Ask five moms how they make their baby food, and you're likely to get five different answers. While the basic concept is the same in all cases – getting solid food into a form that is safe and easy for a beginning eater to consume – the equipment used in preparation can involve everything from blenders and food processors to a simple household fork. Read on to see what has worked for some regular moms – and for a few professional chefs!

So what's the best equipment to use when making homemade baby food? Here are some of the tools of the trade when it comes to baby food:

"If you can make a margarita, you can make baby purees," says Norah O'Donnell, mother of three, MSNBC correspondent and co-author with husband Chef Geoff Tracy of Baby Love Purees (St. Martin's Press, 2010). "We use a VitaPrep, a commercial grade blender, but you can use any blender."

The fact that many households already have a blender is definitely a plus. If you need to buy one, the uses it has beyond baby food makes it a practical investment. But while blenders may be great for making substantial amounts of food (extras can be frozen as individual servings in BPA-free ice-cube trays), some moms may find them too cumbersome to use and clean. A different option is the Magic Bullet, a coffee-mug-sized gadget that Brooke Crawford, a mom from Los Angeles, Calif., describes as "essentially a mini blender."

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