blender or food processor? or both? or...? GO! :D

[cubbieblue82]

best recommendations for making small batch of sauce, just for home and for friends? i don't need some super $$$ setup. (yet, as the rabbit hole goes...lol)

and, as title asks...do i need both? or just one? i damn near got a headache reading all the crap out there, so i thought i would just ask those that know best...thp

 

[Hawaiianero]

You can always get a food mill too, for about $20. Course chop your ingredients with a knife, add some liquid, simmer then put thru the mill to remove pulp and seeds.
 
My 2¢~

Same model I got too. Be sure to cook down real good so you can liquefy all the pulp. Otherwise you'll lose a lot of it in the mill with the seeds.

 

[Bicycle808]

I sometimes use the food processor; rarely use the old-school blender.  My main tool is the stick blender.  I honestly don't know how i ever lived without one.  I got one for food, and one for making soap.  The food one sees most of its action making hot sauce....

 

[Furious Sauces]

It depends on what kind of sauce you are making. A foodmill blender will chop a lot of the vegetables down, but if you want them chopped up even more than that, you can then run them through a regular blender.
 
If you are adding Xanthan Gum or some other thickening agent, then you'll want to use a blender with it.
 
Fruity sauces, sauces that contain powder, or sauces with not a lot of vegetables may not require a food mill for straining. In that case you can go straight to a blender to add your Gum, or straight to bottling, it all depends on what you're doing and how "you" make your sauce.