Life is depressing. Would a stand mixer help?

[Denninmi]

I've got those day-after Mass Election blues. I need to think of something else.

I've never had a stand mixer. Would it revolutionize my cooking, or is it just another over-priced, hard to clean gadget that will go into appliance purgatory along with the breadmaker, the pasta maker, the indoor grill, the Victoria squeezo strainer, etc?

I bought a new hand mixer for Xmas, and it came with dough hooks. Used those the first time Saturday to make a couple of loaves of bread, and I must say it did a nice job kneading them with a lot less work. Got me wondering what a Kitchen Aid would do for me?

[The empressof all]

1. I just turned off the news and went to the food channel

Great minds must think alike. I'm craving a Vitamix myself.

Here's the deal with the kitchen aide. You won't use it everyday but when you do you'll be glad you have it. It will inspire you to do great things! Mine sits out on the counter and I use it maybe once a week. Having some attachments make it a really practical addition to the kitchen. I already have an ice cream maker and would think the newer kitchen aid attachment would be a great toy if you don't already have a machine.

Get it..If you can manage the price..Life is short!

[LaydeeBug]

15. I am trying to be in a news block out myself, but fb keeps me plenty informed with all the

gloating. I know I am happier for doing it.

[Warpy]

2. Look at your counter space and consider your cooking style

However, a Kitchen Aid would probably replace that hand mixer very nicely. It frees your hands and you'll develop a routine of simply turning it on and adding things in order and wonder how you lived without it. Cleanup is a real snap, just the beater and bowl, plus occasional dusting and wiping of the motor and stand. In addition, there are spiffy attachments to replace that noodle maker and quite a few other things.

If all you do is mashed taters on Sunday and bread a couple of times a year, it's probably not for you. If you do bread frequently, plus other baking, whipping cream and egg whites, it's going to be a great deal.

I have no counter space to speak of and bought a rolling cabinet to keep mine on. I use it frequently. Other people who really don't do that much cooking and baking might find it just a heavy piece of counter eating junk.

[Denninmi]

3. Various thoughts.

Thanks to both of you for your replies to date.

As far as my counter space goes, its virtually non-existant, but that is life as I know it, so no big deal. Just the usual kitchen shuffle to make room to work on a project.

I do a fair amount of baking, at least once or twice a week, and would like to do more than time allows, really. One thing I've gotten in to over the last year or so is grinding my own grain (I grow a lot of it, too, but I'll save that for the garden forum).

The thing with so many appliances, though, is that, IMO, the cleanup is as or more time consuming than just doing the same thing by hand. I ditched the La Machine food processor for a simple hand slicer and grater. The bread machine took more time to clean out the various cubbies, especially if something wasn't tight and things leak through, than just kneading by hand. And so forth, you get the picture.

But, a stand mixer is, as you point out, pretty simple, just a bowl and some beaters or a whisk or dough hooks. Unless you start adding attachments.

I'll contemplate this a while longer and see what other responses I get. I'm on that post-holiday "I can't believe I spent so much" state of shock anyway, this is something I'm just contemplating, maybe a nice Easter present for myself.

[Warpy]

7. Kitchen Aid mixers weigh a ton

because they're scaled down commercial Hobart mixers. It's why you can abuse them for years and they'll never whimper. You'll want a permanent place for it to live, in other words.

If you do that much baking, then do consider it. You will wonder why it took you so long to get one.

There is a stone grinding attachment for it. That's the only one I've been tempted to get since, as you know, fresh flour is totally different from whole grain flour that has sat around for even a day.

[hippywife]

8. I agree with Warpy's response to this post.

They do weigh a ton. I didn't ever want one but saw one on craigslist for just $80. The thing had only been used about 5 times. The girl who sold it to me wanted to get rid of it because she didn't have space on her counter top and was tired of lugging it out from underneath. I made room on my counter top, which wasn't easy, but now I really do love mine.

:hi:

[ginnyinWI]

9. I agree.

I had only hand mixers for years and years because of the expense of a regular mixer. Finally got one and wow--everything is so much easier now. I use the dough hook to knead bread, so now I actually do make homemade bread. It mixes better than a hand mixer and whips stuff really well. It's nice if you have a corner in your counters to keep it in because it's a beast. But it's the best thing to have in the kitchen if you do your own baking. I've had mine over ten years and it still works great. In 1997 I think it cost about $74 new.

My daughter got one for a wedding gift from a favorite aunt and uncle. She will never know how I had it all those years without a decent stand mixer.

[Warpy]

10. My Kitchen Aid was $158 at Wally's

fourteen years ago. I had been considering it because my hands and wrists were just getting too bad to keep mixing and kneading by hand and when the price dropped ten bucks, I jumped.

It's absolutely the bottom of the line, cheapest thing they make and it's taken incredible abuse for 14 years and it works like it's brand new, nary a whimper, nary a grind nor a rattle. The paddle blade and dough hook aren't as shiny as they once were, but o bla di.

It's still the best $158 I ever spent.

[ginnyinWI]

12. On second thought, I think it must have cost $174.

Because I could have afforded $74 pretty easily at that time. :blush:

[Duer 157099]

4. Yes.

I also avoided the news channels today and instead went straight to Food Network (but that's not unusual for me on any day, lol).

I have very little counter space but I keep my Kitchen Aid out anyway, because 1) it's nice to look at and 2) it inspires me to use it when otherwise I might not. To me, it's like functional art. Not that it's so beautiful in its own right, but it's the meaning embedded within it. Although I do also find it asthetically appealing. I have the Pearl colored one, and I love it.

Believe it or not (re: clean up) at first I didn't like the fact that the attachments couldn't go in the dishwasher, but actually that's turned into a plus for me, because it forces me to wash them off immediately after use which means that it's always available for use and sitting pretty on the counter.

I've been making bread a few times a week lately and while the recipe I'm using right now does not require much mixing/kneading, sometimes I still use it anyway just because "it's there."

:D

So yes, treat yourself, I can't imagine that you'd regret it.

[Tesha]

5. oh yes...

Hands free mixing is wonderful.
I'll use mine every day for a week then put it away for a month or so, then it's out again.
Creaming the butter and sugar - easy
Mixing pasta dough - voila - bread, cookies, cakes....


think of all the Easter goodies you can make!

[NashVegas]

6. If You're Happy w/Your Dough Hooks, You're Fine

But if you want to leave the room for 4 minutes ....

[housewolf]

11. I wouldn't live without one

A stand mixer makes baking life SO much easier. Breads, cookie dough, cakes - all are much easier to make in a stand mixer. Because a stand mixer has more power, it kneads and mixes doughs and batters much more thoroughly. Bread dough benefits because a higher-power stand kneads bread more thoroughly and more quickly and develps a stronger gluten network more efficiently. For creaming butter and sugar, a stand mixer beats the sugar in more thoroughly giving you a finer texture and hagher loft, and can handle larger quantities of dough without straining. Egg whites and whipping cream whisk up higher peaks in less time. I made homemade marshmallows over the holidays in my stand mixer that required high-speed whipping of the sugar/gelatin mix for 5 - 8 minutes, something I'd have never even tried with a hand mixer.

A stand mixer could, potentially, open whole new vistas of baking for you, and there are other cooking treats you'll find that a stand mixer can help you out with. And there are a variety of attachments that you can get for one to make it even more versitile. I think, like Hippywife who didn't want one for years then got one and found that she loves it, you'll love one once you get it and use it a few times. But they are heavy and need a permanent place on your counter top that's convenient to an electrical outlet.

[ginnyinWI]

13. And you can't make cookie dough with a hand mixer.

At least not if you don't want to get dough all over your walls; I was always mixing it up by hand with a wooden spoon! Now I can do it in my Kitchen Aid, even if I'm using a cold stick of butter right from the refrigerator. That, plus being able to knead bread dough in it were the two greatest improvements for me.

The only thing left to use a hand mixer for is cooking something on the stove and mixing at the same time--for example cooked icing in a double boiler. I actually bought a new hand mixer for the sole purpose of making cooked frosting for a once-a-year birthday cake (by request). Maybe I could have gotten one of those hand blender thingys, but probably not--egg whites are finicky.

[housewolf]

16. I occasionallly use my hand mixer to whip up small quantities of cream

Like when I want to only whip 1/2 cup or so for some treat or another. Other than that, it stays stored in its cabinet behind the waffle iron which it does quite quickly. I'm glad I have it but beyond 1/2 cup of cream, my Cuisinart 7 qt stand mixer does just great with small quantities of ingredients, somewhat to my surprise (and delight). I might have used the hand mixer for cooked frosting a time or two, too.

[surrealAmerican]

14. The bowl, beater, whisk, and dough hook ...

... can all go in the dishwasher. I have the "heavy duty" model, and it is a bit of beast to store and lug up to the counter, but I've had the thing for about 20 years. It works beautifully. I bake most of my own bread and cookies. I'm very glad I have it.

[ginnyinWI]

17. a word of caution about beaters in the DW

I had the kind that are coated with some kind of tough plastic or vinyl material. After putting it in the dishwasher for about 10 years it finally started cracking off with rust showing through from inside. I was able to get a replacement beater (Amazon) and now I only hand wash it along with my plastic coated dough hook.

My daughter's new Kitchen Aid comes with a non-coated beater that looks like cast aluminum. So they aren't all the same obviously.

[surrealAmerican]

19. The beater I have appears to be coated with enamel.

I didn't know they had different kinds.

[ginnyinWI]

20. if it is white it's probably the same kind I have.

it is kind of enamel-y --it's more brittle than you would expect a vinyl to be. it's just that I have never seen enamel crack like that--it usually chips.

[beac]

18. I've been too depressed to cook.

:(

We've been living on Chinese take-out, ice cream and chocolate-covered pretzels.

I have always wanted a Kitchen-Aid bit couldn't ever really justify the expense.

[tigereye]

21. nothing like the Kitchen Aide - I am totally spoiled since I got my husband

one for Christmas a few years back. I intend never to use a hand-mixer again!


on edit, I used a Bed Bath Beyond 20% off coupon and saved a good deal of money.