The blender is an integral part of the kitchen. Its simplicity and ease of use have made it a household commodity.
Being that your blender is there for every occasion is pretty easy to assume. It’s the one thing that makes all of your favorite food items come together.
While it’s possible to make pretty good recipes with your blender, it’s also important to keep in mind that it’s not built to handle all of your kitchen gadgets.
One of the first steps in proper care is knowing which items should be avoided when it comes to preparing food for a blender. This list includes some common mistakes that can cause damage to the machine.
What Should You Avoid Adding In A Blender?
Blenders can explode and damage if you add hot liquids, nuts, or frozen fruit. The blending of leafy vegetables may turn the dish into brown and items like potatoes, broccoli does not work well in blenders and may result in a culinary failure.
There are a lot of safety concerns that come with using a blender. Some of these include not putting certain food items in it and accidentally breaking them.
1. Extra-Hot Liquids
Putting hot liquids in a blender can create pressure that’s powerful enough to ignite the contents, which could cause injuries.
When pureeing hot liquids, use an immersion blender. It’s important to wait at least 10 minutes before the liquids are ready to blend to prevent the steam from escaping.
2. Potatoes
Not only do potatoes not like to be stirred in a blender, but they also tend to release too much starch. This is why many people avoid using one for their heavy potatoes.
Putting thick, sticky food in a blender is not ideal for minimizing the risk of burning. This often leads to the motor running at high RPMs and causing the food to overheat.
This appliance can burn out if it gets too hot. Also, it can cause an electrical fire. Instead of using a blender, use a stand mixer or a hand-held one.
Stickiness can damage a food processor in the same way as dough or potatoes. It can also leave a sticky residue on the blade. To avoid this issue, avoid using sticky food items that have been rehydrated.
3. Dried Fruit
Dry fruit is a great add-in to smoothies and marinades, but it can get stuck to the blades of your blender.
4. Super-Frozen Foods
Too much force can damage a blender. When mixed with hard food, such as frozen vegetables and spices, it can create issues with the machine.
Frozen food is one of the most commonly used ingredients in blender recipes.
This is a simple fix that will help you get the most out of your frozen vegetables and fruits. It will also help you avoid lumps in the mix.
“When mixing large batches of frozen food, such as fruit or almond butter, the container can get smashed,” says Penner.
Even if your blender is intact, you’ll still end up with random pieces of food in your smoothie. To avoid this, try thawing some of the food before blending it into your blender.
Not only are frozen fruits and ice cubes not ideal for the blender, but they can also damage its blades. When using crushed ice, it is important to minimize the strain on the machine.
5. Ice Cubes
Jodi Greebel, a registered dietitian, advises that you read the instruction manual to make sure that the blender’s buttons are working properly. Also, make sure that the ice cubes are crushed properly before using them.
You might end up with uneven chunks if you use ice cubes instead of rocks. This is also a safer alternative to using a standard blender.
6. Whole Spices
Spice expert Greebel says that a blender is not powerful enough to effectively crush and blend different kinds of spices. Instead, he suggests using a spice grinder.
7. Coffee Beans
Although it’s technically possible to grind coffee beans in a blender, it’s not very good for the flavor and could lead to out-of-whack granules. Instead, use a coffee grinder.
8. Bones
“Bones are very different from fish,” says Penner, who suggests not putting them into a blender. “They can cause the blade to jam.” Also, if they’re put into a blender, they can break the blade.
9. Raw High-Fiber Foods
When used raw, vegetables tend to get stringy in a blender. They’re also best to cook them before blending them.
Cauliflower rice is another high-fiber food that’s not ideal for the blender.
10. Whole Nuts
Although nuts aren’t as tough on a blender as other food items, they can still cause it to get dull. To avoid this issue, use a food processor or an industrial blender.
11. Strong-Smelling Food
Ginger and garlic are known to leave a lingering smell and spice in their mixtures. Blending these spices and other strong-smelling food items will help remove the flavor and prevent them from transferring to anything that you prepare next.
12. Any Kitchen Utensil
You might use various objects such as spoons, forks, knives, and forks to try and push food down into the mix, but these could get caught in the spinning blades and break your blender.
This exercise is not an actual exercise in common sense. Instead, it’s a reminder to remind everyone that they should never carry a fork in their blender.
To avoid getting stuck in the blender’s base, try removing it from its lid. Then, use a spatula or other utensil to push the base into the mix. Once it’s done, turn the machine on.
13. Thick & Gooey Food
Not trying to make something that it can’t handle will keep your blender in top condition.
It’s tempting to use a blender to dicing and mix your food, but this is not the right tool for the job. Also, if the food is too dense, it could cause an unsafe environment for others.
Too thick food items will cause the blender to overheat and work harder, which could cause it to catch on fire.
Blending these components is a terrible way to make potato mashed potatoes. It will result in a starchy dish that won’t taste good.
When it comes to mixing your dough, make sure that it is thoroughly mixed. This will prevent lumps and keep them moist.
14. Fibrous Foods
Since many fruits and vegetables are high in fiber, they tend to clump together, making them hard to blend. This is a recipe for frustration.
High-fiber foods can be very burdensome to a blender. One example is broccoli, which should only be blended if it has been steamed or boiled first.
If you are planning on adding broccoli to your diet, be sure to dilute it with other food and drink plenty of water.
15. Attachments
Not fitting the base properly will damage both the attachment and the base. In extreme cases, electrical shocks could cause fires.
There are many types of attachments available for blenders. However, they don’t all work seamlessly with the same model.