Why get a Kitchenaid stand mixer?

[Antigen]

Why are these things so awesome? What would I be doing with it? Do I need one? I see one on sale and feel like I MUST buy it and I don't know why.

Can anyone tell me what these things are actually good for, and whether I want one or I"m just swept up in marketing?

[Chefguy]

Steel construction, will last for probably your lifetime. It can mix bread dough, make sausage, make pasta, and grind and case your sausage for you. For bakers and cooks, it's pretty much the ultimate machine. Yes, I have one, and it performs as advertised.

[Yllaria]

Alton Brown has one. I had been wanting one for awhile. That put me over the top.

I don't have a customized one with flame decals, though.

[Kalhoun]

I think they're only for the Very Serious and Enthusiastic Cook. Which I'm not. Plus, I have no place to store it in my oh-so-tiny kitchen. I'll leave all that cool shit to the people who can really get their money's worth out of it. And they ARE cool. They look positively scrumptious!

[Nunavut Boy]

You want one because all white people do. (http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/05/54-kitchen-gadgets/)

[anu-la1979]

I'm not big into dessert baking but a staple food of mine is chapati, a flatbread that requires kneading I don't seem to be capable of doing manually. When I make it, I also tend to make larger batches and freeze. However, since I'm only interested in breadmaking I'd probably just get a high end breadmaker like the zojirushi. I think the stand alone mixer is really great if you're also into things like grinding your own meats and such, as I understand it comes with a number of attachments.

[Bridget Burke]

Alton Brown has one. I had been wanting one for awhile. That put me over the top.

I don't have a customized one with flame decals, though.

Get your flame decals right here (http://flameka.com/default.aspx)!

[ivylass]

Because it's a manly appliance. The mixer we have (with sausage grinder and cheese grater attachment) is Ivylad's toy. I could get along with a regular hand mixer, but no...we had to research horse power and gadgets.

[Johnny L.A.]

Because it's a manly appliance. The mixer we have (with sausage grinder and cheese grater attachment) is Ivylad's toy.

I have one of those cast-iron-and-plated hand-cranked meat grinders, which most often gets used for making shepherd's pie. Something with a motor would be slightly easier (though the hand-cranked one isn't difficult at all).

I'm planning on getting a Kitchenaid eventually. It will make it easier for me to knead doughs, and Alton Brown has given me ideas for other uses.

[LouisB]

I have one that was given to me by my mother when she bought a new one. I've no idea why she wanted a new one since the things are practically indestructable. The one I've got has to be at least forty years old and maybe older; for all intents and purposes, it is now retired.

[Dangerosa]

If the contents of your fridge are some beer and the doggie bag from dinner four nights ago - you probably don't need one.

If your idea of baking is to open up the Betty Crocker cake mix - you probably don't need one.

If the thought of "whip egg whites until stiff" leaves you merely amused at the sexual preferences of egg whites, but with no other idea of what that phrase might mean - you don't need one.

If you've been baking from scratch without one (and they are useful for cooking at times as well), you will wonder how you ever survived with a hand mixer or a lesser stand mixer.

[Johnny L.A.]

I have one that was given to me by my mother when she bought a new one. I've no idea why she wanted a new one since the things are practically indestructable. The one I've got has to be at least forty years old and maybe older; for all intents and purposes, it is now retired.
If it's indestructible, why is it retired?

[Claire Beauchamp]

There are different lines of KA mixers, and the KA of today is not the same as the KA of yesteryear. The less expensive ones have smaller bowls and some plastic parts, and have lower wattage. The higher the price, the more watts, and the increasing liklihood of all-metal construction and larger bowls. Also, there are models that are tilt-head (those tend to be the less expensive ones) and models that are lift-bowl.

In general, a stand mixer is a good thing to have if you have the space. If you only use a mixer for lighter things (cake batter, single batches of cookies) then the less expensive ones (like the Artisan line) are fine. The more heavy-duty things you make or want to make, the more powerful version you want to get.

Other powerful mixers worth looking at are Viking and Cuisinart -- they would be equivalent to the highest-end KAs.

Having said that, the current rage for KAs is due to a couple of things: First, they expanded the line and starting putting them out in cool colors as if they were Fiestaware, where they used to come only in white. Second, it's part of the general trend for people who want a kitchen full of expensive professional (or professional-looking) appliances regardless of whether they actually use them or not.

[Miss Woodhouse]

Because they are simply a kitchen's best friend. Mine died two weeks ago. I cried real tears. I have considered writing poetry in it's honor. I have never known anyone else to have their's break, but I have put mine through it's paces. It's 15 years old and has been used more than 3 times a week from the start. That's at minimum 2300 uses, from bread (three loaves at a time!), pizza dough, dinner rolls, whipped fudge, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, cheese cake, birthday cakes . . . sigh.

I don't know how I will live without mine until we can afford to replace it.

You need one just so my poor broken heart knows there's a little more KA love in the world. ;)

[Mama Zappa]

Lots of excellent reasons right here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495215&highlight=kitchenaid) why you shouldn't waste your money on one.

;)

[Runs With Scissors]

I've never used one nor seen one used.

How do things just just end up clumping up around the blades and then spinning around? How do things get mixed evenly?

I love the control of my hand mixer, so I'm having trouble envisioning how the Kitchen Aid model works.

Can someone who has explain how they work? I don't have the counter space, but I can certainly whip up (heh) some envy.

[Johnny L.A.]

Lots of excellent reasons right here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495215&highlight=kitchenaid) why you shouldn't waste your money on one.

;)

Fooey!

[dangermom]

I can't live without mine. When I was just out of college I had a hand mixer, but it was wimpy and slow and I eventually burned out the motor. I love my KitchenAid, it's my #1 appliance. I have the grating attachments as well, love those too.

My brother has one he got from our grandmother, and it's still working great. My mom's is at least as old as I am, still works great.

[stargazer]

I've never used one nor seen one used.

How do things just just end up clumping up around the blades and then spinning around? How do things get mixed evenly?

I love the control of my hand mixer, so I'm having trouble envisioning how the Kitchen Aid model works.

Can someone who has explain how they work? I don't have the counter space, but I can certainly whip up (heh) some envy.

The beater both spins and rotates around the bowl -- like how the earth spins on axis and rotates around the sun. So you'll have to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally, depending on what you're making, but it will definitely mix everything.

[Claire Beauchamp]

I've never used one nor seen one used.

How do things just just end up clumping up around the blades and then spinning around? How do things get mixed evenly?

Traditional stand mixers had (have) the two beaters stationary, but the bowl platform was off-center. The beaters spun together like your hand mixer, and the bowl spun, so the beaters moved through the mixture in a circle 'round the bowl.

The KA (and other high-end) mixers use something called "planetary action." (They used to have a video on the KA web site that demonstrated this, but it seems it's gone now.)

With KAs, the bowl is stationary and doesn't spin. There is ONE attachment (a whisk, a flat beater, or a dough hook) and spins on its axis, while it also rotates around the bowl. Just like a planet. You do still have to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally, but that's true of any mixer, stand or hand, I've ever used. There are now some flat beaters that have rubber flanges on the sides that scrape the bowl sides while beating. I haven't tried 'em, though.

[USCDiver]

Two words... ice cream.

[Antigen]

Well... I just bought one.

Can't wait to play with it! I love baking from scratch, and I'm looking forward to learning what I can do with this new toy!

[crowmanyclouds]

For me this is like every other tool purchase. I can go to Wallyworld and get a $30 circular saw to cut 1xs for shelves, that'll bog down when I ask it to cut wet pressure treated lumber for a deck. Or I can spend $150 for one that will cut all the lumber to build decks for every house in the neighborhood, every year, for the rest of my life.

Better to have more tool than you need, than need more tool than you have.

CMC fnord!
... There are now some flat beaters that have rubber flanges on the sides that scrape the bowl sides while beating. ...Like this one (http://www.sideswipeblade.com/index.html) (which now, finally, has models for IPS all Kitchenaid models (there's a video (http://www.sideswipeblade.com/video.php) on the site that shows the planetary action too).

[Tabithina]

In 1936, my grandma somehow managed to scrape together around fifty dollars to buy a Kitchenaid mixer. This was not a frivolous purchase, because my grandpa had bailed on the family and things were dire. I believe she had a payment plan or something, that was a lot of money then.

She needed a way to make a living with small children, and was well-known in her Milwaukee neighborhood for baking wedding cakes at reasonable prices. She used to mix the cakes by hand. The Kitchenaid made her job much easier so she could take more orders, and she managed to make enough money to raise three children alone, working out of her home. Needless to say she put the mixer through its paces for years.

My mom inherited it, and kept it out on the counter. She wasn't using it for production baking like my grandma, but it still saw heavy use. All through the eighties, Mom and I made crazy huge batches of Christmas cookies and divinity with the mixer. It finally gave out in 1992.

I have one that I bought ten years ago, and it is still going strong through lots of baking. It is not as beefy as the old 1936 model, but has turned out to be worth the money. Enjoy your new mixer. :)

[elfkin477]

You want one because all white people do. (http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/05/54-kitchen-gadgets/) I get it now. It's the small fraction of non-whiteness to me that is baffled by the allure of these things. It's so clear now! :D

I'm no where near serious enough a cook to need something this fancy, but I can see how it might be nice for others.

[Manduck]

I just bought a Cuisinart SM-55, which is similar to the Kitchenaid. My thinking was that I would like to make my own bagels, bread, etc but I hate the labour of kneading. So I looked on the web to see what mixers were best and could handle kneading. It came down to the Kitchenaid pro 600 and the Cuisinart. I happened to see the Cuisinart on sale (and they threw in a spare bowl!), so I think you'll agree that I was pretty much forced to buy it. So if I save, say, a dollar a loaf by making my own bread, the mixer should pay for itself in about 9 years :). Homemade bread tastes better, though, anyways.

[PunditLisa]

Costco has great prices on them, and I'm a huge impulse buyer at Costco. Yet, I've never been tempted. I just don't bake enough to justify the price.

Strangely, I'm more tempted by that sweet little air compressor they have, though I have no idea what I'd use it for.

[Maus Magill]

If the contents of your fridge are some beer and the doggie bag from dinner four nights ago - you probably don't need one.

If your idea of baking is to open up the Betty Crocker cake mix - you probably don't need one.

If the thought of "whip egg whites until stiff" leaves you merely amused at the sexual preferences of egg whites, but with no other idea of what that phrase might mean - you don't need one.

If you've been baking from scratch without one (and they are useful for cooking at times as well), you will wonder how you ever survived with a hand mixer or a lesser stand mixer.

What she said.

[Mama Zappa]

I've never used one nor seen one used.

How do things just just end up clumping up around the blades and then spinning around? How do things get mixed evenly?

I love the control of my hand mixer, so I'm having trouble envisioning how the Kitchen Aid model works.

Can someone who has explain how they work? I don't have the counter space, but I can certainly whip up (heh) some envy.
The motion of the head around the bowl winds up slinging enough of the mixture out, and picking it back up again, that it works well enough. You *do* have to scrape the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula to make sure everything gets picked up and thoroughly incorporated. YMMV on that, others have reported less of an issue with this.

A hand mixer DOES offer very good control, and I have (and use, frequently) one for any "lesser" task. Cake mixes, whipping cream, beating eggs, etc. - it's simply less of a hassle all around.

BUT - for ANYTHING heavier-duty, e.g. cookie dough, fruitcake, breadmaking - the Kitchenaid's power is just perfect. My hand mixer simply doesn't have the strength to cut through a stiff cookie batter.

I don't have the counterspace for my Kitchenaid either, which is why it lives in the cellar most of the time. It gets trotted out at holiday time, and other times of the year when I'm doing something that requires the power. The thread I started about buttermilk... let's just say there's a bread recipe there that is using my brain to call out to my Kitchenaid ;)

[Snickers]

Tabithina, that's a great story - you should tell Kitchenaid.

[Ferret Herder]

Like this one (http://www.sideswipeblade.com/index.html) (which now, finally, has models for IPS all Kitchenaid models (there's a video (http://www.sideswipeblade.com/video.php) on the site that shows the planetary action too).
:eek: Thanks for the heads-up - I've been waiting for the model for my KitchenAid to be available, and now it is! Cook's Illustrated preferred this make of scraper-beater over the other main manufacturer's - I forget the brand name now - due to the effectiveness of the design.

My husband got me my stand mixer at Costco for a Christmas present; not only was it one of the professional-level makes, but it was also at least a hundred dollars cheaper there than elsewhere.

[Claire Beauchamp]

Well... I just bought one.

Can't wait to play with it! I love baking from scratch, and I'm looking forward to learning what I can do with this new toy!

Congrats! What model did you get?

And, let us know when you start getting seduced by the accessories ... the half-size bowl ... the ice cream bowl ... the grinder ... :D

[gigi]

Because they are simply a kitchen's best friend. Mine died two weeks ago. I cried real tears. I have considered writing poetry in it's honor. I have never known anyone else to have their's break, but I have put mine through it's paces.

I don't know how I will live without mine until we can afford to replace it.

Are you or your partner handy? My father worked on my mom's a number of times when it "died", and he brought it back to life. After 30+ years, she did get a new one, but the old one wasn't dead when she thought it was.

[gigi]

Well... I just bought one.

Woo hoo! One of us, one of us...

I bought mine around 1998 and carried it home on the subway since Macy*s had it for $166. I don't use it as much as many folks here do, but it's invaluable for mashed potatoes, French Silk Pie where each egg needs to be beaten for five minutes, Christmas cookies, cheesecake...

[Yarster]

I bought my wife one several years ago when they were on super sale one year for Christmas. She used it exactly once a year at Thanksgiving to make a sweet potato soufle that was generally well received, but not worth the headache and the cleaning. Now she's switched to a different sweet potato recipe for Thanksgiving that doesn't involve all the mixing, so it is officially a worthless status symbol, like our previous bread maker that was, in my opinion, the world's worst invention. My local market has a bakery that makes great fresh bread for less than $3.00 a loaf. But with a breadmaker, I have the advantage of spending $5.00 for the ingredients, plus making a mess and using power, all to make a smaller loaf of bread several hours from now. Wow, and it has the added bonus of taking up counterspace and making the kitchen look totally cluttered. Sorry, but no one will ever convince me that all but the most serious chefs need this crap.

[Heffalump and Roo]

Well... I just bought one.
I hope you enjoy it.

I bought mine several years ago, but since I don't cook often, I don't use it much. But I'm still glad I bought it. As people have said, it lasts a long time, so if I decide to cook more, I'll have it ready to go.

[Claire Beauchamp]

I bought my wife one several years ago when they were on super sale one year for Christmas. She used it exactly once a year at Thanksgiving to make a sweet potato soufle that was generally well received, but not worth the headache and the cleaning. Now she's switched to a different sweet potato recipe for Thanksgiving that doesn't involve all the mixing, so it is officially a worthless status symbol, like our previous bread maker that was, in my opinion, the world's worst invention. My local market has a bakery that makes great fresh bread for less than $3.00 a loaf. But with a breadmaker, I have the advantage of spending $5.00 for the ingredients, plus making a mess and using power, all to make a smaller loaf of bread several hours from now. Wow, and it has the added bonus of taking up counterspace and making the kitchen look totally cluttered. Sorry, but no one will ever convince me that all but the most serious chefs need this crap.

Wow, do you feel better now that you've gotten this off your chest?

It's true, many people buy kitchen appliances (or exercise equipment, or power tools, or gardening tools, or hobby equipment, or whatever) without really considering if the appliance will be used enough (or with enough enjoyment) to justify the cost.

In your wife's case the answer is obviously "no." That doesn't mean that it's worthless to "all but the most serious chefs." In fact, a professional chef probably would not own a KA (they'd have something more powerful/larger), and they CERTAINLY wouldn't own a bread machine (a unifunction appliance for people who don't want to actually touch dough).

I can point to another entire BB community I belong to where the majority of members have KAs, amateur cooks all, and who would rather give up a pinky than give up their KA.

So, speak for yourself.

P.S. I am a Southerner and was raised on sweet potatoes and I've never even SEEN a holiday sweet potato recipe that required a mixer, much less a powerful stand mixer.

[j666]

Costco has great prices on them, and I'm a huge impulse buyer at Costco. Yet, I've never been tempted. I just don't bake enough to justify the price.

Strangely, I'm more tempted by that sweet little air compressor they have, though I have no idea what I'd use it for.Sister.

I have my late mother's Sunbeam, and I don't know what I'd do without it, the three times a year I use it (I have enough cabinet space for my appliances, too), but I think I would be intimidated by a mixer larger than my microwave.

I actually use the compressor more often; filling tires, sweeping the driveway, oh, and nailing ... I wish it came with a spade attachment, I'd do some crazy gardening then (I got a dual cylinder on sale because the box was banged up). Actually, it would be great if you could hook the compressor up to run a mixer - Christmas cookies for everyone!

For me this is like every other tool purchase. I can go to Wallyworld and get a $30 circular saw to cut 1xs for shelves, that'll bog down when I ask it to cut wet pressure treated lumber for a deck. Or I can spend $150 for one that will cut all the lumber to build decks for every house in the neighborhood, every year, for the rest of my life.

Better to have more tool than you need, than need more tool than you have.But do you want to make that many decks? The cheaper tool will last some of us the rest of our lives. (Power tools, that is; always go top of the line with hand tools and paint brushes. Now that I think of it, hand tools - my knives - are the best equipment in my kitchen, too.)

The little circular saw my spouse got me our first year together is still running fine (I don't know if I've ever changed the blade ...). I do regret that first table saw, but not as much as the guilt inducing detail sander. It did pay for itself, but such a nice little tool does not belong covered in cobwebs in the basement.

[Lacunae Matata]

My grandmother has a KA from sometime in the '50s. It's a lovely aqua color, and I'm sure it cost an arm and a leg new. She used it for all of the baking in her restaurant until she retired, and still uses it often.

For Christmas circa 1973, Grandmother bought each of her three daughters a KA. My mom's still looks new, despite heavy, heavy use for almost 40 years. She finally had to replace the original whisk attachment last year. (And there's another benefit I hadn't thought of before: buying a replacement part for Mom's or Grandmother's decades-old KAs was no more complicated than heading to the nearby kitchen specialty store. $16.99 plus tax and out the door. No special orders nor scavenger hunts.)

Christmas 2003, I gifted myself with a commercial model, which I found slightly used for $125, IIRC. Cakes, pies, cookie dough, meringues, breads - ideal! If I never use it for anything other than baking, it's still the bargain of the century. One of my kids will probably inherit, and never have to buy another mixer. It's really that good.

[Antigen]

Congrats! What model did you get?

And, let us know when you start getting seduced by the accessories ... the half-size bowl ... the ice cream bowl ... the grinder ... :D

I got a 5-qt "artisan series" mixer. I know it will come in handy for my cookies. I don't think it'll get here till next week, so I have time to think about what I'd like to "break it in" with.

[CrazyCatLady]

She used it exactly once a year at Thanksgiving to make a sweet potato soufle that was generally well received, but not worth the headache and the cleaning.

What headache and cleaning? You throw your shit in the bowl, slap on the head you need, use it, then wash the bowl and the head. Exact same amount of work as using a hand mixer. Or a spoon, for that matter. Except with the stand mixer, you can just flip the switch and go do something else, instead of standing there giving your arms a workout. And with the hand mixer, you have two beaters to wash instead of one, and the bars are closer together so it's a bigger nuisance to get the back side of them clean.

We use ours a lot. There's the occasional week that goes by without it getting used, but those weeks are rare and more than balanced out by the weeks we use it every single day. When we're getting ready for a party or I'm doing holiday baking (I totally cram full two medium-sized deli trays of cookies and such for him to take to work), the bowl winds up getting washed four and five times in a single day. Plus I make marshmallows, which are nothing at all with the stand mixer, but would be a miserable, daunting prospect without it. Hell, this past Friday I made three batches of marshmallow and a couple lemon ice-box pies with it. If our oven had been working, we would have made some bread and maybe some brownies, too. (Derby party prep.)

It totally wouldn't be worthwhile to most of the people we know, but we'd give up the crockpot and the toaster oven and one of the tvs before we'd give the mixer up.

[Yarster]

Sorry - didn't mean to start a flamewar here. Obviously there are people out there who love AND use their KA products. I'll simply go on record as saying my wife only fits the love category. The sweet potato soufle thing is recipe she got out of an obscure cookbook that generates a mush with the consistency of wet concrete, which is why she insisted she needed the powerful KA to begin with, and that IF ONLY she had the KA, she would use it that much more... As you might guess, I am a little bitter about it. No, it is not a pain to clean. More to the point, the recipe she does now is simply slices sweet potatos and some kind of cane syrup stuff that involves a lot more general cutting and no mixing. I'd estimate our KA has now not been turned on once in over three years.

[Stoid]

One word: Brioche.

[Shirley Ujest]

I, too, could write poetry...nay....sonnets of the gooey kind to my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.

There are very few items I cherish, but if a burgular was caught in my house with my Kitchen Aid Mixer and the TV in his hands work with me here., I would let him take the TV and help him load it into his car, but if he took the mixer, his balls will be severed and then fed to him.

[Ferret Herder]

There are very few items I cherish, but if a burgular was caught in my house with my Kitchen Aid Mixer and the TV in his hands work with me here., I would let him take the TV and help him load it into his car, but if he took the mixer, his balls will be severed and then fed to him.
What, no running them through the mixer first? Or through the sausage-making attachment? :)

I haven't used it as much now that I'm working on dropping a few pounds (I make an evil cheesecake, with a pumpkin variation for the winter holidays), but I intend to start it up for some bread experiments.

[Rick]

What, no running them through the mixer first? Or through the sausage-making attachment? :)Probably while they were still attached, I am guessing.

[Lillith Fair]

I love love love my KitchenAid mixer. We've had it for 15-20 years. I have the kind where the bowl lifts up. It is totally worth it. We use it once or twice a week. Great for cookie dough.

I bought my mother one when her mixer broke. She also loves it. She loves to make bread with the dough hook.

[JimmyFlair]

One word: Brioche.

You have my attention.....
Recipe? Link? Pleeease? :)

[Larry Mudd]

Just watch this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lijSizul0OE) and enumerate the points it holds in common with your favourite porn video.

[thirdwarning]

My husband gave me one for Christmas three or four years ago. I'd gotten tired of doing things by hand and asked for a stand mixer. He decided that it was better to spend the money to get the good kind, and I'm glad he did. I wouldn't have asked for one that cost that much money.

The first thing I mixed in it was a double batch of gingersnaps. Went through that heavy molasses dough like it was water. Wow! I don't use it that much, but I'm so glad to have it when I need it.

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

My KitchenAid microwave is less than 4 months old, and hasn't worked since late March. They refuse to replace it, saying the warranty only covers repairs - I have been waiting for a part to come in from Detroit (to Toronto) since the last service visit, April 15th. 6 weeks without a microwave, and so far, their best goodwill gesture has been to offer me an extended warranty. No sign of the part as of today's phone calls.

I have absolutely nothing good to say about their customer service, and strongly recommend against buying their brand.

[Maus Magill]

My KitchenAid microwave is less than 4 months old, and hasn't worked since late March. They refuse to replace it, saying the warranty only covers repairs - I have been waiting for a part to come in from Detroit (to Toronto) since the last service visit, April 15th. 6 weeks without a microwave, and so far, their best goodwill gesture has been to offer me an extended warranty. No sign of the part as of today's phone calls.

I have absolutely nothing good to say about their customer service, and strongly recommend against buying their brand.

I would recommend their stand mixer. Their hand mixer is also very well built. I also like my hand-crank can opener.

I stay away from anything electronic they make. I've had better Black and Deckers.

[Stoid]

You have my attention.....
Recipe? Link? Pleeease? :)

Hmmm... just for brioche or would you also like the recipe for the creme fraiche brioche tart?

:D

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

And now, the KitchenAid dishwasher has packed it in - also 4 months old. Waiting for a call from the service people...

[Mama Zappa]

And now, the KitchenAid dishwasher has packed it in - also 4 months old. Waiting for a call from the service people...

Yikes! Clearly a brand to avoid, for anything other than mixers!!!!

Oh, and the Kitchen-aid branded chip-bag clips I bought a few weeks ago (yeah, really... but it was what the store had) seem to be working fine.

I do have a question for those of you with the bowl-lift variety: How do you put the bowl onto the mixer, if it's got stuff in it already? Seems you'd have to tilt it pretty far to the side, spilling the contents, to get it around and under the beater. Similar question for removing the bowl.

Or do you attach the beater after the bowl is in place?

This confusion is why I opted for a head-tilt model.

[Rick]

Put the beater on after the bowl is in place.

[JimmyFlair]

Hmmm... just for brioche or would you also like the recipe for the creme fraiche brioche tart?

:D

::shakes fist::
Dang! why do you need to throw that out there? Just today I ripped a seam on a pair of my fancy and expensive dress pants!* Ideas like this are the last thing I need!

Yes, all brioche related recipes, Please!

* I still maintain that the pants must have shrunk. Now that I live at a lower elevation, the increased air pressure has compacted the fibres. That's my story, sticking to it.

[Magiver]

I can't live without mine. When I was just out of college I had a hand mixer, but it was wimpy and slow and I eventually burned out the motor. I love my KitchenAid, it's my #1 appliance. I have the grating attachments as well, love those too.

My brother has one he got from our grandmother, and it's still working great. My mom's is at least as old as I am, still works great. I bought the most powerful hand mixer I could find and it still struggles with something like cookie dough. If I had the counter space and the money I would buy a KitchenAid.

[kittenblue]

Sorry - didn't mean to start a flamewar here. Obviously there are people out there who love AND use their KA products. I'll simply go on record as saying my wife only fits the love category. The sweet potato soufle thing is recipe she got out of an obscure cookbook that generates a mush with the consistency of wet concrete, which is why she insisted she needed the powerful KA to begin with, and that IF ONLY she had the KA, she would use it that much more... As you might guess, I am a little bitter about it. No, it is not a pain to clean. More to the point, the recipe she does now is simply slices sweet potatos and some kind of cane syrup stuff that involves a lot more general cutting and no mixing. I'd estimate our KA has now not been turned on once in over three years.


So she never bakes anything else, like cookies or cake?

I can't live without mine. And I recently got the SideSwipe blade, and I love that, too. I couldn't make gingerbread cookies or peppernuts without it my KA, and my mom still can make bread at 83 because the mixer does all the work. Good tools are worth the price.

[Sonnenstrahl]

So she never bakes anything else, like cookies or cake?

I can't live without mine. And I recently got the SideSwipe blade, and I love that, too. I couldn't make gingerbread cookies or peppernuts without it my KA...

I thought the point of peppernuts was to build arm muscles? :D I bake as much as my waistline can afford, and I don't even use a hand mixer - wooden spoons and whisks all the way. I'm suddenly feeling very hard done by.

[kittenblue]

well, I got the recipe from an elderly German Lutheran woman who believes in hard work and all that...but she loves her KA! She's all about the technology! I only make a quarter-batch...she makes four batches! There's enough arm muscle development in the rolling and the lifting of the pans.

But be warned...a Sideswipe blade can't handle gingerbread or peppernut dough. Don't even try.

[Suse]

I have to know - what are peppernuts? Are they the type of cookies that are often called pfeffernuesse? Because I make those by hand and never even thought of needing a mixer.

[Sonnenstrahl]

That's how I interpreted it. I call them Pfeffernuesse, too. The molasses does make them a pain to mix, I'll say.

[Mama Zappa]

Put the beater on after the bowl is in place.

Yeah, that's what I figured.

What I can't understand though, is WHY? I mean, the bowl-lift seems harder to use in nearly every respect - fumbling with a messy beater to remove the bowl, harder to reach to scrape if needed, etc. Is there some advantage to this approach that outweighs the disadvantages?

Besides... with the bowl-lift model, you TOTALLY miss out on the chance to hit the on-switch while the head is tilted up, thereby redecorating the ceiling :)!

[kittenblue]

I have to know - what are peppernuts? Are they the type of cookies that are often called pfeffernuesse? Because I make those by hand and never even thought of needing a mixer.

I believe they are the same thing. Sort of a gingerbread dough that you roll out into snakes and cut into little half-inch chunks, and bake until crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. I would not want to mix that dough by hand...it's way too stiff

[Ferret Herder]

What I can't understand though, is WHY? I mean, the bowl-lift seems harder to use in nearly every respect - fumbling with a messy beater to remove the bowl, harder to reach to scrape if needed, etc. Is there some advantage to this approach that outweighs the disadvantages?
I don't find the handling difficult, I guess YMMV. I have a "collar" with a funnel-type ramp that fits around the bowl and lets you add ingredients easily while the mixer is running. Put bowl in place, put beater in, add collar (two-piece item). Add ingredients as needed, drop bowl if you really need to scrape and can't manage otherwise (or use a SideSwipe), then when finished. detach beater then bowl.

The bowl-lift model also allows you to use it on a counter with a cabinet over it and barely any clearance. Most of my counter space is limited in this fashion, so I find it to be a plus.

[Suse]

I believe they are the same thing. Sort of a gingerbread dough that you roll out into snakes and cut into little half-inch chunks, and bake until crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. I would not want to mix that dough by hand...it's way too stiff


Okay, thanks. Yeah, it's not the easiest to mix by hand but I guess I never even thought of using a mixer as I don't normally for making cookies, or pretty much anything. But I still drool over those pretty Kitchenaid colors anyway.