Kitchen Stand Mixer Hacks: 5 Things You Should Know
Are you considering purchasing a kitchen stand mixer? There are a ton of reasons to do so, from added mixing power to way less mess when cooking.
Your mixer can also do way more than you think. Check out our guide to getting the most out of your mixer with five awesome hacks!
First, let’s look at the definition of a kitchen stand mixer.
What Is A Kitchen Stand Mixer?
A kitchen stand mixer is a kitchen appliance and utensil that uses gear-driven internal mechanisms to rotate one or more beaters in a bowl containing ingredients that need to be mixed.
The stand version is large, typically has more power and speed options, and contains an attached secured bowl. Kitchen stand mixers also can utilize numerous attachments for different needs such as pasta presses, bread mixers, wire whips, dough hooks, flat beaters, etc.
Hand mixers, unfortunately, typically have no attachment capabilities and will have their limits when it comes to the amount of power they can generate.
If you are considering a mixer for the first time, these hacks may sway you in the direction of a stand mixer over a hand mixer.
Five Facts To Know About Kitchen Stand Mixers
These five hacks will help you get the absolute most out of your fancy new mixer.
1. Shred chicken and pork with your mixer.
We tend to think of a kitchen stand mixer as a baking utensil. While this is true, there are a ton of things you can do with your mixer that aren’t solely reserved for baking.
Shredding chicken or pulled pork can be tedious and a bit annoying. Luckily, your mixer can do all the work for you!
Start by tossing still-warm cooked pieces of chicken or pulled pork into your mixer’s bowl. Boiled chicken tends to work best for this hack.
Use the paddle attachment on low (“1” for KitchenAid stand mixers) to shred up the cooked chicken.
Once you notice the chicken or pork meat beginning to break up, increase the speed of the mixer.
You’re done! How easy is this mixer hack?
You can also purchase slicers and shredders to aid in shredding up stuff other than chicken and pork.
Cone shaped shredder attachments for the KitchenAid stand mixer come with four blades that shred and slice different ingredients.
With this simple attachment, you can slice and shred cheese, vegetable, fruit, and nuts. You can essentially make a full chopped salad in under two minutes as well.
2. Use a scraper blade.
Typically, most kitchen stand mixers will only come with a metal or coated beater blade.
If you want to up your scraping game, considering purchasing a silicon scraper blade attachment for your stand mixer.
The silicone sides of this fancy innovative blade act as a rubber spatula. By using this attachment, you will not have to constantly stop the mixer to scrape the sides yourself.
It saves time, manpower, and is super useful if you constantly mix dough or other sticky ingredients.
The KitchenAid variation is safe for the dishwasher and does not lose its shiny finish, either.
3. Use a towel to reduce mess.
Why didn’t we think of this? This simple and innovative method of reducing mess is seriously handy.
Kitchen stand mixers are crazy fast and crazy powerful. This is why we purchase them, right?
We have all been there during a high-speed mix when the attachment hits a pocket of flour or we accidentally start off on a too-high setting– talk about an annoying mess!
By placing a large kitchen towel over the entirety of your mixer before starting the mixing process, you can keep you, your counters, and everything else in your kitchen safe from an accidental mess.
4. Store your attachments in cool ways.
If you are addicted to buying the newest and coolest stand mixer attachments, you probably know how unwieldy some of them are. And when you have a growing collection, the pile tends to get bulky.
There are a ton of ways to store your stand mixer attachments so that they are easy to grab yet out of the way:
1. Keep them in the bowl.
This one is pretty obvious. Why throw your stand mixer attachments in a cabinet only to have to dig and reach through your other items to get to them when you have a perfectly usable mixing bowl attached to your stand mixer?
Simply toss the attachments in the bowl– it is as easy as pie.
2. Hang them up on hooks.
Hooks are cheap and you can find elegant ones that fit the aesthetic of your kitchen fairly easily.
Simply install hooks in the backsplash and hang those stand mixer attachments up for easy access. How simple is that?
You can also install hooks on the inside of your cabinets to keep them hidden away yet also easy to access.
3. Make a DIY mixer attachment stand.
If you want to get really creative, give this idea a shot.
Simply attach several dowels to a 1×2 piece of wood. Make sure the dowels fit into the hole where your attachments attach to the stand mixer.
And that’s it! This elegant idea is very customizable. You can paint it, decorate it, and make it fit the visual aesthetic of your kitchen all while getting more organized.
5. Chill your equipment before whipping cream.
You can get fluffier and smoother whipped cream with this awesome hack.
Put your kitchen stand mixer bowl as well as the beater in your freezer to chill the equipment beforehand. After about an hour, take out the equipment as start making whipped cream.
You will notice right away that the resulting whipped cream has more bounce and volume to it.
This is because cream just simply whips better when it’s cold. The temperature effects the size and amount of bubbles that form when whipping, as well as how to fat clings to itself and the air cell structure and air phase volume.
Start Mixing!
Now that you know a few helpful hacks for using your mixer, you can fully get the most out of your new appliance
Was our guide to kitchen stand mixer tricks helpful? We would love to hear what you think and hope you share our love of mixing with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else you hang out!
