You’ll Never Look At Your Stand Mixer The Same After Learning These Little-Known Secrets
It’s not hard to walk down the kitchen appliance aisle of any department store and see a bevy of superfluous tools – ones you easily can convince yourself you don’t need.
There are people who get by without dishwashers, toasters, or even blenders, but this doesn’t mean they live a life without smoothies, toast, or clean dishes.
How many times have you thought of the stand mixer potentially sitting on your counter or in your cabinet and thought,
“Why do I have this thing? I probably bake once a year.”
Stand mixers made their bread and butter – no pun intended – because of their utility in all things baking, but you aren’t just shelling out dough for, well dough if you purchase one of these bad boys.
Of course, with the holiday season fast approaching, there are plenty of baking projects you could get yourself into as well.
But why not step out of the box and try something new?
You might not be able to teach an old horse anything new, but there are tons of things you probably didn’t think of that you can do with your old stand mixer.
Holy Guacamole
Now, guacamole isn’t THAT hard to make sans-mixer, but for those guac-heads who aren’t satisfied with anything less than the creamiest and smoothest, break out the stand mixer.
Start getting ideas here.
With the mixer’s utility in the meat department that we’ll get to later, you could use your mixer for nearly every part of a spread perfect for tacos.
Guacamole is also a great source of healthy fats, which makes it great brain food.
Mashed Potatoes AKA The ‘I Can’t Stand Mixer’
Ah the potato masher, albeit much lighter than a stand mixer, this thing is really only good for one thing, and using it can be tiring.
If you can’t stand tiresome kitchen drudgery, specifically mashing tons of potatoes for any large meal, break out your mixer.
While it can mash more than just taters, if you’re thinking about homemade hummus for lunch and mashed potatoes at dinner, your arms might want to have a word with you first.
It only takes a little creative thinking to realize mashed potatoes don’t need to be a pain in the arms anymore.
Ice Cream
The only thing your trusty stand mixer should have you screaming for is ice cream, and conveniently there is an attachment that helps you do just that.
KitchenAid’s ice cream maker attachment lets you make everything from ice cream to sorbet right in your home in around 30 minutes.
This is a great thing to do with the kids and also allows you to skip all the artificial sweeteners that can sometimes be found in the tubs of ice cream in the freezer section of the store.
Marshmallows
For those that have a sweet, but sensitive tooth, you can still get your fix by adding marshmallows to the mix.
If you’ve never tried them, homemade marshmallows are a delicacy you’ve deprived yourself of for too long. Trying to compare a homemade marshmallow to a packaged one is almost like apples and oranges, the difference is that drastic.
And you only need the wire mixer, no need to get a “marshmallow attachment”
Pasta
Pasta is usually seen as a quick and easy meal, but that’s because all the “wow” in pasta comes from when you make it at home.
The pasta maker, roller, and cutter attachment take the large spread of tools you would usually use to make pasta at home and makes it all possible with your mixer.
This saves you money, it saves you space, time, AND it saves you having to eat store-bought pasta when the real deal is a lot closer than across the Atlantic.
Sausage
If you haven’t seen the trend yet, a stand mixer is a major key to unlocking a large cross-section of DIY culinary experiences.
If you’ve ever liked the taste of sausage, but not so much the idea of it, you can remove all the unknowns out of the meat product by making your own at home.
One attachment can take all the mystery out of the mystery meat and make sausage great again. Being smaller than a stand-alone sausage stuffer, this one is a no-brainer.
Being in control of what goes into your food is one of the easiest ways to stay healthy too.
Shredded Meat
If you can’t get past the idea of sausage, your stand mixer can still lend aid in the meat department, no extra attachment needed.
The handy wire whip can (literally) make mincemeat out of any meat that’s tender enough. Just boil some chicken, add some sauce or seasoning, and watch as Taco Tuesday is forever changed.
You aren’t limited to just chicken, just make sure the meat is cooked thoroughly enough to be subject to the magic of the mixer.
Juice
Who needs a juicer? Who knew a stand mixer could do all this? The juicing attachment actually traps the seeds and pulp from the fruit so you only get fresh squeezed smoothness in your glass.
If you’re already making your own pasta and guacamole with your mixer, you might as well start juicing too. Who would’ve thought one kitchen appliance could be the secret to keeping up your healthy eating New Year’s Resolutions?
There’s More…
The design of the KitchenAid mixer hasn’t changed much in decades. While this is a great testament to dependability, the really neat thing is there are some really neat old school attachments that are still compatible with newer models if you run across them.
Imagine going beyond food, having your mixer buff your silverware or open your cans. If you can dream it chances are there is a nifty attachment made for it, you just have to know where to look.
There you have it, a once pigeon-holed appliance has proven to be an extraordinary kitchen utility, is it time for you to add one to your mix?
Some additional resources to keep you busy with your kitchen mixer: