I'm looking specifically for a blender (not a baby food maker) to blend small volumes (similar to 100-200g jar of baby food) of everyday cooked food (meat and veg) into a smooth texture. I have a stick blender and the guard restricts its usefulness for small volumes. Easy clean and under $150 would be an advantage.
Regards
Blender for Small Volume Baby Food
bigpallooka on 22/05/2021 - 19:29
Comments
We just used a stick mixer - helpful if it comes with a jar thing to mix into, but we also just mixed straight into the pan etc then put some frozen portions.
They go through this phase very quickly so I’d recommend not spending too much.
This isn't for baby food as such. My adult son who I care for has swallowing and choking problems suddenly due to a degenerative condition. The recommendation is to purée his food. At the moment we buy baby food, but it lacks enough protein and other elements for him in the quantities he can eat so we currently add Sustagen powder to it. The idea is to simply take a small portion of prepared meals and purée them. I find the stick mixer unsatisfactory for the reasons mentioned and was hoping someone else had experience in making purée from various foods in small quantities. We don't want to spend too much because we are cheap :D
Ah, that makes sense. I was able to purée meats with my stick mixer, but perhaps there’s variation on quality and maybe it’s not a smooth as it needs to be for your son. I found slow cooking the meat first really helped, but like you said this was for a baby, not an adult with dysphagia. I can’t help with the blender choice but you might like this dysphagia cookbook which has purée (last section of the book) recipes including protein https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/5400… all the best with your son.
Thanks for the links. The dietician and Speech Pathologist both provided recipes as well.
You can get through Lunch if you can get Meals on Wheels on board. You (or the Speech Pathologist or GP) can specify "Soft Foods" when setting it up.
You get a Soup, Main and a Dessert then Purée as required.
It is better on Variety and Nutritionally than baby food.I still have to cook for myself as we live together, so it makes more sense just purée whatever I am cooking for a meal. If I don't want to cook baby food is fine with some additives, just very much bland and all the same. Unlike me, my son isn't very food motivated, so it's more about balancing the diet than anything else.
When my kid was born (she is now 6), we bought a NutriBullet style mixer from Kmart for blending of foods. Still kicking along today. Now I use it mainly for smoothies, and the occasional soup
Have you ever done small portions? I am finding most blenders need a critical mass to be effective.
You know those IKEA plastic kids cups (That come in like green/blue/red)? Well, I’ve made a smoothie (milk, banana, frozen berries) for one of those cup sizes
Probably about the smallest I’ve made. When we used it for the kid, we made bigger batches and froze them
How small are you talking? I like to make smoothies for breakfast. I like using the stick mixer, and usually make about one large mug worth of smoothie.
With my stick mixer at kmart I found some large mugs and travel mugs which are just wide enough for the stick mixer to fit down. That way it can get hte depth required to blend without heaps of quantity.
That is actually a really good idea, thanks. My only concern is that functionally, making a smoothie involves very different ingredients than a purée meal of meat and vegetables. That is what I have issues with the stick blender. It works okay if you had something already the correct texture like gravy or mashed potato. I have a Kambrook Mix n Go for smoothies but don't fancy trying to get purée food out of the bottle.
Ahhh I see what you mean. What sort of food are you pureeing? Maybe you're after something more like a tiny food processor?
The stick mixer does work well for pureeing stuff that's already liquidy, you're right. I use mine to turn stews into soup.
That was why I suggested the Mini Kitchen Aid (above) earlier.
You use the Purée setting.
Because the food is contained in a Small Bowl on top of the Blade the food is evenly Puréed. A spatula helps.@holdenmg: It looks perfect, actually. I was just looking through reviews to see if any of the cheaper versions are any good and just now clicked through your second link to see it on special. Thank you very much.
The reviews aren't very encouraging.
I used a magic bullet, made small portions about the size of a baby jar using vegies and meat. All the best with it.
Thanks. I found quite a few reviews for blenders recommended for making baby food and most lists include the NutriBullet. I just wasn't sure about smaller volumes.
Check out the Nutribullet Baby
https://www.myer.com.au/p/nutribullet-baby-blender-white-nby…
I’d check marketplace as plenty of mums with babies will be offloading them once they’re finished that short stage.
Thanks. I looked at those and found quite a few bad reviews (Average 2.4 on Product Review) regarding the materials used failing. I'll go back and have another look.
After much research and testing of borrowed blenders, I bought a $25 Contempo chopper (a one-trick food processor) and it was okay if you mix meat, veges and sauce/gravy together. I decided to get a proper blender, but chickened out on a $300+ version and went for the $49 Kmart Digital Blender. It has a small cup to use with either blending blades or grinding blades. After experimenting with different speeds, I have to say it is doing a great job, and it's very easy to clean. Just for additional info, I have been using a spice grinder to break dry cereals and porridge down to powders to remove texture and that works well also. I could have used the grinder attachment on the Kmart blender, but already had the spice grinder. Hopefully, this might help others on a budget.
https://kitchenaid.com.au/products/kitchenaid-3-5-cup-mini-f…
(Use the Purée setting).
https://www.billyguyatts.com.au/kitchenaid-3-5-cup-mini-food…