Product Review

Here is the review that I had mentioned that I was going to be doing.

CSN Stores is one of the largest growing online specialty retailers comprised of more than 200 stores, hundreds of  leading brands selling thousands of products. Everything that you need is all in one spot. I  decided to do the review on 2 product; a stick blender and a micro plane zester.

Review for the L’Equip – 306700 – Stick Blender.

I used the products for a few weeks before I did the review. Many thanks to the CSN Stores for providing me an opportunity to use and review these products.

The reasons I picked the L’Equip Professional style Stick Blender is because of its powerful  550 Watt motor and the five star rating that it already has. This blender had the most power of all the products offered at the store, within this price range. Reading through the features it sounded like a versatile machine which  crushes, mixes, chops, blends, whips, purees and minces. I have tried out most of the features and am pleasantly surprised with the power of the motor and how fast and perfectly the job is done.

Except for a dough blade, this stick blender is comparable to any food processor. However there are recipes for mini loaves and pastry crusts included in the instruction booklet and the chopping and mixing blades are used to process the dough/batter, which could be a workaround for the dough blade.  I am yet to try out this feature.

The stick blender has immense power, performs most of the essential works in the kitchen, but only in  smaller scale. So if you are having a party, you have have to do the processing in batches.

The first test was done to make hummus, a tough test for a stick blender. None of the other reviews I read talked about using the machine to make hummus or condiments. I used the  bowl, which is like a mini food processor and whipped up a very airy and fluffy hummus, in matter of a only a couple of minutes. See how fluffy and creamy it looks?

Thereafter I have used the blender to mince, (esp. ginger, garlic, herbs in small quantity, but not the meat), make fantastic salsa with the chopping blades, mix up cake batters, whip and aerate cream, blend soups and make smoothies – all with fast and perfect result.

There are 2 speed buttons; “ON” for light & airy food, and the “TURBO” for the thicker and harder ingredients, to be used in the grinder to process nuts chocolates, hard cheese, coffee beans, grains, onions, sugar, salsa etc) .The accessories seem to be well constructed. It looks really sleek and small enough to be easily stored.

The parts included & descriptions from the instruction booklet :

1. Mincing blade (minces cooked meat and vegetables with coarse fibers)
2. Chopping blade (chops raw & cooked veggies/fruits, crushes ice cubes & nuts, blends smoothies/drinks and can be used for heavy ingredients)
3. Aerator blade (beats and blends egg whites and cream, aerates shakes and sauces, whips soup; use for anything that needs to be light/fluff,y)
4. French whisk
5. Mixing blade (stirs/mixes drinks/salad dressings. Also mixes cakes/batter/dough. To be used for mixtures with thick or creamy consistency)
6. Wall bracket for wall mount
7. one chopper bowl and a beaker for liquids

The slim ergonomic soft-grip handle is easy to hold and the button is smooth and stress free. All parts/blades are detachable stainless steel and are dishwasher safe. A small tool to attach and dismantle the blades are included, which is really nice feature as you do not have to use your fingers to handle the sharp blades. The machine comes with a 1-Year manufacturer’s guarantee.

My concern: I did notice that gears for the attachments are plastic, and my  fear is that they will break sooner than I want them to. It does not make much sense to use plastic in a machine with such immense power. But only time will tell.

Overall I am really happy with the performance and the ease of use of the blender.

Microplane Premium Classic Zester

This tiny tool is probably the “most” used item in my kitchen besides the knife. The zester has a  soft-touch handle which allows a great grip and has non-scratch end tabs. I have used a lot of zesters, but this has to be the best. I have had the zest and the white peel out unevenly with box graters and others. The Microplane zester is able to  zests citrus perfectly, as you can see below; the peel comes out in tiny flakes effortlessly and leaves the bitter white  part intact. No more mess, and sorting out after.

I use this everyday to grate ginger, and garlic cloves (one has to be a bit careful with the garlic cloves though), and would not go back to any other tool. It grates hard cheese, and makes nice chocolate shavings for topping on the dessert. A little tool it might be, but definitely a keeper.

Tip: To wash it clean, I use a  small brush and gently brush out the food sticking to the blade under running water.

I must mention here that my order was processed very efficiently. The products arrived well packed in separate packages just within few days after I placed the order.

This is a honest product review. My reviews were not influenced in any ways by the views of CSN Stores or the manufacturers. Thank you to CSN Stores for this wonderful review opportunity.  In accordance with FTC rules, I am disclosing that I received the free products mentioned in the post to provide my opinion and review. This was not a paid endorsement nor have I received any form of compensation to do the review.