What is the use of different blender speeds?
I've recently taken to blending smoothies in a 500 Watt blender with pulse, low, and high settings. I get that a higher power setting spins the blades faster but I'm curious how I can best leverage the different speeds. For example, why would I want to use a low speed over a high speed?
Best Answer
There are many reasons for having a blender with selectable speeds:
Not every time you want to liquify or make a mush of your food; quite the opposite, usually you want to keep a bit of texture into what you are blending.
Thus, lower speed is better.Blending heats up your ingredients, either by the friction of the blades and by the heating of the blender engine itself. Now, while it's pretty difficult to ruin oils or many other things with the blender temperature, vegetables and fruits on the other hand are really sensitive.
So, as a generic rule of thumb, you always want to start with the lowest speed and then raise it up step by step (my blender used to have 5 speed settings, for examples) just as necessary. No point in running the blender at max speed by default.
The blender's engine is built to blend things, and as obvious as it may sounds is maybe less obvious that the engine is not expected to runs free blending the air, because it can quickly burn and ruin itself: it actually needs (and expect) some kind of resistance from the food it's blending.
So, when you blend big and/or hard things, it's advisable to do some on/first (this is the reason for the pulse mode), then raise the speed, to not overheat the blender and to not give the blades too much energy.For example, if you are blending chickpeas, as they are pretty heavy and big. When you immediately go at the highest speed all you will get will be chickpeas being struck by the blades and just bouncing all around. When you lower the speed, the impact between the blades and the chickpeas will be less energetic and the blades will have a chance to at least begin to scratch them ;-)
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How many speeds should a blender have?
At a minimum, the blender will have three speeds to choose. However some models offer as many as 10 speeds.What is the use of high speed blender?
High-speed blenders have very powerful motors that make fibrous and hard foods silky-smooth. Kale leaves, spinach stems, stringy dates \u2013 they all become ultra-creamy purees in a high-speed blender. Smoothie enthusiasts love this because it lets them pack more fiber and nutrition into their drinks.Does speed matter blender?
You may want a blender with a fast top speed if you make lots of smoothies with fibrous ingredients like kale, which can be harder to fully process at a lower speed. Similarly, a fast blending speed can help achieve smooth nut butter, sauces, and purees.What does speed mean in a blender?
Manufacturers typically indicate blender motor speed in watts and occasionally in horsepower -- 1 horsepower equals 746 watts. The majority of household models fall within 500 to 750 watts, though options range from 300 to as high as 1,500 watts.Speed Control - Speed UP or Slow DOWN your VIDEO \u0026 AUDIO in Blender's VSE
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Answer 2
Blender speed selection can be part science and part personal preference. It also depends on the power your unit provides.
Some general guidelines I would recommend adjusting to your liking:
- Low: Fine Ice*, Ice Cream, Milkshakes, Batters, Chop Vegetables, Puree
- Medium: Smoothies, Sauces, Dips, Fruit and Vegetable Juice, Nuts, Spreads
- High: Soups, Spice Crushing, Hot Chocolate/Drinks, Liquification
- Gradual Increases: Cleaning cycle
- Low-High Cycles: Smoothies
- Pulsing: Coarse Ice* Without Liquid, or to Control Processing and Chopping
*Nearly every manufacturer has a different recommendation for ice. Everything including Low, High, Pulsing, to Gradual Increases may work well for your particular model and needs. In addition, many units have specific ice crushing modes. If you want fine ice I would use a Low setting. If you want coarse ice I would use a High setting with Pulsing.
It is quite hard to make specific recommendations because models vary widely in the features they have. For that reason I would highly recommend reading the manual for your model.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ksenia Chernaya, Laker, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska