Braun is probably one of the first names you think of when it comes to small appliances. Having started in 1920s Germany making radio parts, today, the brand designs and manufactures a huge range of household and personal care appliances, and is the global market leader for hand blenders.

Blenders really are an invaluable piece of kitchen equipment; they allow cooks to cut down on time, mess and equipment in preparing everyday foods, and treated properly they can last for many years.

Milkshakes, meringues, soups and smoothies are the obvious starting point when it comes to making the most of your blender, but some models – like this Braun model – can also be used for much more. From chopping harder ingredients like onion, coffee beans and spices, to kneading dough, making julienne veggies and even, with the top models, crushing ice.

Picking the right blender is not always an easy decision, however. The market is saturated with a huge array of different styles and brands of blender, with prices ranging from a few pounds up to triple figures.

The multiquick 9 series of blenders is the crown jewel in its hand blender collection, harnessing the four keys to the brand’s success: innovation, design, quality and versatility. But with a price tag sitting right at the top end of the price range – it usually retails at £179.99 – is it really that good?

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How we tested

To see whether the gadget’s performance stood up to the competition, we tested with ingredients like frozen fruit, spices and sticky textures like peanut butter, tahini and pate – all of which are particularly tricky to blend – and stuck to the brand’s quantity specifications. This blender also claims to be able to crush ice, so we added that to our resting schedule too. We also considered how easy it was to use, how loud the unit was and, of course, whether it could whip up even and consistent textures. Here’s what we thought...

Braun multiquick 9 hand blender

Buy now £159.99, Braunhousehold.com

Power: 1200W
Dimensions: W6.8cm x D6.8cm x H41cm
Accessories: Hand blender, XL food processor 2L, fine slicing insert, coarse slicing insert, fine shredding insert, coarse shredding insert, julienne insert, French fry disc, kneading hook, 500ml chopper, ice crush knife, puree accessory, whisk, 600ml lidded beaker
Colours: Premium black
Guarantee: Two years
Rating: 8/10

Design and features

If we thought Dualit had thought of everything with their brilliant hand blender, then the Braun multiquick 9 set up is next level. Versatility is the name of the game here, with a quite frankly dizzying list of accessories supplied as standard with this top of the range blender.

The main power unit is a standard cylindrical hand-held hub which can be used to power the various attachments: stick blending wand, whisk, puree attachment, food processor and mini chopper. Within this, there are extra accessories that fit in the food processor: slicers, shredders, julienne cutter, French fry cutter and dough hook, all made from ultra-hard stainless steel designed to work through tough ingredients.

The blender itself uses what Braun is calling “active powerdrive technology”, which provides a 60 per cent faster performance and six times finer blending than any other hand blender manufactured by the brand. It also claims its activeblade technology allows the blade to move up and down, blitzing your creations evenly and quickly.

Choose from three speed modes: pulse, low and high speed via the extra-large control button designed for easy handling and a comfortable grip. The blender snaps together using an EasyClick connection which should allow the user to switch between different accessories with speed. Once you’re finished, its plastic parts are dishwasher safe.

Performance

Braun says the multiquick 9 series is the best performing and most powerful blender in Britain, complete with the world’s largest attachment system. With a whopping 1200W motor, this hand blender is certainly the most highly powered we’ve seen, and the attachment list is truly impressive: they’ve got a gadget for almost every kitchen eventuality here. Will you use them all? That remains to be seen.

When it comes to the hand blender itself, it is a pretty standard operation. The main body and the stick wand attachment slot together quickly and securely using their easyclick connection, and as a corded appliance it needs no charging so you’re good to go… if you can unlock it.

After a few minutes studying the instructions we unlocked the blender using the various buttons – this was a bit annoying, and if you stop pressing the blend buttons continuously it requires unlocking again, which is even more annoying, but better safe than sorry we guess.

Once unlocked, the pulse, low and high speed buttons are simple to operate and will allow you to blend chunky or smooth sauces, soups and smoothies to your liking, either straight in the pan or by using the lidded beaker (which is great for no splashing). We opted for in-pan blending for a veggie soup, which it of course had no problem tackling, and created a velvety smooth finish while showing no suction problems – which can often occur with in-pan blending.

As we know, it’s a powerful blender so there were no real issues. But considering its power, we were surprised it didn’t blend as quietly or smoothly as the Dualit blender we tested alongside. We also found the Braun heavier and less comfortable, but larger hands may not agree.

The real benefit of the multiquick is its versatility: this is one of the only hand blenders to boast ice crushing. When performed in the jug, we found that it could cope with a handful of ice as long as there was plenty of liquid too. Too much ice or solely frozen ingredients like fruits and avocado mean that you’ll have to keep helping it out manually, but for most smoothies or cocktails this won’t be a problem. In our experience, you’ll have to spend several hundred pounds on an upright jug style blender for more effective ice crushing.

The XL food processor and mini chopper included in the multiquick accessories are probably the attachments you’ll use most after the hand blender, and we found these items worked well. We used the mini chopper to make various pastes with no problem at all (even with mixed textures like soft herbs and tough lemongrass), and harder ingredients like carrot and soft meats were dealt with well too. The larger processor has a 2l capacity, allowing you to knead dough or prep cake mix easily. Using either of the processors massively saves on prep time and washing up: a big win in our book.

The verdict: Braun multiquick 9 hand blender

We really like the Braun multiquick 9; it is certainly one of the best thought-out blending systems on the market, and allows you a lot of the benefits afforded by a pricier blender, while providing the ease and convenience of a lower cost stick option. An ideal purchase for anyone setting up a new kitchen, thanks to its all-singing all-dancing attachment list.

However, anyone who has been cooking for a while may feel that some of the accessories that come with this system are a bit of a novelty or unnecessary. For instance, we vastly prefer using a simple julienne peeler rather than having to unpack all the bits of the multiquick you’d need to julienne the odd carrot for a slaw. Having said that, we rate the way this blender can zip through hot soups and sauces, right down to prepping frozen margaritas and kale-heavy green smoothies. It does it all, and it does it all quite well.

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We also tried Dualit’s 700W hand blender – find out how the gadget blitzes the competition

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Braun multiquick 9 hand blender review: A versatile blitzing machine

Whisks, slicers, shredders – there’s no scrimping on accessories here