Got us a Kitchenaid Mixer!! Now what?!

[hqueen13]

Wahoo, picked up a Pro Line 5 qt Kitchenaid mixer for christmas (free shipping - never had to set foot in a store!! )
SO, if you've got one, what do you like to make? Are there attachments that are "to die for"?? I did just find out that they now have an icecream maker attachment

 

[FarmerJamie]

Wahoo, picked up a Pro Line 5 qt Kitchenaid mixer for christmas (free shipping - never had to set foot in a store!! )
SO, if you've got one, what do you like to make? Are there attachments that are "to die for"?? I did just find out that they now have an icecream maker attachment

If you don't have a stand-alone already, the grinder attachment is good. I'd pass on the pasta maker, IMO. The bowl guard for dough mixing keeps the flour mess down.

Mixing cookie dough, bread dough is a snap. Making cookies this year, we were whipping through the dough so fast, the kids thought having a second bowl would have been a big help.

 

[lazyday]

Wahoo, picked up a Pro Line 5 qt Kitchenaid mixer for christmas (free shipping - never had to set foot in a store!! )
SO, if you've got one, what do you like to make? Are there attachments that are "to die for"?? I did just find out that they now have an icecream maker attachment

If you don't have a stand-alone already, the grinder attachment is good. I'd pass on the pasta maker, IMO. The bowl guard for dough mixing keeps the flour mess down.

Mixing cookie dough, bread dough is a snap. Making cookies this year, we were whipping through the dough so fast, the kids thought having a second bowl would have been a big help.

Love the dough hook...makes life easier not having to knead dough by hand
Bambi

 

[SSDreamin]

What CAN'T you use a KitchenAid for?!

I use my Kitchenaid for almost everything: Bread (love it, so easy, and no hand kneading! Although, if it's a big batch, I have to divide it in half and knead each separately), cakes, cookies, grinding meat and making roast beef hash with the attachment. I am much more willing to try recipes that call for mixing 'for 5 minutes' or 'for 8 minutes' because I just set the speed and check on it periodically!

FarmerJamie - why would you pass on the pasta attachment? I have been wanting one for a while now (although I really have no complaints about my manual pasta machine) and am wondering why you don't like it?

 

[FarmerJamie]

The one we bought had too many plastic parts. It didn't hold up at all, but that was many years ago, maybe the quality has improved since then.

 

[hqueen13]

Thank you thank you! I am so excited!!

Thanks for the clarification, Jamie, if someone else hadn't asked I was going to! I think we'll have to check on that before we buy it because it is something that is appealing to my other half (me, I don't actually cook much, which makes all of this all that much more hilarious), but I think it would be really awesome to have homemade noodles. So much better for you.

I got the spash guard with it, and my sister says she uses it for ALL the work she does with it and says it makes it sooo much easier too.

The grinder is appealing, as is the ice cream maker My sister commented that the cheese grater was good if you had to grate 2 lbs of cheese, LOL, but it would probably be handy to have just for those times. (I wonder if I can grate the soap in it for our detergent....... hmmmmmm)

Does anyone have the grain mill? I think eventually I'd like to have it, though I am not sure how much use it would get (at least in the beginning)

Thanks for all the suggestions!!

 

[dacjohns]

The grinder and sausage stuffing attachments. I grind meat, make relish, and have stuffed sausage.

 

[Hinotori]

I'd just got the grain mill and gave one to Mom, too. She's allergic to wheat and gluten intolerant. Some of the specialty flours are so expensive. Now she can grind her own on some of them. I've only ground some wheat flour so far. I think it turned out well, but I haven't had a grain mill before.

I've had a little food grinder attachment for years. It is great for doing small amounts of meat. In the little apartment we used to live in, I couldn't afford the space for a big grinder. But I do prefer grinding my own burger if I find really cheap meat.

I had a slicer/shredder attatchment. It gave me nothing but grief, then a small bit of metal broke off and stuck against the shaft and it seized and got stuck in my mixer. I shut it off the second the sound changed. My husband had to carefully get the attachment out. It lucklily didn't damage the mixer. I'll stick with the salad shooter for shredding stuff.

 

[2dream]

I love to grind my own hamburger meat. Or I should say I use to grind my own hamburger meat. I also use to make 5 loaves of bread and 3 dozen rolls every week. Now I don't have the time. My Kitchenaide is sitting there waiting on me. It looks at me with sad eyes every weekend. I pet it and hug it so it knows I still love it and remind it - that this too shall pass.
Mine came with jerky making and sausage stuffing attachments but I have never used them. One day though - it will all be back in action.

 

[~gd]

I love to grind my own hamburger meat. Or I should say I use to grind my own hamburger meat. I also use to make 5 loaves of bread and 3 dozen rolls every week. Now I don't have the time. My Kitchenaide is sitting there waiting on me. It looks at me with sad eyes every weekend. I pet it and hug it so it knows I still love it and remind it - that this too shall pass.
Mine came with jerky making and sausage stuffing attachments but I have never used them. One day though - it will all be back in action.

I was going to mention that far too many of these machines end up on the counter gathering dust. A trophy that says I can afford the best! Frankly they were made for serious food processing, they can be used for a lot of jobs but other machines do them better. As a mixer of large amounts they cant be beat but do you really do that kind of work often?~gd