Stand Mixers – Page 2 – Kitchensnitches

While the kitchen has a lot of various countertop appliances, there is only one that has more than ten attachments and eight model lineups. Yes, we are talking about KitchenAid’s Stand Mixers; the all-in-one baking/cooking appliance that can create restaurant-quality meals, bake heavy-duty bread, and create delicious no-bake desserts. While KitchenAid’s Stand Mixers are beautiful to look at and come with a ton of features, they are quite expensive for those on a budget. So, is it worth getting a stand mixer? Yes, it is worth getting a stand mixer! With the amount of attachments that these stand mixers come with, you can have a juicer in the morning, a food processor during meal prep, and a ravioli maker during lunchtime. While they may not be cheap to buy, they are certainly worth their weight in money. My all-time favorite is the KitchenAid KSM150 5-Quart Mixer. Read on to find out what is so great about these stand mixers, why they beat out the old hand mixer, and what kind of food you can make with one. What's So Great About KitchenAid Stand Mixers? Beyond the fact that KitchenAid’s stand mixers come in a wide variety of price points, color options, features, and mixing capacities, the company dominates the stand mixer market because of the high-quality materials they use. Customers flock to the product because they are durable, reliable, and long-lasting. But, let’s take a deeper look at what makes their stand mixers so great. 1# They Are Versatile. KitchenAid’s Stand Mixers are well-known for being very versatile, allowing for culinary creations of all kinds to be made with the appliance. One night you can bake cookies and the next make dough for pizza; all of which will be high-quality. But what makes them truly shine in the area of versatility is their power hubs for optional accessories and attachments, making them an all-in-one appliance. Every KitchenAid Stand Mixer will come with up to 12-14 different attachment options and will feature 10 different speeds. Plus, you can pick from a 4.5 up to a 7-quart mixing volume! 2# They Come in Many Styles. The KitchenAid Stand Mixers come in an elegant, simple, and classic feel but have all the modern features you would come to expect from a mixing appliance. What’s more is that they come with 87 color options, have limited edition colors every year, and you can choose from burnished or coated beater types. You can choose from eight different lineups of stand mixers, including the ever-popular: Artisan Series, Architect Series, and Professional Heavy-Duty Series. 3# You Get a Trusted Brand Name. A simple search on your favorite online shop is going to throw thousands of 4 to 5-star reviews back at you. KitchenAid has been making their KitchenAid Stand Mixers for a century now, making them a brand that you can trust. It also helps that you get full-service product assistance when you purchase a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. 4# They Come Packed with User-friendly Features. Each KitchenAid Stand Mixer comes with an excellent user manual filled with recipes, a high-capacity mixing bowl, upright head-locks to lock your machine in position, easy-to-read speed settings, a dishwasher safe bowl/beater/hook, and an ergonomic handle for ease of use. Is a Hand Mixer as Good as a Stand Mixer? The hand mixer is one of those basic household items that are lumped into one of the first purchases made when setting up a kitchen. And while they can be pricey, if you buy one that is brand new, you can generally find them for cheap at secondhand shops. A hand mixer is a good purchase if you don’t want to mix batter or dough by hand, have minimal space in your kitchen, or just have quick tasks that you need to get done like whipping cream or egg whites. However, when compared to a stand mixer, the stand mixer outranks it by far and here is why. The Positives of a Stand Mixer A stand mixer is going to blend, mix, and whip batter, and dough with more power than a hand model, allowing you to get your baking or cooking down at a faster rate. A stand mixer is going to allow you to mix for long periods at a time without tiring as you don’t need to use your hands for any of the mixing movements that you would need with a hand mixer. A stand mixer is going to mix up cookie batters and heavy dough more easily, allowing you to squeeze in more baking or cooking time. The large mixing bowl prevents any food splashing during the mixing process. The mixing bowl on a stand mixer is stabilized, so you can walk away from it and prepare other ingredients. The Limitations of a Hand Mixer The motor in a hand mixer is much smaller than a stand mixer, providing less mixing capability. The bowl is not in a fixed position, so if you do not have a steady hand, you can easily drop or spill the mixture. A hand mixer struggles when it comes to very thick batters. Any item that you can mix with a hand mixer can also be done in a stand mixer. The only drawback to a stand mixer is that the capacity is limited to its bowl and it and it can take up a large chunk of kitchen counter space and cabinet storage. What Can You Make with a Stand Mixer? The stand mixer has very little in the way of limitations for what you can make with it. Unlike a hand mixer, a stand mixer comes with numerous attachments, allowing you to access a greater range of tools for baking, cooking, whipping, mashing, and kneading. A basic stand mixer will come with three blade attachments: beaters, dough hook, and a whisk. What You Can Use the Beaters For: These can be used for the majority of the tasks you want to do with cooking preparation and baking. You can mix up cookie and cake batters, create creamy frostings, shred up chicken and pork, create a mix for meatloaf and meatballs, or even mash up potatoes and add in butter and milk. What You Can Make with the Dough Hook: with the dough hook, you can make all kinds of bread, as the slower speed of the hook is ideal for not over-kneading or overheating the mixer. The dough hook also allows you to adjust your dough as you go along, adding in flour and water or nuts and dried fruit. Cinnamon rolls are an awesome and delicious way to use both your dough hook and your paddle attachment. What You Can Make with the Whisk Attachment: the whisk attachment excels at whipping up cream and egg whites, as well as aerating fluid mixtures for items like meringues that require voluminous amounts of whipped cream. While you can whip up these items by hand, the stand mixer is extremely useful for buttercreams that require whipped egg yolks and swiss meringue that requires the use of sugar. Other than this, the paddles are good for making angel food cake, soufflés, creamy yogurts, no-bake cheesecake, and marshmallow fluff. Common food types to make in a KitchenAid Stand Mixer: Sticky lemon rolls with cream cheese frosting, Chocolate chip cookies, Pizza dough, Vanilla ice cream, butter, Italian sausage, Buttercream frosting, Brioche bread, Mashed potatoes, Pasta dough, Meatballs Whipped cream. How Much Does a Stand Mixer Cost? The cost is dependent on which lineup you go for. The Classic Series/Classic Plus Series: this is the least expensive of the full-size models and comes with a powerful motor and a tilt-head design. It has 10 speeds, three standard attachments, and a 4.5-quart mixing bowl. It comes in at $259.99 and up. Artisan Mini/Artisan Mini Design Series: this lineup is designed for small kitchens and lower baking volumes but has the same horsepower as the full-size Artisan models. It comes with the three standard attachments, 10 speeds, and a variety of color options. The mixing bowl is 3.5-quarts and comes in at $299.99 and up. The Artisan Series/Artisan Design Series: these are generally best for most individuals as they come with the widest range of colors, finishes, and can take on everyday tasks easily. If you want to cream butter, whip up a cookie dough or mix up a cake batter, this one will work. It comes with 10 speeds, three standard attachments, and has a 5-quart mixing bowl of either stainless steel or glass. It comes in at $379.99 and up. Pro Line Series: if you are looking to make large batches of cookies and dense bread, then this lineup is for you. It comes with a bowl-lift design, has 10 speeds, and offers either a 6-quart or 7-quart mixing bowl. The motor is 1.3 horsepower and has a soft start feature which starts the mixer on a lower speed automatically. It comes in at $629.99 and up. With so many lineups to choose from, it is highly recommended that you do some research on which stand mixer fits your baking/cooking needs prior to falling in love with a specific model.