Lindam MINI Blender

I had looked at the 'Lindam' blender several times on my trips to Tesco and I had virtually decided to purchase one when the time came foe Ellie to have solids.

I changed my mind when it actually came to buying a blender for Ellie's food; with money tight due to my maternity leave pay, I decided to try the Sainsburys 'value' hand held blender, which cost less than £5.00

This proved to be a MASSIVE mistake. On my first go at pureeing food for Ellie, I was very enthusiastic and keen. I had prepared the apples and carrots, following strictly the instructions in my Annabel Karmel book and I was ready to puree.

What a complete disaster!!!

The carrots, which I chose to puree first, splashed everywhere and I got into a huge mess. I gave up using the hand held blender and ended up having to push the carrots and apple through a sieve!!

Not disheatened, but a little less keen than I had been before (suddenly the thought of baby jars of ready made food sounded very appealing!!), I decided to go with my original decision to purchase the 'Lindam mini blender'.

***** Facts and Figures *****

The Lindam mini blender cost £14.97 in Tescos. I have not seen the blender in any other shops, so I don't know if it would be cheaper elsewhere.

The blender is specifically designed for pureeing and blending food for babies and toddlers.

The overall size of the blender is approximately 18 cm long, 10cm wide and 12cm high, so it is small and compact, hence its name. The blender takes up very little space within the kitchen and is small enough to fit neatly inside a cupboard.

The blender consists of a base unit, a bowl (with measurements on the side in 'ml' and 'oz'), a removeable blade, a lid and a push button to operate.

The blender holds a maximum of 50g or 350ml or 12oz.

The blender is designed for a maximum of 40 seconds on, followed by a minimum of 40 seconds off. It is recommended that this cycle is not repeated for more than 3 minutes without giving the blender a rest of at least 3 minutes.

The lid, bowl and blade are all removeable and can be washed in either warm, soapy water, or or in a dishwasher. The base unit can be wiped with a cloth if it gets dirty.

***** My Experiences *****

Having had such a bad experience with the hand blender, I guess that my expectations for the 'lindam mini blender' were not too high, as any experience would have been an improvement on my first attempt.

Overall, however, I was extremely pleased with the results and success that I had with the blender.

The bowl and lid fit snugly and they both turn and then lock into position. This is a good safety feature, as the bowl is held tightly in place and the blender will not work if the lid is not properly fitted. This also prevents any spills and mess!! There are arrows to allign which show when the lid is in the correct position.

As the blender is small, it is a little tricky to place the food around the edges of the bowl, but this is easily solved by carefully spooning the food in, rather than tipping it all out in one go.

The operating button is easy to press down, although it does not have an automatic hold down function, so it is necessary to keep the button pressed down manually. This might be seen as a disadvantage, but personally, I feel that this function allows you to judge exactly how long you want to blend the food for.

It is easy to blend and puree the food for longer and to add extra liquid if the consistency is not quite right. Just replace the lid and blend for a little longer.

The blade is easy to remove and this makes it easier to spoon or tip the pureed food out into a bowl or container. I use ice cube trays to freeze the pureed food.

As the blender is quite small, I find that I need to puree the food in two or three goes, but this is easy enough to do.

The lid, bowl and blade are easy to clean, either by hand washing, or by using a dishwasher.

Although in the instructions, it does give advice about how long to run the blender for (see information in 'facts and figures' section), I have not timed this in any way and so far, I have not experienced any problems with the blender.

The instructions are straightforward and easy to follow.

Although I am very pleased with the blender, I have found that the food has needed quite a long time to puree to a smooth consistency that is right for Ellie's first tastes of food, even with lots of liquid added. I have also found that there are still some small lumps of food left. This has not caused Ellie any problems, however, but I have certainly needed to blend the food for longer than the 5 - 10 seconds that is recommended in the instructions.

Overall, I would recommend this blender to anyone who has a baby and needs to prepare pureed food, especially if, like me, you do not have a blender to use for this purpose. At less than £15.00, the blender is good value.

The blender is mess free and easy to clean, but don't expect to be able to puree vast amounts of food in one go and don't expect the food to be ready in a matter of seconds. Be patient and the results will be successful.