Stick Blender Hell!!

[Jackie Tobey]

Can anyone please recommend a stick blender with multiple speeds so that you can slow pulse the batter? I just plopped 6 lbs of ugly soap into a mold because I once again over stick blended. I purchased it at Walmart and it has low which is actually high and out of control speeds. I’m done with it.
And before anyone recommends looking at videos on emulsion and light trace videos- I have watched many. My favorite is Lisa (I Dream in Soap).
I need stick blender recommendations only please.
Now if you will excuse me I believe I’ll calm down with a glass of wine. Or 10 and figure out if I can use the soap as bricks.
Thanks to all who respond.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

I have similar woes with my SB, that works just too well even at lowest speed, and I rarely use it for more than two pulses of a few seconds.

Have you tried to not use a SB altogether? I hate cleaning a SB more than I love using it, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. For quick-moving recipes (oils and/or fragrances), the spatula might suffice. You might need some patience to work with the batter, but in any case it's better than working against it (by brutal SBing).

Or stick blend lye only into the soft oils (everyone who has done a Castile knows how tedious it is to convince a soft-oils-only batter to come to trace) + add the hard oils only after you've reached stable emulsion?

 

[Jackie Tobey]

I have similar woes with my SB, that works just too well even at lowest speed, and I rarely use it for more than two pulses of a few seconds.

Have you tried to not use a SB altogether? I hate cleaning a SB more than I love using it, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. For quick-moving recipes (oils and/or fragrances), the spatula might suffice. You might need some patience to work with the batter, but in any case it's better than working against it (by brutal SBing).

Or stick blend lye only into the soft oils (everyone who has done a Castile knows how tedious it is to convince a soft-oils-only batter to come to trace) + add the hard oils only after you've reached stable emulsion?

I have. Two days ago I ruined 2 batches by not getting it to emulsion.

 

[Jackie Tobey]

I have similar woes with my SB, that works just too well even at lowest speed, and I rarely use it for more than two pulses of a few seconds.

Have you tried to not use a SB altogether? I hate cleaning a SB more than I love using it, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. For quick-moving recipes (oils and/or fragrances), the spatula might suffice. You might need some patience to work with the batter, but in any case it's better than working against it (by brutal SBing).

Or stick blend lye only into the soft oils (everyone who has done a Castile knows how tedious it is to convince a soft-oils-only batter to come to trace) + add the hard oils only after you've reached stable emulsion?

I’ll try adding to liquid oils only first the hard oils added later.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Now if you will excuse me I believe I’ll calm down with a glass of wine. Or 10

CHEERS!

 

[dibbles]

A few members here have recommended this one. Because I expect my beloved old stick blender to die on me at some point, I ordered one and I love it. It only has two speeds, but the low speed is perfect.

 

[TheGecko]

Can anyone please recommend a stick blender with multiple speeds so that you can slow pulse the batter? I just plopped 6 lbs of ugly soap into a mold because I once again over stick blended. I purchased it at Walmart and it has low which is actually high and out of control speeds. I’m done with it.

And before anyone recommends looking at videos on emulsion and light trace videos- I have watched many. My favorite is Lisa (I Dream in Soap).
I need stick blender recommendations only please.

Now if you will excuse me I believe I’ll calm down with a glass of wine. Or 10 and figure out if I can use the soap as bricks.
Thanks to all who respond.

Karen at Edens Secret has a Kitchen Aid SB that has a low speed, but she also has an issue with over-blending because of it.

On the other hand, I just have a cheap SB I bought on Amazon that came with two speed…fast and faster. And I make a lot of 3lb batches of soap and have no issue mixing to emulsion or light trace. My recipe is 60% Hard Oils, I soap around 80F - 85F, and I Master Batch my Oils and Lye Solution. Not sure if MBing makes a difference, but it’s what I do. I heat my oils to about 100F, my Lye is usually around 70F. I add Sodium Lactate to Lye and Kaolin Clay dispersed in my FO to my oils. If I am making a single-color soap, I will add my colorant to the oils.

Anyhoo…I stir my Lye Solution into my oils and mix well. For a single-color soap, I use a couple of two to three second bursts on Fast, then stir with the SB. I then do a couple of more bursts and stir again. At this point, I’m usually at emulsion, but since it’s a single-color, I’ll go again to get it to a light trace.

For a two-color soap…usually a Drop/Chopstick Swirl, I’ll separate my accent color after the first stir (hand mix). I then add my colorant (or not) to the main batter and then proceed as for a single-color. The accent color, because it’s a third or less, I do a single whiz with my SB and then only hand stir.

I have made larger batches…up to 14lbs. Because I usually make several different soaps, I do enough ‘bursts’ to get to not quite emulsion and then start separating.

 

[cerelife]

A few members here have recommended this one. Because I expect my beloved old stick blender to die on me at some point, I ordered one and I love it. It only has two speeds, but the low speed is perfect.

Yep, I use that one as well! I bought a purple version at Sam's Club a couple of years ago and I love it! I have another Cuisinart SB that I got at Goodwill for $10 for a backup

 

[dibbles]

I bought a purple version

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I use my KitchenAid stick blender that is sensitive to pressure. The lighter you press the button, the lower the speed; the harder you press the button, the faster the speed. I buy it from BestBuy when it goes on sale; which is quite often.

Edit PS I don't buy a stick blender often; I meant that Best Buy has it on sale often so you wouldn't need to wait very long for the next time it's on sale.

 

[Ford]

Only using SB, when I want to speed things up. Use spatula and whisk mostly now.