Transfering soup to container or blender

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they implied they had a small amount of liquid to be transferred.
Small was never implied. You may have read that into the OP's question, but no where does it say or imply small. We have no way of knowing how much he is actually dealing with, but based on his admission that when he has tried to pour it previously and it made a mess that would lead me to believe it was a lot more than a small amount.
 
Small was never implied. You may have read that into the OP's question, but no where does it say or imply small. We have no way of knowing how much he is actually dealing with, but based on his admission that when he has tried to pour it previously and it made a mess that would lead me to believe it was a lot more than a small amount.

Ok, like I said:

Ok then. Sorry you guys don't know how to do it. But it is an easy thing. Let me know when you want me to teach a class on pouring."
 
Ok, like I said:

Ok then. Sorry you guys don't know how to do it. But it is an easy thing. Let me know when you want me to teach a class on pouring."
I believe your class has been preempted by my kitchen safety class.
 
Sharpening a knife is a necessary skill if you want to get your knives sharp yourself. Pouring hot liquid from one container to another is not as there is a viable and safer alternative. Ladle. Why do you think the ladle exists in the first place?
 
Sharpening a knife is a necessary skill if you want to get your knives sharp yourself. Pouring hot liquid from one container to another is not as there is a viable and safer alternative. Ladle. Why do you think the ladle exists in the first place?

And if you don't have a ladle then what?

I can't make you see the reason behind learning good kitchen skills that save time and save you from dangerous exposure, so no matter, you win. You are the BMODC. I'm out. Take this thread and set the way it should be done. Explain clearly how the ladle is THE way. Later. Oh.....and Have Fun and Enjoy!
 
No keltin, that is what you are down to. What everyone else is down to is answering the OP's original question which was
what's the best way to transfer a sauce pan full of soup into a blender, or into a container for storage?
 
No keltin, that is what you are down to. What everyone else is down to is answering the OP's original question which was
The average saucepan is anywhere from 2 to 4 quarts. Average, but there are exceptions for both larger and smaller.

The average blender is 48 oz. Average, but there are exceptions for both larger and smaller.

The average ladle is 6 oz. Average, but there are exceptions for both larger and smaller.

Even for a large batch of soup in a 4 quart saucepan, you can’t fill it all the way up. You can get better than 3/4’s full, so lets say 4/5 of the way full. Thus, 4 quarts = (4x32) = 128 oz * (4/5) = 102.4 oz

You certainly don’t want to fill the blender to the top, so we’ll again say about 4/5 of the way full. Thus 48 oz * (4/5) = 38.4 oz.

That means it’s going to take 2.65 batches in the blender. So three go rounds to process all of that soup. If you have the blender next to you, and you hold the blender vessel with one hand and use a ladle with the other, you can transfer the liquid to the vessel without making too much of a mess. Conversely, if you simply move the ladle from the pot, over the counter to the blender, you stand make a bigger dripping mess, so I would assume that you would have the blender vessel relatively close to you pot.

On average, you can dip the ladle into a full pot, raise the ladle, scrape the ladle on the side of the spot to remove excess, and then pour the ladle into the blender in about 5 seconds pre trip thus ensuring maximum safety and little mess....and 5 seconds is a decent clip, so you may want to move more slowly for added safety.

The average ladle is 6 oz. The 48 oz blender will hold 38.4 oz of hot liquid safely. So that’s 6.4 trip from pot to blender. That means 7 trips with your ladle per batch that goes to the blender. A total of 35 seconds. If you are holding the blender, then another few seconds to safely put it back on it’s base giving a total time of ~40 seconds.

If you’ve got a good blender with a glass vessel (of course you could have a Wal-mart blender with a plastic vessel), then the vessel weighs about 3 pounds. 1 gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs giving you 0.0651 lbs per ounce, meaning 38.4 oz weighs in at 2.50 pounds, plus the weight of the blender vessel gives a total weight of 5.5 pounds. Also, each ladle full of liquid weighs 0.39 lbs, plus the weigh of the ladle itself, giving you about 0.5lbs total.

So, with a ladle, you’re looking at 120 seconds of operation to transfer the liquid from the sauce pan to the blender. In that 120 seconds you move 17 ladles of liquid at 0.5 lbs each = 8.5 lbs total. You will transfer the blender to and from the sauce pan 3 times for a total of 24.64 pounds moved (weight of 38.4 oz = bender vessel).

So in all, you have 120 seconds of time, 23 movements of the arm, ladle and blender vessel, and 33.14 pounds being moved.

A sauce pan weighs about 4 pounds + 6.67. Total weight = 10.67lbs, each 38.4 oz pour reduces the weight by 2.5 pounds. Three trips to pour is 12 pounds for the sauce pan, and (6.67 + 4.17 + 1.67) = 12.51 lbs for a total of 24.51 lbs moved in three trips. Each pour will take about 5 seconds each for a total time of 15 seconds and only three back and forth movements compared to 17 ladle trips, and 6 movements to get the blender back and forth from the base to the pot and vice versa for a total of 23 upper body movements.

So, for the ladle method:

Pounds moved = 33.14
Time = 120 seconds
Upper Body Movements = 23

Pouring

Pounds moved = 24.51 (-8.63 lbs)
Time = 15 seconds (-105 seconds)
Upper Body Movements = 6 (-17 movements)

If you consider conservation of energy then obviously pouring is the best way since it requires less work.

If you’re scared and can’t learn to pour with a pot, then for safety’s sake you should go the long way about it and use the ladle.

If you’re dealing with more than 4 quarts, then you should do the ladle method regardless.

But, Michael had the best response anyway.....get an immersion blender instead of using the table top blender. THAT is the best way to do that if all you're doing is looking to puree the mixture. Storage is covered above.
 
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I have never seen anyone go to such a great effort to elevate such a simple thing to such a complicated and daunting process.

The only correct answer is simply this:

The best method is which ever method works the best for each person.

If pouring works best for you, then that is the best method for you. If ladeling (with a ladel, measuring cup, coffee cup, etc.) works best for someone else - then that is the best method for them.

No math, no physics, no physiology, no pedantic trivia - just pure simple logic.
 
To the original poster - what makes the most sense to you? What do you think will get your soup safely from the pot to the blender? Of course a ladle will - ANYTHING that you can dip in the soup and pour in the blender will do the trick. I use a coffee mug or a measuring cup. You want to be sure that at the end you still have some liquid to solids to blend together and not just all solids. Just use a little common sense. At the very end, if the pot is not too big, I may pour/scrape the last bit directly into the blender.

It probably would have been nice to know what kind of soup you made i.e., was it very chunky? You don't want the chunks to fall in the blender and splash. Solids can shift fairly quickly causing a MUCH bigger mess and thus not being so efficient in the end i.e., all that cooking and nothing but a few cups to show for it!

You also don't want to fill the blender much past the half way mark with a hot liquid. It will build up pressure and when you remove the lid it may splatter out causing a burn - or at least something uncomfortable and messy.

In the professional kitchen I worked in if we made a soup that required additional processing in a blender or food processor we ALWAYS used a larger measuring cup or a larger ladle - we NEVER poured directly into the blender/processor. #1, the pan we cooked in was usually pretty large and wouldn't even make sense to pour directly into one of these appliances (once you push the limit and solids start to shift you're pretty much screwed) and #2, the most important thing, it just wasn't a safe practice for several reasons i.e., burns and well, spillage, which equates to food costs and a HUGE waste of time when you don't have a soup for dinner because it's on the floor.
 
LOL Michael - I would have gotten mine posted sooner but dangit - I had customers! I think we summed it up about the same! :chef:
 
I am laughing so hard! This is the funniest "peeing" match (polite term used instead of correct term!) I've ever seen! :ROFLMAO::LOL::ROFLMAO::LOL::-p

Who would have thought that such a simple question would cause such a mess of a thread? I sure hope the OP hasn't been scared off from this site...
 

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