Freestanding Mixers

[SofaQueen]

After pondering my brioche question, I'm seriously leaning towards plonking down the (considerable!) cash and purchasing a freestanding mixer. However, realistically speaking, is it worth the money and what else can I do with it besides make cakes. Will is make my breadmachine (which I only use to mix breaddough) obsolete, and what about my handmixer? Does anyone have the ice cream attachement?

What are the useful attachments to purchase, and which brand is most reliable?

I have a Kitchenaid and I love it. I use it for anything that would otherwise be mixed with a wooden spoon or beaten with a whisk.

I gave my handmixer away when I got the Kitchenaid and I haven't missed it.

I was given a little money for Chrismas and decided to buy myself a mixer. Not a lot of money and after looking around I bought a cheap one from argos sale because I thought the "good" ones were so expensive.
Once I had it, i fell in love with it!! It was so easy to whip up a cake. ANyway, stupid thing broke after just about 6 weeks, so I took it back and got a refund and thought it was worth spending the extra and geting a Kenwood CHef Classic. Love it even more.

I did think I would be using it for making bread, making my breadmaker redundent, but the family prefer the breadmaker bread, so use both. I use the mixer at least 3 or 4 times each week. Chelsea buns are the favourite at the moment. Also makes wonderful waffle mixture. I have bought the shredder/grater attachmnet and thats good. Have toyed with the idea of the ice-cream maker, but it seems a lot of money and I am not sure I would make that much ice-cream. I do know that I would just eat it all and not good for the waistline (non-existent waistline as it is, but hey, ho!!!)

I would not be without mine now, but I do think you pay for what you get quality wise. I got mine on a half price sale on Amazon. Fantastic value.

Baking is quicker and easier with a stand mixer. Usually you can get the first few ingredients mixing (e.g. butter and sugar) while you weigh out the next, prepare the tins etc.

And don't forget how pretty they are! As long as workbench space isn't an issue...

(floats off dreaming of red Kitchenaid.....)

I have a kitchen aid mixer and I love it. I use it for bread making, cakes, batter etc. Ice cream attachment is ok too. It also looks lovely on my worktop.

I found a brand new one of these in a charity shop and it is brilliant. I don't know if Sunbeam sell outside Australia but I would definitely recommend it. It came with dough hooks but I have to admit I have not yet got around to making bread.

I covet the KitchenAid too (almond white for me, thanks) but the Sunbeam is an excellent stopgap until I win the lottery.

I have kept my wand mixer for blending soups while they're in the pot, but I use this for everything else.