Russell Hobbs Marco Pierre White 3-in-1 Hand Blender 14334 with Balloon Whisk and Chopping Bowl

I was lucky enough to have enough points on one of my survey sites to be able to get this for nothing but it is on Amazon for about £35 I notice. I had given my big food processor to my daughter when she moved out as I never used it. I kept a little hand mixer and a blender. The blender died so I replaced it with a cheap one from Tesco which was total rubbish so after the third replacement I asked for my money back. Now I only had a hand mixer which wasn't that useful for soups hence looking for something small that would do the job. I saw this and thought it would be perfect as it would fit in a drawer ( most of it) and would do all I wanted I thought and best of all it was for nothing except points earned from surveys.

I certainly was not looking for a celebrity chef endorsed gadget but I am not anti these endorsements to the extent that I would refuse a gift horse as this was.

It took just over a week and came from Amazon which I thought was very efficient. It came in one box with no instructions apart from the pictures showing how the things looked when joined together. in the box came:

• Balloon whisk
• 500g chopping bowl
• 1 Litre mixing cup
• Blender jug
• Stainless steel blade - one longer and one smaller
• Detachable shaft - the bit that you take on and off depending on which gadget you put on the end
• Ergonomic handle - the main motor thing

It has a really powerful little motor of 650W and you can vary the speed with 5 different settings depending on what you are doing. You have to push the button all the time you are using it which does get a bit tiring if you are doing a lot with it.

So far I have used the blender jug and blender shaft onto the 'ergonomic handle' motor thing and made soups which have been blended to perfection. The blender jug container has a detachable rubber mat so that it stays still when you are using the blender. The mat and jug of course are easily washable and the blender attachment comes off and is washable too. The handle part does not usually come in contact with any food and so does not need any cleaning. If you should splash something on to it then wipe it as it is the motor and has the plug attached it so it should NOT be washed.

I have also used the hand held blender for sauces and soups in the saucepans on the stove - well, not quite on the stove as the plug lead is very short and so will not reach my stove so I put the pan on a board and blend it there and then return the soup in pan to the stove. The very short plug lead I do find a pain as my plug holes seem to be quite far back in the corners of my work tops and so I need to clear an area to work on when I use this. I could get an extension cord but I am lazy and can't be bothered to go and find one - anyway I think the lead should be at least a foot longer but of course it means it is harder to store in a drawer as a longer lead would take up more room.

I have removed the extra bit from the 'ergonomic handle and attached the whisk which does a good job with whipping cream but it struggles a bit with mixing cakes. I find I have to hand mix a bit to start with then finish it with the whisk as there is only one whisk unlike on hand mixers where you have two mixers and so the cake mix tends to attach itself to the whisk and go round with it until it is softer - hence hand mixing with a fork until it is a softer consistency first. I can't really complain as it is a whisk and does not claim to be a hand mixer.

I have not as yet tried to crush ice in the chopping bowl which it says that it can do. I don't really find i need to crush ice that often so can't see me needing to use this.

I have used the second jug/bowl which when used with the chopping bowl attachment becomes a mini food processor for mixing small quantities. I would not use it for mixing my Christmas cake but it does a good job with sponge cake mixes and the like.

In short I have found this a very useful gadget and it is now the only blender/mixer I have and I manage to make cakes, biscuits, soups, sauces and dressings using just this one gadget - most of the bits fit in one drawer while the two jug parts sit in the cupboard below. The nice thing is that I only have to bend and lift a plastic jug and not a heavy motor from the food processor or blender from the cupboard. The motor part is in the drawer and is very light and easy to manoeuvre.

The only negatives I have found are that the electric lead is too short for me in my kitchen and there should be a button that you can press for on the stays on so you do not have to press it in all the time you are using the gadget. Sometimes when whipping cream my thumb aches from pressing down on the button.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope it helps in a buying decision.

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© Catsholiday