Kitchenaid mixer

[GLC1968]

Ok, I'm going to be the voice of dissent here. I have a Kitchenaid. I don't know which one it is, but it was one of the top of the line, non-commercial ones out there back in 2003 when we got married. It spends a vast majority of it's life in it's box.

I pull it out during the holidays when I'm baking larger quantities for guests and gifts. The rest of the year, I just can't justify dirtying up that thing for the small batch baking/cooking that I normally do. And I can't spare the counter space to leave it out all the time. For bread, I either do the no-knead version or I use my bread machine to knead. I have a hand crank food mill that works great and is easy to clean up as well.

It's just faster overall for me to use hand tools. Faster to set up, faster to clean up...

But I soooo want an egg white whipping bowl!

[divingbiker]

And I can't spare the counter space to leave it out all the time.

I wouldn't use mine either if I had to drag it out every time; it's way too heavy. I gladly sacrifice counter space for the KitchenAid, but I keep most of my other (lighter weight) appliances tucked away.

[OakLeaf]

Mine lives on top of the fridge. It's not a big deal to get it down and put it back up there.

[OakLeaf]

I have a hand crank food mill that works great and is easy to clean up as well.

Is it a counter-mounted type? What kind?

I have a Foley Food Mill, but it doesn't strain out tomato seeds well, doesn't get tomatoes near as dry as the KA does, and it would just wear me out to do large amounts of applesauce through it.

[jp4995]

I have the KitchenAid Professional (6 quart bowl)- the one that has the crank where you crank the bowl up and down. Love, love, love it. We've had it for over 5 years and that thing is a powerhouse. It'll do double bread or cookie dough recipes without any issues.

I have a set of attachments for it (gifted from a relative) but I have not had a chance to use them yet.

[Pax]

We don't bake and have a tiny kitchen so we make do with manual kitchen tools. However, a friend of mine has a KA and swears by it. She has kids and bakes a lot so I know she gives it a workout.

[copperlegend]

I love my kitchenaid mixer! I have the one with the top that tilts, the artisan I think? I use it at least once a week. Best gift my mom ever got me! And now every Christmas she buys me a neat attachment for it!

[GLC1968]

Is it a counter-mounted type? What kind?

I have a Foley Food Mill, but it doesn't strain out tomato seeds well, doesn't get tomatoes near as dry as the KA does, and it would just wear me out to do large amounts of applesauce through it.

The one I have has a vice type attachment that I attach to one of my pull out cutting boards. It's by 'Back to Basics' and I think that I got it here:
http://www.canningpantry.com/d220.html

I've got multiple screens (berry, apple/tomato, pumpkin & salsa) that you switch out depending on what you are milling. All the parts that take the brunt of the force of cranking are metal, so it seems like it should last well. I've used it with apples (massive quantities!), pears, tomatoes, blackberries, plums, and grapes. I've had it two seasons now and it still works like new. In fact, my H is going to use it to make salsa this weekend for the first time.

There is a picture of it in action in this post:
http://simplemetamorphosis.blogspot....e-success.html

[MomOnBike]

I love my Kitchen Aide. It comes out whenever I bake, or make anything that needs large amounts of grating (cheese) or grinding (oranges for marmalade, meats, walnuts for potica) or slicing (bread & butter pickles) or, well, anything.

I don't use it to knead bread - either my own two hands do that or the bread machine. In any case, I've had mine since, um, the late 70's or early 80's and it is still going strong. It's one of the best investments we made in running a kitchen.

[Mr. Bloom]

I love mine too! I use it once a year for gingerbread houses!

Silver doesn't know where it's even stored

[maillotpois]

I love mine. It is tucked away in a corner of our kitchen so it doesn't use otherwise readily accessible space. We just pull it to the front when we need it. DD uses it a lot for cookie experiments.

[withm]

I broke down and bought one last Christmas. I don't bake much, but I do make a ton of cookies and fruitcake (don't laugh - people love to get my fruitcake!).

Oh my God! What a difference! For 30 years I made heavy batter with the hand held mixer I bought in college. I can't believe I resisted this for so long, thinking I only need it at Christmastime.

Well the machine is expensive, big, and extremely heavy, all of which are good reasons to go without.

But it is a dream to operate.

I have no counterspace, and it is a real chore to set up for baking. I installed an wire rack drawer with a plexiglass insert for the floor of the drawer so I could store the machine in a lower cabinet. It works, and does make it easier to get it in and out, but someday I'm going to drop the thing on the tile floor and I don't think it's gonna be pretty.

And I just saw that they offer a pasta attachment. Must hide the credit card. That would be fun to play with but I don't know if I could make enough space to have long strands of pasta anywhere.