Planetary vs Dual Beater Mixers

[hunter]

"Cake Bible"

I use this book as a reference, but interestingly enough, have never made many of the recipes in there.

They just aren't to my taste.

However, I DO use some of her components - like the icing recipes, and such.

And the interchange charts about ingredients are invaluable if you are working for people with allergies. Example: for my gluten intolerant wife, I calculated how much protein was in high gluten flours and made equivalent substitutions with gelatin. It gives better results, especially as she cannot eat eggs.

Personally I prefer to use the creaming and emulsion method when making cakes, unless I'm just using a cake mix which does happen sometimes. (but then I usually taste it and say 'I prefer my homemade ones and they are cheaper!')

 

[kenwashesmonday]

We use the old Sunbeam Mixmaster model 5 for regular cakes mainly because it's so easy to scrape the bowl while it's mixing.  The Kitchenaid 600 comes out for cookies and bread.

 

Ken D.

 

[mattl]

I guess the question that comes to mind is is there a "holy grail" of Sunbeam Mixmasters?  Had Sunbeams growing up, switched to Ronson in the early 70's then on to KA.  If I were to add one more Mixmaster to my collection what should it be?

 

[norgeway]

RONSON!

I wish I could find one of those Ronson built in units!

 

[kenwashesmonday]

MattL wrote: "If I were to add one more Mixmaster to my collection what should it be?"

 

I like the model 7, the first one with the beater ejector.  The beaters get a little stuck in my model 5 sometimes, it helps to rub a tiny hint of veggie oil on the snap rings before inserting them.

 

I assume most of you guys have seen this wonderful site:

http://www.angelfire.com/home/flexibleshaft/SunbeamFoyer.html

 

[petek]

Problem with the Ronson built ins is parts/attachements are much more difficult to find that the Nutones.

 

[launderess]

@hunter

Try Rose Levy's "Cake Bible" cheesecake,it is divine.

Made the banana/sour cream version for this past Easter and it was a huge hit.

Yes, will agree the CB is a great resource. Her charts regarding measurements and weights have become my go to point. Weighting out ingredients is so much easier and one can have baking day over with faster.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

My Kitchen Aid is a single-blade (I guess "planetary") mixer...!

I do find myself scraping unmixed batter & blending it in w/ the mixture as I pur it from the bowl to the pan...

I really thought I was going to buy a cheap-o two blade hand-held design, but for most, I'm satisfied w/ my table-top model...!

Just think we could have been a bit more creative on the color!

-- Dave

 

[jetcone]

Kelly

Love that idea for switching beaters on the KA! Will try that as I do love the cake batter out of my Sunbeam 10 & 11 better, it seems lighter to me.
Kelly, did you make our birthday cakes with Kevin's KA or his Sunbeam?? They were moist and light all the way,well at least the piece I was able to scarf down before Gansky inhaled my devils food cake!

Has anyone fooled around with that high powered Electrolux where the paddles are stationary and the bowl turns underneath?? They come up on flea bay every so often.

 

[petek]

The Electrolux Assistent. I've seen them demo'd before but never used one and from some other mixer sites seems like they have a long learning curve. Here's a pretty good video demo, seems like a lot of manual intervention required for my liking. The Bosch Universal is way way easier to use and just as capable and less $

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[thomasortega]

I have the Electrolux Assistent!

I simply love it!

It's really expensive (well, for me it wasn't because I got it for free) but I spent a lot of money purchasing all of it's optional attachments)

The performance is simply amazing, specially with huge recipes that my KA mixer can't stand.

It looks a likke bit complicated, but actually it's too simple to use and easy to clean.
It also has the best pasta maker I've ever used. The motor is uncomparably strong.

I just hope Electrolux keep making them excellent as they are, not those modern crap they are making.

 

[tolivac]

Electrolux Assistant-sounds like an interesting machine-designed for bakers and bread makers.Have seen them sold from catalogs.-High end cooking ones-think Williams Sonoma had Assistants at one time.And there is a hardware store of attachments for these machines.Love how the meat grinder works-you lay the Assistant base on its side so the bowel drive turns the grinder-the beast looks tough enough to grind a seasons worth of deermeat!Worm drives are good-have a worn drive skilsaw-cuts anything with the right blade.worm drive have good torque transfer.Would like to find one of these "free".Maybe thats how Electrolux should distribute the machine----Free-but you pay for the parts!Would be unique.How does the machine accomadate thin batters?

 

[mixfinder]

Which

Jon,
Kevin has an Ultra Power from Kitcheniad in the hammered steel look. Andy brought a model 7 Sunbeam with him, complete with a juicer attachment. I used the Kitchenaid for arduous and long term beating and used the Sunbeam for juicing, whipping egg whites for the Chiffon cake and mashing potatoes for Friday nights dinner. On the older Sunbeam with matching beaters you need to stay close by to scrape the bowl and keep the contents from plastering to the side of the bowl. I was hind end deep in alligators Saturday so I depended on the Kitchen to take care of itself while turning my attention to other areas of the food prep. If I had a later model Sunbeam with Bowl-Fit beaters I could have let it whir away without any assistance. It has been my experience to find many cakes would go from marginal to extraordinary if the sugar and butter were creamed longer before addition of eggs and the rest of the ingredients.

 

[twintubdexter]

Back at the last home we had in San Jose there was a Ronson Foodmatic built into the tiled kitchen counter. People thought it was a garbage shute for a can under the counter...dumb. There were about 5 accessories for it. I rarely used it but loved to show it off to guests. A few years after my partner passed away and I moved here to the Desert I started to look for another Foodmatic. I found a couple on distant Craigslist sales and a unit or accessory would pop up on ebay now and then. I mannaged to get a complete Foodmatic for less than $200 including shipping (that sucker's heavy) from a lady in Chicago. She even had the fitted storage slides, the ice cream maker and the automatic stirring cooking vessel. The only thing that was ever used was the mixer. "Petek" is right, Foodmatics and the accessories are getting harder and harder to find even on ebay. The one I bought was one of the later models with the food processor. I knew there was a problem when I unpacked it and the processor blade said "Cusinart" on it. The Ronson blade is a strange looking bird and it took over a year to find the correct one.

That was at least 2 or 3 years ago when I bought that Foodmatic and where is it?...stored away in a decorative rattan trunk in my bedroom. I've added so many built-in appliances in my kitchen (wine fridge, clear ice maker, microwave drawer) that there's little room left. I'm thinking of installing the Foodmatic in a small rolling kitchen island cart. They are a lot of fun.

a Foodmatic explosion

 

[jetcone]

Kelly- thats a great tip

I'm gonna try that.

I saw Kevin's hammered KA there and I guessed that was your main driver. All the cakes were fantastic by the way!

 

[mattl]

I have the counter top version of the Ronson, mixer only.  I really want to find the Cook 'n Stir setup but those are very rare and very pricey.

 

[norgeway]

I have a Cook and Stir!

I bought mine at a Goodwill for 30.00, It really is a well built well engineered machine, That Foodmatic is great!! I saw one at Mike Hays house in Ohio, it would do wonders, i have a Nutone, along with about every attachment, I wish I had not cut the hole in my cabinet for it, it is just so so.

 

[launderess]

More Power Is Not Always Better

So many people look for mixers with high wattage ratings assuming that equals better results from hand mixers, this is not always true from what one has read.

Many older mixers despite having *only* <125 watts would out beat and whip many of today's higher watt offerings, and what is more last longer.

One must also consider how well a mixer runs on low speed and for how long it can keep it up. That is the speed normally used for kneading dough and or heavy batters and some mixers both stand and portable cannot do it for long wihout sustaining damage.