Dear Bluekitobsessed, I don't think it's overkill to have both. A FP will perform many of the tasks that a mixer will perform, but a serious baker will want a mixer. Reasons include: - Mixers are generally better for larger batches of doughs and batters & a good mixer will handle some of the heavier doughs like biscotti or pasta dough better. - The whisk attachment on the mixer is better for aerating things like whipped cream and meringues. The variable speed is also a help, especially with meringues, as a real baking geek will start out at slow speed and then raise speed for better volume. (I'm momentarily forgetting the science behind this - I'll of course remember it right after I hit the submit button.) You're not going to be making souffls with your FP. - The paddle and dough hook attachments are more gentle for making artisan breads where you don't want to work the dough as aggressively as a food processor might even with the dough blade. For the same reason, you can use the mixer's paddle attachment to "whip" a large batch of mashed potatoes, whereas the food processor will give them a wall paper paste like texture because a sharper blade can damage the gelatinized starch granules. (I've never forgotten the shock of wrecking a batch during a graded final in cooking school.) - I like a mixer with paddle attachment for cookie doughs that have nuts and/or choc chips because it's less likely to crush them provided you add them at the end and mix just a tiny bit more. I also think the mixer bowl is easier to scrape (It can also be a help to have more than one mixer bowl). - Another advantage of mixer bowls is you can put them in ice baths to quickly cool and hot water baths to heat or apply a gentle flame to them which can be helpful for Swiss and Italian meringues or melting chocolate. I confess I've been known to hit the outside of the mixer bowl briefly with a kitchen blowtorch in order to soften butter I'm creaming if it's just a little too hard. (If it's a lot too hard this isn't a great idea.) - Mixers have some cool attachments that FPs don't have. You can grind meat and make/stuff homemade sausages with the right mixer attachments (The FP is sometimes better for grinding/emulsifying, but you can't stuff sausages with it. There are pasta rollers and cutters you can attach to your mixer that are very cool. There's even an ice cream maker sleeve that you can put in your freezer and then use to churn homemade ice cream. FPs, however, have slicing attachments that mixers don't and I love the grating wheel FP attachment - It's a big time saver if you're grating a lot of cheese. To me these are just a few of the reasons a well equipped kitchen will have both a FP and a quality mixer. I don't know what mixer to recommend to you. I have an old (Hobart era) KitchenAid that I love, but the new ones I've used aren't great and KitchenAid doesn't provide good customer service if something goes wrong. The Kenmoore mixers of 6-8 years ago (I also have two of these) were great, but quality dropped after Delonghi took them over. I don't have experience with the Cuisinart Mixers. I do subscribe to Cooks Illustrated online and highly recommend them. They just updated their mixer reviews this March & liked the Cuisinart, so if I had to buy now, I'd first go garage sale hopping to try to find a Hobart era KitchenAid and failing that I'd take a chance on the Cuisinart. Here's what Cook's Illustrated said: "The KitchenAid Professional 600 ($399.95), earned its spot on the test kitchen counter in 2005 for mastering tasks that ranged from churning cookie dough and kneading bread and pizza dough to whipping air into heavy cream and egg whites. We wondered how three newer models would compare. The West Bend 12-Speed Stand Mixer ($99.99) was disqualified during round one (kneading bread dough) when its dough hook caused the machine to shudder so fiercely it almost fell off the counter. Brawnier rivalsÂthe Cuisinart 5.5 Quart Stand Mixer ($349) and the Wolfgang Puck Bistro Stand Mixer ($249.90)Âwhisked their way through all manner of tasks (though the Wolfgang Puck machine tended to tremble while kneading). Both models sport an ingenious disk that caps their nonstick dough hook and prevented pizza dough from riding up and sticking, as it did in the KitchenAid. Add that to CuisinartÂs handful of modern perks and itÂs clear why this mixer has overthrown KitchenAid for a place on our countertop. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Cuisinart 5.5 Quart Stand Mixer Price: $349 Source: www.cooking.com Comments: In addition to acing its way through heavy tasks like kneading bread and pizza dough and churning cookie batter full of oats, nuts, and dried fruit, this machine offers a host of modern updatesÂa digital timer with automatic shut-off, a fold function for incorporating ingredients delicately, and a splash guard attachment with a built-in feed tube." Best wishes - HTH!

I have a lift bowl model not a lift head. I usually pull it a bit toward me on the counter to work on it, but I don't have to pull it entirely clear of the cabinets because the head doesn't lift. The attachment in Lars's picture is the rotor slicer/shredder. I've not used it for grating cheese. I use it for shredding potatoes for latkas and for shredding apples for charoset. For the latter, I also pop in the nuts and it does a fine job of grating them to small bits. For grating I pull it out all the way and turn it sideways. It just takes a bit of muscle. I don't notice the feet grabbing - perhaps the feet on mine started out a bit harder. It is great for egg whites so if you've had trouble with them in the past, you might give it another try now.

I have a Viking 5-qt. stand mixer that I got for Christmas a few years ago from my DH (and, yes, he is dear to me for getting me a kitchen appliance that I love LOL). I decided on the Viking after my old KA finally bit the proverbial dust. It was a basic 300 watt model that was manufactured about 25 years ago. After having it leak oil from the motor head and having it re-greased and packed more times than I care to recall, I finally realized that it just didn't have enought power to keep up with what my needs are. The Viking was a good fit for me. Since the Viking came out, there have been others to follow suit, like the Cuisinart and Breville. I don't know how they compare to the Viking, but I'm very pleased with it. It is louder than a KA, but that doesn't bother me...as long as it does the job, that's what matters. It is a workhorse. BTW, it's manufactured in the UK, unlike many others, which are manufactured in China. Sometimes you can't get around buying something made in China, but given the choice I would prefer not to.

This is the method I have used for many years when making bread dough in my Kitchenaid stand mixer. The source is Betsy Oppenneer's The Bread Book. Mixing and Kneading Bread in a Heavy Duty Electric Mixer 1.Put dry yeast and proofing water into mixer bowl; whisk, proof yeast. 2.Fit mixer paddle on. 3.Add rest of liquid ingredients (milk, eggs, butter) to the yeast/water. 4.Add half of the flour amount of the recipe and any other dry ingredients. 5.Turn mixer on medium speed (#4 on KA) and beat 2 minutes. 6.Reduce speed to low (#1) and add rest of flour ü cup at a time. 7.Remove paddle, scrape well. Attach dough hook. 8.Scrape down sides of bowl, turn speed to #2 and add more flour 1 TB at a time (dough will cling to hook then spread back to sides of bowl). 9.Increase speed to #4 and knead 5 minutes. At the end of this kneading time the dough should cling to the hook and clean the sides of the bowl. If not, add flour 1 TB at a time, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. 10.Remove the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, let rise per therecipe ��" or ��" turn out dough, knead by hand a few times, form into a ball, drizzle a little oil in the mixing bowl, put dough in, swirl in bowl and turn oiled side up, cover, let rise.