Whiz kids

WONDERING whether the blender or liquidiser you have just bought is best for your kitchen is hardly a worry to keep many caterers awake at night. Yet, buy the wrong type, spend too little or too much and immediately the quality of the soups, sauces and purées you serve can suffer noticeably.

At first sight, the buying choice may seem daunting. The main decision is whether a hand-held or jug liquidiser will best suit the demands of the kitchen.

Then there's the question of budget, with many models within the £300-£500price range, although atop-of-the-range blender by Robot Coupe could cost as much as £1,500.

Next, consider whether it is better to buy new, reconditioned from a reputable dealer, or totake your chances buying second-hand through the columns of publications such as Loot, or Exchange & Mart. Will buying a domestic machine, suchas the Braun Multipractic hand-held blender, be sufficient for what you want?

Having got that far, look at factors such as bowl capacity, choice of speeds, length and quality of guarantee period and speed of repair service. If you are in the market for ahand-held model, does it have the correct safety precautions so that it can be used in pans as they heat on the stove? Does the blending arm detach for cleaning?

For Phil Vickery, chef at the Castle Hotel in Taunton, Somerset, durability is the most important factor, "particularly for the blender jugs. They can come for harsh treatment, and can crack very easily, so they have got to be robust," he says.

Stainless steel jugs are a consideration for machines that will see near continuous use, but Vickery, in common with many other caterers, prefers plastic because it allows you to see the liquidising as it progresses.

"The smoother the design the better, because then it is less prone to chip or crack," says Vickery, "and a two-litre jug is the smallest capacity I would consider."

Opinions vary on this point, with the versatility of a large capacity weighed against ease of handling and washing. Karl Lîderer, chef-proprietor at Manley's restaurant, Storrington, West Sussex, believes 1.5 litres is the optimum size , while Thierry Laroux, chef at Le Chien Qui Fume restaurant in West Molesey, Surrey, would not give space to a blender with a jug holding less than three litres. "For soups and sauces, that's essential," he says.

The other attribute Laroux prizes above all others is security: "It is imperative that the lid fixes easily and, once fixed, stays on!"

SPEEDS

A minimum of two speeds is another requirement Vickery adds to hisblender shopping list."The faster speed must be very fast, so that a sauce will emulsify correctly."

Pierre Chevillard, chef at Chewton Glen in New Milton, Hampshire, agrees with him on this point although he prefers a hand-held blender. "The faster the speed, the more air is added to whatever you are blending, and the lighter the result."

Generally accepted as the maximum speed for blending and making purées is 3,000 revolutions per minute (rpm), although the Robot Coupe Model Blixer 4 offers a 4-litre jug and a 6,000rpm maximum. For liquidising, 20,000rpm seems a benchmark, and machines such as the Waring 800s offer 21,000rpm.

Hand-held blenderssuch as Crypto Peerless's K4B Wizard offers speeds between 10rpm and 2,000rpm for whisking, and a 17,000rpm maximum for liquidising.

POWER

Power requirements range from a modest 250W for a hand-held model such as Crypto Peerless's K4B Wizard, to 3hp (2.2kW) for a 4-litre capacity jug blender offering 20,000rpm. Heavy-duty units offering capacities of up to 5.5 litres tend to require three-phasepower.

While a range of speeds seems to offer versatility, Vickery adheres to the "simple is best" principle. "The simpler the appearance, the fewer the controls, the more reliable. If possible, I would go for something with just anon-off switch."

A cross-section of caterers interviewed by Caterer scorned the use of domestic equipment because it was too flimsy to withstand the rigours of the kitchen, although both Chevillard at Chewton Glen and Warren Grooby at the Potarch Hotel (see panel) use Braun hand-held blenders. "It has to be designed for the correct purpose," says Lîderer from Manley's restaurant. "Although catering blenders are very expensive compared with domestic models - £600-£700 compared with less than £100 - it is important to buy something upmarket, the best you can afford," he says.

USED EQUIPMENT

None of the caterers surveyed had a kind word to say for reconditioned equipment, and suspicion was voiced over the thoroughness of any overhaul promised by dealers. While reputable reconditioning is carried out, chefs had experienced equipment which wassold as reconditioned but where worn parts were merely cleaned andpainted to make machinery look more attractive for sale.

Second-hand purchases were to be considered only if budgets were very tight. The consensus of opinion was that too much equipment found in classified advertisements was there because it had already worn out.

Vickery spoke for many of the caterers interviewed in voicing a belief that the sturdiness of blenders and liquidisers had now improved compared with what was available just four years ago.

Lîderer expected his top-of-the-range Robot Coupe liquidiser to serve as long as 10 years before replacement and Vickery said his kitchen's Waring blender was still going strong after five years of heavy use. The onlything that had stopped it in its track was a "burn out" which required a total rewire - "but that costonly £15," he says. Laroux's Rotor blender had given two years' servicewhich was largely trouble-free.

Despite a general picture of unfailing reliability, many kitchens keep aback-up both for busiest times or in case of failure. At the Castle, Vickery's reserve machine was made so long ago that he is not even sure which make it is. Others, such as Chevillard, rely on a Braun domesticas back-up should his Dynamic blender let him down.

Finally, the blender or liquidiser you choose will be governed by what type of work it has to perform. Soups and sauces are obvious uses, and ones which tend to require large capacity jugs and powerful motors. However, Vickery's repertoire of uses includes pulping of seasonal fruit for storage in the freezer, while Lîderer uses his to make fish mousse. o