I now have a big kitchen with tons of storage and counter space, and Amazon has the kitchenaid stand mixers on sale.And they’re pretty, and I want one. But I don’t really bake. I cook all the time, at least one somewhat elaborate meal a day, but baking is just not my thing–too precise and I end up with all these yummy baked goods that will only make me fat if I eat them. I do bake bread, but I use the no knead bread recipe, so I wouldn’t use it there.
I have a cheap stand mixer; I’ve probably used it 5 times in the last 10 years. Would I use it for other stuff, or should I not bother?
Unless you know you will use it frequently, it is not worth buying.
I feel so strongly about this that I recently turned one down as a gift. I cook constantly, but like you, I rarely do baking that would require a stand mixer.
In my experience, most of the people who own them use them more as a status symbol, and rarely use them. Save your money.
I have a KitchenAid and I use it about 6-8 times a year for baking or making whipped cream. It’s a really great mixer, but if you don’t bake I think it would just sit around taking up space.
I am not a baker and I have a Kitchen Aid. It was a gift (asked for). I use it maybe once a month to make quiche or something similar. They do have some attachments that are useful for the non-baker, like the meat grinder or the pasta maker. I am not sorry I have it, but a cheap one probably would have been enough.
If you are looking to fill space, do you have a food processor, like a Cuisinart? I also have one of those, and I use it all the time.
I don’t bake all that much either, but I definitely use the KitchenAid enough to justify the counter space. I use it to make sausages and grind meat all the time. I also have the rotary grater attachment, and it’s good for when you want to grind a lot of cheese.
Speaking of pizza, don’t you ever make it? The KitchenAid is great for pizza dough.
I’d never give it up; even if I only use it once a month, it’s so good at what it does that I can’t imagine not having one.
But thank you so much for starting this thread and linking to the sale!
I’ve been wanting one for ages but couldn’t bring myself to buy at the higher prices since I let the $141 sale of a couple Christmases ago slip through, but $199 is close enough and cheaper than I’ve seen for as long as I’ve been looking. (And if I’m wrong, if there’s an even better price to be had, well too late now, don’t tell me. ;))
I don’t bake a ton, but enough that mixing by hand can be a bit tedious, plus I never seem to be able to whip hard/fast enough to make stuff fluffy. I want to be able to make homemade pasta as well, and I figure excess baked goods can go into the office.
I actually bake a lot more with the KitchenAid - there’s tons of stuff I wouldn’t bother with if I didn’t have it that are easy to throw in there. Pumpkin bread for the office, that sort of thing.
Not really looking to fill space, just finally do have space for something like that. I probably would use a food processor, though–I’ll keep it in mind.
I make pizza out of the no-knead bread dough I always keep in the fridge. It makes the most awesome crust–all bubbly and crispy/chewey, but no need for a mixer for that.
No knead bread. Changed my life. See the bottom picture? It always comes out looking like that, and it takes all of 5 minutes to throw together. I’ve never been able to make a decent loaf of bread before this recipe (or pizza dough for that matter–always came out all dense and gross.)
You’re welcome! Homemade pasta is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, never had the counter space before. Do you need an awesome mixer for that, or will my old cheap one do?
The problem with baking is that I work from home, so there is no office to offload extra cookies and bread and stuff at. So I eat it. Not a good thing.
Thanks for the no knead bread recipe. I use my Kitchenaide mostly during the holidays for cookie dough. I love home made bread but never learned how to make it.
You don’t need a mixer at all to mix the dough–you can do it by hand or in a food processor. But you use the mixer motor to power the pasta roller, and whether or not you can do that with your current mixer has a linkage to attach a roller to it. Or you could just get a hand-cranked one for a lot less money and counter space.
WRT pasta makers, a friend of mine ordered a pasta maker from TV about 15 years ago. I was there when she ordered it and teased her she’d never use it. Every few years I ask, “ever use that pasta maker?”
“No.”
I think I really would use a pasta maker, though. That’s the kind of cook I am. The other day I made my own ricotta cheese for lasagna, and it was SO awesome that I’ll never make it any other way again. I don’t have kids, and cooking is my hobby, so making pasta seems like a good idea to me.
This is why the one person I know who has a Kitchen Aid stand mixer AND uses it got really fat after she got it. So did her husband. They gained like 30 pounds each from all the baked goods.
I don’t have a Kitchen Aid but my mom finally got one a few years ago and loves it. But, she uses it exclusively for baking.
I second (third?) the idea of getting a good food processor. Mom finally got one of THOSE too and she uses it all the time, doing some stuff with non-dessert dishes that she never was able to make before or that would have taken a lot longer before.
