"Be a Good Mixer"

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Article that appeared in the September, 1939 Better Homes & Gardens issue.

 

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[tomturbomatic]

Thank you for the great article!

Mixers revolutionized cake and dessert making by bringing uniformity to the mixing both in mixing speed and time. Before electric mixers these factors were determined by the cook's strength and stamina. My father's mother kept her Mixmaster under a plastic cover on the counter and I remember being there during the summer when she used it to make frozen desserts. Her Gibson refrigerator only had enough freezer space for the ice cube trays and she made these really delicious frozen desserts that were beat for a certain amount of time then put into the freezing trays until frozen then the frozen mix was put into the large bowl of the Mixmaster and beaten again to incorporate air and refrozen in the same trays. If she bought ice cream or sherbet while we ere there and we did not finish the carton, it had to be scooped into the ice cube tray for storage. People who did not have ready access to a grocery store with freezer chests, and in the 1930s not all grocery stores had them, were able to use their mixers to expand the desserts they could offer their families. Like with so many articles about new appliances, these articles were written to educate and advertise. Every time I became interested in a new appliance like ironers or roaster ovens or the early clothes dryers I would go to these articles to find out information on them.

 

[moderncleveland]

Mixers!

We love our 1971 era Sunbeam mixer. The attachments are terrific on these things, too. But this article got me to thinking ... do they still make and sell mixers these days? Or were those mixers of the 60s and 70s the last hurrah before the Cuisinart, and then the Vita-Mix, and then ... what? Are mixers still part of a well-stocked kitchen?

 

[luxflairguy]

Mixers are still a major part of my kitchen! I have 2 Kitchenaids- a 4C and a classic Plus plus a Sunbeam Mixmaster Power Plus as well as 2 hand mixers! I reach for KA 4-c the most because of it's glass bowl and size (single man). Have 2 Cusinarts as well as a plethora of other kitchen electrics... Some that get used regulary, others that have a coating of coating of dust on them...Greg

 

[ea56]

I’ve always been fascinated by mixers of all types. When I was a little kid Mom had a Dormeyer stand mixer that was always on the kitchen counter, with the juicer attachment on top. Once when I was about 5 and my brother was about 3 1/2 Mom had some small bowls of pudding cooling on the counter. There was also a package of Hostess Snowballs nearby. Joe and I got the bright idea to see if we could mix the pudding and the Snowballs together and create a new dessert treat. So I emptied the pudding into the mixer bowl and Joe added the Snowballs and I turned the mixer on. Well, all went well until Joe wanted a taste and stuck his finger into the bowl getting it caught in the beaters, which seized up making a loud hum to go along with Joe’s screams of pain. Mom came flying into the kitchen to see what was going on, quickly pulled the plug on the Dormeyer and extricated Joe’s finger. She then said, “ I can’t leave you GD kids alone for a minute without you getting in some kind of trouble”. That ended the cooking lesson of the day.

Like Greg, I also have several mixers. A 60th Anniversary Sunbeam Mixmaster, a Sunbeam Euro Style Mixmaster from the early 90’s, a Kitchen-aid Classic stand mixer, 3 Kitchen-aid 5 speed hand mixers one from each generation, a vintage GE hand mixer from the early 60’s and a vintage Sunbeam hand mixer from the early 90’s and an Oster Osterette single speed hand mixer from the early 50’s.

And the one that I use all the time, everyday for everything that requires a mixer is my first generation Kitchen Aid 5 speed hand mixer. Its handy as hell. I have two sets of beaters, the original beaters and a pair of the new Flex Edge beaters which are great for mashing potatoes and beating cake batter, plus dough hooks that I use for making yeast bread doughs.

I’ve always had a fondness for hand mixers because when I was a child in the 50’s they were an new kitchen small appliance and advertised on TV all the time. I begged Mom to get a hand mixer. She said the Dormeyer stand mixer was all she needed. Then finally in about 1965 she got a Sunbeam hand mixer with Blue Chip stamps and I was a happy camper.

Eddie

 

[petek]

Back in that time any electric mixer was still a somewhat luxury appliance and I'm not surprised they even mention getting a second electric hand mixer for smaller jobs. But it is advertizing after all.

 

[petek]

Like many here I have a plethora of vintage hand and stand mixers which I've been slowly downsizing on. Most I've never used other than to make sure they worked. I keep a vintage portable in a kitchen drawer for whipping potatoes occasionally and I have my Bosch Universal and Bosch Compact on my kitchen appliance shelf for making bread. I love the Bosch Compact so much that I seldom use the big Bosch anymore. And they just discontinued selling it in N.America. It's an amazing little stand mixer that can outperform bigger mixers and only weighs about 5lbs.

 

[mattl]

Mixers

I've got  a collection of Mixmaster Jr.'s only missing pink.  Got a few 50's and 60's Mixmasters in white and  yellow. For daily use I have a 5qt KA and a NutriMill Artiste that I use for bread with  the Bosch stainless bread kneading bowl. I have all the special mixer components for the Artiste but think the KA does  better job with batters and cookie dough.

 

Our old friend Kelly swore the Mixmaster beat egg whites better but I think the KA has it beat, and I do a lot of chiffon cakes so I beat a lot of egg whites.

 

[chachp]

The stuff we did as kids

 

<span style="font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">Eddie,</span>

<span style="font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">Your story reminds me of what my little sister and I did when we were younger.  My Mom was always into fancy drapery including over the kitchen sink.  I’m sure in retrospect she thought that was a bad idea but it was what it was.  She often covered the bottoms with plastic bags to protect them if she thought something might splash.  Anyway, my Mom and Dad were out of town and my little sister and I decided to make some whip-n-chill.  Some form of red color. Know where this is going?  Anybody remember that stuff?</span>

<span style="font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: 'American Typewriter', serif;">Well my Mom had a Kitchen Aid mixer that was always on the counter so we added the ingredients to the bowl and my little sister who was up on the counter at this point flipped the switch to high.  It must have had the beater bar in it because that red color was splashing out of the bowl all over the place including those curtains above the window.  What a mess.  Oh the stuff we did when we were kids.</span>

 

[foraloysius]

Pete

The Bosch compact you and I have are being phased out. Overhere in Europe there is a lot of old stuff they are selling, but new models have appeared on the market, including a new compact.

https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/products/kitchen-machines

 

[Ultramatic]

Better Homes and Gardens March, 1958

 

 

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[petek]

I hope they bring the new Bosch Compact over here. In those pictures they look a lot like the Styleline model which was sold here up until a few years ago and then disappeared for some reason unbeknownst to me. It's odd that they haven't sold the Universal in the UK. And I'm also wondering why they brought out a new planetary mixer which I don't think they've ever had before. That's a bit odd as well seeing as for decades they've been touting the superiority of the Universal over planetary mixers.

 

[foraloysius]

The MUM9 series has the same system as the smaller models, so not a planetary system like the KitchenAid.

 

[petek]

LOuis. You're right I think they refer to it as orbital? I was watching my Compact kneading dough and think I know why it does such a good job compared to a planetary style mixer. For starters the dough hook is thinner (on the compact) and secondly because of the hook design and that orbital action it sort of lifts the dough up on an angle towards the side of the bowl rather than pushing it horizontally and directly against the side of the bowl so there is less resistance .

 

[Ultramatic]

Better Homes and Gardens November, 1933

 

 

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[foraloysius]

Pete,

Bosch is confusing the consumers by using several names for their mixing action. Have a look at the British Bosch site.

https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/products/kitchen-machines/mum-kitchen-machines

If you scroll down and click on "Go to all technical information" you can see all models have 3D planetary mixing. They have used it in the past too, but not as much as now IIRC.

If you click on "Show all technical data" and then on "Produces excellent results" there it says 3D planetary mixing or multimotion drive. Two names for the same mixing action. You can even find these differences within the MUM5 series. Perhaps it's a marketing strategy.

Here's a picture of the UM4, the first compact Bosch, IIRC introduced in 1978. Basically the same design for 45 years.

 

[bradfordwhite]

It's amazing the journey a product takes from being a revolutionary invention everyone wants/needs to old and very few people want it.

It's those of us who develop attachments to, or memories of, such appliances that keep them alive long after the company has scrapped the design or perhaps even gone out of business.

Some products it can take years- decades even; others can be incredibly short lived.

Mixers (and toasters, and basic drip coffee makers) are considered throw-away items now and can be bought for $7 at Walmart and some grocery store.

 

[luxflairguy]

EXCUSE ME! I use one of my 3 stand mixers on a daily basis as well as my 2 hand mixers a lot! How dare you "assume" that people don't use a mixer anymore! There are 2 or 3 different threads right now on AW about mixers! Mixers are the #1 requested item for wedding gifts and fly off the shelfs! Stop spreading your false assumptions! Get a life!

 

[ea56]

You said it Greg! I use my 5 speed Kitchenaid hand mixer almost every day too. You’re absolutely correct about mixers being one the most wanted wedding gifts too. Just about every registry wish list for a prospective couple includes a coveted KA Stand mixer.

Eddie