Baking: hand mixer v. stand up mixer

chocolate moose

Sun, May 23 2010, 5:09 pm

I am asking for a tzedekah project that I want to start planning, and want to know what women here really like & use - for cakes, pies & cookies, as well as frozen desserts (not challah or bread or rolls, that is).

Do you have both a hand mixer and a stand mixer, and if you could win one at an auction or some such, would you prefer one over the other, or would you like both ?

For example, I have an inexpensive Sunbean stand mixer that I like; my sister got two as wedding gifts and gave me one. I also have a hand mixer that I rarely use. (When I made challah, I either kneaded it by hand or used a bread machine; I didn't have a Magic Mill or similar, but if I did, I guess I wouldn't need a separate stand mixer would I ?)

So - what do you have & what do you use ? thanks

Plonis

Sun, May 23 2010, 5:55 pm

If I was a serious baker, I'd probably want a stand mixer. It is easier, if you don't mind having it on the counter all the time, and produces more consistent results.

Thing is, I rarely bake. Challah, I knead by hand. I have one or two cakes I make, and for those, it's just easier to have a small hand mixer that I can easily pull out of and throw in a drawer. I don't have enough counter space to spare for a stand mixer.

(I am probably biased in that I don't own a stand mixer, being that I didn't get one as a wedding gift and would never spend so much on one myself.)

lamplighter

Sun, May 23 2010, 7:46 pm

I have a kitchen aid stand mixer but its takes up too much room on my counter so I store it away. Slightly inconvenient but works like a dream! When I'm doing a lot of baking it's magnificent.
I use my handmixer more often though, it is so easy and light and works with any bowl.

amother

Sun, May 23 2010, 8:45 pm

My DH bought me a ridiculously expensive KitchenAid that is huge, bulky and needless to say, stored away ("Honey, why is the mixer all dusty? Have you ever even used it??!" Ummmmm. Sure!). My $15 hand mixer does the trick for just about everything. Literally, everything. But for a serious baker, the KitchenAid does work like a dream!

~Anon so nobody rats to my DH LOL

amother

Sun, May 23 2010, 8:57 pm

I got a kitchen aid for a present and ended up giving it away. I didn't use it enough to warrant it sitting on the counter and it was too much of a shlep to take it in and out. I didn't like that I had to pnly use the bowl it came with, and I also found that ingredients stuck on the bottom of the bowl if I didn't scrape them out.

I have an inexpensive hand mixer that I use when I bake. It's fine for my needs.

That said, a kitchen aid can cost in excess of $200, while a decent hand mixer is more in the $20 range, so you can't really compare them for auction prizes.

PinkFridge

Sun, May 23 2010, 9:22 pm

No question, a stand mixer. I have a milchig hand mixer and a pareve one because my "snow" blade broke.
Say you get one of the better hand mixers. Who wants to waste kitchen real estate on that?
People can always not buy if they're not interested in winning.

louche

Sun, May 23 2010, 9:52 pm

What I use is my own 2 hands for everything. I have a light hand mixer somewhere that I would use if a recipe called for stiffly-beaten egg whites. Mostly I avoid making things requring stiffly-beaten egg whites.

A Magic Mill or Bosch mixer to knead bread dough would be pure heaven, but where I would keep it is anyone's guess. I've always put my tix down on the magic Mill at Chinese Auctions, but the KBH knows what He's about. I haven't won one yet, which is good b/c we'd have to give away a child or something to make room for it.

yiddishe vayb

Mon, May 24 2010, 6:59 am

I have both! I have a Bosc and two hand mixers! One parve and one milchigvfor cheese cake and stuff. If you can only get a cheap stand mixr yubmight be better off geting a Braun food processor mine you can make cookies in and they are under 100 dollars. When you say stand mixer if you mean a Bosch then everyone wants/needs a Bosch.