Do you really, really use your KitchenAid (or other stand mixer)?

[buttercup]

Ok, I've cooked mostly from scratch my entire life (make bone broth weekly, etc) BUT, I am not much of a baker. My most-used kitchen utensil (by far!!) is actually my pressure cooker.

I've now moved to a rural area, and delicious bakeries are not as easily accesible. So i find myself having to make things I'd normally enjoy someone else making for me (carrot cake, chocolate/peanut butter pancakes, biscuits).

Some things, like whipping cream, making frosting, and softening cheese for carrot cake I think you absolutely need the mixer for. Is it worth the counter real estate? Please share your experience!

[Binkandabee]

I'm not much of a baker, either but I still love my kitchenaid mixer. Granted, not enough to leave it out on the counter (I have it stored in a cabinet), but I do find it essential when I need it.

[twowhat?]

I do use it, but not often (I don't bake a cake every week!!). I'd say it's a "very nice to have" IF you have either the storage or counter space for it. Especially if you have the counter space to leave it out. We have some dead space in the corner of our counters and that's where I keep it.

[codex57]

Don't use it at all. Have used it before. It's just a REALLY rare thing. Used to leave it out cuz it's pretty. Now, it's in one of our cabinets.

However, I live in the suburbs. Can just pop on by to a store or whatever so don't really need to make things from scratch unless I want to.

[specialp]

I'm not a baker either. I love mine, but only use it a few times a year and do not leave it out on the counter. We do beat cream cheese and whip whipped cream all the time, but just use a hand beater for that and still probably would even if we left the stand mixer on the counter.

[elliput]

I can't say my mixer gets a ton of use these days, but I do find it handy. Last week, I used it to crush blackberries for freezer jam.

[NCGrandma]

I bake all my own bread (a couple of multigrain loaves each week), using my Kitchenaid. Because of arthritis in my hands, I can't really do hand-kneading any more, but thanks to the KA (Pro 600 with the newer, spiral dough hook, not the older C-shaped hook), I don't have to give up this most satisfying activity. And the results are yummy!

[YouAreTheFocus]

I do use it, but not often (I don't bake a cake every week!!). I'd say it's a "very nice to have" IF you have either the storage or counter space for it. Especially if you have the counter space to leave it out. We have some dead space in the corner of our counters and that's where I keep it.

This is us, down to the corner location :)

[twowhat?]

I bake all my own bread (a couple of multigrain loaves each week), using my Kitchenaid. Because of arthritis in my hands, I can't really do hand-kneading any more, but thanks to the KA (Pro 600 with the newer, spiral dough hook, not the older C-shaped hook), I don't have to give up this most satisfying activity. And the results are yummy!

Hmmm. I may have just been inspired...I have an Artisan model with the old C-hook - is it still worth trying to make our own bread? Do you have a good recipe to share that requires minimal "supervision"?

[buttercup]

derailing my own thread, what do you bake the bread in? i'd make my own except I'd prefer something that lends itself to sandqich making AND i don't want to use teflon.

[Neatfreak]

I've had a KA stand mixer for over ten years, but I use it less than I had envisioned. Turns out that what I bake the most are quickbreads, which need a lighter touch mixing. Sometimes I'll use it for cookies, but most of my cookie recipes don't ask for a mixer. I use it for making cream cheese frosting and buttercream a few times a year. I'm going to try to make my own pizza dough, though, so I think that I've found something else for my mixer to do.

[BunnyBee]

derailing my own thread, what do you bake the bread in? i'd make my own except I'd prefer something that lends itself to sandqich making AND i don't want to use teflon.

I like this Pullman loaf pan for nice, square sandwich loaves:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001TO3CN8

No Teflon. It's some kind of silicone. Hand wash and stick in the oven briefly to dry.

[okinawama]

We use it for bread, pizza crust and roll making with a dough hook. I use the paddle attachment for all of the obvious things ( cookies, certain breads, pies...) but also for things I had never thought of until I read about them on blogs. I use it to make mashed potatoes, shred cooked beef or chicken, make large batches of home made BBQ sauce. We use the wisk attachment for making icings and various batches of salad dressings. I was a bit hesitant to buy it, fearing it would be an appliance that just has limited uses, but I find I use it a ton!

[Aishe]

Do you have a food processor? I have found that it performs some mixing duties - bread dough, cookie dough - quite well. I do like my Kitchenaid mixer a lot, but I don't bake nearly as much as I used to. If it broke today, I'm not sure that I would run out and get another. I have heard great things about the Kitchenaid hand mixer, which is comparatively cheap at $100. That might be a good option.

http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-9-Speed-Digital-Display-Mixer/dp/B004MTAWEO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374260583&sr=8-1&keywords=kitchenaid+hand+mixer

[sweetsue98]

Don't use it much but very nice to have when its needed. My mom makes dough for Asian dishes and noodles and she uses it weekly. She's had her mixer for 15 years and it works just as well as the first day she got it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

At least twice/ week. Love it

[AnnieW625]

Yes I use mine. I could not make a successful batch of sugar cookies until I got my mixer. I had a newer Sunbeam Mix Master that didn't work nearly as well as the ones my mom and grandma had for 25 yrs.+ before getting Kitchen Aid mixers in the early to mid 90s.

I use mine weekly, if not at least twice weekly. You can find deals on them a lot. Costco has a mixer in similar cool colors like Artisan for less than $300 right now. I bought mine at Macy's for $225 including tax using multiple codes in 2006. Kohl's also has good deals on them. My mom got my brother his Classic model for $150 iirc during Black Friday last year.

[Melaine]

I have had mine for nearly a decade and do use it in spurts. Around the holidays I do dozens of cookies and sometimes multiple cakes as well. I wouldn't be able to do that without a quality stand mixer (I know it could be done, but not by me). And I usually make a mega batch of cookies every couple months to stock the freezer. But I don't use it nearly as much as, say, my Vitamix. We don't have a huge amount of counter space so the KA sits in a cabinet now.

ETA: I should say that I still feel very much in survival mode with homeschooling and DS who is high-needs. I have always baked a lot and do intend to get back into a weekly baking habit and would need to pull it out of cabinet hibernation in that case. I do not AT ALL regret my KA.

[div_0305]

I use mine a lot. I like baking from scratch because I can bake healthy treats for my family. Nothing I make is available at the store to buy the way I make it. I've seen that a lot of food processors say you can use them for dough, whipping cream, and such, but I got the professional KA mixer before I saw these claims. Even though I use mine a lot, I love clear counters, so I store it in a kitchen cabinet.

[georgiegirl]

I only use mine a few times a year to make sugar cookies and frosting. It was a wedding gift (that I didn't register for).

[hellokitty]

I'm not a big baker either, so I rarely use mine, and add to that, that I don't have enough counter space or a walk in pantry, so my KA lives in the basement and I have to haul it up and down. I find myself reaching for the small handheld mixer if I can get away with it. Luckily, I didn't pay much for my KA, got it for a screaming deal.

[crl]

I use mine a fair bit in spurts. I don't regret it, but I'm not a hundred percent sure I would replace it either. It is heavy and I would never use it if I had to haul it in and out of a cabinet. So in addition to cost, I would consider whether it is worth the countertop real estate.

Catherine

[ncat]

We've had ours almost 18 years and use it once a week or so. We did not use it much at all until we had a big enough kitchen for it to live on the counter. It gets used by dh (with the grinder attachment) to grind meat at least as much as I use it for mixing.

[c&j04]

Hmmm. I may have just been inspired...I have an Artisan model with the old C-hook - is it still worth trying to make our own bread? Do you have a good recipe to share that requires minimal "supervision"?

TEN GRAIN BREAD
1 1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup ten grain hot cereal mix
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP yeast
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp. sugar
4 cups flour

Mix together boiling water and hot cereal. Cool. Mix all remaining ingredients together and knead for about 7 minutes. (7 in KA, hand knead much longer!) Can add a bit more flour if it's too sticky to knead correctly. Let rise and punch down once or twice. Makes two loaves. Bake at 350 for 25 min.

We like this when it's fresh but LOVE it for toast. Super easy, I really don't think it can be messed up:)

[NCGrandma]

Hmmm. I may have just been inspired...I have an Artisan model with the old C-hook - is it still worth trying to make our own bread? Do you have a good recipe to share that requires minimal "supervision"?

Always glad to encourage bread-baking! The C-hook definitely works, too -- the last time I visited my family, I used theirs, and it was fine. (They have my hand-me-down K'aid!) The only major difference is that the dough sometimes rides up on the C-hook enough that you have to stop and push it down, but that is more likely with a large recipe and or very soft dough.

Re: recipes: I usually make something different every time, just for fun, so I'm not the best one to ask. Do you prefer whole wheat or white bread? A combination (maybe 2/3 white flour, 1/3 whole wheat) is usually a hit even with people who say they only like white bread. If you haven't made bread before, you might try one of the basic recipes in the K'aid manual for a start, just to get the feel of it. Most of the bread recipes on the King Arthur Flour website are good and pretty clear, and they have a lot of whole wheat/whole grain options. Once you get the feel of it, oatmeal bread is usually a big hit.

[NCGrandma]

derailing my own thread, what do you bake the bread in? i'd make my own except I'd prefer something that lends itself to sandqich making AND i don't want to use teflon.

I've tried lots of different bread pans, including some pricey models, and keep coming back to the cheapie ones sold in most grocery stores. Can't remember the brands but they usually have a smooth finish but not Teflon. I find that the 8.5" pans are most useful. Even when a recipe calls for a 9" pan, the slightly smaller pan usually produces a better-shaped loaf for sandwiches and toast.

[NCGrandma]

TEN GRAIN BREAD
1 1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup ten grain hot cereal mix
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP yeast
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp. sugar
4 cups flour

Mix together boiling water and hot cereal. Cool. Mix all remaining ingredients together and knead for about 7 minutes. (7 in KA, hand knead much longer!) Can add a bit more flour if it's too sticky to knead correctly. Let rise and punch down once or twice. Makes two loaves. Bake at 350 for 25 min.

We like this when it's fresh but LOVE it for toast. Super easy, I really don't think it can be messed up:)

Sounds yummy! One caveat: be sure to follow the KA mixer instructions and knead on speed #2. I know that some authors suggest using higher speeds but that is really hard on the mixer (it can even burn out the machine), and there's no need to, since it works fine on the lower speeds.

[Ms B]

My KA was a wedding present from the parental units, who got it for free with "points" that my dad had from winning a sales contest at his company. It is over 13 years old now and works as well as it did the day I got it. I am seriously considering getting the flame decals for it, just to liven it up!

Now that The Biscuit is beginning to occupy himself and sleep/nap more regularly, I plan to resume making ice cream, which requires the KA because the ice cream attachment is my ice cream maker. (I do have a separate Cuisinart ice cream maker, but it simply does not produce as high a quality of product as the KA, so it sits unused unless I am doing large or multiple batches, e.g. around the holidays). Before The Biscuit came along I made ice cream and sorbet regularly, especially in the summer when fruit is cheap and good (mmmm . . . peach sorbet . . . sounds like a good prospect for this weekend!!!).

I also use it to make cream cheese based dips and spreads (my food processor never gets the same consistency), frostings when I do bake, holiday gingerbread (impossible with a hand mixer because of its thickness), and gougeres (cheese puffs).

It lives on a baker's rack that also holds my food processors (full size and mini), the blender, my large stockpots, and some other items. The rack used to be in the kitchen, but it has been banished to the dining room until The Biscuit is past the climbing stage. :D

I am a big believer in the right tool for the right job. I do not regret having the KA and would miss it if I did not. However, it is too big or violent for some jobs so that a hand mixer is better (e.g. whipping egg whites for merengues or just a cup of cream) and some jobs just are easier with other tools (e.g. immersion blender for baby food and soups so you can blend right in the pot, food processor for grating and slicing because it is easier to clean than the KA attachments for those tasks).

[nfowife]

I cook and bake a lot. I had one and for 10 years used it only a few times. Finally sold it on CL last year in like a minute! I don't make a lot of bread so maybe that's it. I just feel like anything I make can be done just as easily with my hand mixer or some other tool I already had and used. Just didn't seem worth the trouble to me.

[ncat]

Before The Biscuit came along I made ice cream and sorbet regularly, especially in the summer when fruit is cheap and good (mmmm . . . peach sorbet . . . sounds like a good prospect for this weekend!!!).



please share your sorbet recipe(s) - sounds delicious!

[abh5e8]

yes and no....i have a bosch, not a KA and i use it tons. at least twice a week. i make all our bread (sourdough wheat...yum!). muffins 2-3x per month. cakes not so much. but, i don't leave it out on the counter, it goes in the under corner cabinet (no lazy susan, so TONS of open space). since i usually make 4 big loaves of bread at a time, i would not trade the mixer for anything. nothing else can handle that much sticky sourdough at a time.

[ang79]

My mom has one and loves it (she bakes lots of cookies, cakes, etc.), so when I got married 10 years ago that was her wedding gift to me. I don't use it a ton, mostly for holiday baking. I just don't bake a lot of treats (have been trying to be gluten free for myself and I'm a sucker for eating sweets if they are in the house!). If I make bread I tend to use the bread machine (handed down to me from another family member). Its not something I would have spent the money on for myself, but I guess its nice to have for large batches of cookies. I've used it more than my food processor, that was also a wedding gift, though. My most used kitchen appliances are my blender for smoothies, yogurt maker to make my weekly batch of yogurt, popcorn air popper, and toaster oven. And of course my Keurig :) All of these get used at least weekly.

[MamaMolly]

I love and use my KA mixer a ton. The blender we bought was a waste of money (sadly, also a KA so expensive!!)

[Mommy_Mea]

I use mine about once a week, more around birthdays and holidays. It was a wedding present, and I am not sure if I would have ever spent the money on one otherwise. But I do love having it, it makes baking a lot easier. Our kitchen is tiny with very little counter space, so it is stored in a low cabinet when not in use.

[maestramommy]

I use my standing mixer quite often. Partly because I have become a baker in recent years. I use it to make cakes and frosting.

[lmwbasye]

Mine sits on my counter and I use it constantly. We just moved overseas and even with my tiny tiny kitchen it has a spot on the counter right next to the dang transformer that takes up space as well. Worth it to me, though. :)

[ladysoapmaker]

I have a KA Pro600. It's wonderful. If we don't use it daily, it's close enough. We bake whole wheat bread about every 2 to 3 days and use it to knead. The kids make cookies at least once a week. I make cakes regularly (as does DS#1 for cake balls). I love it for whipping cream, it so easy. I've whipped egg whites for various projects. And I've used it to make marshmallows. I don't think I would have attempted to make those without a stand mixer, I would have been too scared to burn myself with the hot sugar. I will also use it to make mashed potatoes.

I'll take it to our yearly girl scout meeting where we make buckeyes. SIL loves that it will do large batches at a time so we can get several hundred buckeyes made in an afternoon. Last year I & BF took turns with our mixers for this project.

Before I bought my Pro600, I had 2 other KA stand mixers that I stripped the gears on, so if you are going to make breads and other heavy duty doughs go for the mixers with the steel gears, yes they are more expensive but you'll get more use out of it.

Also my mom has a KA mixer that is almost as old as I am and she is still using it regularly.

Jen

[TxCat]

I got mine about 10 years ago for a birthday present. Still works perfectly. I use it about twice a month on average. I love baking from scratch, and basically I never bake anything without it, whether the recipe specifically calls for a mixer or not. I love it for frostings and whipped cream, especially meringue-based frostings. Of all of my kitchen appliances, I use it the most after the coffee maker and iced tea makers. I finally got a second bowl for it this winter, since I was tired of constantly hand washing the bowl over and over again during the holidays (marathon baking sessions). I would get a KA again in a heartbeat.

[KpbS]

OP, it sounds like you would use it a ton. I never did (lots of FA in our family which makes baking complicated) and I love to cook, bake, not so much.

[NCGrandma]

OP, it sounds like you would use it a ton. I never did (lots of FA in our family which makes baking complicated) and I love to cook, bake, not so much.

It's BECAUSE there are so many FAs in my family that they bake so much! It is almost impossible to buy any commercial baked goods that DGD1 can eat, and each of the rest of the family has a different set of allergies (fortunately not as severe).

[essnce629]

DBF's grandparents gave us theirs several years ago, but I've only used it a handful of times to make butter or whipped cream. I could live without no problem.

[Aishe]

yes and no....i have a bosch, not a KA and i use it tons. at least twice a week. i make all our bread (sourdough wheat...yum!). muffins 2-3x per month. cakes not so much. but, i don't leave it out on the counter, it goes in the under corner cabinet (no lazy susan, so TONS of open space). since i usually make 4 big loaves of bread at a time, i would not trade the mixer for anything. nothing else can handle that much sticky sourdough at a time.

I think of the Bosch as a whole different animal. My MIL has one and that thing is amazing! Like you, she makes four big loaves of bread at a time and the Bosch handles it beautifully. If I was a serious bread baker I would definitely choose the Bosch over the Kitchenaid.

[Kindra178]

No. I just stuck mine in the basement. I don't ever bake. IF I were a baker, I would probably use it more.

[buttercup]

can I PM you? I am considering the Bosch. Many Thanks!
yes and no....i have a bosch, not a KA and i use it tons. at least twice a week. i make all our bread (sourdough wheat...yum!). muffins 2-3x per month. cakes not so much. but, i don't leave it out on the counter, it goes in the under corner cabinet (no lazy susan, so TONS of open space). since i usually make 4 big loaves of bread at a time, i would not trade the mixer for anything. nothing else can handle that much sticky sourdough at a time.

[lizzywednesday]

I don't use mine as often as I want to (do not scratch-cook as often as I might if I had a different kind of schedule - I work FT as does DH, though I telecommute 3 of 5 days) but I do use it for cookie doughs.

Mine is a refurbished Artisan, though I'd love to get a new Professional at some point.

We do not keep it on the counter; we bought small IKEA bookshelves/nightstands for cookbook and small appliance storage - I believe they are these:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/44361109/

Prior to that, I kept it in a cabinet, but complained about having to crawl inside & on one occasion got my boobs stuck on the cabinet opening. (No kidding.)