Those with difficult-to-reach crevasses or blender heads that couldn't be removed scored lower.We hand washed each blender's main attachment to see how easy it was to remove residual food and liquid.We also tried each hand blender with Cambridge simulation gloves, which simulates reduced hand mobility, to see which ones are more comfortable to use for people with limited hand dexterity.A user panel comprising of left-handed and right-handed individuals tested each stick blender to see how comfortable it was to hold, how easy it was to attach and detach each of the blender's attachments, and how easy it was to control and press the buttons during operation.Mashing potato – we mashed potatoes for one minute on the blender's highest setting, and looked for smooth and silky mash.Whisking eggs – we timed how long it took on its highest setting to make egg whites with stiff peaks.Chopping nuts and herbs – we blitzed these for 20 seconds and 10 seconds respectively, the best choppers made pieces of uniform size.

However, we still tested every attachment a hand blender came with, so we can tell you which ones are the best.Not everyone is on the hunt for a hand blender with lots of bells and whistles, so we only factored in how a hand blender performed on our three key blending prowess tests when scoring.We also noted if the blender handle became warm. We rated each stick blender on how easy it was to hold and keep running for this length of time.We blended mayonnaise for three minutes.We also factored in how easy each blender was to control and how much it vibrated during use.The worst left chunks behind, whereas the best quickly produced silky-smooth results. In all tests we looked at how smooth and consistent the texture was.Each ran for the same length of time and on the highest setting. Each hand blender was put through three blending tests: making soup, houmous and a smoothie.We don't accept freebies and paid for all the hand blenders we tested. We chose models at a range of prices, so we could see if paying more got you better blended food. We selected the best-selling hand blenders from the most popular brands available at key retailers. A large collection of images displayed on this page are available at

Hand held blender argos