KitchenAid Variable Speed Corded Hand Blender, KHBV53, Contour Silver

Why it's worth it

The KitchenAid KHBV53 pairs a variable-speed trigger with a removable 8-inch arm and a patented pan guard that keeps the blade off your cookware. It's the lightest of the good ones and the easiest to live with day to day.

This is the one people buy and then keep using. It's light, the trigger gives you fine control instead of fixed buttons, and the blending arm pops off for the dishwasher. Owners who've cycled through several brands tend to describe this as the first one that didn't bog down on a thick batch of sauce or mayo.

The removable pan guard is the underrated feature. It snaps over the blade housing so the metal never touches your nonstick Dutch oven. Most blenders here handle this with a plastic base ring you can't take off; KitchenAid lets you remove it when you don't need it, which also makes the housing easier to rinse.

From our review of 8 immersion blenders, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +This is the one people buy and then keep using
• +The removable pan guard is the underrated feature
• +The 8-inch arm reaches into a standard stockpot, and the 3-cup jar with a lid works for single smoothies and for storing what…
• +It doesn't hold onto smells

What to know

• –The included jar is brittle Tritan plastic and isn't microwave or dishwasher safe, which undercuts the point of a storage jar
• –There's no chopper bowl and no whisk