In some situations, one might be unable to process a baby’s food with a blender. You do not have to worry because the moms in the past did not even have a blender to make food for their babies.
Today, we are used to living surrounded by technology since it makes our lives easier. Blenders might be an excellent appliance that can process food in seconds. Many moms use a blender to prepare a baby’s food, but sometimes, you might need an alternative if, for some reason, one can not use a blender.
I will share with you what my grandma told me. In the past, baby food was made by hand, using different kitchen tools and accessories. Let me tell you the different ways my grandma taught me how to puree baby food without a blender.
How to Puree Baby Food Without a Blender
Ensure the food you want to puree is soft. You can either boil, steam, or use it raw if its texture allows you to do so. Get a fork or potato masher and mash the food. You can also go with mortar and pestle, one of the oldest mashers we use for mashing garlic and species. Moreover, another alternative is a food mill.
For starchy fruits and vegetables without seeds, mash the meal with a fork or potato masher. You mash the baby food until it gets pureed, exactly as you mash an avocado and a boiled potato.
However, if you prepare peas, beans, tomatoes, corn, and other similar foods with tiny peels or seeds, you should use a sieve and a spoon. Boil or steam the veggies, then mash them through the sieve using a tablespoon. The peels and seeds will stay on the top, while the puree will get through the sieve.
Mortar and pestle are excellent if the food you are preparing has no peels that might choke the baby. With this kitchen tool, you can make nut butter, avocado puree, fruit puree, chickpea spread, and grind other dry foods.
Extra tip
If your blender is damaged or you have a power outage, it might be difficult to prepare food for your baby because you might be unable to cook it.
I recommend you make baby food and store it in a refrigerator. You can use small jars and fill them with already-processed meals. This is also good for carrying baby food on the way or bringing a ready meal when you visit grandma!
Alternative Kitchen Tools for Making Puree Meals
Fork and potato masher
The first alternative tool you might think of is the fork. As you mash your avocado for breakfast, you can also mash your baby’s food. With this method, you can make an avocado puree, peach puree, banana puree, mashed potato, mashed boiled eggs, and so on.
With the fork, you can mash any food with no seeds or peels that might choke your baby. Place them on a flat plate or any other surface you feel comfortable mashing. Keep mashing until you get a homogeneous puree. The process is the same with the potato masher, except the mashing tool is bigger than a fork.
Read more: How to Cut Food for Baby
Food mixer
You can use your food mixer to blend easily mashable foods. For example, I often use a mixer to grind boiled chicken breasts. So, why not change the blender with a hand mixer?
I learned this tip from my mom. When I was a baby, she did not have a blender but instead mashed the foods using the same mixer with which we made cakes.
I must tell you that this is a super easy alternative for making baby puree in case you have no blender at the moment. The power of circular motions is weaker than the blender, but it provides the same work.
Mortar and pestle
These are part of every grandma’s kitchen. This set is mainly used for mashing dry herbs, spices, and garlic.
My grandma was making a unique salad with baked and peeled peppers and tomatoes in this kit. I still remember the taste!
Whatever you put in the pestle can transform into a puree. You only have to do circular motions with the mortar until the food gets well-processed.
Also read: How Is Baby Formula Made
Sieve and spoon
This was my favorite method for making baby puree since everything I did not want to include in the puree was kept in the sieve.
You put the food in a regular metal sieve and mash it with a spoon. You will see how the puree comes from under the sieve while the peels and seeds stay on the top.
This method is excellent for mashing berries, foods with tiny seeds, peas, tomatoes, lentils, boiled carrots, etc.
Grater
The grater can also be useful in some situations. You can use the grater for foods that can be boiled and softened, like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, and so on.
Hand food mill
If you have a food mill at home, it might be the best alternative to a blender. Food mills have tiny blades inside that chop the food into tiny pieces. You can put almost every veggie, meat, and fruit inside and mince it with circular motions.
Conclusion
Well, this is the very end of this short article. I hope these tips have helped you find out how to puree baby food without a blender using different kitchen tools.
No matter which method you choose, you will get the same outcome. Since we have grown up using various kitchen tools and machines to mince food, it is safe to do so.
Technology can help us in most cases, but you have to discover the alternative ways our grandmas fed our parents and us when there was no technology.
