup from scratch without a pan in sight, bread and pasta dough, wholegrain flours, baby food and frozen desserts – essentially, almost anything you could make in a food processor. Grinding blade - Some models have a separate grinding blade (or mill) attachment for grinding ingredients such as coffee beans, nuts and herbs, that regular blades generally can’t handle. Cleaning capabilities: Many (but not all) blenders come with self-cleaning functions - although learning how to clean a blender isn't too difficult without them. These self-cleaning functions use a high-speed mechanism to whisk away stubborn debris (when filled with water and washing-up liquid). Similarly, some blenders have dishwasher-safe parts, whereas others don't. Molly is the Ecommerce Editor for Ideal Home covering all things appliances, meaning that she's always reviewing the next coffee machine or air fryer on the market.

Perfect for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

There are 2 manual settings on the Ninja, a blend and a cook function. You can choose either Low, Medium or High within each function; While juicers and blenders look similar, they perform slightly different tasks. Blenders use sharp blades to break down the contents of the blending jug. This means everything in the jug is turned into a smooth mixture. Juicers, however, extract liquid and leave behind the rest of the fruits or vegetables. As you might expect from the name, juicers are primarily used to make fresh juice, so they can be pretty limiting, whereas blenders give you the means to make everything from smoothies to dips. There are various types and brands of blenders in the market. Some like Vitamix and Breville can actually bring cold blends to a warm temperature. They can even blend hot liquids, but not at high temperatures as “specialty” hot and cold blenders that have a heating element. What is the best blender to blend ice? We also found the pulse function handy for chopping up veg.Our only niggle is that the jug has a slightly smaller capacity than we're used to with other models, however, this means it's lightweight but still sturdy, which makes it more comfortable to use than some of the other blenders we've tested.