Product reviewed: Gourmia Illuminating Hand Blender
My name is Abbie and I am overly loyal to kitchen appliances and gadgets. There, I said it. I have been using the same immersion blender for more than 20 years. It is now battered, discolored and sometimes makes funny noises, but it still works — not well, but I thought it worked well enough. Enter the Gourmia Illuminating Hand Blender. Let’s just say, it has quickly become essential in my kitchen, replacing my old, weathered friend.
The Gourmia Illuminating Hand Blender has a solid list of features, including 12 speed settings, turbo mode and both an immersion blender attachment and a whisk attachment. It also has an integrated LED spotlight that supposedly helps the user to better see what is happening in the mixture being blended. While I appreciate the idea, that is the one feature I found to be fairly useless. The 12 speed settings all work well and are easy to switch between while in use. The turbo setting is a separate button, easy to simply press and use. I tested the Gourmia Illuminating Hand Blender a variety of ways and found it to work exceedingly well in every case.
In my opinion, a basic immersion blender is a vital tool in any kitchen. It can be more efficient to puree soup or sauce directly in the pot without having to let it cool and transfer it in portions to a blender. I particularly enjoyed the whisk attachment, making it much easier to make whipped cream or whisk egg whites for a recipe.
Here’s a simple vinaigrette recipe that works beautifully with the immersion blender attachment of the Gourmia Illuminating Hand Blender.
Vinaigrette
Yield: approximately ¾ cup
Ingredients:
- 1 small shallot, minced
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 tablespoons vinegar (such as red wine, champagne or yuzu rice vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend with an immersion blender.
- Store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Allow vinaigrette to reach room temperature prior to using and shake or mix well.
- Optional: Mix again with immersion blender prior to using.
