A New Found Love for My K45SS

[ea56]

I purchased my Kitchenaid Classic K45SS in Jan of 2003, used it for a little while and put it on a high shelf and used it very little for the past 10 years.  I didn’t like that I had to scrape the sides of the bowl so often when mixing a cake batter and the flour flying around if I wasn’t careful to start it on stir and quickly turn it off and on for the first 30 secs or so.

 

Well last week I pulled it down to knead some bread dough.  I was so pleased with the results that I put the Dualit toaster up on the same shelf and put the K45 in the Dualit spot (there isn’t room for both).  I figured the Dualit is light and easy to pull down when I want to use it, the K45 is heavy as hell and better left out if I’m going to use it regularly.

 

I ordered a Flex Edge Beater and a pouring shield.  I’ve made two cakes using the new Flex Edge Beater and it is the bomb!  I don’t have to scrape the bowl at ALL and it mixes everything completely, even the very bottom of the bowl which on a K45 can often not mix at all.  The pouring shield cuts down immensely on the contents flying out of the bowl, although its still a good idea to pulse on stir a few times before letting it rip.

 

Yesterday I made the Chocolate Pound Cake recipe from the owners manual and it mixed the batter thoroughly and the cake came out beautifully.

 

So for now I’ve got a new/old toy to experiment with. Making bread is a snap and much less mess.

 

Eddie

 

[justjunque]

Good to know!
I've thought about getting one of those beaters. Of course, when I make a cake, I prefer to use the Sunbeam. But it's nice to know these really work the way they're supposed to!
And that cake looks wonderful!

Barry

 

[rp2813]

Eddie --

Operators of bakeries across the nation use Hobart equipment, so that speaks volumes. 

 

I have my mom's old, old one piece pouring shield on my early '60s K45.  The newer hinged ones are a lot easier to place on top of the bowl with the beater already attached.  With the one piece shield in place, there's not enough room for my big hands to fit between the top of the shield and the mounting post, so the beater goes on first.  Then I have to tilt the shield at various angles around and up over the beater depending on where the post last stopped in its rotation, then I use both hands to lower the mixer head and shield down simultaneously.  Removing the shield and beater after mixing goes in the reverse.  Kind of a PITA.  I may have to spring for a two-piece shield. 

 

I use my aftermarket "flex edge" type beater all the time Eddie, and I never have to scrape the sides either.  I've learned to use the lowest speed combined with slow addition of the flour to prevent it from flying.

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

If you have problems with it not mixing at the bottom of the bowl, there is an adjustment screw described in the owners' manual that will remedy that.

 

[appnut]

Eddie, I got my new Professional 600 fall of 2013.  The Flex Edge beater was a new concept at that time and I got two of them as part of my initial order of the mixer and accessories I wanted (I'd waited 30 years to get a mixer like this).  I think I''ve only used the standard beater once and the rest of the time the enhanced beater.  Glad you finally took the plunge and have a new appreciation for your mixer.  

 

[ea56]

Ralph

I know what you mean about the 2 piece shield being a PITA to use, I had one years ago, used it twice and never again.  The one piece shield is now open in the back about 3” so it’s easily slid off and on.  There is still that small area where flour and liquid can splatter out, but a great improvement anyway.  

 

I think I may try placing a small piece of plastic wrap over that area.  The way it mixes so thoroughly with this flex edge beater there’s no need to reach in anyway with a spatula.  And the opening for pouring makes adding ingredients very easy without having to remove the shield. I’ve attached a link to view the one piece shield.

 

And Tom, yes I know about the adjustment screw, but this flex edge beater works even better it was worth the $12.00 on ebay.

 

Eddie

Loading…

www.target.com

 

[askolover]

I also bought one of the flex beaters for my K45 (just like yours Eddie) and I  really like the results. 

 

[frigilux]

Glad you’re enjoying your KitchenAid, Eddie. It really is tough to beat it for kneading dough. I use the Cuisinart Classic 14 for sandwich loaves and dinner rolls, but the KA is my go-to for heavier doughs like cinnamon rolls, and 100% whole wheat or dark rye loaves.

I bought a flex-edge beater a few years ago at Kitchen Window in Minneapolis, but didn’t even remove it from the packaging when I realized an adjustment would have to be made in (on my machine) bowl height. Was concerned performance of the whisk and dough hook might be compromised.

It’s always a joy to find there’s a new “toy” to play with that’s already on the shelf. Have fun!

The chocolate Bundt cake looks scrumptious.

 

[ozzie908]

Coincidence or what?

I too bought a flex edge beater for my Kenwood Chef it does make it a lot easier you can do something else while it does the work, My mixer came with a shield that is clipped onto the mixer head and has an opening flap to put ingredients etc,
Made my first ever loaf with the Kenwood yesterday as wanted to see if I could save a lot of work and like a fool made a Victoria sponge which came out perfect but while it was cooking the bread over proved so it came out rather dense but for a first attempt it was ok we have a bread maker so don't tend to bake bread but I thought why have a stand mixer sat there doing nothing ??? Practice makes perfect as they say so its make a few more loaves later this week.

Austin

 

[rp2813]

Flat Beaters That Scrape

I don't know the manufacturer of my scraping beater.  It was a gift from Roger (in Tucson) some years ago because he didn't use it.  I did have to tweak the adjusting screw a bit in order to effect the correct distance at the bottom of the mixing bowl.  I never use the regular flat beater anymore, so it's not a problem.

 

I think maybe the adjustment was necessary because these beaters have been on the market for a while but AFAIK none have been sanctioned or produced by KitchenAid.  It sounds like Eddie's Flex Edge shares the same specs with the official KA flat beater so no adjustment is required.

 

[ea56]

FYI

If you decide to make the *Old Fashioned Chocolate Pound Cake recipe from the Kitchenaid owners manual, cut the baking time down from the recommended 1 hr 20 mins and check it at 60 mins for doneness by testing with a toothpick.  I trusted the recipe time, something I almost never do and the cake was a little dry.  The flavor is very good, but I prefer a less dry pound cake.

 

But that being said, this was the first time I’ve ever made a cake with any stand mixer and not had to use a spatula to scrape the bowl.  The flex edge beater is really a great time saver, and my KA required no adjustment to the beater height.

 

Eddie

 

*Correction, the correct name of this recipe is Double Chocolate Pound Cake on page 28 of my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer manual.

[this post was last edited: 6/27/2020-18:42]

 

[mattl]

Just made a chocolate cake with my KA, rarely make cakes but still might pick up one to the scraper beaters.  Looked online for a recipe, seems that most of them are minor variations of the Hershey Choco Cake recipe.  So that is what I made.  Was going to make some butter cream frosting but low on powered sugar so I'll make my favorite cooked frosting, not too much more work.

 

My KA is now sharing the counter with my Nutramill Artiste.  The Artiste is just too big for small batch baking regardless of the claims otherwise.  tried to make some peanut butter cookies last week and the 1/2 c. of butter just got lost in the large bowl.  For my bread recipes the KA was working just too hard so for bread I"ll use the Artiste.

 

Eddie, glad you are getting some use out of your KA.

 

 

[ea56]

I Made This Weeks Bread

two loaves of White Bread fresh out of the oven.  I started at 8:30 am and the bread came out of the oven at 10:50 am. They rose perfectly and I hope they taste as good as they look.

 

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 6/29/2020-13:22]

 

[rp2813]

Beautiful!

Eddie, I'm betting they'll taste even better than they look!

 

[ea56]

Thanks Ralph!  I should mention that I covered the loaves with foil for the last 15 mins to prevent over browning, and brushed them with oil when the came out of the oven.  I allowed them to rise for 30 mins, then another 10-12 mins while the oven preheated to 425 F.  they were about 1 1/2” above the top of the pan when I put them in the oven.  I baked them on the lower rack of the oven.

 

I’m going to make White Bread a few more times to get comfortable with using the KA, then I’ll experiment with partial Whole Wheat bread.  

 

Eddie

 

[frigilux]

The loaves look delicious, Eddie! I know you’re generally a no-knead guy, but using the KitchenAid certainly makes kneading easy.

I think you posted a photo of your hamburger buns in the Shelter In Place cooking thread. They look just like the ones I make. It’s hard to beat a buttered & grilled homemade bun on a burger or in a sandwich.

 

[appnut]

Eddie, I don't think you'll find the experience to be that different with partial whole wheat.  

 

[mattl]

Eddie your bread inspired me to try a multigrain recipe I've been wanting to try.  In addition to the grains it's 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour.  Turned out well but a bit on the heavy side.  I'll make it again but reduce the whole wheat to 1/4 of the total flour.

 

[ea56]

Matt that looks like a nice loaf of Whole Wheat bread.  It’s always a little heavier.  I used to make it 35 years ago and I gave it 2 rises before forming it into loaves for the final rise before baking and that seemed to help a lot in making it not so dense.  Maybe try this and see if you can still keep the higher ratio of whole wheat flour and obtain the lighter texture you would like to achieve.

 

This the recipe I used to use, I wrote it in 1977, back when I still had good penmanship.  I’ll need to give it a try again using the Kitchenaid.

 

BTW, a small can of evaporated milk equaled 6 oz. or 2/3 cup, which is 1/2 of the large cans, which are all thats available now. Also, when I make this recipe again, I think I’d use 2 envelopes of rapid rise yeast and follow the newer method of adding the yeast to the flour and adding the liquid ingredients at 125 to 130 F.  

 

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 6/30/2020-12:43]