Kitchen items you love.

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Gluten free dough is never very stiff, it’s generally a loose consistency but then even that loose consistency is too much for my thumbs.
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I like using my ka for wet doughs because it sticks to my hands too much. They take up space but they are pretty. If you have the room, go for it! Also I LOVE my pasta maker attachment.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
So on the kitchen items you love is a stand mixer worth it? I’ve looked at them many times and just thought I’d rather stick with my hand mixer.
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I wouldn’t go as far as to say I love my stand mixer (KitchenAid, approaching 30 years old), but I do appreciate it and find it indispensable.

Most often, I use it for dough for bread or for pizza, but I’ll make cakes in it (both from scratch and from a box mix), and the frosting (always from scratch).

I use it for cookie dough, though I don’t make a lot of cookies. If I need to whip a lot of cream or a lot of egg whites, out it comes, and I make the occasional cheese ball or three, especially starting this time of year, and it’s good for that.

I didn’t use it much when I first got it, because I wasn’t making much bread then, but once I started making more bread, I found other uses for it, so that now I use it all the time, 2-3 times a week. If I were to stop making bread for whatever reason and the stand mixer died, I use it enough that I’d still replace it.

…and all that isn’t considering the attachments that come with it. I don’t use any of those, but they have grinders, juicers, pasta rollers. I think I even saw a food processor attachment once, which looked weird, but sort of wonderful at the same time.

If my KA were to die, I’d replace it with one of those funky Swedish ones, with the motor on the bottom and the always-open top. Besides the very cool look, one thing I hate about the KA is how you damn near have to take it apart mid-stir to add any ingredients (unless you don’t mind having them distributed all over you and the countertop as well as in the bowl). That mixer, I would absolutely love!
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
So on the kitchen items you love is a stand mixer worth it? I’ve looked at them many times and just thought I’d rather stick with my hand mixer.
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It's a pain to dig out. Had it since early 1980s. Now I basically use my KA for cookie dough. Well worth it. A hand mixer can't handle heavy, sticky, stiff cookie dough.
EDIT to add: The only KA accessories/attachments are a meat grinder (I only used a couple of times) and a copper bowl insert (not available anymore). I used that to make the best meringue for my lemon meringue pies.
 
msmofet said:
It's a pain to dig out. Had it since early 1980s. Now I basically use my KA for cookie dough. Well worth it. A hand mixer can't handle heavy, sticky, stiff cookie dough.
EDIT to add: The only KA accessories/attachments are a meat grinder (I only used a couple of times) and a copper bowl insert (not available anymore). I used that to make the best meringue for my lemon meringue pies.
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Yup, if I didn't have space for it I wouldn't have one. Mine lives on my counter.
 
It’s the attachments I find most appealing. Sausage stuffer, grinder, pasta sheet maker etc
My magimix food processor comes with blades for mixing cake batter and dough, I’ve only tried the dough one once so perhaps I should give it a more thorough run out.

TastyReuben whats the funky Swedish thing you’re referring to?
 
I don’t know given the complaints about Kitchen Aids quality declining (cheaper materials, less durable, breaking down more often) that I’d want a new one.
The old ones have rave reviews though.

I went to John Lewis to get my son a hand mixer and the moment I picked up the Kitchen Aid hand mixer (not stand mixer) it was a no.
It felt flimsy and the motor was half the wattage of the other brands with double the price tag. It almost felt rickety.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I don’t know given the complaints about Kitchen Aids quality declining (cheaper materials, less durable, breaking down more often) that I’d want a new one.
The old ones have rave reviews though.

I went to John Lewis to get my son a hand mixer and the moment I picked up the Kitchen Aid hand mixer (not stand mixer) it was a no.
It felt flimsy and the motor was half the wattage of the other brands with double the price tag. It almost felt rickety.
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They say the new ones have parts made in China. That stink. Like gears made from plastic and break very easily.
 
msmofet said:
They say the new ones have parts made in China. That stink. Like gears made from plastic and break very easily.
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I know they changed the gears from replaceable to a contained unit. I heard the wiring isn’t very good either.
I think it’s so sad when a company compromises quality to the extent they wreck their reputation.
Unless there’s a sharp uturn the only way for them is down 😞
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I know they changed the gears from replaceable to a contained unit. I heard the wiring isn’t very good either.
I think it’s so sad when a company compromises quality to the extent they wreck their reputation.
Unless there’s a sharp uturn the only way for them is down 😞
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From Google:

Hobart stopped manufacturing KitchenAid mixers in 1986 when it sold the KitchenAid residential division to the Whirlpool Corporation. Hobart had been the original manufacturer of the mixers since they were introduced in 1919. Whirlpool has owned and manufactured KitchenAid mixers ever since.
Google Search

I got mine before then.
 
msmofet said:
From Google:

Hobart stopped manufacturing KitchenAid mixers in 1986 when it sold the KitchenAid residential division to the Whirlpool Corporation. Hobart had been the original manufacturer of the mixers since they were introduced in 1919. Whirlpool has owned and manufactured KitchenAid mixers ever since.
Google Search

I got mine before then.
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Interesting, but not surprising 😞
 
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