The time has come to start weaning your baby, and so you are thinking about various options for making healthy meals at home.
One of the tools that can help prepare baby food is a baby food grinder.
There are many different types of grinder available - this article aims to make the choice easier by explaining the differences and suggesting the features to look for.
Baby food grinders come in all shapes, sizes and price levels.
However, there are three key features that you should keep in mind whichever grinder you look at: (1) The grinder should be able to strain, chop and puree.
It should also remove seeds.
(2) The parts that come in contact with food should be dishwasher proof and also allow sterilization.
(3) The materials should be food grade plastic and stainless steel.
There are many more features that are offered with baby food grinders, depending on the price point.
We will explore these options by looking at what features you get at different price levels: low, medium and high.
At the low price point, the entry-level baby food grinders are quite basic, but don't let that discourage you.
Basic features mean less things to go wrong! These grinders are very portable, and are designed to be used at mealtime, when you are sharing your meal with baby.
They are operated manually, normally with a rotating handle at the top that turns the blades to grind the food.
The puree gathers in a bowl and can be transferred to the baby bowl within seconds of grinding.
The disadvantage is low capacity, which might be a consideration if you want to make many batches for freezing.
At the mid price point, there are a few more features, primarily because the baby food grinders at this level will be electric, so no grinding effort needed! The capacity will be greater, but the grinder will be larger and heavier than the entry level ones.
These grinders are not designed to be used at the meal table, they are normally used in the kitchen near a power point.
The benefit of electric grinding is that the consistency of the food is predictable, and there may be multiple grinding speeds.
At the higher price point, you have the larger electric baby food grinders.
These devices are used for larger food volumes and are great for preparing multiple meals for freezing.
They typically offer a safety feature, so that the blades won't rotate until the food is in and the lid is safely attached.
They also offer many levels of grinding, for example fine, medium and coarse.
It is likely that these grinders will be able to prepare food suitable for babies of all ages, due to the control you have over the food consistency.
Which ever baby food grinder you choose, they are all aimed at making your life easier when preparing healthy meals for your baby from fresh ingredients, so the end result will be a happy baby!