Blenders, mixers and juicers

Buying guide

A blender is for smoothies and purées: a powerful countertop blender can even crush ice – this should be stated in the specifications – while a hand blender works straight in the pan. A mixer is for dough and cream – here the key points are power, number of speeds and a turbo mode. A chopper minces onion and garlic in seconds. Choose a juicer by the fruit: there are dedicated citrus juicers, centrifugal models are fast, and slow (masticating) juicers extract more juice.