Bamix M 180 Gordon Ramsay /DE LUXE > Reviews (1)

What would you say if I said I had a magic wand? No, not the Harry Potter variety, let me explain.

I have a Bamix. It's a remarkably capable hand-held piece of Swiss engineering, with the ability to turn the dullest of soups into something so smooth, creamy and light in your mouth...

The name of this magical device, at first glance, gives the impression of something that has come out of a Far Eastern sweatshop or a huge Korean conglomerate that also makes electroniccomponents, aeroplane doors, washing machines and a line of unpronounceable car models. Far from it - a triumph of precision design and engineering from the land of cowbells, Lindt and numbered bank accounts, this 2-speed chopper comes with a full 10-year guarantee, and a promise that should it ever break, it WILL be repaired. Thankfully, I have not had to test this out, so far.

What is it? Well, it's about 15inches (ca 45cm) of culinary electronic delight. It has a bit that you hold in your hand, with an easy-to-reach fingertip control to turn it on and select the low or high speeds. That's the control-end. The business-end is where the sloppy stuff really hits the shiny things...

Almost half of its length is a thin metal rod, ending in an upturned saucer about the size of a McVities Digestive biscuit. The underside of the saucer, the concave bit, has 4 stubby legs which protrude a further 2/3 of an inch (1.5cm) below the saucer. In between these legs is a spindle, capable of connecting with one of the 4 possible attachments that this wonder can use:

1. The three-and-a-half-bladed chopper attachment - fits onto the spindle and is capable of rendering the toughest meat into a protein mush;
2. The flat-disc whipper, which will convince a carton of double cream that butter is its only option in about 90seconds flat;
3. The (un-)holey aerator, guaranteed to whip egg white into stiff peaks in the blink of an eye; and finally
4. The grinding bowl, best described as a glorified pepper-, nut- or coffee-bean- grinder, or breadcrumb- or icing-sugar- maker AND the instant smash-a-dozen-peanuts-into-smooth-peanut​-butter attachment.
All 4 Bamix-provided torture-devices just described are standard, regardless of model of Bamix and are shown in the photos attached to this review (although not necessarily in the order in which I want them to be displayed!)

I've added 4 links to YouTube videos, showing Gordon demonstrating the Bamix. Each clip demonstrates one of the 4 attachments listed above. Take a look - I've arranged them in the order in which I've described each attachment above - and he's not uttered a single f-word in any of the clips!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUsvvzkWb​-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVD5jCSp​Gg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmJBtoIw​9o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZsSAvK_y​Vo

There is a collection of other sundries in the box, not least of which is a DVD from the f-word man himself (this model being the Gordon Ramsay Titan model!), an instruction and recipe booklet, a thingummy which can be screwed onto the side of a kitchen cabinet and used as a holder for the device and its blades when not in use, and a plug with about 2m of flex leading to the control-end of the wand.

The grinding bowl has to live elsewhere, unfortunately, for various reasons.

The only thing not in the box is the splash-protector that you need to use the first time you are blending your first pot of soup... my first attempt resulted in pumpkin soup being sprayed all around the kitchen as I unintentionally lifted the unit a bit too high without the hand-to-eye co-ordination necessary to switch it off first... apart from that, the unit really does what it does extremely well. The unit is also extremely easy to clean, not counting the time spent wiping the soup splashes off the light in the kitchen and standing in the shower washing pumpkin out of your hair...!

At around £100 pounds, it's not the cheapest hand-blender

(yes, it'll do nasty things to hands too, so parents, be warned!) out there, but for reliability and consistency, it's up there in the top three. Bamix make cheaper models, usually with less of the "sundries" described above, but you'll be lucky to find any of them retailing for less than about £70. Note that there are apparently 10 million Bamix blenders in use world-wide, pretty good going for a firm that's been in business for over 50 years!

All in all, a very quick and easy-to-usekitchen tool that you will soon find becomes indispensible. Or is that indispensable? You decide.

(c)pgn0 on Ciao.co.uk, 21-Feb-2009, revised with video demos 17-Mar-2009. All photos used contain citation for source.

References:
BamixUK: http://tinyurl.com/bvz25p
StyleForHome: http://tinyurl.com/ak57jv
RichmondCookShop: http://tinyurl.com/cutoaj
DadCanDo.com: http://tinyurl.com/bkeyvf