Inspired by floridafam--What do you use your KitchenAid Mixer for?

[NMAmy]

Ok, I didn't want to hijack floridafam's thread but something has been bugging me for a couple of months now and I figured you folks are the ones to set me straight.

DH asked me if I wanted a KitchenAid mixer. I think he saw that they were advertised a lot so perhaps I might want one.

Frankly, I have no idea what you would use it for and it seems like a heck of a lot of money for something I might only use once or twice a year. I could see if you made a lot of bread that it might come in handy but what else do you use it for?

Enlighten me, o smart DIS'ers!

 

[ducklite]

Cookie dough, potatoes, cakes, the usual. I don't do bread dough in it, as I have a bread machine.

Anne

 

[NMAmy]

Cookie dough, potatoes, cakes, the usual. I don't do bread dough in it, as I have a bread machine.

Anne

Thanks, Anne, but can you tell me why it's better than a hand mixer?

 

[Castlebound]

Bread
mashed potatoes
cookies
cakes
pizza dough
Whipping cream and/or egg whites

Those are a few I just came up with. My mom didn't understand what all the fuss was about until my dad got her one and now she loves it. If you don't do a lot of baking a nice handheld mixer might work great for you.

 

[ducklite]

Thanks, Anne, but can you tell me why it's better than a hand mixer?

Four reasons--My arm doesn't get tired holding it. It's a lot more powerful. If I want to stop and actually walk away in the middle of mixing something, I can do so without having to worry about drips running off the beaters all over the place. And last, I can turn it on and let it do it's thing while I'm working on something else and just stop back to scrape/check every 30 seconds or so. It's a real time saver, often like a second pair of hands.

Anne

 

[Bob Slydell]

Ours looks nice in the pantry.

I think we've used it three times (it was a wedding gift). We don't like a lot of things on the counter and 99% of the time it's more work to drag it out and set it up, rather than use a hand mixer, so we use the hand mixer.

 

[Beth76]

Frankly, I have no idea what you would use it for and it seems like a heck of a lot of money for something I might only use once or twice a year.

Well, if you only use your current mixer only once or twice a year, then it definitely wouldn't be worth it to you. As far as what you use it for...it's just a regular mixer only better. So whatever you would use a mixer for, you would use the kitchen aid. I use mine all the time and I love it. Mostly for baking things. I don't use it for bread because I use my bread machine for that. But, I bake a lot, so I do use it a lot.

 

[NMAmy]

Four reasons--My arm doesn't get tired holding it. It's a lot more powerful. If I want to stop and actually walk away in the middle of mixing something, I can do so without having to worry about drips running off the beaters all over the place. And last, I can turn it on and let it do it's thing while I'm working on something else and just stop back to scrape/check every 30 seconds or so. It's a real time saver, often like a second pair of hands.

Anne

Thanks so much to both you and Castlebound. I'm sure it seems silly but I just could not figure this out! I'm not a big baker so I think I'll stick with the handheld.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I love it for my family icing recipe that takes beating on high for 8 minutes. I turn it on, put on the timer and do something else.

It makes the great mashed potatoes too.

 

[agotta]

I LOVE my Kitchen Aid. It was a wedding gift from my grandmother. I had wanted one for years. I know it will last me forever and I use it all the time. It is very high quality and I love to bake. I am also hoping to get the pasta maker attachment for it so I can start making my own. Ours is black but I love this one

 

[Keli]

I LOVE my kitchen aid and I'm not a big baker, as a matter of fact I'm only a fair cook. It's the only mixer I have (dumped the other one when I got this one). I love being able to throw the boiled potatoes in it with a little milk and butter and coming back a couple minutes later to perfect mashed potaotes. I like leaving it doing the work with cakes while I grease the pan or some other chore. It really is a time saver and more than that, it's an arm saver, lol. My other mixers never mixed things as well or as quickly.

 

[hercamore]

IHi Amy,

I don't have a kitchen Aid either. I hae an old Sunbeam stand mixer (rarely used) and a 3 yo Cuisanart handheld.

I tried to convince myself I "needed" a Kitchen aid stand, but I really am happy with the handheld. Takes no space and does all the jobs well. I don't bake bread, however.

Kitchen Aid makes good products tho. I have a Kitchen Aid chopper that I use more than my mixer!.

herc.

 

[NMAmy]

Ours looks nice in the pantry.

I think we've used it three times (it was a wedding gift). We don't like a lot of things on the counter and 99% of the time it's more work to drag it out and set it up, rather than use a hand mixer, so we use the hand mixer.

I'm kind of afraid this is what would happen at my house, too. I use the hand mixer several times a week but I think it would be a pain to drag a big mixer out and I don't like stuff on my counter, either.

 

[helenabear]

I like baking, so I use mine for bread, cakes and mashed potatoes mostly. Of course there are a couple cookie recipes that require mixing by the machine so those I will use it for as well.

I have never had a mixer that could swallow as much volume as that one, nor work as hard. That thing is nearly indestructable and I love that it has a built in "switch" so that it will never over heat/work itself.

I think a hand mixer is a waste of space for me (I'd never use it) so my kitchen aid sits on my counter proudly

 

[stinkerbelle]

I bought my mother the 'pink' one (she insisted on the pink one)...she uses is mostly around the holidays when she does alot of baking. I'll eventually inherit that I think.

I couldn't imagine pulling that sucker out though to make mashed potatoes...my hand mixer (kitchenaid - I splurged on that last year) works just fine for that.

 

[laura001]

I absolutely love my Kitchenaide Mixer. I had asked for one for years, my hubby wouldn't buy it for me so my boss did....lol! It is the best gift I have ever received. I use it all the time, anything you would normally mix you can do with this. It is left on my counter and is so easy to clean up.

I love the fact that I can put something in it and walk away or add things to the mix without trying to hang on to everything, for everyday use, it makes great mashed potatoes and whips up whipping cream so quickly and easily.

I wouldn't go without it!!

 

[Jennifer S]

I love mine. I just wanted to add they last! I have had it 13 years. Got it for a wedding present. I do bake alot though.

 

[Molly Meow]

I use mine for making pizza dough. My hand mixer can't handle it. It used to take me 1/2 hour to mix it by hand and my arms would be killing me.

Needless to say, I make pizza a lot more now!

I love it. It was an early Christmas gift from my mom.

 

[princess pooh]

I got the pink one a few years ago for my birthday and I think I've used it twice. I've been banned from baking after a nasty incident with a Betty Crocker cake mix and a silicone baking pan, so it's purely decorative now.

 

[Buttercup26]

I don't like stuff on my counters either, but my Kitchen-Aid does sit out on mine! I use it almost every day. I don't think I will ever use a hand mixer again. I use mine for mashed potatoes, pancake/waffle/muffin batter, to mix scrambled eggs/omlettes (they come out very light & fluffy!) cookie dough, cake batter, etc..

Also when I make marinara sauce I use a combination of diced fresh tomatoes,canned Italian tomatoes, and tomatoe sauce. I dump all my tomato 'stuff' and my crushed garlic, diced onion, spices, etc.. in the Kitchen-Aid bowl and mix it up really well before simmering. It gives the sauce a really nice consistency, slightly chunky, but definitely incorporated into a sauce.

IMO the Kitchen-Aid not only is a time (and arm) saver, it also actually mixes much better than any hand mixer I've tried.