What do you use a stand mixer for exactly (kitchenaid &co)

[Somethingsgotthagive]

I am not an experienced baker but love the look of a kitchenaid. My question is, how do I know how and when to use it for? Can it be used for any baking recipe instead of standard hand mixing or does it have to be used to make specific things only?
Forgive my ignorance but keen to understand how it works as I almost never read one is needed in recipes!

I use mine for everything and I do not have a hand mixer at all

Everything. I makes cakes, bread, pastry, scones, Yorkshire pudding, pancakes, whipping cream etc. I also have a shredder and grater attachment I use a lot.

Making bread with the dough hook. My machine is now over 25 years old kenwood major and is brilliant. Makes a mean pavlova too .

Yorkshire pudding batter is made with barely any effort from a hand held whisk! I make cakes with a £7 electric mixer. Kitchen Aid is £300!!! 😂

@CaptainMyCaptain so basically any baking recipe can be done with that? Even when whipping isn’t required? How would I know the speed and right attachment to use being a beginner cook?

We make all our own bread using the KitchenAid. Otherwise, cakes meringues etc which could be made with a hand whisk but as the KitchenAid is out we use it.

You don’t need one op . They’re a vanity buy.You say you like the look but don’t know what they do, says it all!

I find where it's worth the money is for mixing stiff things with liquid things (which are a faff normally) and mixing very stiff dough (because it will power through anything).

Otherwise handheld is fine.

Bloody live mine, great for mash, cakes, bread dough and looks beautiful on my counter.

I use it for literally everything. Multiple times a day, every day. It has well paid for itself and will last forever - my mother still uses hers from the 1980s every day.

I've had my KitchenAid stand mixer for 12 years & it's brilliant. Use it for all my baking; I bake cakes quite a bit; it's great to just put it in & leave it to mix whilst I sort out the tins / next ingredient etc.
A lot is trial & error with speeds etc - you learn through trying - & splattering yourself in the process!

I have a kitchen aid. It’s my second as I moved countries and my old one doesn’t work on the same electric. My point is I use it enough to have justified buying it twice.

I also have a hand held electric mixer and I’d happily use a hand whisk if I had to.

I use them all regularly. For me, it’s a case of the right tool for the job.

If was forced to only choose one, and money was no object, and it had its own permanent space on the kitchen counter, it would be the KA as you can do everything very easily with a kitchen aid.

Depends on how often you bake really.

I make bread every 2 and a half days, and use my cheap Lidl stand mixer to knead the dough. I use it for making cake batter once a month ish and I make pancake batter every now and then. If it wasn't for the bread dough I'd probably just make stuff by hand.

You can do most things it does with a hand mixer but they leave your hands free to eg clear up or add ingredients gradually. The splatterguard helps contain flying icing sugar when making buttercream. The dough hook is brilliant for bread doughs. I love having one but agree it's a bit of a luxury given the cost.

You have to use the whisk attachment for cream and be careful not to overwhip it. Otherwise I don't see how you could go wrong.

We have a pink copy from Lidl. My daughters use it all the time for baking. Was only about £50

I have an old Kenwood chef along with its original recipe books. I either use those recipes or look for something similar as a guide. The K beater is used for most recipes. It has taken my scones and cakes to another level without a doubt.

My Kitchen Aid was a gift for a big birthday 9 years ago and I love it. I use it nearly every day. The OP asked what people used them for. I'm not trying to sell them so i dint really care and it doesn't sound like the OP cooks enough to need one.

Where it's really useful is for something like Italian meringue buttercream which takes half an hour of continuous beating! Just set a timer and walk away.

In general , where a recipe says "beat" you can use the paddle attachment, "whisk' you can use the whisk attachment and "knead' you can use the dough hook. Generally they're not needed, but a nice to have. I love mine and use it frequently, but I baked just fine through my childhood and university without one.

I love my KitchenAid. It makes, the best Cakes, meringues, bread and everything else I bake! It whips cream and I’ve even made my own butter in it, when i had a lot of cream left over!

This ^ you can leave it running whilst you faff around so I can have the butter and sugar creaming away whilst I weigh out the other ingredients. I make a specific chocolate cake for birthdays and when I got my K Mix (bargain sale with some Tesco Clubcard double up vouchers so cost me £30 cold hard cash plus vouchers) it made the cake so much easier, especially the folding in feature.

We also have an Ooni pizza oven and make dough that kneads for around 10 minutes, I don't have to stand over it whilst it kneads it. Just leave it going. The splatter guard is great for slowly adding in icing sugar for buttercream.

Things you might not think to use it for, shredding cooked chicken breast or pulling pork.

I’m a really keen baker. I bake a lot including bread, cakes, meringues etc. I like to think I am a good cook, and I’ve been doing it all of my adult life for my largeish family (I’m 60). I have never used a machine mixer and there’s nothing I have been unable to make because I don’t have a mixer.

If I came into some money I might consider buying a KitchenAid because they’d accessorise the kitchen nicely. They are lovely to look at but absolutely not essential, or even necessary.

Whipping cream
Making sponge cakes
Making brownies
Making pastry (especially rubbing-in)
Making mayonnaise
Pulling pork
Whipping cream and condensed milk together for no-churn ice cream
Mincing meat (with additional attachment)
Stuffing sausages (likewise)

HOW could I forget whisking egg whites?! 🤦‍♀️

I have a kitchenaid because I love the look of them and am Nigella obsessed.., however I could do any of the things I bake (which is very rugularly) without it. It's certainly not a kitchen necessity. I agree with a pp, the cheap hand mixers are just as useful.