Kenwood 'Wizard' Hand Blender

 The Kenwood Wizard HB615 Pro Hand Blender, which cost around £20 from Amazon, consists of two main parts - the electrical motor end, and a detachable piece with blades at the end.  Each part is about 18cm long, and the whole weighs around 700g.  When I first lifted it up, it was a little heavier than I had expected, but fit comfortably into my hand. I was surprised to find just two rather small and flimsy-looking metal blades at the end and wondered if they would actually work... 

This hand blender comes with a calibrated plastic beaker, and a standard instruction manual that explains how to use it. Not that it’s particularly helpful. It was rather obvious how to fit the two parts together, and am already aware of safety issues, so would not have considered immersing the electrical end in water, or allowing a child to play with it.

Incidentally, photos on Amazon and elsewhere show this blender without a cord, but it has a reasonable length cable with a standard three-pin plug.  

WHY DID I WANT A HAND BLENDER?

I particularly wanted a hand blender for home-made soups, of which I produce large quantities during the winter. A traditional blender can be used, but the process is rather messy - one has to transfer unblended soup from a pan into the blender goblet, ensuring the lid is firmly in place; then, unless one has made a fairly small amount, find a new pan to pour the blended soup into, because there is still lots of unblended soup in the original pan. 

Plenty of potential for spilling, and a great deal of extra washing up. So, inspired by reviews I read and a couple of friends who already owned hand blenders, I decided to try this out. 

FIRST ATTEMPTS WITH THE NEW HAND BLENDER

I put some carrot soup ingredients to simmer. When they were well cooked, I turned the pan off for twenty minutes or so (as with a traditional blender, this gadget isn’t supposed to be used on boiling hot food) and then put my new hand blender together and plugged it in. Watched by my son - himself something of a wizard in the kitchen - I tentatively placed the blade end in the pan. 

Not being very adventurous, I switched it on to the low setting. The soup splashed slightly, but thankfully it was in a big pan. I could see it swirling around, but could not understand how it was going to blend the onions, carrots, and so on into delicious soup. 

The instruction manual told me to use a ‘‘stabbing’ motion. I understood this to mean up and down, as if I were stabbing the base of the saucepan with the gadget...

‘Nooooo!’ yelled my son, as I lifted it up for the first stab, still switched on, and soup went flying all over the pan, the counter top, and my shirt. 

I was ready to abandon this apparently ridiculous gadget, so my son took over. Not just a better cook than I am, he’s a great deal more mechanically aware, and realised that the ‘stabbing’ motion was supposed to be fairly slowly side to side, keeping the base of the gadget on the bottom of the saucepan. This was much more successful, particularly when he turned it up to full power.  

A couple of times the noise changed to a sort of graunching which didn’t sound very pleasant, so my son stopped the motor at once and lifted the blade out, to find a bit of onion stuck to the blades. A quick shake released that, and then it continued to work well. 

It was a minute or so before the entire panful of ingredients had turned into soup, ready to be reheated, but we all agreed that this little stick blender had worked every bit as well as my more traditional blender; possibly even better. The soup was smooth and delicious.  And while there was a great deal more mess to be cleaned up, due to my incompetence, there were certainly less pans to wash.

USE OF THE KENWOOD STICK BLENDER

Since then, I’ve used this little blender many times. Its primary function has been for various kinds of home-made soup, with increasing success as I grew in confidence and developed a better technique.  

I’ve also used it for:

- blending cooked chick-peas and other ingredients for humus

- cooked mixed beans, to make US-style re-fried beans

- mashed potatoes which are much smoother than using a fork or potato masher

- tomato ketchup (home-made) after cooking the first ingredients - no need to sieve

Since the end of the blender is metal, it shouldn’t be used on non-stick surfaces. Current wisdom appears to suggest that non-stick pans aren’t a great idea anyway, and my favourite saucepans are heavy-based stainless steel, so that hasn’t been a problem.  For smaller quantities of food - such as when making humus - the plastic container that came with the blender works well. 

WHEN TO USE A TRADITIONAL BLENDER

In the summer, I make fruit smoothies, and they are a easier in a traditional blender (liquidiser) with its own goblet. I make both almond milk and coconut milk, too, and the stick blender isn’t appropriate for either, while the traditional one works extremely well.  So I haven’t been able to dispense with it entirely. 

CLEANING THE STICK BLENDER

I no longer spew ingredients everywhere when I use my stick blender, so it is unquestionably easier to clean than a traditional blender. When I’ve finished with it, I unscrew the blade end and pop it in some warm water to soak, then give the electrical end a quick wipe with a damp cloth. When I’ve washed the blade end, I make sure I place it upside down to drain, as water can get inside it. 

CONCLUSIONS

After 20 months of regular usage, my Kenwood stick blender is still working well, if looking a little faded. I wonder, now, how I managed so many years without it. I sometimes wonder how long it will last - it still feels flimsy, despite being so effective - but if and when it gives up, I will certainly replace it. I would certainly choose another one with the detachable blade part; a friend of mine has an all-in-one stick blender, and finds it much more difficult to clean. 

Unsurprisingly this exact model is not available on Amazon any more, but there are several replacements starting at around £30, and equivalents by other manufacturers at slightly lower price. 

Definitely recommended if you mostly cook from scratch and make soup regularly.

2022 UPDATE

I am happy to report that my Kenwood stick blender is still functioning well, almost twelve years after I first acquired it. Its main use is for soup (which I make about twice a month during the winter) and ketchup, which I make around once every four or five weeks. The apparent flimsiness was evidently an illusion; the blender has long outlasted my expectations. I hope it will continue to work for years to come, but if not I plan to replace it, if possible, by one of Kenwood's newer models of stick blender.