primitives discuss stand mixers

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x74046

Oh my.

Denninmi  (45 posts)      Wed Jan-20-10 01:21 PM
Original message
 
Life is depressing. Would a stand mixer help?

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?

Well, if the primitives deal with disappointment about elections by purchasing new toys for their kitchens, one imagines the cooking-tools industry is going to have boom year in 2010.

The empressof all   (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 01:52 PM
THE IMPERIOUS PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

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!

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 03:11 PM
#09 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009; THE DEFROCKED WARPED PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

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  (45 posts)      Wed Jan-20-10 03:40 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
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  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 07:01 PM
#09 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009; THE DEFROCKED WARPED PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #3

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  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 07:27 PM
MRS. ALFRED PACKER
Response to Reply #3

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.

ginnyinWI  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 08:09 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
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  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 08:59 PM
#09 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009; THE DEFROCKED WARPED PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #9

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  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-21-10 01:24 AM
Response to Reply #10
 
12. On second thought, I think it must have cost $174. 

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

Duer 157099  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 04:28 PM
Response to Original message

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."

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

Tesha  (1000+ posts)      Wed Jan-20-10 05:26 PM
Response to Original message
 
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 g*****s you can make!

NashVegas  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 06:43 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. If You're Happy w/Your Dough Hooks, You're Fine

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

housewolf  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jan-20-10 09:59 PM
Response to Original message
 
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  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-21-10 01:31 AM
Response to Reply #11
 
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.

[Karin]

I actually bought a new hand mixer for the sole purpose

There they go again, Frank!  That one-purpose deal.  It really is a DUmp phenomenon. 

[zeitgeist]

There they go again, Frank!  That one-purpose deal.  It really is a DUmp phenomenon. 

I must  confess my wife once told me no more kitchen appliances, it may have been the blender or upright mixer which spurred the outburst.

I am a gadget-oholic.....I probably need a 12 step program......

Twelve Steps

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcoholgadgets—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.*

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

*I fear taking an inventory lest I find the another upright mixer.

My latest purchase was an battery operated B/D scrub brush.  (which works great btw and will probably kick butt on wire or alloy rims )

[Karin]

I have that scrub brush, too, Zeitgeist, and I didn't like it at all!  It seemed so sluggish, it just went whirrrrrrrr in a wimpy way. 

[Chris]

I have that scrub brush, too, Zeitgeist, and I didn't like it at all!  It seemed so sluggish, it just went whirrrrrrrr in a wimpy way. 

An angle grinder from Harbor Freight runs about $20... you can buy all sorts of buffing and scrubbing wheels for them and there's no shortage of power.

My Datsun's rims desperately need cleaning and polishing.  It's on my to-do list.

[The Village Idiot]

DU males probably trade fabric and quilting patterns too

[kenth]

Dummies wasting The People's money on Kitchen Aid mixers? They must be rich.

The Kitchen Aid mixer is awesome though. My wife has one, and she can make things with it that normally she would have to wait for me to help stir.

[IassaFTots]

Dummies wasting The People's money on Kitchen Aid mixers? They must be rich.

The Kitchen Aid mixer is awesome though. My wife has one, and she can make things with it that normally she would have to wait for me to help stir.

I want one soooooo bad.  Can I have a mixer instead of a pony?

[kenth]

I want one soooooo bad.  Can I have a mixer instead of a pony?

You'll probably have to settle for the mixer. Ponies seem to be in short supply. At least, the dummies seem to have no ponies. 

[delilahmused]

I have one and I love it but I somehow manage to keep it in a cupboard and take it out when I need it, thus freeing counter space for other things. What's so hard about that?

Cindie

[IassaFTots]

You'll probably have to settle for the mixer. Ponies seem to be in short supply. At least, the dummies seem to have no ponies. 

Aha!  Fine with me.  With the mixer I can prepare food.  Ponies just poo.   

[jukin]

The KitcheAid mixer is not what it used to be. We'bve had ours for 25+ years, cost around $350 and is a real workhorse. However, back then it was made by Hobart. They are now made by Whirlpool or Maytag in china are about half the cost and are constantly breaking or leaking the head oil out. They changed to plastic or plastic hub gears and now have maximum minutes that they can be constantly on.  Check out what the Amazon reviews have to say bout them now.  This is why Viking has come out with a stand mixer that was what the Hobart KitchenAid was.

[IassaFTots]

The KitcheAid mixer is not what it used to be. We'bve had ours for 25+ years, cost around $350 and is a real workhorse. However, back then it was made by Hobart. They are now made by Whirlpool or Maytag in china are about half the cost and are constantly breaking or leaking the head oil out. They changed to plastic or plastic hub gears and now have maximum minutes that they can be constantly on.  Check out what the Amazon reviews have to say bout them now.  This is why Viking has come out with a stand mixer that was what the Hobart KitchenAid was.

Thanks Jukin.  I will do some research on that!

[kenth]

The KitcheAid mixer is not what it used to be. We'bve had ours for 25+ years, cost around $350 and is a real workhorse. However, back then it was made by Hobart. They are now made by Whirlpool or Maytag in china are about half the cost and are constantly breaking or leaking the head oil out. They changed to plastic or plastic hub gears and now have maximum minutes that they can be constantly on.  Check out what the Amazon reviews have to say bout them now.  This is why Viking has come out with a stand mixer that was what the Hobart KitchenAid was.

Was that recent? As in the last year or so? Because we just got ours a couple of years ago. It cost around 300, and was made in Ohio. I don't recall anything in the manual about max running time. Would be sad if true, especially if they are using plastic parts now.

[debk]

Mine's at least 10 years old, and sits in a corner on the counter.

I feel a great deal of attachment to it....especially as I get older....as it just makes baking easier. 

Ironically....I use my hand mixer for potatoes...

I find it amusing that the DU'ers....who are so into doing stuff the "natural" way...or primitive (no pun intended    )....find KitchenAide mixers so necessary to life.

Guess it's a "pick and choose" which path to follow....

[BEG]

I have one too and leave it on the counter because it looks cool.  I also leave out an Oster blender (beehive) because it looks cool too.  My Mom brought a pasta maker attachment for my kitchenaid mixer that also grinds meat for me at Christmas.  She got it at an estate sale and it has never been used. 

[IassaFTots]

I have one too and leave it on the counter because it looks cool.  I also leave out an Oster blender (beehive) because it looks cool too.  My Mom brought a pasta maker attachment for my kitchenaid mixer that also grinds meat for me at Christmas.  She got it at an estate sale and it has never been used. 

That is why I want it, because of the attachments, and the things you can do with it. 

[debk]

I have one too and leave it on the counter because it looks cool.  I also leave out an Oster blender (beehive) because it looks cool too.  My Mom brought a pasta maker attachment for my kitchenaid mixer that also grinds meat for me at Christmas.  She got it at an estate sale and it has never been used. 

M uses the meat grinder on it....and I clean up the mess...

I have been wanting a Cuisinart for as long as I can remember. Got one around Thanksgiving....it was on sale, but still about $150. Didn't open it, and didn't open it....finally took it back. Got a GE at Walmart for $50.....it's huge, does everything the Cuisinart was supposed to do - maybe more, certainly more than my old Hamilton that I must have had for 20 years....and sits right next to the KitchenAide. They have bonded and are quite happy living next to each other. 

[kenth]

That is why I want it, because of the attachments, and the things you can do with it. 

Yep. We've got the pasta maker set, and homemade pasta is so much better than the dried boxed stuff. We want the grinder, but haven't gotten it yet. Maybe that's what we'll ask Obama Claus for this year.

[The Village Idiot]

Yep. We've got the pasta maker set, and homemade pasta is so much better than the dried boxed stuff. We want the grinder, but haven't gotten it yet. Maybe that's what we'll ask Obama Claus for this year.

If any DUmmies read this remember that you need a new mixer with each kind of mix you want to make.

[debk]

Yep. We've got the pasta maker set, and homemade pasta is so much better than the dried boxed stuff. We want the grinder, but haven't gotten it yet. Maybe that's what we'll ask Obama Claus for this year.

Look on Craig's List....you might be able to find one. Or garage sales. Lots of times, I think people buy the whole shebang because they think they will use them and then don't.

[IassaFTots]

Yep. We've got the pasta maker set, and homemade pasta is so much better than the dried boxed stuff. We want the grinder, but haven't gotten it yet. Maybe that's what we'll ask Obama Claus for this year.

I want to make the pasta, and wanted the grinder and sausage maker attachments.  But, boyfriend just ordered one from Cabelas, so I can strike that off my list.  But I still want a mixer, and a food processor.  I burned out my hand mixer trying to make cookies this year, and I almost chopped off the tip of my finger when I was "finely mincing" some garlic. 

[BEG]

I want to make the pasta, and wanted the grinder and sausage maker attachments.  But, boyfriend just ordered one from Cabelas, so I can strike that off my list.  But I still want a mixer, and a food processor.  I burned out my hand mixer trying to make cookies this year, and I almost chopped off the tip of my finger when I was "finely mincing" some garlic. 

I use the Pampered Chef food chopper all the time.  Mine is the old one and doesn't look as nice as this one. 

I love not having to drag out a huge appliance and clean it.  It comes apart and you just put it in the dishwasher. 

[IassaFTots]

I use the Pampered Chef food chopper all the time.  Mine is the old one and doesn't look as nice as this one. 

I love not having to drag out a huge appliance and clean it.  It comes apart and you just put it in the dishwasher. 

I used to have one of those. Broke it.  I should probably get another one, but I wanted the processor for all the other attachments, like the slicer, and the dicer.   

[The Village Idiot]

I used to have one of those. Broke it.  I should probably get another one, but I wanted the processor for all the other attachments, like the slicer, and the dicer.   

How often do you break thhings?