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Mrs. Larkin is a trusted source on Baking.
added over 1 year agoI've had a kitchenaid stand mixer for a long time. Last year, I got a Viking hand mixer (thank you foodpickle!) and have to admit I just used it for the first time the other day when making the chocolate mint souffle cupcakes, where you had to beat a few different ingredients in different bowls. It's pretty powerful, worked great, and I really loved it. But will I use it again?? Probably, for beating egg whites and whipped cream and stuff.
Chris is a trusted source on General Cooking
added over 1 year agoExactly what I was thinking. It'd be good for egg whites and whipped cream. That's probably it, but maybe it's enough.
I have both and honestly, use the hand mixer only occasionally. The Kitchen Aid Mixer is the true star of my kitchen.
I gave my hand mixer away to my daughter when she left for college a long time ago. For a gift we purchased a KitchenAid stand mixer for her. She then gave away the hand mixer to someone else. Not once have either one of us said "I wish I had a hand mixer - where is it?"
I love owning both. The stand mixer is the (baking) workhorse in my kitchen, but I had this dilemma 2 years ago and bought the hand mixer against my sister's advice. :) I have never regretted it--I seem to need to whip cream and egg whites a lot, and there are some times when I use the regular beaters too, for simple doughs with melted butter or oil. It probably mostly comes down to how much you bake.
If you're not one to keep the Kitchenaid on your counter at all times, I think the hand mixer is useful for short, small projects, when you don;t fee like having to lug out and put away the Kitchenaid.
pierino is a trusted source on General Cooking and Tough Love.
added over 1 year agoIt's easy to be ambivalent about hand mixers. I have the whole arsenal too and I use the mixer about as often as I use the stick blender, which is to say, not very often.
My hand mixer is great for making 7-Minute icing (Maida Heatter's Fluffy White Icing). You have to beat the ingredients in a double-boiler at the stove for 6-7 minutes.
That's all I ever use the hand mixer for, but when you need it, you need it.
I think it depends on what and how you cook and bake and where your stand mixer lives. I generally cook for just two and prefer to knead yeast breads by hand and make quick breads with a whisk or spoon. For the relatively rare occasions when I need to cream butter and sugar or whip cream or beat egg whites, I find it easier to do it with a hand mixer. It might take a couple more minutes, but I find it easier than dragging out the Kitchenaid, cleaning it afterward (a task I seriously dislike), and putting it back. I probably use the hand mixer ten times for every time I use the stand mixer, though if I were regularly doing large-batch baking the ratio would be different.
While Peter no longer works for Food52 he still thinks up ways to make the website better.
added 6 months agoAn old conversation but I'll chime in -- between my stand mixer and my immersion blender with whisk attachment, I don't think I've used the hand mixer more than 3 times in the last 3 years... and no doubt I could have skipped it those 3 times.
Chris is a trusted source on General Cooking
added 6 months agoThanks, Peter. After the advice I got 11 months ago, I opted not to get the hand mixer. And I've never once missed it. If the project's not worth lugging out the Kitchenaid or not suitable for the immersion blender, I don't mind just using a spoon or a whisk.