Kitchen Aid can Aide me in the Kitchen anytime!

Ah, my Kitchen Aid Classic Mixer! What a lifesaver it truly has been. I just received mine about three weeks ago from my mother. Actually she gave me hers because she went out and bought the new and improved version. The bigger one with more power as my father would say. So since her first one was still in good working order and my mother knows that I have her love for baking, but also have a lousy mixer, she gave me hers since she no longer needed it. Now who am I to say no to such a great offer? Here I am getting a one hundred and fifty-dollar mixer for free. At least I think that’s what it cost when my parents originally bought this mixer quite some time ago. Now I believe the price has gone up about one hundred more dollars. So boy was I lucky, and I couldn’t have received this wonderful present at a better time.

That’s right, it’s the holiday season. And in my house that means it’s time for lots and lots and lots (did I say lots?) of baking! From the time I was just a little girl I remember this time of year fondly as a time when mommy was in the kitchen cooking up all kinds of goodies for family, friends, and us. Of course back then I just sat in the living room and watched television or built a puzzle while mommy was working very hard at baking. And boy did she work; of course that was until she got her Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer that I now currently own. Don’t get me wrong, she does still work. This machine doesn’t take all the work out of baking, but it sure makes it a lot easier. I of course didn’t have the pleasure of finding that out until just this past week.

Well, now I’m mommy and it is my turn to take on the tradition of baking for our family and friends. Okay, so obviously my mommy still bakes since she bought herself a new mixer, but now I bake too. I have always enjoyed baking, but it was a real pain with my original mixers. Let me tell you all a little about those mixers of the past which will hopefully soon find their ways to a nice landfill some where to make there home.

My First Hand Held Mixer

When I originally moved in with my now husband I didn’t do any cooking. I could make pasta and that was about it. Dear sweet hubby would do all the cooking back then. That was great, but when I had my daughter I was home all the time and my now hubby was working two jobs. So I figured to be fair I should learn how to cook, so mom to the rescue. My mother really came through for me. She gave me all kinds of recipes for dinners that she would make for us when I was younger and told me just how to do everything so I knew what I was doing. I learned pretty quickly. I didn’t burn too many dinners. I didn’t enjoy making dinner, but I was doing my part for my family.

Every week I would go over my mother’s house and every week she would give me some more recipes to take home and sometimes even ingredients that I didn’t have or even utensils that I didn’t have. I began to show interest in baking since my mother would bake every time I came over and I would usually help her. I have kind of always enjoyed baking, or more the product of baking I guess. So thus began my mom giving me recipes for cakes and cookies and pies. There was one problem though, I didn’t have a mixer. Now as I am sure many of you know if you are going to bake you need to have a mixer. Well, my mom still happened to have her old Black and Decker Hand mixer from years ago, before the discovery of this beautiful Kitchen Aid appliance. Since this item was merely collecting dust in my mother’s cabinets she gladly handed it over to me. What a kind woman she is. Now let me remind you that this was a fairly old mixer that my mother had used over and over again for many cookies and cakes during the years. So it’s motor was starting to get a little tired and in order to get it to mix really well you had to have it up on its highest speed. It had five speeds. It was a good mixer, it had lasted a long time and now I was using it, but it was really on it’s way out. So last Christmas I had just about enough of working with this hand mixer. My hand would get extremely tired from holding this mixer and it just took me so long to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. At some points the mixer was beginning to smoke from all the work I was making it do. So I figured I should get a new mixer. I was killing this one even more than my mother did. So I wanted to get a stand mixer, but knew I couldn’t afford one.

A similar version to the stand mixer

My husband and I shopped around a little looking at numerous different hand mixers and stand mixers in the store. We couldn’t afford the Kitchen Aid Stand mixers even though that’s what I really wanted. After all, my mom has so little trouble with hers. I need something that had a lot of power for all the baking I would be doing, but I needed it to be cheap. We finally found something that claimed to be a stand mixer. Actually what it said was it was a stand mixer and hand mixer all in one. It was a Hamilton Beach mixer. You can read my review on that mixer if you would like (http://monical2me.epinions.com/hmgd-review-559D-6C4789-38C9AD88-prod2). Actually that would be best because it explains everything about that mixer. Basically it ended up not working well on the stand and had to be used as a hand mixer. That wasn’t much help to me at all. I continued to use it though because it was all that I had and my poor Black and Decker Hand mixer just couldn’t take anymore punishment. So I continued using this mixer, which my daughter hated. It would scare her every time I turned it on. She is afraid of loud noises and always wants mommy to hold her when she hears things like this. I couldn’t hold her and mix at the same time though. So needless to say baking was a very difficult task. I would try to do it when my husband was home so he could pacify her while I baked. That’s just not always possible when your husband is gone for about ten hours a day. So it was rough.

The day finally came

Finally the day came when I was able to dispose of these horrible hand mixers and get my mother’s stand mixer that I knew worked as well as expected. Boy, was this a happy day. My mom gave me this mixer and I just looked at it in awe. I never thought this day would actually come when I would have such a stylish, sturdy, beautiful stand mixer. It was here though and I couldn’t be happier with. Well, now that I have given you my life story and that of my mixers let me tell you what you really want to know.

About the Kitchen Aid Classic Stand Mixer
Style

This mixer is very stylish. The one my mother gave me comes in an almond color because that is the color of all of their kitchen appliances. I do not think they make it in this color anymore because it’s not as popular. The closest you can get is white. Now, I am not sure what all of the colors are, but I have seen it in blue, red, black, and green. I know there are lots to choose from. So whatever your kitchen is like you can find a mixer to match. I actually have an almond colored stove and a white refrigerator so this mixer’s color works nicely in my kitchen. Of course it wouldn’t matter to me if it didn’t match anything in my kitchen, but that is a nice feature. It comes with a large four and a half quart stainless steel bowl. The bowl even has a handle on the side for easy pouring. I am not sure what the rest of the mixer is made out of, but it is very simple to clean with a wet sponge or cloth and it is also very sturdy. There are no nix or scratches on my Kitchen Aid Mixer and it has been used quite a bit.

Attachments

This mixer comes with three attachments. There is a flat beater, which is white and kind of triangular in shape. It has three bars in it for mixing. This beater is good for mixing cakes, creamed frostings, candies, cookies, pie pastry, biscuits, quick breads, meat loaf, and mashed potatoes. It is very simple to clean and used the most often by my mother and myself. It has held up very well.

The next attachment this comes with is the wire whip. This is obviously made out of wire and is kind of oval in shape. This one is good for mixing eggs, egg whites, heavy cream, boiled frostings, sponge cakes, angel cakes, mayonnaise, and some candies. For the most part it looks like a large whisk. This is also fairly easy to clean, just make sure you rinse it off right after using it or else whatever you made with it will stick and could become hard to remove from between each tiny bar.

The final attachment this comes with is the dough hook. This looks like a hook. It is white just like the flat beater and seems to be made out of the same material. It is used for breads, rolls, coffeecakes, and buns. Honestly I have never used this and I do not know if my mother has. Seeing as it is made from the same material as the flat beater I would assume it is just as sturdy and just as easy to clean.

These attachments are very easy to clean. If you have a dishwasher then you can just stick them in the dishwasher to be cleaned. The bowl can also go into the automatic dishwasher. However, if you are like me and have no dishwasher then these are all very simple to wash by hand. Just wash them with hot sudsy water and rinse them off thoroughly and then dry them. It really is not hard to wash the attachments or the bowl.

There are other attachments you can get for this mixer that you must order and will cost you extra. A few examples of things you can get are a can opener, a food grinder, a rotor slicer/shredder and fruit/vegetable strainer, a citrus juicer, a pasta maker, and a grain mill. There are other attachments you can get for this mixer that cost various different things, but these are just a few that I thought I would mention.

Speeds

This mixer has ten speeds on it. And let me tell you there is no need to go past the sixth speed. For everything I have made in this mixer I have not seen any need to go any higher than six. The higher speeds are mostly used for whipping things, small amounts of thing, and the fastest speed is what needs to be used on some of the attachments you can get for this mixer. The speed on this mixer really cuts your mixing time in half.

Some mixing tips

When using this mixer you will always want to start out very slowly. The speed goes up so rapidly with each different level that if you just switched the speed right to six then you would have a big mess to clean up. Also you could break the switch if you go through the speeds too quickly. So gradually up the speed level. Also remember when you are done mixing to bring it down slowly also. You should also never had wet ingredients or dry ingredients to this mixer when it is on a speed of two or higher. If you do this then you can be sure you will have a mess to clean up. So always start on stir when adding ingredients and gradually take the speed up.

Mixer use

This mixer is designed to cut down the mixing time and provide thorough mixing. You will not have to scrape the bowl frequently with this mixer as it is designed to provide you with a better mixing. This is really very helpful to me. As I said before I do a lot of baking this time of year and anything that will make things go faster is great for me. And let me tell you, this really makes things go a lot faster.


There is also a locking feature on this mixer. So that means that once you put the mixers motor head down into the bowl you should slide the lock over into the lock position. This will prevent it from moving at all while mixing. You should always keep the mixer in the lock position while you are mixing anything.

To attach the bowl to the mixer, simply tilt the motor head back, and place the bowl on the bowl clamping plate. Then turn the bowl in a clockwise direction gently until it won’t move anymore. That is when it is in place. Now you are ready to start mixing. When you are done mixing and need the bowl out simply lift the motor head again and turn the bowl in a counter clockwise motion until it comes undone. It’s that simple.

To attach the flat beater, wire whip, or dough hook you merely raise the motor head and slip the beater onto the beater shaft and push up as far as possible and turn the beater to the right as far as it will go. It should be locked into place. Now when removing it again lift the motor head and push the beater us as far as possible and now turn to the left and pull off. So it is very simple to put on and take off.


What else comes with this mixer

This mixer comes with some recipes in the instruction book. These recipes are for things that are frequently made and what the best speed to use on this mixer is or for how long you will need to mix for. It is very helpful to know this information when you are just starting out with this mixer.

You also get a pouring shield with this mixer. This is a plastic piece that attaches to the bowl and has kind of like a funnel so you can easily pour more ingredients into the mixture without having to worry about anything spilling out on the sides or anything.

My thoughts on this mixer

I have enjoyed this mixer from the first day of use. I am able to add the ingredients I need mixed to the mixer, put the motor head down, turn the speed up to stir or whatever, and start preparing something else or tend to my daughter’s needs while it mixes. I try to remain close by just to keep an eye on the mixer and make sure everything is okay. When I need to add ingredients it is so simple. I can leave the motor head down and add in whatever ingredients I need. I don’t need to have three or more hands to bake anymore. I don’t need to hold the bowl while mixing and adding ingredients. That was just physically impossible. This mixer has saved me so much time. And this past week I have done a lot of baking. I have made at least eight different kinds of cookies for the holidays this week that has needed this mixer and it has really been a lifesaver.

What my daughter thinks

Well, my daughter is only nineteen months old, but I know she just loves this mixer. She can help mommy bake now and she just loves to help. I can put an egg into the batter and give my daughter the shell and have her through it away and meanwhile put another egg in the mixture and all the time this is mixing everything up. There’s no more stopping my mixing every second to add another ingredient. Not only that, but I can pick my daughter up when the mixer is on and she loves to watch everything go round and round in the mixer. Every time I go near the mixer she gets so excited because she thinks I am going to be using it again. And to her that not only means more cookies, but more chances to help mommy do things. I can now spend more time with my daughter and don’t have to listen to her scream because I can’t pick her up while I am baking.

I don’t know how I have lived without this mixer for so long. It is truly a lifesaver and it has lasted for so long. Any one who enjoys baking as much as I do should get this mixer. It costs a lot of money, but it is well worth it. I can’t remember when my parents bought this mixer, but I am going to take a guess and say that it is at least eight years old and still going very strong. I hope that I can keep it for another eight years and maybe even more. If you really think about it that is a sound investment for a baker. After all, if you continue to use those ten or twenty dollar mixers that break within the year and give you nothing buy heartache then you are going to be throwing money away. However, with this mixer you will surely be happy with it for many years to come. So I very highly recommend purchasing this mixer if at all possible for those out there who love to bake. This will definitely make a great present for a baker. It might be a little expensive, but that person you give it to will be so very grateful to you for years to come.
Monica