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Stickblender makes hair product too foamy! Help!
Hi everyone,
I have been using the Hamilton Beach Hand Blender 59762, and when I first used it, it worked fine. But now I am noticing that my product is becoming too foamy when I use it. I have been using the highest setting this whole time. Why is it foamy? Any suggestions to prevent this? I just rotate it around the jar in circular movements and up and down. Does it mean my stick blender is going bad? Should I be using it at an angle? Also what angle should I hold my stickblender so it stops spilling?
Thanks!
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18 Replies
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Hold the blender at roughly 45 degrees.
Sounds like the blender or the blade is pulling air into your emulsion. That’ll make it unstable. I learned this through many lotion failures ?.
Also, moving the blender up & down in your mixing vessel can pull air into what you’re mixing ☹️.
I would probably make 3 batches of the same thing one day, and use the stick blender at DIFFERENT speeds, but for the exact same length of total mix time.
If you have different blades, that’ll be yet another comparison trial you’ll have to do, same day, same formula, same mass, etc.
Mix your lotions (or whatever) in the same sort of container, like 500 mls. canning jars so that you can SEE if there is a difference in the resulting height of your lotion. Make sure you label your jars according to the speed setting you used for THAT sample, ja?
The lotion that is probably going to be the most stable in your trial is the one that has the least volume (height) in your jar. The speed & blade that was used for THAT lotion sample is the one that will most likely be the best for that formula.
I went through this issue too until I settled on the proper attachment for my stick blender by doing the above, and noticing which bladed yielded a NON-FLUFFY lotion (I only use what’s known as the standard cutting blade) AND the proper stick blender (A minipro by Dynamic. Made in France).
After I figured out which blade to use, and the best speed to use, and for how long to mix, all has been ‘golden’ regarding MY emulsions.
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Get an overhead stirrer with a stand.
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Margreat said:Hold the blender at roughly 45 degrees.
Sounds like the blender or the blade is pulling air into your emulsion. That’ll make it unstable. I learned this through many lotion failures ?.
Also, moving the blender up & down in your mixing vessel can pull air into what you’re mixing ☹️.
I would probably make 3 batches of the same thing one day, and use the stick blender at DIFFERENT speeds, but for the exact same length of total mix time.
If you have different blades, that’ll be yet another comparison trial you’ll have to do, same day, same formula, same mass, etc.
Mix your lotions (or whatever) in the same sort of container, like 500 mls. canning jars so that you can SEE if there is a difference in the resulting height of your lotion. Make sure you label your jars according to the speed setting you used for THAT sample, ja?
The lotion that is probably going to be the most stable in your trial is the one that has the least volume (height) in your jar. The speed & blade that was used for THAT lotion sample is the one that will most likely be the best for that formula.
I went through this issue too until I settled on the proper attachment for my stick blender by doing the above, and noticing which bladed yielded a NON-FLUFFY lotion (I only use what’s known as the standard cutting blade) AND the proper stick blender (A minipro by Dynamic. Made in France).
After I figured out which blade to use, and the best speed to use, and for how long to mix, all has been ‘golden’ regarding MY emulsions.
THank you for your thorough suggestions! So you are saying, a reason it could be foamy is the height of the jar is too high? Now that I think about it, In the past I was using a 2 cup mason jar and it was not foamy but the problem is the formulation splashed out of the jar when I stirred. How can I prevent this?
I have been using the 3.5 cup mason jar to stir my mixture for the past two weeks and it has been foamy.. so maybe it is the jar! The good thing about the higher jar is now the liquid is not splashing out of the jar… ughhh… suggestions? Thank you!
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OOPS. I did not mean the height of the jar is causing the problem. I suggested you use 3 of the same types of jars to make 3 samples to figure out what’s wrong. Size of the jar depends on how much product you’ll be making.
However, it’s great if it does NOT jump out of your jar while you’re mixing it.
You seem to be getting air into your formula, like I was a couple of years ago. SO, experiment with different speeds on your mixer AND different mixer blades IF you have them, but use the SAME SIZE of jar while you’re doing this trial.
So long as the jars are the same, you can then compare to see WHICH speed &/or blade gave you the most dense (LESS fluffy) product. Voila a photo when I was experimenting with 2 different blades, but the SAME mass of lotion, same formula, etc.
Left was the EMULSION blade, right was the STANDARD blade.
I hope this is clearer now?
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Margaret2 said:I went through this issue too until I settled on the proper attachment for my stick blender by doing the above, and noticing which bladed yielded a NON-FLUFFY lotion (I only use what’s known as the standard cutting blade) AND the proper stick blender (A minipro by Dynamic. Made in France).After I figured out which blade to use,
I am looking to buy either the Dynamic, or a Bamix… Can you show me what the blade looks like that worked well for you?
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https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=41675
This is the one they show for emulsifying, but sounds like this was not your top choice?
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The trick is to keep the blending/emulsifying head beneath the emulsion.If there is a contact with the air, it will bring it into the emulsion. I have the DYNAMIX DMX 160 homogenizer which I bought from Ebay, and I am very happy with it, but if I am not carefull it can put an air into the emulsion. However you can remove the air during the cool down mixing. You cannot use the homogenizer for more than 3-4 minutes, because it’s getting hot. You have to switch to propeller mixer after the homogenization, and then it can remove the air.
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ggpetrov said:You have to switch to propeller mixer after the homogenization, and then it can remove the air.
Can you post a picture of your stirrer?
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My “stirrer” is actually a plain kitchen mixer by Bosch. Since I am cosmetic formulation hobbyist I can’t afford for myself a professional propeller mixer. The idea is that after the homogenization, the emulsion is getting thick, so the homogenizer can’t work properly. I’ve bought my Dynamix at Ebay uk in an auction. It happened quite accidentally. By the way I can’t tell the real difference between my Dynamix and my Bosh immersion blender which I have used before. The Dynamix works by completely different way, and it does the job faster. I mean if I need to emulsify the emulsion for a 5 minutes with my Bosch blender, the Dynamix takes only 2 minutes. Also the emulsions made by Dynamix have a bit lower viscosity.
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Take a look at this article. It seems that the homogenizers for home use like Blendia, but the Dynamix is quite similar, so they can’t achieve a stable and finer emulsions compared to the professional devices.
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ggpetrov said:Take a look at this article. It seems that the homogenizers for home use like Blendia, but the Dynamix is quite similar, so they can’t achieve a stable and finer emulsions compared to the professional devices.
That link does not take me to the article…what year and month was that article…and then I can get there.
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ggpetrov said:. I have the DYNAMIX DMX 160 homogenizer .
When you say homogenizer….. what does the head look like?
https://www.kopalkeittiot.fi/product/33/dynamix-blender-ac560Like this?
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ggpetrov said:My “stirrer” is actually a plain kitchen mixer by Bosch.
Yes….that is my plan B….
Hehehe…..but I had in my mind….that I could find a reasonably priced unit….that did both steps…. Homogenize…and stir.I have a 6.5 Qt. Kitchenaide, and was just going to buy the paddle with the (bowl) scraper.
Sounds like an opportunity for an enterprising individual!
:smiley: -
Graillotion said:ggpetrov said:. I have the DYNAMIX DMX 160 homogenizer .
When you say homogenizer….. what does the head look like?
https://www.kopalkeittiot.fi/product/33/dynamix-blender-ac560Like this?
Yes that’s my device! By the way the homogenizing unit is made by high quality metal and it’s very easy to be cleaned. You don’t even need of dishwashing gel, the metal surface doesn’t hold anything so you can clean it with just a water.
Well i don’t know what’s the problem with the link, but however you can paste the title of the article in Google. -
Graillotion said:ggpetrov said:My “stirrer” is actually a plain kitchen mixer by Bosch.
Yes….that is my plan B….
Hehehe…..but I had in my mind….that I could find a reasonably priced unit….that did both steps…. Homogenize…and stir.I have a 6.5 Qt. Kitchenaide, and was just going to buy the paddle with the (bowl) scraper.
Sounds like an opportunity for an enterprising individual!
:smiley: If you take a look at the article you will understand that the paddle mixer and the homogenizer are different things. They are not equal, but as the author of the article said - the paddle stirrer is “must have devise” and more universal, and the homogenizer is a kind of lux.
You can check this device https://www.carlroth.com/com/en/units/agitators-rotilabo-speed/p/n372.1 It’s much cheaper than Dynamix.You can see the comparison between Kai Blendia and Dynamix by the same author. -
The Kai Blendia is my dream solution. However, it will always remain a dream because Blendia is no longer produced ;( .The Karl Roth device, I posted a link to that just a minute ago in another thread: Is it any good? -
ggpetrov said:Graillotion said:ggpetrov said:My “stirrer” is actually a plain kitchen mixer by Bosch.
Yes….that is my plan B….
Hehehe…..but I had in my mind….that I could find a reasonably priced unit….that did both steps…. Homogenize…and stir.I have a 6.5 Qt. Kitchenaide, and was just going to buy the paddle with the (bowl) scraper.
Sounds like an opportunity for an enterprising individual!
:smiley: If you take a look at the article you will understand that the paddle mixer and the homogenizer are different things. They are not equal, but as the author of the article said - the paddle stirrer is “must have devise” and more universal, and the homogenizer is a kind of lux.
You can check this device https://www.carlroth.com/com/en/units/agitators-rotilabo-speed/p/n372.1 It’s much cheaper than Dynamix.You can see the comparison between Kai Blendia and Dynamix by the same author.Hehehe…..I watched that video before….that shows how serious I am about this….hehehehe….her voice drives me nuts…in about 8 seconds!
Hehehe….and Kai is not available any longer….so Dynamic it will be. Just waiting on a quote for the attachment.
And yes…I am keenly aware of the difference between a stirrer and homogenizer. -
You are right, this lady has extremely unpleasant voice and pronunciation, but the English language isn’t her native language, so I think we should be more tolerant. My English is awful either, but I think you can understand me? Anyway, this video is very usefull espesially if someone is planning to buy this device. As you already noticed the information about this device is quite insufficient, and that’s very strange. I mean this device is quite expensive, and the lack of information is huge. At least this video can help the customers to figure out how this device work, and is it worths in general.By the way this device is very powerful, and after 5 minutes of work it getting very hot. I’ve been worried about that, and she helped me a lot. She told me that is completely normal and even the proffesional homogenizers can’t work very long. The same information i’ve got from the manufacturer. They told me that’s normal and the device will not broke if it’s getting hot.
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