Making your own baby food?

krt100706

I want to start making my own baby food and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on equipment.  The Beaba looks awesome but not sure I want to invest that much.  Convenience is a key factor for me so  I don't want to have tons of cleanup which is why the Beaba is so appealing.  I don't have a food processor but considering if that would work well.  Suggestions?

mrs_kelly1014

Honestly, I think it would be a waste of money. I made all of DS's food, but they eat purees for such a short amount of time that I don't think it would be worth the money.

Plus, I always made huge quantities of food at a time to freeze and it wouldn't all have fit in the Beaba. It's so easy just to use a pan to roast it or a pot to boil and then put it in the food processor.

ErinCB

Iused our Magic Bullet when I made DS's food. Now I'm using my food processor, since I have a "real" one now and it's always out and accessible. A blender would work too, I'd think.

 Don't spend a ton of money on something specifically for baby food. If you need to buy something anyway, you  might as well get long term use out of it. I love my food processor!

*!*DarlingDecember*!*

We have the beaba and love it! Its super easy and the cleanup is so easy too. The only down side is that it doesnt hold alot. What we do is go to the store by alot of everything and then spend maybe 3 hours chopping, steaming, and blending. The we store in little containers and freeze. We only have to do this once a month so its really not bad. However if your doing it to save money, we havent saved that much. Although we do buy all organic and alot of speciality fruits and veggies!

kdello

I'd get a good food processor- then you could use it for other stuff instead of having it take up space on your counter...

krt100706

Not really making my own food to save money but more so for the real fresh food factor and being able to introduce foods not available on shelves.  I buy the organic baby food now but that is so much waste with all the jars even though they are recyclable.  I want to lessen our footprint as much as possible.  I already have icecube trays with lids for freezing the foods.

Any suggestions for a food processor?  I have been looking online a bit and I really like Cuisinart or KitchenAid appliances.  I have some of those brands in other devices and like them.  Should I go for a mini or full sized processor?

MandaGail

I used a steamer basket ($5 or so) in a pot with a small amount of water.  The only thing I bought was an immersion blender ($40) that I still use for other cooking.  I made big batches when I had DH home to watch DS.  Peel, cube, steam, puree, pour into ice cube trays, freeze, transfer cubes to freezer bags and label.  I tried the food processor, but it scared DS and the immersion blender was easier to clean.

Lithigin

Magic Bullet from BB&B with a 20% off coupon. LOVE it. Still do. Smoothies, Kahlua mudslides, baby food. Its capacity is excellent. I find that without several inches of food to puree, the immersion blender splatters like crazy. The flat grinding blade is great for grinding flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and other great fatty additions to sprinkle on baby & toddler food. DD is 3.5 and we call those and wheat germ "sprinkles" and put them on most foods.

tiggergirl0325

I never used any special "baby food equipment". For the big batches, I used my full sized food processor. For the little ones, I either used my stick blender in a small bowl or the mini-food processor attachment to the stick blender.

Whatever brand you choose, don't go with a black n decker. We had one that we were given for our wedding and the motor didn't stand up very well to regular use. Either Cuisinart or KitchenAid are usually great products.

Lotte134

If you need a food processor anyway go ahead and buy one.  If not, since she's already 9 months old I wouldn't bother.  She can be moving to chunkier purees (that you can mash up with a fork) or soft solids now.

papagena

Best tool I ever used was our immersion blender.  So easy to clean and works for any size batch!!  I just prepped stuff the way I would for DH or I and then blended it up.  Froze in small cubes (you can use ice cube trays, preferably BPA free) and stored in the freezer.