Kitchenaid Stand Mixer

[Italiancook]

I have to let Kitchenaid off the hook for the fact that my stand mixer went kaplooey while I was making pizza dough this week. I read the instruction booklet hoping to find a way to fix it. To my horror, I read their recommendation to never knead bread on a speed higher than 2. When I bought the mixer, I wasn't using it for bread, so I'm sure I read this but ignored it. When I started using it for bread, I didn't re-read the instruction booklet. Usually, there is a point when I've kneaded bread in the machine at a speed higher than 2. In fact, when it went kaplooey, I had the speed on 3 or 4. So the loss of my valued small appliance is my fault.

The new mixer arrived this morning. Less than 48 hours after ordered. The new instruction book also says to never knead bread dough higher than Speed 2.

I've lived and learned.

Spread the word

      

  

  

[RiversideLen]

Italiancook, I hope your new mixer serves you well. What color did you get?

[BakerAunt]

Best wishes on the new arrival at your kitchen, Italian Cook. May it serve you long and well in mixing up tasty food!

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, I bought white. Humdrum, I guess, given the wide range of colors they offer, but I have white cabinets. I purchased the Artisan because they offered a discount on it. Plus, it comes with a bowl that has a handle. So when I say the instruction booklets said to never take bread dough above Speed 2, I mean for the 4-1/2 quart and 5 quart Artisan. I have no idea what the guideline is for their more expensive machines.

[Mike Nolan]

If I'm right about KA having 3 lines of mixers, the Artisan line is probably the middle one.

Regardless of the load it puts on the motor, you probably don't want to use higher speeds on bread dough anyway, it tends to tear the gluten rather than develop it.

Most of the commercial recipes that the BBGA puts out specify what speed to use (on a commercial mixer). Some recipes only use speed 1, some specify some time at speed 1 and some at speed 2. It sort of depends on whether the recipe is a 'short', 'improved' or 'intensive' mix. (Jeffrey Hamelman goes into the three mixing styles in his book.)

[BakerAunt]

I have a Cuisinart stand mixer, and so I have to guess at speeds. However, I looked at the recipe book that came with the mixer, and that let me decide what speed is appropriate.

[Italiancook]

I gave my new mixer it's maiden voyage today. Made my grandmother's chocolate cake, which I think is a Hersey's cocoa recipe from decades ago. When I bought the mixer, I didn't inquire about the motor. The Artisan appears to have a stronger motor. Normally, I put sugar and butter in mixer to cream. Then go to another counter while it whirrs so I can work on other ingredients. By the time I get around to going back to the mixer, all is creamed. The Artisan works much faster. It creamed the ingredients so fast I didn't have other ingredients ready. Every stage of the mixing process was much faster.

I purchased the stainless steel flat beater as an extra. I like that type of blade for mashing a big batch of potatoes. I used it on the cake and am happy to report it didn't leave a glob of ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. It had incorporated everything from the bottom. So I'm a happy baker.

[Italiancook]

I'm still happy with my KA Artisan mixer. I think though, that the wider bowl would be best-served with the "beater paddle," whatever that's called. The one they make that looks like it has rubber along one side. This has been my opinion for as many times as I've used the white-coated paddle. When I own the fancier paddle and have an opinion on that, I'll post again.

[Italiancook]

I bought the flex beater for my KA Artisan stand mixer. It is worth the money. I believe, and KA may disagree, that the Artisan bowl is wider that their least expensive stand mixer. I don't think the beater than comes with the Artisan does a good job reaching the edges of the wide bowl. The flex beater stands in the gap and does a great job on cakes. Because it has a flexible edge that I don't want ruined, I didn't use it when I made foccacia. Before I use it on cookie dough, I'm going to call KA and ask if the flex edge is sturdy enough for cookies. I also need to find out if I can use it with the bowl for the smaller mixer. I kept it when that mixer went kaplooey.

[Italiancook]

The last time I made bread, the head of my Kitchenaid stand mixer jumped up and down as the bread was kneading. It was locked, so the jump up was only a small distance, but enough to be concerning. It's either just out of warranty, or almost out. This is exactly the reason I ditched my smaller KA for the Artisan. It works fine for cake batter. I'm going to call KA tomorrow and hope they have someone in customer service. I know she's going to tell me to remove the end cap and adjust the screw, because that's what I was told to do with my old mixer. I'd do it now, except I don't remember which direction to turn the screw. Since it didn't work then, I'm skeptical now. Do any of you know what to do about this?

I'm going to make bread today and use my food processor instead of the stand mixer. Before I had a stand mixer, I always used the food processor. It makes the dough warm enough to concern me, but it's never killed the yeast. And, the bread still tastes good.

[Mike Nolan]

As I recall, you're supposed to be able to get a dime between the bottom of the beater and the bowl.

Are you certain the lock lever isn't failing?

[aaronatthedoublef]

I have the paddle with the rubber edge and the paddle without from an older mixer. I prefer the older style. There was a third party that made a paddle with rubber on both sides and KA drove them out of business by telling people like me that using this beater voided my warranty. Shortly after the double edged paddle company went out of business KA came out with their own, one sided version. It's supposed to function as both a paddle and a bowl scraper. I used it for a while with cakes and cookies and breads but I like the regular paddle now and just use a scraper.

Most of my bread making is done by hand because it's too big for our mixer. Stella Parks is fan of using a food processor for her whole wheat bread over at Serious Eats. She mixes the bread using the metal blade and for a very quick mix - probably about two minutes or less. I've made this bread three times now and it's as light and airy as promised. Now if I can just figure out how to keep it rising up instead of flopping over the side of the bread pan it will be perfect!

[Mike Nolan]

Sounds like you need a slightly bigger bread pan. Otherwise, you may need to firm the dough up a bit, either by lowering the hydration or with some stretch-and-folds.

When I make the Stella Parks recipe, I use an 8 inch bread pan and it rises to maybe 3/4 of an inch above the top of the pan before it goes into the oven.

[Italiancook]

Actually, Mike, now that you mention it, I think the problem is the lock lever. It's not going all the way over. Any ideas on how I might fix it myself?

[Mike Nolan]

One possibility is that the beater is is too close to the bowl, it won't lock if it isn't all the way down. See if it locks without a beater in place. If so, you need to do the height adjustment stuff.

[Author]

Posts