[Sca-cooks] mixers

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

> Johnnae said:
> >>>
> I did 600 plus by myself for the Midrealm Crown feast in 2001.
> That took an entire day (9 hours) with breaks. I do an assembly line.
> Melted the butter in the microwave, used the kitchen aid mixer for the
> batter, and used electric irons.
> <<<<
>
> I don't have a mixer, which would seem to definitely help when you are making multiple or large  batches. After comments here and watching folks use them (pretty much always the KitchenAid ones) to cook for feasts I'm considering one. But they aren't cheap and take up storage room and I don't know how much I will use one. The KitchenAid ones seem to come in different sizes and colors. I don't particularly care about the color, but do folks here find the larger size better than the smaller one? And what accessories do you find you really use with them? And which aren't worth spending the money on?
>
> I don't know if I've ever made a cake but the bundt cakes in the recent Cooks Illustrated looked wonderful and it has been years since I made bread. I have thought about making sausages but I did buy one of the cheap stuffers and haven't used it yet. So I really don't know if I would make full use of a mixer, but perhaps I would.
>
> I did buy a food processor after the discussions here and I do use it occasionally, although I'd use it more if I could figure out how to chop things consistantly with it, rather than simply pulverizing them or ending up with some pulverized, a goodly amount okay and some too big chunks.
>
> Stefan

I love my Kitchen Aid. For little tasks like whipping one egg white, I'll
use a hand whisk, for anything wrist-intensive I use the mixer. I have a
hand mixer which I use for things like single batches of cake batter, but
if it involves holding the mixer for any length of time, it goes in the
Kitchen Aid. I have one of the 5-quart models, with the pouring shield
(and a wonderful thing it is, too) and an extra bowl. And the slicer
attachment, and the grinder attachment. Next I want the water jacket,
since they don't seem to make the copper bowl anymore.

I own one of those mini-processors, not a full-sized one, and so far with
my blender, the Kitchen Aid, and the little processor I seem to be
well-supplied with kitchen gadgets of destruction.

Margaret