We need a new one and since we make everything from scratch it has to be robust. Something in the $50-$100 range. Simple, with kneading hooks, preferably no electronics, LCDs or any other highfalutin stuff in there.
Personally, I prefer big industrial grade electric drills with one kneading hook in the chuck. But that's another story.
Any hints the chefs here or from their spouses?
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Hand mixer? Kneading hooks? Who's going to hold it down ?:-}
My wife uses a monster KitchenAide that I have to lift out of the cabinet for her. ...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
That was my immediate thought. Yikes!
KitchenAides are good. They're really about the only game in town, anymore. Older ones are better than the new, IMO.
Ours is old, lots of hp, and HEAVY ;-) ...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
We upgraded our Sunbeam mixer of 30yrs to their new model. Great unit, infinite speed control, the bowls are driven directly rather than by the beaters and are stainless steel, comes with all the usual beaters - hooks etc.
Hand mixer or stand mixer? I can't imagine kneading bread with a hand-held...
I use a KitchenAid "Artisan" (their largest (but not really that "large") current tilt-head model). Tilt-heads aren't quite as rigid as the bowl-lift style in the limiting case but I haven't had a problem with mine; it just keeps on going. Actually, I just used it today to knead the dough for a loaf of challah. Baking season is here again!
Unfortunately, it's a bit outside your target price range. Keep an eye out for sales, though. Mine's a couple of years old but I managed to find it on Amazon for about $100 less than what they're asking now.
How many quarts? If 12-20 quarts, one of the industrial variety would be appropriate: Note the high prices.
Yeah, that's what I do. My cheap junk plastic mixer (name forgotten) literally fell apart. I decided it wasn't worth fixing but kept the attachments and bowls. They work nicely in my old drill press, although holding onto the bowl is problematic with thick dough. When nobody is looking and I'm in a hurry, I use a cordless electric drill.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Joerg wrote on 29/11/2013 :
SWMBO should decide
-- John G
Hi Joerg,
[Happy Tday]We probably bake far more than most (e.g., I just bought 50# of flour for my XMAS baking). And, most of the things we bake are in large batches (e.g., 10 pound lots) so anything smaller than a large KitchenAid "stand" mixer is a toy.
We have two -- one has the "works" on a hinge (you "tilt" the mixer out of the way to gain access to the bowl) and the other has the bowl lift up to engage the mixer. The latter sees far more use. I wish it actually had a much greater range of motion but...
Important for each is the mixing bowl is secured *by* the mixer (lest it be *driven* by the mixer!)
Neither of us uses the dough hook attachment for anything! I've never found a use for it -- I make bread in much larger batches (6 or 7 2lb loaves at a time) than the mixer could ever accommodate. The only "stiff" dough that the hooks *might* have use for me would be the biweekly "biscotti" batch. But, my only attempt at using it found it to be ineffective and disappointing (the dough is *too* thick for effective "machine mixing" -- the biscotti end up "heavy")
OTOH, the normal mixing attachment is *excellent* for making pecan sandies! I'd make them weekly if it wasn't for the "two days" they take! (seems to be he case for all my cookie Rx's :< )
The BIG drawback to the KitchenAid (or any hefty "stand mixer") is they are a PITA to drag out each time you need it -- then put away afterwards (we don't believe in leaving appliances on the counter -- even in "garages"). You can purchase a base cabinet that will allow such a mixer to "fold" down into the cabinet after use. I'm not sure that's a wise approach, either (do you ALWAYS want to use the mixer in THAT particular location?)
And, I think even the cheapest of these are probably twice what you're looking to pay. :< OTOH, you'll never *replace* it!
At the other extreme, we use a 40+ year old hand mixer for things like brownies, cheesecake, iced cream, pizzelles, etc. Each a case where the substance being mixed isn't overly viscous (brownies being the worst esp once the nuts have been added; pizzelles are bad if you dilly-dally and let the baking powder start "acting").
[I'm a little disappointed in the maximum speed that it has -- esp for whipping the cream for the iced cream. I may explore using the food processor in that role in the future -- but, that's more of a mess to clean up! :< ]You might want to rethink what your "nominal" usage is likely to be. If you're only making small batches or "liquid" things, a cheap hand mixer may be the way to go (86 the dough hook). There, I probably wouldn't waste money on a "fancy name" -- unless you want to *display* it to impress the neighbors! :> (our neighbors are far more impressed with the quality of the baked goods than the equipment used to make them!)
One thing worth checking, though: select a hand mixer that you can "stand" on the counter WHILE IN USE (i.e., so you can set it down without the dirty "beaters" touching the countertop) and verify the "beaters" extend far enough beyond the mixer itself while in this position that you can arrange for a mixing bowl to slide under them and catch any "drippings" (consider how the batter ON the beaters will want to FLOW while in this "parked" position as, chances are, it won't be dripping from the *far* tip but, rather, "closer in")
Good luck!
Who could turn down this sales pitch:
Sunbeam "Beatermix" has kneading hooks, as there are two counter-rotating hooks the torque isn't bad, but if you try to do more than 2-1/2 cups of dough it climbs the spindles and gets into the mountings. dunno if available in USA.
When I make dough I mix it by hand* in a nice big pyrex bowl.
(*) well, I start with a spoon and finish by hand
-- For a good time: install ntp --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---
We've done it countless times. Not so much for bread or pizza where we us an older model (as in big) bread machine without the heating function. But for cakes, rolls and similar things. Like yesterday, "Hey can you bring dinner rolls for everyone?" where my wife likes to make them fresh and from scratch.
That's what we wanted to avoid, another machine that needs to be lifted in and out of a cabinet. In my younger days I used an electric drill after two of those cheapo hand mixers had a spectacular smoke-out. The problem I found was that cheap had almost nothing to do with price, both were good and expensive name brands but made in who knows where. Often almost the only thing that seems to go up with price is the profit margin, hence my post here.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Definitely a hand mixer. In Europe we had a really good one but don't remember the brand and we gave it away because it's 230V. It also never sucked the dough up towards the motor unit like the "modern" ones tend to do.
For a stand mixer that price is definitely ok, there I might even spring for a commercial Hobart or something similar. But we don't want yet another big fat machine that needs to be lugged between cabinet and counter.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Those aren't hand mixers though.
[...]-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Well, she asked me as the quality control guy. Maybe because I design hi-rel stuff :-)
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Wow. Watch your waist line there :-)
My mom had one of those from Braun but we don't want a big machine for this. At the most we prepare two pounds of dough or so at a time, with rare exceptions such as yesterday. My wife ended up having to knead by hand because the hand-held electric mixer could not do it.
That is exactly why we don't want a stand mixer.
I subscribe to the philosophy that when one buys a house it should mostly fit one's needs as-is. No major remodel unless something serious breaks.
That's ok but we don't want another monster.
Sure, that's one of the design requirements. Like this:
Not sure if it's really metal but several of the reviewers had theirs burn up. At that price this isn't supposed to happen.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Oh yeah :-)
Interestingly, that was one I'd been looking at on Amazon. But several reviewers had theirs croak early on.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/
A heavy-duty Kitchen Aid from a tag sale. You want the one where the motor assembly is held on by four bolts, and the bowl goes up and down on a dovetail slide. The newer ones have the motor on a hinge, and the latch keeps rattling loose when making bread.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
We (I am a Mechanical Engineer) bought a Kitchenaid fixed-head as it seemed to make the most sense to me in terms of sturdiness. But after some use th e fixed head was more pain than gain so we returned it for the the tilt-hea d. Momma much happier. :)
Sunbeam: Also, I note that someone mentioned Sunbeam. Be aware that they ar e no longer the Sunbeam of old. They now just market stuff with the Sunbeam name on them. We had a Sunbeam mattress pad heater that the control knob b roke on. I was unable to order a new knob, they insisted on sending in the entire thing for exchange. So two weeks of Winter, no heated bed to get int o. Not good for a wife with very bad arthritis.
If opting for a Sunbeam anything, might be a good idea to check on spare pa rts availability before springing for the bucks.
Just saying, ya know.
Dave
Dunno if you can trust *any* of those reviews pro or con. The biggest drawb ack of the process is they won't let you flame any of the complete idiots w ho wrote some of them, especially as regards claims of difficulty of assemb ly or operation, usually by a woman or maybe even a woeful-man. The most yo u can do is up/down vote them. I bought a low end Murray lawnmower for trim work that had terrible reviews claiming all sorts of problems, I bought it anyway, and it turned out to be a great machine, very simple design, very reliable and a pure pleasure to use, and I've used it a lot, enough to know it's a keeper. Then you need to watch the American corporate scam of cashi ng in on decades old reputation that /probably/ is no longer deserved. A lo t of the mid-/low-range KitchenAid look no better than the $19.99 Oster or B&D, but because of the KitchenAid name, the thieves sell it for 50-100% mo re, when it comes out of the same factory in China, the only difference bei ng the KitchenAid tag on it. So PH's idea of looking for an older model at a yard sale or CraigsList is not bad at all.
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