[Sca-cooks] mixers

[Diana Skaggs]

Stefan,
My Braun hand mixer came with dough hooks. They look like corkscrews. I
burned up countless hand mixers (the cheap ones say $10 to $15 each) until
my ex finally sprung for a decent one. I've probably had the Braun for 15
years now, but will need to replace it soon. One of the beaters is coming
apart, and I couldn't find replacements, even when I contacted Braun dealers
and manufacturers on the web. I would love to have a KitchenAide someday.
I've hinted, begged and borrowed them in the past. I have a friend, Mick,
who doesn't even own a stove. His parents bought him a KitchenAide mixer for
Christmas a couple of years ago. I think I'm the only one who has used it.
But for some reason, he won't let me adopt it permanently, sigh.

I have a Hamilton Beach food processor, but I use the steel blade for mixing
dough.  I don't know about any specific attachments for dough. The great
thing about the KitchenAide mixer is the "hands free" operation. I baked
bread for an event last Spring. With two KitchenAides and 3 or 4 youthful
helpers, we turned out 12 two pound batches of bread in 3 hours mixing time.
It didn't help that the temperature went over 100 degrees that day and to
make the kitchen temperature tolerable, they set up huge fans. Between sweat
and the fans blowing flour into our faces, we all left looking like the
Pillsbury Dough Boy.

The main idea for the kitchen gadgets is to have counter space to set them
up. Or have them handy. When I had Mick's KitchenAide, it had a place of
prominence on my tiny kitchen counter. But it inspired me to cook and
bake -- a lot.

Liadan