Is hand blender and immersion blender, one and the same, or are they 2 different things ?
I guess that's the one you crank with a hand ?
I'm curious how it's better than an electric blender, since it seems like the power of the electric blender would make it more effective
Two different names for the same thing- they can be purchased from most retailers both on and offline. I always try to get one with at least a 200 watt motor. Google either name and you'll see what I mean.
The "hand" part of the name comes from the fact you have to hold it in your hand while operating it, whereas a conventional blender sits on the counter top and doesn't need to be held during operation.
EDIT: I use a tall protein shaker cup to blend my product in about 3-400ml of water (the cup holds 800ml); this minimizes any splattering. Using a bowl or pan would be messy (lots of splattering). I'll blend up 3-6 heaping table spoons, squeeze it through a strainer bag into a pitcher, and add water to my preferred concentration. Just give the cup and blender attachment a quick rinse, and cleanup is done. I'll then pour it from the pitcher into a bottle for convenience's sake; I can store what I don't want to consume in the fridge, and just give it a quick shake for each subsequent sip.
This seems to effectively extract most of the kavalactones (and probably "micronizes" some too). I've tried doing a second blend and wash with the remnants, but I found it to only have small trace amounts, far too weak and impotent for my liking, along with a disproportionate amount of "micronized" sediment for not much kavalactone goodness.
