OT-Please recommend stick blender

I don't know how good it really is but the Kalorik MS-18676 is the one that America's Test Kitchen ranked #1 in their testing a few years ago. I gave one each to two nieces for Christmas but haven't really heard any feedback so can't say how much they have used them. About $20-25 at amazon.

I'm the cook in my house. I have a couple stick blenders, a Bosch and some other brand I can't remember. Trying to make cream of asparagus soup with either of these blenders is a waste of time. I still have to strain out a bunch of fibers from the asparagus. There must be good stick blenders available. Both of mine have fairlysoft stainless blades that won't hold an edge. Sharpening them is chore. I'm sure they are not made to be sharpened anyway. So, anybody here know of a good stick blender? Thanks, Eric

My wife likes her KitchenAid very much.

Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC

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Quick solution is to strain the soup. One thing that may help is to peel the root end of the asparagus with an ordinary vegetable peeler to remove the outer [tough/stringy] coat. Same thing for celery and broccoli. Also don't have too much liquid in the container when attempting to blend. Pour off most of the liquid, blend/puree and then add some of the liquid back. Your container size and shape will also have an effect on how effective your blender is. You could try transferring the vegies to a relatively tall/narrow container to blend and then add back to soup pot. This will force the vegies through the blender as you pump the immersion blender up and down and not allow them to flow around the blade/bell.

for technique see [part 4, 1-3 also very good]

also see

Recipes you may find helpful

Thanks George, Michael and Carl for your responses. I have decided to get a blender nobody mentioned though. I was considering at first the one that Cooks Magazine likes but if the Cuisinart CSB-75 performs like the reviews then the fact that it is so easy to clean makes it the one to buy. Performance is most important and the easy cleaning is only a plus. I will not trade poor performance for easy cleaning. I know the plastic gear breaking is a risk with the Cuisinart but if the thing works great then maybe I can make a new piece from either better plastic or metal if it breaks. Thank to George for the links too. Right now I do strain the soup. This is a pain. But the payoff is silky smooth soup that gets rave reviews. When I make cream of asparagus soup I add pistachios to it before I blend it up. It makes the soup even better. I can post the recipe if anyone is interested. Eric