Toward Greater Whirled Peas

THE BEST (In order of preference)

¿ Hamilton-Beach Hand Blender 59780 (white) 200 watts; two speeds, whisk and drink mixer attachments, detachable motor; one-year limited warranty. About $20.

Upside: The best performer in the peanut salsa trial; did admirably with pureeing black beans and whole canned tomatoes, too. See-through, petal-shaped flange at the base forces food outward and eliminates clogging. Powerful suction. Button seated on the top is easy to press. Easy to clean.

Downside: Plastic does not seem sturdy; motor sounds like dentist's equipment; attachments are not dishwasher-safe. Not to be used for chopping ice.

¿ Bamix Mono 64102 (white) 120 watts; two speeds, mincer-beater-whisk attachments, wall mount; one-year warranty. About $130.

Upside: Among the top performers in all our food trials on low and high speeds. Works fast. Stainless-steel shaft and no flange, so no clogging. Motor is fairly quiet. Easy to clean.

Downside: Spat particles in the first few minutes of the peanut salsa trial; heavy to hold; short cord; high price.

¿ KitchenAid Model KHB300ER (red) 240 watts; nine-speed control dial, chopper and whisk attachments, blending attachment with cup, detachable two-piece unit; one-year warranty. About $80.

Upside: This was one of the few models that came in red; its five-foot cord is longer than the standard for other immersion blenders. Created powerful suction/draw even on the lower speeds. Easy release for easy cleaning.

Downside: Annoying, loud motor; the button is seated in a rubber-covered indentation that makes it a little awkward or hard to keep pressing. The "stick" part of the device gets very hot when the motor runs for more than 30 seconds.

¿ Braun Turbo Multiquick Professional MR5550 M BC- HC (white) 400 watts; detachable body, five-speed control, whisk, chopper, blender attachments with base, pictogram guidebook; one-year limited warranty. About $100.

Upside: The motor was especially quiet, considering this model had the highest wattage. Did the best at pulverizing skin of black beans and pureeing tomatoes on contact. Comfortable to hold and easy to clean.

Downside: In the peanut salsa test, did not promote action beyond the scope of the flange, meaning that where we plopped it down, it worked. But there was a fair amount of "spitting."

¿ Cuisinart Rechargeable Hand Blender CSB-44N (white) 9.6 volts; mixing cup, three-part detachable body, whipping attachment; three-year limited warranty. About $50.

Upside: Cordless feature makes this handy. Comfortable to hold, easy assembly, easy to clean. Nifty, built-in plug that seems to be a unique feature.

Downside: Attachments are not dishwasher-safe. Not a powerful performance in the tomato pureeing, and it created much froth. Struggled with the peanut salsa. Even limited exposure to tomatoes and salsa left light stains on the plastic housing.

THE REST (In order of preference)

Cuisinart Quick-Prep Hand Blender CSB33 BC (brushed chrome) , about $100; Cuisinart CSB-77 Smart Stick Hand Blender (stainless steel) , about $50; Braun MR 360 Multiquick Blender (off-white) , old model; we couldn't find a price on eBay; Viking Professional Hand Blender VHB300SG (stainless-gray) , about $120; Proctor-Silex 59735 (white) , about $13; Toastmaster Stick Blender 1740 (off-white) , about $15; *Breville BCS500XL (stainless steel-black) , about $100. It looks sleek, but we could not get it to charge properly, and we couldn't find a similar model by press time.