New KitchenAid mixer

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brothers
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New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

My wife and I received a new fully loaded KitchenAid mixer as joint gift. What kinds of cooking/baking projects can we look forward to making? Is this overkill? Or, is this a golden opportunity to start making stuff we never knew were possible, like what, for example?
Gary

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Scrapyard Ape
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by Scrapyard Ape »

You can generate some really bitchin' shaving lather with one. :wink:
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by changabang »

Good Lord, Ape! Another deposit (tea this time) on the screen. =D>
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brothers
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

So far, that's one really good suggestion in the plus column. Shaving . . . . check!
Gary

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Squire
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by Squire »

Well, you're already in the kitchen, so, bacon.
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Squire
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

i think we're all heading in the same direction with this. I'm telling the wife this thing has some real possibilities!
Gary

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Jbbmad2
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by Jbbmad2 »

I'm thinking that it would be ideal in mixing soap ingredients.........bacon scented of course.
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brothers
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

On a more mundane and topically correct side note, I've located this thread which seems to say everybody uses the KA to make bread. We don't make bread. Been there, done that, don't really eat a lot of bread. This tells me this mixer probably isn't going to be used around here. Should we keep this expensive gift? Is there much else beside making bread that we might want to use it for?

PS: I've got the soapmaking routine pretty well down, and it requires very little stirring, and even less bacon! :D
Gary

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brothers
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

I think our Keurig coffeemaker is getting ready to croak. Used it hard for 2 1/2 years. Hitting it real hard with my fist is losing what little effect it had when it started acting up a couple weeks ago. We might ask the extremely generous gift-giver for permission to take the KA mixer to the store and exchange it for a new Keurig. Anything wrong with that? Are Keurigs fixable?
Gary

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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by dosco »

brothers wrote:I think our Keurig coffeemaker is getting ready to croak. Used it hard for 2 1/2 years. Hitting it real hard with my fist is losing what little effect it had when it started acting up a couple weeks ago. We might ask the extremely generous gift-giver for permission to take the KA mixer to the store and exchange it for a new Keurig. Anything wrong with that? Are Keurigs fixable?
Depends ... what's wrong?
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by ShadowsDad »

Regarding Keurig, what are they new, $100? You probably won't want to pay for shop time to repair it even if it can be fixed. After the repair you'd still have an old machine. Get a bigger hammer (brass knuckles?), and if that doesn't fix it just buy another.
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

Yesterday even hitting it wouldn't make it start brewing when it was supposed to. So I did manage to get it going long enough to run some vinegar through it about a dozen times. Then I rinsed it out with distilled water about another dozen times, and at least for now it seems to be willing and able to keep going. Yeah, paying somebody to fix it is completely out of the question. I'm pretty good at taking stuff apart and stuff, and if this is just a matter of parts being replaced, I can do that unless it's one of those damnable devices that are engineered to be non-fixable (disposable), or parts are difficult or impossible to find, or so expensive it's not sensible to even try. The wife prefers new stuff, and I can understand that.

There is a troubleshooter website for these coffee makers. My problem might be something that is common and easily fixable, i.e.: a clogged exit needle. This might be my problem.
Gary

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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by Squire »

I like the bigger hammer approach.
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brothers
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

Yeah, me too.
Gary

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dosco
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by dosco »

Gary:
My wife had a Mr. Coffee version of a Keurig machine ... not too long ago she declared that it was 'broken.'

The needle widget was clogged, about 5 minutes of disassembly (I had to remove the black widget that holds the K-cup packet) and cleaning and it was back in working order.

Hopefully your problem is something as simple.

Cheers-
Dave
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

Yeah, I think it must have been something blocking something, because after I ran a whole lot of vinegar through it and rinsed it out good, it hasn't given us any more trouble. I've always used distilled water in it, because our tap water is so full of minerals, everything eventually gets all scaled up and needs attention.
Gary

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ThePossum
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by ThePossum »

To answer Gary's original question you can bake your own bread. Nothing better than homemade bread. Can find many recipes for it all over the web. I use this recipe for my white bread.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/ ... ead-recipe

You can whip up some great lump free mashed potatoes with it. Also make cake batter, either from a mix or from scratch. Have used it make pizza dough. Also make my own hamburger meat by using the grinder attachment for the KA mixer. Checkout the recipes in the user manual and then surf the web looking for baking recipes.

Forgot to mention that you should look at the King Arthur Flour website in great detail. Loads of great baking tips there and their products are first rate. I use only KAF in my baking. Also found the yeast they sell to be first rate as well.

I'm sure others will offer some additional ideas for you. Enjoy your KA, I love mine.
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brothers
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by brothers »

Bryce, thanks for the detailed answer to my original questions. We've stll got it in a box in the closet. Maybe we can put it to good use after all. Something to think about.
Gary

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ShadowsDad
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by ShadowsDad »

I second the KAF recipes. I never tried the Sands recipe but it's been in my "to try" directory, but the KAF basic white bread I think it's called is a very nice loaf of everyday white. All of our purchased flour is KAF. Other than that we grind our own flour minutes before we need it.

One tip on homemade bread... come to grips with the fact that bread begins going stale the second it comes out of the oven. Understand that; it can't be prevented, but it's life can be extended a bit by adding dough conditioners to the mix. But other than that for best flavor DO NOT put your bread in a plastic bag. That started so that bread manufacturers could ship presliced bread to consumers. If you do that with your bread it will lose flavor overnight, and left out, that plastic bag is an excellent hothouse for mold. If you refrigerate your bread to prevent mold it will go stale more quickly, and refrigerated in a bag, has no flavor. The solution is to slice the bread as it's needed, and upend the bread on a plate or other non absorbant surface. Without conditioners it will last for at least a few days. But it's "best use" will change day by day, and even fully stale bread has a use... bread pudding. Bread pudding makes a decent breakfast BTW and is very easy to make.
Last edited by ShadowsDad on Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian

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dosco
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Re: New KitchenAid mixer

Post by dosco »

I also think the KAF site is a goldmine of information. If you decide to make some bread, take a look at some of their instructional videos as well ... excellent stuff and FREE.

A word about ingredients.

If you make bread, make sure to use bread flour. I had first used grocery store All Purpose (AP) flour, then tried Gold Medal AP flour, and most recently I bought and used King Arthur Bread Flour. The KAF bread flour is clearly superior to the other stuff for breadmaking. If you can't get a name-brand bread flour, get some AP flour and buy a box of "Vital Wheat Gluten" that you can add to your dough to improve gluten development.

If you don't use bread flour, don't worry about it ... the bread will still taste awesome, and will probably be better than anything you can get at your local grocery store. It just won't rise as much.

Yeast ... use instant. It has more yeast cells than Baker's yeast or Active Dry yeast.

If you decide to make a sourdough starter, be patient and follow an established feeding routine. My starter only started working well (see what I did there? lol) in the last few weeks despite the fact that I initiated it back in late October.

Good luck and let us know what you do!

Regards-
Dave
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