Could I live without my Stand-Up Mixer?

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daveamkrayoguy

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It's heavy, as the head of it is made of cast iron under the plastic or steel casing... Other than whatever attachments came with it which I don't know what happened to, I'm sure there are a lot out there which would have to be bought separately and expensively...

And my baking things from scratch seem to be long over, otherwise there's my blender though mainly for making milkshakes and my food processor which also I never use and my daughter has her own...

My daughter mixes stuff she bakes mostly by hand, though she cleaned up the mixer and wants to bring it over to a friend's house in a couple of days so I packed it in a box, joined by the bowl, beater, dough hook I put in there and whisk and the parchment paper she packed...

The empty counterspace sure looks nice, and too nice to put a big, bulky and heavy appliance of which my wife's relatives including her late-mother are traditional Kitchen Aid mixer owners and users...

-- Dave

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I use my 30+yo KA all the time.  It was joined a few years ago by my frequently used Bosch made Nutramill mixer. I real only use it with the stainless bowl and the bread kneading claw made for the Bosh version. I make a heavier sour dough bread that strained the KA but the Nutramill easily does the job.
 
For quite some time I felt that using my KA stand mixer was more of a PITA than a convenience because it took up so much space and wasn’t as handy as my KA 5 speed hand mixer.

Then about 13 mo. ago I decided to give it a try again for making bread. I’ve been baking all of our bread since the beginning of 2018. Happily I discovered that bread making became a breeze using the KA stand mixer to knead the dough with the bread hook. I tweaked my Whole Wheat bread recipe to the stand mixer and now I wouldn’t go back to making our weekly bread without the KA Stand mixer.

Here is my Master Bread recipe that makes perfect loaves, rolls or hot dog and hamburger buns every time. It’s got a nice soft texture and stays fresh for 5 days is kept well wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a plastic bag. I have a nice bamboo bread slicing guide that makes perfectly uniform slices and I slice the loaves after they have cooled for about 2 hours.

Eddie

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Like I said the additional attachments for my KA are missing at the moment, and given that I never used them it's unlikely I'll order or buy any additional sold separately...

If all I need is "just a mixer", here's a Hamilton Beach a friend of mine has... But I don't miss the heft and bulk, so a hand mixer I can use and put away will do, of which maybe my late-mom might still keep at her house if I want to root around for it there, but then it's another appliance I need to find room for in my over-filled cabinet and cupboard space and will have to take out and put back...

When I made chess pie, my blender did the job, so another pie shell in my freezer, I can fill with the ingredients for, or mix another pumpkin purée that way as I did with a previous one...

We have two food processors, one on a closet shelf and another which is my daughter's on a small counter spot next to our toaster oven and toaster, the latter I think can go on our counter there... The toaster oven is another appliance I can sometimes exist without--don't get trusted performance from...

I even wish I had a better juicer, one with a lever I saw online that holds the fruit halves I'm squeezing better than just my own slipping hand...

So thank you all for your input, on this and my other thoughts on this...

-- Dave

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Latest Update to My Bread Baking Routine

With the price of eggs literally outta site last month I began tweaking my master bread recipe to eliminate eggs. I also had been watching several YT videos about making bread dough without using a mixer and kneading by hand instead. Everything I watched seemed like even though more hands on labor is required in the end the process was more simplified. Plus, I like doing things with my hands, I find it to be therapeutic.

So this is what I came up with and I have to say that I haven’t enjoyed baking bread more and I’ve been baking all of our bread since the beginning of 2018.

The only tools need are a 6qt.bowl, a large wooden spoon, whisk, plastic bowl scraper, I use the handle of the wooden spoon to mix the dough in the bowl until in begins to clean the sides of the bowl, then I use the bowl scraper to clean the sides of the bowl and finish forming the dough in the bowl with my hands. Then I turn the dough out onto the clean counter top and begin kneading for a full 10 mins, until it passes the “windowpane test” by stretching a small corner of the dough with my fingers until I can see light through it and it doesn’t tear, this assures the proper level of gluten has been developed. It is EXTREMELY important to NOT use any flour on the counter! This will dry out the dough and the finished bread. Instead use a bit of oil in the work surface and on your hands. If the dough sticks on the work surface use the plastic scraper to scrap it off the counter and back into the dough ball. As you knead the dough will become less tacky and more elastic.

Then I place the dough ball back into the same bowl that the dough was mixed in, oiling it first and turning the dough over to coat both sides, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Then punch down the dough to deflate the air, divide in half, weigh each half to assure each loaf will be equal in size. Again DO NOT flour the work surface, if your dough has been properly kneaded it will not be overly sticky. Form each half into a rectangle appox. 9”x12”, then roll up tightly, sealing with the heel of my hand after each turn, and then pinching the seam and the ends to seal and place each formed loaf into a 9.25”x5.25” loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until 1.5” above the top of the pans, approx. 45 to 70 mins depending upon how warm the kitchen is. At about the 35 min mark begin preheating the oven to 425 F. Place the fully risen loaves carefully into the oven and the IMMEDIATELY reduce the temp to 350F (this will assure maximum oven lift) and bake for 30 mins. Remove the baked loaves from the pans and place on a wire rack to cool and brush the tops with soft butter.

When FULLY cooled to room temp. I slice each loaf using a bread slicing guide and them wrap each loaf tightly in plastic wrap, them place in a plastic bag and then place into a 1 gal Ziplock bag and place one loaf in the freezer for later and keep the other loaf in the bread box still wrapped and in the Ziplock bag. This bread stays nice and fresh for 4 to 5 days at room temp as long as I keep it wrapped and instructed above.

I don’t think I’ll be going back to using my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer to make bread dough after this. The quality of the bread is far superior and the whole process is relaxing and takes no more time than using the mixer and there is less to cleanup to.

I hope that some of you that enjoy baking bread will give this a try.

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 3/27/2025-13:21]

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HEB had dzn for $3.98 or some such $3.9x price yesterday IIRC.  Online says $4.14 but that includes some cents upcharge for curb pickup convenience based on other items for which I know the in-store price.  WM shows $3.98.  Is that still at the "outta sight" levels?  I haven't bought eggs since 1/4/25, were $4.53 @ WM.
 
I paid $7.19 for a doz eggs on Monday at Target, to me that’s outta sight. They were $7.49 a week ago and $7.99 two weeks ago. So they’re going down, but still too high. We pay much higher prices in California than in most of the rest of the country.

Eddie
 
$7.39 for 18 pack yesterday at Kroger.

 

Been making bread for a decade or two, 95% egg free.  I used to knead by hand but once I got the Nutramill version of the Bosch mixer I never looked back. While the unit came with a dough hook I bought the Bosch SS bread bowl and the dough claw- can handle dough for 5 loaves I've been told.

 

Eddie, I prefer a freestanding loaf, my go to is County French from King Arthur.  Very similar to your recipe but an extra step or two, and I'd guess a bit more flour. I bought a steam oven for my bread but find I prefer using my cast iron cloche.

 

I do have a sweet rich egg dough I use for poppy seed and nut rolls, cinnamon rolls too, but only make those occasionally.
 
Well now away goes another single-use, seldom-used appliance:

My coffee maker...

Coffee will just from now on, only be made on the stove...

(Found hard to give up drinking, as per another thread)

Miss the time display though!

-- Dave

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Ill chime in

I have more than 150 mixers even after getting rid of a ton, i can truly say If I had to I could get by perfectly well with a good portable, I have all sorts of vintage ones, but I also have a new Brevelle that will do almost everything a stand mixer will do, Now IF I had to get rid of all but one stand mixer Id keep my chrome Sunbeam 11.
 
P.S.

Well my mom’s GE that a neighbor gave her replacing the Sunbeam she long had couldn’t be found…

Makes me wonder if my sister has it, maybe in need of replacing what ever mixer (presumably a hand mixer) that she had owned and been using…

And yes, the big, bulky KA is back, seeing as how as came home my daughter with it, so did it placed back on the counter, whereas the coffee maker being taken off, only recent!

— Dave
 
I put my Kitchenaid Stand mixer back in the cabinet above our refrigerator this afternoon. The only thing that I really had been using it for was to knead bread dough. Now that I’ve rediscovered the pleasure of kneading yeast dough by hand and the superior quality of the finished bread I doubt that I’ll be going back to using the stand mixer.

Now when I bake bread it takes me no longer than using the mixer, but it’s more hands on and way more relaxing! And the clean up is quicker too.

I actually prefer using my Kitchenaid Ultra 5 speed hand mixer for anything that requires a mixer. It’s more handy, quieter and easier to use than the big stand mixer.

Eddie
 
I like our KitchenAid 600 for heavy cookie dough and such.

For regular cakes and lighter batters, I find our Sunbeam Mixmaster model 5 easier to use. It's very convenient to be able to scrape the bowl down while it's spinning.

When I was a kid back in the 1960s, my mom used a GE handheld mixer for everything, and every couple of years she would kill it, and I'd break out the Sunbeam model 5 I got at a garage sale for $5. Today that Sunbeam mixer is 86 years old, has not been restored, and still runs like new.
 
Good old American manufacturing at its finest.

I'm about to open my KA Mixer up and change the grease. I got a new genuine WP gear for it just in case I find a lot of wear inside so I don't have to do the job twice. It's a Hobart so it's pretty old. I got it cheap off eBay a few years ago. It looked rough so I sanded it down and repainted it with appliance epoxy paint. But now I'm thinking of changing it again to red so it will match my enameled cast iron. I use it for oatmeal raisin cookies, carrot cake, and homemade chicken and dumplings. I say I will use it more when I retire because I will cook more.
 
Well here  I go again.  KA is having a sale so I added a red cordless 7 speed hand held to my collection. I was making a Karpatka last weekend, used my $14 Aldi cordless mixer and it made a mess on my cooktop. It's got to go.

 

What's a Karpatka? See the link below.

 

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