How to Master Your Kitchen

mix to your might


After taking a one week break from this series, How to Master Your Kitchen, today I am talking about the piece de resistance, the tool that I would consider the highlight of any kitchen, the stand mixer. A stand mixer had to be on my wedding registry, I could consider my kitchen incomplete until I had a stand mixer, that is how much I love a stand mixer. 
How can I say stand mixer any more times in just one sentence?

A stand mixer is a kitchen staple. There is not one week, scratch that there is not a couple of days that go by without my using my stand mixer. My mom always had her trusty stand mixer, in fact she had the same one for as long as I remember. There are a variety of stand mixers out on the market but the creme de la creme is Kitchen-Aid. Kitchen-Aid has different attachments that allow you to not only mix in the bowl, but you can grind wheat into flour, meat, make pasta, make ice cream just to name a few. 

The accessories by the way are additional purchases, they are not standard items.I have the Breville stand mixer, which is a trade-off because I don't have all of those fancy accessories but I have a timer on my mixer so I can set it for say 4 minutes and walk away. After 4 minutes, the mixer will turn off.

Any stand mixer will come with three or four attachments. You will get the bread hook, paddle and whip. Each attachment is designed for different reasons and it is important to use the right attachment for whatever you are making. Obviously the bread hook is to make bread machine, the paddle I use most often, it is for cake and cookie batters. The whip is to make frostings, whipped cream, to whip eggs whites. 

That being said, a stand mixer will become your best friend in the kitchen. It is the equivalent of your computer at work. Think if how much you wouldn't be able to get done at work if you didn't have a computer. I recognize some jobs don't require you to sit there 8 hours a day, but I'm talking about the jobs that do. A stand mixer is the exact same, if you didn't have a stand mixer try whipping egg whites, your arm will be so tired it might fall off. You wouldn't be able to cream butter as well by hand and you can make bread dough still but you will have to knead the dough by yourself. A stand mixer will a necessity, I tell you, a necessity!

Want me to feature an kitchen tool or have any suggestions for this series?? Let me know, I would be happy to feature any requests.




23 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh I absolutely LOVE my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer! I probably use it a few times a week. The hubby can't wait to tryout the sausage maker attachment we got as a wedding present.

Meagan
www.louisianawife.blogspot.com

whit | Black Little Button blog said...

I agree, love my kitchen aid mixer. I like to shred chicken with it. So easy! :)
-wHiT

Sarah said...

I wish I used mine more. But I just don't...mostly it sits there on the counter for months at a time. Mostly because I think I put it in a place where I have to drag it out, etc. I made cookies last night and actually got out my hand mixer, didn't even occur to me to use the stand mixer, I'm weird.

Simply LKJ said...

Love my kitchen aid mixer too, just hate that they are so darn heavy!

the girl in the red shoes said...

I LOVE my kitchen aid and use it all the time! Plus...it looks pretty! Love this series!

Alex Byer said...

I couldn't live without my stand mixer. We're looking into getting a few more attachments for it...specifically the ice cream maker :)

Jessica said...

Meg, I want to see a recipe that I can do with the stand mixer. I feel like I don't use mine enough!

Lauren {at} Life.Love.Lauren said...

I love my stand mixer!

love jenny xoxo said...

I only have a hand mixer... :( but I'm not much of a baker. Maybe someday, they do look pretty sweet :)
{love jenny xoxo}

Sarah Alway said...

I really don't cook that much, and I already have a hand mixer, so we didn't register for one of these for our wedding. Maybe later in life I'll want one once I become more domestic. ;-)

Unknown said...

Dangit, Meg! I was just getting over my extreme desire for one of these bad boys.

I have been asking for a stand mixer for Christmas and Birthdays for years! But so far, no dice. Currently, I make cookies a few times a month, and I can't even imagine the number of cookies that would be made in my house if I had a stand mixer. Also, cake. mmmm.

Now I'm gonna have to start saving up my pennies and buy one for myself.

Tiara | a Happy Healthy Home said...

Love, love my mixer! I have a kitchen aid and wouldn't trade it for anything else. We use it for everything from pizza dough to cupcakes.

Darby Hawley said...

You are not kidding here. I think in almost every recipe you post you've got a picture with your trusty mixer. :-)

Heather said...

We got a stand mixer for our wedding, and it is definitely a staple in our kitchen!

la petite fashionista said...

i am dying for a kitchenaid mixer (especially a prettily colored one!) i feel like it's one of those things that i need to ask for as a wedding gift, but heck if that doesnt happen any time soon i'm splurging on one for myself!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

I had so much fun picking out which color mixer I would get! Ended up with aqua...It makes even boxed cake mixes taste better!

Joanna said...

My stand mixer is my best friend. I leave mine in plain sight because it sure is pretty and it always reminds me of the yummy treats I can make. It really makes baking and mixing a lot easier! Love mine!

Anonymous said...

Its for sure on my registry! I cant wait to have one and use it like craaazy!

Alexa said...

I don't have a stand mixer! But then I don't bake very much. They always look so cool though!

heather{land} said...

I love mine -- it powers through bread dough, cookie dough, and makes my buttercream frosting so perfectly fluffy!

Whitney T. said...

I was at my parents' house today making a cheesecake with my mom... and she pulled out the stand mixer. Meg, I was so embarrassed. I had no idea how to use it. The stand mixer was one of the wedding gifts I was most excited about - it's a turquoise beauty. But it's big. And our kitchen is too tiny for such a large kitchen gadget. So it has been sitting at the bottom of our guest bedroom closet along with a number of other wedding gifts that we still haven't found room for yet (fingers crossed for buying a house soon!!) and I get sad every time I see it. Until then, we use our petite hand mixer that suffices until that glorious day that we'll have a slightly larger countertop. :)

Unknown said...

My stand mixer is one of my besties! That and my crock pot! ha ha

Kristin said...

I can't wait to purchase one some day :)