What are you baking the week of August 4, 2019

[Mike Nolan]

I don't think I'll do any baking today, what about you?

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[chocomouse]

Early this morning before it got hot, I made a batch of sandwich thins for the freezer.

[BakerAunt]

We've had cooler weather this Tuesday, so I baked my Hot Cross Buns recipe (one I have fiddled with for years to make it more wholegrain) with fresh blueberries. It does get a bit messy incorporating them, but we both like the results. Once they cool, I'll frost them (no cross, just frosting!). We will have one for dessert tonight, and happily eat them whenever for the rest of the week.

[Mike Nolan]

Do you have the KAF whole grains cookbook? It's got an excellent Hot Cross Buns recipe in it. It's a 50-50 whole wheat/AP flour recipe, though I've made it using 2/3 whole wheat and 1/3 AP. I find it gets a bit chewy that way, though. I divide the dough into 32 parts rather than 24 and bake them in 6" pans, 8 per pan, so they're more of a snack. According to MyFitnessPal, they're 20.7 carbs and 128 calories each, not counting frosting.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike. I have the book, and I'll have to look at that one. The recipe I currently used was adapted from one in the Los Angeles Times weekly recipe section.

[RiversideLen]

This afternoon I made my sandwich buns. Also made up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, portioned it out and froze it.

[Italiancook]

I had a horrible experience trying to make Now or Later Pizza dough (KAF), and it's not KAF's fault. First, I couldn't get either of my 2 paddle beaters onto the mixer. My husband and I had to push, pull, and twist for a long time until one of the beaters went on. Mixed dough for 2 minutes and the head of the mixer wasn't acting right. Managed to take off the paddle beater, after some time. Thankfully, the dough hook went on fine.

As the mixer was running, the head kept bouncing up and down. Took bowl and hook off. My husband worked a long time trying to fix the problem. A hinge that goes from one side of the mixer to the other side had come almost completely out. Husband and I worked and worked trying to right it. Finally succeeded. Mixer head still bounced. We realized the head is tilted. I machine-kneaded the dough for a few minutes and gave up. I should have finished it by hand-kneading, but didn't think of that. Husband was busy with a screw driver, talking, and I gave up on the kneading. Covered dough and hoped for the best.

It rose fine. I put half in the freezer and half in the refrig for tomorrow. Called Kitchenaid customer service. A nice woman walked me through an adjustment that didn't solve problem. She said to check the beater to bowl contact with a dime, but bowl is in dishwasher. Will do that later today. If that doesn't solve the problem, she said it needs servicing, but there's no service center around here. So tomorrow, I may be shopping for a new stand mixer. I'll go with the cheapest KitchenAid again, as this one has lasted 19 years.

Hmmmm, but since I'm now making bread and pizza dough more often, I wonder if I need a heavier duty stand mixer. I have limited counter space for it, and it must not be any longer or wider than the one I have now. I sure hope I'm thrilled with the taste of the pizza tomorrow after all this!

Anyone have an idea why the paddle beaters didn't want to go on the mixer? Or why they wouldn't turn to lock? Or why they were bears to twist off? I used a brush on the spring & no debris came off. I brushed the inside and edges of the beaters and still had problems. The instruction book says they can be washed in dishwasher, and that's what I do. The kneading hook went on and off like a charm, but I don't use it as often as the paddle beaters.

[Mike Nolan]

KitchenAid has been through several quality phases since Hobart sold them.

The Hobart-built KA mixers are IMHO still the best, ours is nearly 48 years old and still performing like a champ, though it makes some grinding or clicking noises from time to time.

Hobart sold the KA line to Whirlpool in 1986, and some people think the brand went downhill within a few years.

There was a period where the KA mixers had really cheap nylon gears in them, I guess the engineering concept was that the gear would fail rather than burn out the motor, but almost nobody liked that.

According to several sources, they went back to metal gears some time around 2000, not sure exactly when, and I'm also not sure if that applies to all lines.

To me it appears there are 3 lines in most of the sizes of current KA mixers, with 3 price levels, 3 power ratings, and, most likely, 3 quality levels. The discount stores appear to have the lowest price ones, with power and quality to match. However, I've not figured out the distribution of the higher priced higher quality lines. It'd be nice if someone like Consumer Reports did a comprehensive report on all the KA mixers, including taking them apart, but I've not seen them do that.

Personally, I don't like the bowl-lift models, so if I ever had to replace mine I'd probably stick with the smaller size, since the larger ones are all bowl-lift style.

I don't think I do enough large-scale breadmaking these days to justify the Ankarsrum mixer, and I don't know that it has the ability to whip egg whites, which I probably do almost as often as I do bread dough. To be honest, I'd think about a $1200 table-top commercial mixer if I wanted a big one, but I'd want something that had pasta attachments, because I use those a lot, too.

[Italiancook]

I don't like the bowl lift mixers, either, Mike. I appreciate all the info you posted. I bought my mixer at Macy's, and it was the least expensive one they carried. About $199.99. My bowl has a handle. Now, KitchenAid makes some bowls without a handle. I absolutely must have a handle. Makes scooping out cookie dough and pouring cake batter much easier. I can't even imagine WHY they'd sell an expensive product with a handleless bowl.

I'm hopeful that when the dishwasher quits running, IF I can get the paddle beater on, that I can rectify the tilt problem. I know what happened. My husband kept turning the screw that affects tilt, thinking it would solve the hinge problem. Moral of this story is to read the instruction book before starting a repair. Neither of us thought of that!

[Mike Nolan]

I'd suggest making sure there isn't something clogging either the beater or the spindle it attaches to.

I have two bowls for my 4 1/2 quart mixer, one with a handle, one without, the one with the handle is much easier to get on and off. These days they also make a 4 1/2 quart glass bowl, but I've read reports that it tends to chip on the bottom where it locks in and it is a lot heavier.

A few years ago I actually had a dough hook break in the middle of a kneading cycle. Getting it off was a bit tricky, and I wound up throwing out that batch of dough.

[chocomouse]

Today I have made two loaves of my version of Harvest Grain bread, a 9 x 13 pan of date-nut-coffeecake that has been in my husband's family for eons, and a double batch of my version of KAF's Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes. I'm leaving early in the morning for two weeks, and am leaving plenty of good food for my husband.

[BakerAunt]

This afternoon I baked King Arthur's Maple Granola again--using the online recipe rather than the version in their Whole Grains baking book. The online recipe uses less oil and adds 1/2 cup powdered milk. (They use special dry milk; I use Bob's Red Mill powdered milk.) I chose pecans rather than walnuts because we still have plenty of pecans. I delete the vanilla (why spoil that great maple flavor?), and I add 1/2 cup pumpkin seed. I decided to bake it in my giant half-sheet pan with 2-inch sides (the one I used for Party Mix back when it could be in my diet). I lined it with parchment (Reynolds, since I wanted to cover the sides, and the KAF half-sheet parchment won't do that). I let it cool briefly, then stir in 2 cups raisins.

I like to sprinkle this granola over the nonfat Greek yogurt that I have as part of my lunch, and sometimes I eat it plain as a breakfast cereal. My husband has taken to snacking on it, and so I have no problem with making such a large batch.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: You have my sympathy on the mixer problems. If the beaters still won't go in, perhaps just the beaters need to be replaced?

I've never owned a Kitchen Aid. When I got married nine years ago, I received some gift cards which I used with a coupon at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy the Cuisinart 7-quart mixer, which has a powerful motor. It also has a tilt head, since like you and Mike, I do not like the lift bowls for a mixer that sits on the counter. One of my friends commented that with that motor, I could probably tow a small truck with it. 🙂 At the time I bought it, America's Test Kitchen and KAF were keen on it, perhaps because KA had had the problems Mike points out, and Cuisinart had introduced a spiral bread hook, which worked better than the one KA had been using. However, a few years after I bought mine, ATK and KA went back to the new Kitchen Aids that had been improved and now had a spiral bread hook as well. However, there still wasn't the tilt head on the larger mixers. I know that Wonky (it's been a long time since we heard from her) bought a 6-quart a couple of years ago and uses it for all her bread making, and she makes a LOT of bread.

Meanwhile, Cuisinart got out of the stand mixer business (!!!), so I hope that my machine will not need any servicing, although I saved the box in case I ever have to ship it.

Good luck with your mixer, and let us know how it goes.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Joan Simpson]

Chocomouse have a good fun time while you're away.

[Italiancook]

I'm happy to report the stand mixer crisis is over. My husband and I both tried to save her. A collection of screw drivers still on the living room floor prove it. In the end, she was beyond repair. Kitchenaid gave me a discount on a new Artisan 5-quart tilt-head mixer, so I bought it. Cheaper than Macy's and Home Depot -- well, for sure Macy's, I can't as clearly recall Home Depot's price.

The bowl, dough hook, and wire whisk I have now will still work with the new mixer. The flat beaters will not, but since they won't go on the mixer right, no love lost. I am also losing the burnished flat beater. Now, KA has replaced it with a stainless steel flat beater that's dishwasher-safe. I bought that, too.

Soon, I should be back in business. I'm happy to have 2 mixer bowls. Often, I'll want to make two items in one day and am too lazy to hand-wash the bowl. It's easier for the dishwasher to remove the gunk out of the bowl than me. Of course, it takes longer in the dishwasher.

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