Prepped 40 quarts of stock with a $20 immersion blender hack

Kitchen was slammed last week and my hand blender died mid-morning. I needed 40 quarts of chicken stock broken down for the lunch rush and I panicked. Grabbed a regular whisk and tried to break up the veg chunks but it was useless. Then my sous chef said to just use the potato masher we had in the back. I thought she was joking. But I hit the stock pot with that thing for maybe 2 minutes and the bones and carrots turned into mush way better than the immersion blender ever did. Now I keep two mashers in my kit for any soup or sauce that needs quick blending. They cost like 20 bucks at the restaurant supply store and they never burn out. Has anyone else ditched electric tools for old school hand gear in a real pinch? What else am I missing out on?

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1 Comment

zara_hunt1mo ago

Honestly that masher trick is genius, I gotta give your sous chef credit. Tbh I had a similar moment last fall when my electric chopper gave up on a huge batch of salsa verde and I grabbed this old school potato ricer from my grandma’s stuff. Spent five minutes pushing roasted tomatillos and garlic through it and the texture came out silky, way better than the chopper ever did. Now I keep that ricer in my camping box too, works great for crushing canned tomatoes when you’re off grid and the battery dies. Makes me wonder how many other fancy gadgets we got that a good old hand tool can beat, especially when you’re in a hurry. Ngl, sometimes the low tech stuff just understands you better.