Kitchen Mixer Help

KitchenAid KHM5DH Ultra Power® Hand Mixer Product 100347 Key FeaturesMixer Type HandSpeed Settings 5 Speeds Warranty ...

Kitchenaid has the best hand mixer I’ve ever seen - KitchenAid KHM5DH Ultra Power® Hand Mixer My mother loves to cook all sorts of dishes, and tended to wear out hand mixers with distressing regularity. So I ...

Back in my lean and hungry college days, I bought a hand-held mixer in order to impress my boyfriend with my baking prowess. It set me back all of $10, and was in a putrid shade of avocado green. The poor thing did its best, but if I kept it running too long, it would just stop, like a recalcitrant child, and refuse to do its job again until I let it rest about 10 minutes.

That machine certainly gave me my $10 worth, and more. One day, it just stopped working, and no amount of rest could make it resume its chores. Clearly, it was time to buy another. This time, however, I had the means to get something that would do the job more than adequately. I settled on the KitchenAid Ultra Power.

This is a cut above your usual hand-held mixer. It has all the quality one associates with the KitchenAid name. It can make fast work of the heaviest of cookie doughs, without even a trace of a laboring sound. It whips egg whites and heavy cream to perfection. You can cream fats and sugars to a light, fluffy texture in no time flat.

The beaters are as easily applied as they are ejected. There is a mini-diagram on the housing to tell you which beater goes in which slot, so it”s impossible to confuse. The housing can be cleaned with a wash-cloth when you”re all done, and the sleek design make this a quick task.

The down side is that the beaters are designed, as are all hand-helds, in a whip configuration. This means that they will efficiently incorporate air into your batter. Therefore, when making a cake, I use them to cream the butter (or margarine, or shortening) and sugar, and whip in the eggs. Be sure to use the lowest setting when adding liquids to this mixture, or you’ll wind up with splashes of goo everywhere. Once the liquid is incorporated sufficiently, I return the mixer to high in order to blend.

However, when adding the dry ingredients, I do not use the mixer. Instead, I opt to fold them in gently until completely blended. The first reason for this is that air introduced into the batter will make for holes in the finished product. If you use this mixer, you will notice air bubbles rising to the top of the batter if it is allowed to rest a few minutes. In this event, it is advisable to fill your pans, then hold them 6″ above a flat surface, like a table or counter, and drop the pans straight down so that they hit the table completely flat. Repeat several times before putting pans in the oven. This will force the air bubbles to the top where they can be released and break.

Secondly, vigorous mixing after dry ingredients are introduced to the liquid will cause the formation of gluten. Gluten is what gives yeast breads their structure. In a cake, this translates out as toughness. You want to work the batter as little as possible after you sufficiently incorporate dry ingredients, in order to ensure tenderness in your cake. I find that for this task, the KitchenAid K45SS (stand mixer) is much better suited. The flat beater gives much better control of the amount of working the batter receives, plus it does not incorporate air.

For any other tasks that you might use your hand-held mixer, such as whipping, creaming, blending, mashing potatoes, this mixer yields superior results. It also offers longevity, as the motor is made to stand up to years of hard work.

Watch for sale prices. The customary price around here is $59.99, however, I purchased mine locally for $39.99, a great bargain.

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