In a world of all-powerful Ninjas and Nutribullets, could a humble hand blender still win me over?

First, a confession. Since my decade-old stick blender gave up the ghost two years ago, I haven't replaced it. Instead, I've been wowed by premium countertop blenders like the Ninja Foodi and Sage Super Q, teaming them up with my favourite kitchen appliance of all time – my 25-year-old KitchenAid stand mixer.

So when I I had the opportunity to test out Dualit's 700W hand blender, I was more than willing, but sceptical that it would stand up to my impressive jug and bullet blenders. Surely countertop appliances have most jobs covered?

But *spoiler alert* I was wrong. Because what this mini machine lacks in terms of power and pizazz, it more than makes up for in convenience and usability. It's certainly worthy of a spot in our roundup of the best hand blenders.

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Dualit 700W Hand Blender review

• RRP: £99.99
• Dimensions: H37.8cm x W6.4cm x D12.6cm
• Weight: 2.24kg
• Power: 700W / 220-240V
• Speed: Variable dial + Turbo boost
• Cable length: 1.24m
• Warranty: 1-year guarantee

Unboxing the Dualit 700W Hand Blender

My Dualit blender arrived in a cardboard outer packaging, with the cardboard box within. The blender and its accessories are very efficiently and ecologically packaged, which gets a good score for us, as many hand blenders come with non-recyclable packaging.

Everything is held in place with sturdy cardboard 'shells' and wrapped in tissue paper to protect the surfaces from scratches. The bladed parts (the wand and chopper bowl) have plastic covers to protect the sharp edges, so care needs to be taken to remove them. They are easy to miss, so make sure you check, otherwise you may end up blending them into your food...

A 36-page instruction booklet explains what the various attachments do and how to use them, which parts are dishwasher safe (more on that later), and a useful maximum loading chart, so you don't overwhelm the blender.

It also features a selection of 20 recipes, which I found to be a good jumping-off point for testing the blender. They range from simple smoothies and soups to pancakes, guacamole, pâté and satay sauce.

The blender mostly struck me as great quality: the jug and chopper bowl are made from sturdy plastic and the stainless-steel blender wand feels very premium.

The main body and gearbox are a little plasticky and they do tend to show up fingerprints quite quickly, but they're far from cheap or ugly. Only the whisk struck me as flimsy, though that didn't seem to affect its performance, as we shall see.

Who would the Dualit 700W Hand Blender suit?

Dualit pitches its hand blender as 'a flexible kitchen assistant' that can do most prep jobs. I'd say it's perfect for anyone who wants to elevate their culinary skills by preparing their own pestos mayonnaise, and sauces. It's also a great little blitzer for onions, garlic or breadcrumbs, and can mix up smoothies and soups with ease.

One of my favourite things about the Dualit is its neat size. The blender main body, wand gearbox and whisk will all fit in a shallow kitchen drawer, and the chopper and jug could be easily squeezed into a cupboard, making this a handy tool if you don't have ample countertop space for a countertop appliance.

In short, if you're an enthusiastic home cook with limited space, who wants more than an entry-level appliance but doesn't have hundreds to spend, the Dualit hand blender makes a lot of sense.

At £99.99, the Dualit hand blender sits somewhere in the middle of the stick blender market. It's a little more than similar corded models with comparable attachments from Kenwood and Braun, but cheaper than offerings from Ninja and KitchenAid.

What's the Dualit 700W Hand Blender like to use?

To test all of the Dualit stick blender's capabilities, I made a few standards tests - meringues and mayonnaise – and also took inspiration from the recipe book, mixing up an adapted mackerel pâté and some satay sauce.

Testing the whisk attachment

Fluffy meringue was the first challenge. This would require a combination of the gearbox, which twists and locks into place, and the whisk that’s attached simply by pushing it up into the body of the gearbox. You’ll hear a click when it’s locked in. Dualit recommends you mix no more than four egg whites at a time (I went for three), and whle you can use the tall jug provided, decided to use a glass bowl as I find meringues don't whip up as well in plastic containers.

I started the blender off at a low speed, gradually upping the rate by rolling the variable speed dial on the body of the machine. You do need to be careful not to roll it too quickly though – at higher speeds the meringue started to splash quite a bit and there was no need for the turbo function.

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In less than two minutes, the egg whites were whipped up enough to start adding caster sugar, and my meringue mix was ready in less than five minutes. The meringues produced were the perfect combination of fluffy and chewy. So far, so successful.

Removing the whisk afterwards was equally straightforward – I simply grabbed it by the neck and gave it a firm tug. There is one lesson I learned the hard way, though, and that's not to use the whisk attachment on turbo speed. In a moment of impatience, I decided to give it a go and was immediately greeted by a faint burning smell.

Thankfully, no lasting damage appears to have been done, but I suspect repeated turbo-whisking would eventually take its toll on the gearbox and motor, so it's best to save the turbo button for jobs that actually need it.

Testing the chopper bowl and knife blade

Next, I decided to give the blender a more demanding test by making a smoked mackerel pâté using the chopper attachment and blending wand. I loosely followed the salmon pâté recipe in the booklet, simply swapping salmon for smoked mackerel and parsley for dill.

I started by adding large chunks of mackerel fillet to the chopper bowl before locking the blender body and gearbox onto the top. Using the turbo setting, I pulsed the fish until it formed a fine, flaky mixture. It made light work of the job, and the rubber ring around the base of the bowl kept it firmly – and reassuringly – planted on the worktop.

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Testing the blender wand

Chopping complete, I transferred the mackerel to a plastic mixing bowl and added cream cheese, spring onion, Worcestershire sauce, roughly torn parsley and the juice of half a lime. It was then time to swap the chopper attachment for the blending wand.

While removing the gearbox was straightforward, attaching the wand took more effort than I expected. It was initially very stiff and needed a firm twist before it finally clicked into place. If you have limited grip strength or problems with your hands or wrists, this could prove tricky.

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Once attached, though, the blender felt good and sturdy. The pâté was more of a workout for the blending stick than the fish had been for the chopper, and I did have to stop once to scrape the mixture away from the blades. After a couple of minutes, however, everything was smooth and well combined, and I was impressed by how thoroughly it incorporated the parsley and spring onion without leaving noticeable chunks behind.

And the taste? Delicious. So kudos to Dualit for offering some strong recipes that truly deliver. There was one big issue with the wand, however and that was trying to remove it. I really struggled. I had to get my hubby to release it on the first use, and it's remained stiff and tough after half a dozen uses. I do think it wlll loosen over time, but it's something to be aware of.

Cleaning the Dualit 700W Hand Blender

No matter how good a kitchen gadget is, the real test comes when it's time to clean it. Nobody wants to spend five minutes making a smoothie only to spend 20 minutes scrubbing blender parts afterwards.

Thankfully, Dualit seems to understand this. I was pleasantly surprised to find a dedicated cleaning guide in the manual, detailing exactly how to care for each component. Better still, only two parts aren't dishwasher safe: the main motor unit and the gearbox. Both simply need a quick wipe with a damp cloth followed by a dry one. Their shiny silver finish does attract fingerprints, but it also cleans up easily and never seemed to hold onto food splatters. As this isn't an appliance destined to live permanently on display, I don't see that as a major drawback.

Everything else – the blending wand, whisk, chopper blade, chopper bowl and jug – can go straight into the dishwasher. Dualit recommends using a cycle below 40°C or washing the parts by hand under running water. As someone who generally runs their dishwasher at 50°C, I wasn't quite disciplined enough to follow those instructions to the letter, but I'm pleased to report that everything emerged looking spotless.

The clear plastic components came out free from cloudy watermarks, while the metal wand and blades went from caked in ingredients to box fresh. And, perhaps most importantly, I didn't have to wrestle with a sponge and alarmingly sharp blades, which was a big safety win in my book.

Should I buy the Dualit 700W Hand Blender?

Using the Dualit 700W Hand Blender reminded me just how indispensable a good stick blender can be. It may not be the most glamorous appliance in the kitchen, but when you need one, nothing else quite does the job as quickly or conveniently.

It's become my go-to tool for blending soups directly in the pan – a task that's far less stressful than attempting to transfer litres of hot liquid into a jug blender. I also found myself reaching for the chopper attachment far more often than expected. It made quick work of onions and garlic, produced an excellent homemade pesto and a delicious satay (another delicious recipe courtesy of the instruction booklet).

I did find the whisk up to the task despite my initial misgivings about its flimsiness, though the turbo function is something to be avoided there. I will be honest and say I'd probably still rely on my KitchenAid for whipping cream, meringues and cake batters. However, if you don't have space for a stand mixer, I'd say this is a great option.

Overall, I'd happily recommend the Dualit to you. It's smart-looking, thoughtfully designed, easy to clean and simple to store. The chopper bowl is the standout attachment for me and the one I've continued to use most often. And if you can find it on offer for around £80, even better – that's a lot of versatility for not a lot of cupboard space.

How we test blenders

At woman&home, we test every blender that we recommend to you by hand. This means that all of our observations come as a result of in-person, hands-on experience, reflective of the kinds of jobs you'd be doing in your own kitchen. We make sure to cover all blender attachments, so that you can see how versatile an appliance is, but we also talk about what it's like to hold and clean as well as whether it's good value for money. In short, our review should answer every question that you have on whether the blender suits you. If you want to find out more, you can visit our dedicated page for how we test blenders.