What do you use your Kitchenaid mixer for?

[left210]

I recently received my Moms kitchenaid mixer. I have no idea what to use it for. I usually just pull out my handheld mixer for things. So can you give me some ideas on what to use it for?

 

[KTSMOM]

I use mine for almost all of my baking, especially my breads. I love it!

 

[JandJ]

All sorts of baking, but it's especially wonderful for buttercream frosting! Also, cookie dough, but be careful not to overmix. I really like it for mashed potatoes.

 

[CherylA]

I use mine for everything. I haven't taken out my hand mixer in years! Brownie mixes, chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, mashed potatos. The only thing I don't use it for is bread. I have a bread maker that I use on the dough setting to make my bread dough. That way I never have to knead!

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

I recently received my Moms kitchenaid mixer. I have no idea what to use it for. I usually just pull out my handheld mixer for things. So can you give me some ideas on what to use it for?

I have the kind of kitchen aid mixer that the bowl fits in the cradle and is lifted up to the beaters, not the kind that the beater & head lift away from the bowl.

It was a gift from my parents and probably, aside from my microwave, is the kitchen tool I use the most.

Many recipes call for a strong stand mixer because they need a lot of mixing:

Kneading bread dough/pizza dough
(OMG- it's so easy & cheap to make your own french bread, as well as pizza crust, and once you have tasted the yumminess- you'll be hooked!

mixing pound cake (my recipe calls for 3 sticks butter & 1 brick cream cheese
whipped for 10 minutes before gradually adding sugar in... )
homemade baked goods make awesome (inexpensive!) holiday gifts and my extended family fights over my pound cakes.

Making italian meringue buttercream
whipping cream, whipping egg whites for meringue
making American buttercream (Wilton recommends you not use a hand-mixer)
(no need to shell out the big bucks for blah tasting bakery birthday cakes when you can make something that tastes 10 X better and looks just as good )

using the grinding attachment:
grinding nuts, spices, citron for Christmas cookies with uniform texture
making your own nut flours

grinding fresh venison burger, or turkey burger, or any kind of meat
(hello... low fat healthy eating, and if a family member hunts, then your venison burger is free too )

using pasta extruder:
making fresh lasagna noodles, spaghetti, linguini & egg noodles
(gourmet pastas anyone? )

I love my kitchen aid- it's at least 10 years old now, still going strong and I hope it lasts forever.


lol, I almost forgot, like PP, mashed potatoes- creamy, red skin
(leave the skin on for more vitamins) cream cheese mashed potatoes ... drooling!

 

[okeydokey]

All my baking, cookies, cakes, bread, ice cream, meatloaf and meatballs, whipped cream, egg whites. Love that machine.

 

[labdogs42]

Cookies, mostly, I guess I need to break it out more often! Who knoew it had so many other uses?

 

[Fly4free]

I use it often. It was a shower gift from my mom, 16 yrs. ago!

My daughter loves mashed potatos . I especially love the red skin as one pp already said. We make cookies, brownies, cakes and occasionally yeast dough. I have a dough hook.

I was planning on using it today to make some banana bread.

 

[jojo9610]

If I could only have one small appliance in my kitchen it would be my Kitchen Aid. I use it for baking, I use it for making fondant, I use it for making sausage, I just took a pasta class last week so I can't wait to start making fresh pasta.

 

[3goofyboys]

I use it for everything! I don't even have a hand mixer because my KitchenAid takes care of everything. My favorite use is kneading bread dough. Who has time to knead for 8-10 minutes? With my mixer, it kneads while I work on other things.

 

[SeansMom]

You can also get attachments. I've heard good reviews about the ice cream maker attachment, but we have a small freezer so I don't have personal opinion...maybe somebody else here does???

I'm not much of a baker/cook, so mine doesn't get used much. However, since it was a gift, I'll keep it .

 

[JamesMom]

I use mine almost daily now that I cook more at home. Just last week I used it for a cake, yeast rolls and mashed potatoes. Probably will find more uses for it as we go along.

 

[amylynne01]

I use mine for baking like many pps, but I also use it for meatloaf and meatballs. I can easily make double or triple batches for my freezer, and I don't get a lot of meat on my hands!

 

[3boymthr]

I use it for all the stuff above and one more - apple sauce. (Just boil the cored/peeled apples until soft, dump in the bowl and whip until mush - salt and cinnamon to taste).

My mother has a meat grinding attachment and makes venison sausage (she also has the sausage stuffing attachment), ground ham, etc. She also uses the grinding attachment to grind the ingredients for mincemeat. Finally, she uses the mixer for mashing her boiled squash and turnips.

 

[Teacher03]

I use mine for baking like many pps, but I also use it for meatloaf and meatballs. I can easily make double or triple batches for my freezer, and I don't get a lot of meat on my hands!

I was going to post the same thing. I love my Kitchenaid, I can't remember when I last used my hand held mixer.

 

[princessfionasmom]

I am embarrassed to say that I hardly ever use mine, mainly because I don't have any good recipes. My husband gave it to me last Xmas and I was so excited to get it and use it. After reading this I'm going to dig it out and see if I can find some good recipes. Anyone have any recipes they want to share or know a good website to get some?
Thanks!

 

[graygables]

I remodeled my kitchen in Ohio around my Kitchenaid mixer. It had its own "home" on the countertop and my colors were chosen to match the lovely shade of green. Sadly, that one died (it was a hand-me-down from my parents), so I replaced it with a nice, neutral, professional-size nickle color.

I use it for pretty much everything that everyone has mentioned, particularly bread. Who needs a bread machine? Toss in the stuff, let it mix/knead, set it to rise, divide into two loaf pans, let them rise, bake, voila.

Cookies, cakes, any kind of baked goods, mashed potatoes are fluffy and easy.

I also have the grinder attachment and sausage stuffer. We make sauerkraut balls every year for Christmas, so the grinder is a necessity.

 

[arminnie]

Cookies:
2 c butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 T vanilla
5 c flour

This makes great rollout cookies. If you let it come to room temperature and get kind of soft it can be used in a cookie press.

These are great when tinted for Halloween or Christmas cutouts. One of the few cutout cookies that actually tastes good. Note: no baking powder or baking soda which would tend to make roll-out cookies lose their shape when baked.

I like to use a cookie press to make star shapes and put a pecan half or a candied cherry (I use red for some, green for others) on top.

The cookie tastes different depending on how thick you roll the dough. Very thin makes a crisp cookie. Thicker makes for a softer cookie.

I've made these for decades, and people beg for these or reminisce when I gave them a large tin of them for Christmas years ago.

 

[fallcolors]

So much easier than a hand mixer. You can add the ingredients and the mixer does all the work and so much more efficient. Go to the Kitchenaid website for more ideas.

 

[omghidanielle]

I make a cake almost every single month for people at work. A hand mixer would work wonderfully in this situation, but I don't always have the time. Set it, and forget it (for a few minutes...haha)