Anything? Everything? I've actually been using mine less recently as I've need less volume and have been trying to conserve washing water, but there's all the baking (bread, cookies, cakes, anything with whipped eggs or cream, dumplings, etc.) Last night I used the grinder attachment to prepare the meat and veg filling for a holiday dish wrapped in dough. There are also basic things like whipping potatoes and fancy things like making pasta with the available attachments. There's a newer spiralizer attachment which I think is overkill. The hand cranked kind seem easier to use. Lots of people love the ice cream bowl, but you have to keep it in the freezer, and it takes up a lot of space.

What I don't use it for is anything that's easily brought together with a fork or whisk, like a recipe for a dozen cookies--it would work fine, but why bother? Pastry dough, if you're going to use a machine, is better in the food processor. It's too easy to overwork it in the mixer, and it wants to be cut, rather than squished, together. Biscuits don't even want to be handled that much, and are best tossed together with your fingers until barely mixed, or same with a pastry blender or fork if you know how to do it without squishing.

When you are placing the bowl into it, make sure your finger isn't in the way. I somehow got mine snapped into the housing along with the rim of the bowl. I don't know what I would have done if my hubby hadn't been here, I couldn't get it out and whatever I tried mashed it even harder. How embarrassing it would have been if I'd had to carry that heavy sucker over to the phone and dial 911.

Of course I have the noodle roller and cutter attachment and love that one and I also have the meat grinder and the attachment that makes it easy to make apple sauce and not have to turn a food mill to get out the seeds and all of the other things it does. I have a very old one, still runs, made by Hobart and I had a new one about the same size and it went bad shortly after I got the old Hobart one. Recently I bought the new lift mixer in a Boysenberry color. I have only used it for the noodles. I have a couple of hand mixers that I use for really small jobs. I can not mix a lot by hand any more but the little hand mixers are very good for that small job. Lots of luck and have fun with you mixer.

Sue

I use it mostly for making bread dough, but in the past, I have used it for making cakes and biscotti. I seldom make cakes any more, although I used to back cakes for a restaurant, but back then I used the Hobart machine that the restaurant had.

I also have the meat grinder attachment and the pasta roller, but not the pasta cutter, and I use those two quite a bit. I have not felt the need for the pasta cutter, as I have a hand-crank pasta machine that I can use for that, and I often cut the pasta by hand, and frequently I just make lasagna, which does not require cutting, except for length during assembly. If you do not have the pasta roller attachment, I highly recommend it, as it makes quick work of rolling out pasta, and that used to be a pain when I was using my hand crank machine. Pasta dough goes through the pasta roller attachment quickly and effortlessly, and I've been making pasta a lot more since getting the roller attachment. I used to use the grater attachment, but now I use a bi-fold cheese grater instead.

I do not using it for whipping cream or beating egg whites, as I find the Kitchaid hand mixer does a better job.

I have an Atlas pasta machine that works better for me than the KA attachment, I can never get the dough right and I can't feed it through, catch it as it comes out and cut into appropriate lengths with only two hands. I use the Zojirushi to knead my bread dough, and I make pastry by hand, I always overwork it in the processor and then have to chill it to handle it and it increases my time by anywhere from half an hour to an hour for chilling (sigh)

The KA gets it's workouts, though. I make multi-tier wedding and birthday cakes, and the KA will make a big batch of cake batter without issues. It's strong enough to beat divinity and it's perfect for double batches of Christmas cookies. I also use it to beat egg whites for macarons, to mix the meat and seasonings for sausage, and I use the meat grinder to grind the meat for that sausage in the first place. Beachlily sent me a slicing attachment and it's great for doing big batches of potatoes for scalloped potatoes, or apples for multiple pies.

Biscuits, pastry, muffins and quick breads get done by hand, but a lot of things get done in the KA. I also use it to blend ingredients when making pimento cheese, for mixing the filling for cheesecake and mixing meatballs and meatloaf.

Annie

Oh, yeah. A tip. If the mixer is vibrating a lot, or extra loud, or "walking", put it on a silicon mat.

Another tip. Learn how to adjust the beater height correctly. You should be able to find a YouTube video for your model.

Kneading pizza dough!

I use mine to knead bread dough and to make big batches of cookie dough. I also use the meat grinder attachment a lot to make Italian sausage (can't find any decent here locally).

Rita, that's probably not as funny as it seems, I'll bet it hurt like crazy! I'm still smiling, though.....

I do keep my mixer on the countertop and I have one of those flexible plastic mats under it, so I can just slide the mat forward to the edge of the counter when I want to use it.

Annie

I don't use my KitchenAid for much other than cakes and cookies. I prefer to use my bread machine for mixing & kneading dough because I don't want to put the wear & tear on my old Hobart Kitchen Aid. It would be hard to replace; I don't have faith in the new versions. And bread machines are really easy to replace. I see them at garage sales all the time. Very inexpensive & most in like new condition.

The other reason is because of clean-up. I never wash my bread machine pan. Just leave it to dry and the bits of dough slough right off. No bowl, beater, spatula, dough hook to clean sticky dough off of.

Also use the bread machine for making pasta dough. Saves wear n' tear on the plastic parts of my vintage Cuisinart food processor. I have a hand crank Atlas pasta machine.

I got a nice hand mixer for Christmas a few years ago and find myself using it more than the stand mixer.

DSI borrows the KA and the meat grinder for grinding goose meat for jerkey.

I thought I would add, I have my stand mixers both on a lower old porcelain kitchen table as it is a better height for me and also they each set on a drying mat. Easy for me to scoot them about if needed. I have a lot of upper shoulder, neck pain and I am all about making things easier.

Sue

Meatballs: Much easier to mix everything together and you don't have to get your hands dirty.

Shredded chicken: put some chicken in a mixer on low and it will shred it.

Guacamole: when making guacamole for a large group, this is a perfect hack.

Pizza dough: it makes it like, 100x easier.

Cookies: obviously. I love making cookies by hand but sometimes I get lazy.

Quick breads: such as bannana and pumpkin bread.

Glazes and Frosting: perfect for cakes and cupcakes

Meringue: because you really can't whip the egg whites by hand.....

hope this helps.

French rolls. I took the recipe for French Bread (from the book that came with the mixer) and cut it in half and upped the oil just a little. It makes 16 rolls. They freeze well. I also like to shred chicken like season55.

Sherry, Do you freeze the rolls baked or unbaked?

I recently posted this repair related tip on the Kitchens forum:

Kitchenaid mixer PSA

mama goose_gw zn6OH November 29, 2016

I have a KA Artisan stand mixer, which I bought used almost five
years ago. I don't know how long the seller had owned it, but she said
she'd used it in her home cake decorating business, to put herself
through college. It looked brand new and was immaculate, even under the
metal band, which I removed to do a thorough cleaning before I used it
the first time. The mixer sits on the counter, and I have used it often,
for bread and pizza dough, stiff cooky doughs, cake batter and
frostings. I follow the mfr's instructions to use a low setting for the
stiffer doughs.

Recently, it stopped working, as I was creaming some cold butter for
frosting for my grandson's birthday cake. I enlisted my son-in-law to
beat the frosting by hand, and the day was saved. The motor
was fine, but the planetary would not rotate. Info on the 'net says that 90% of the time, the nylon worm gear
follower will be stripped, which is a safety measure to protect the
motor, so I ordered a replacement, which cost about $5.00.

When the replacement arrived, I removed the mixer's cover, following
directions on a YouTube video, but found that the worm follower was
in perfect condition! After all the stiff dough I'd mixed in the last
five years, and being used in a home business! I was impressed. However,
the grooved roll pin, which secures the shaft to the worm gear
follower, and usually needs to be tapped out with a punch, was missing. I
have no idea how that happened, but I had some anxious minutes thinking
it had disintegrated into the gear box grease, which means I would have
had to thoroughly clean the whole inside of the gear box and replace
with new grease.

I removed the grease, and used a small spatula to 'smoosh' it around
on a plate, looking for pieces of the pin. I finally found it intact,
but bent at a 90° angle, and I found a tiny corresponding ding on the
gear tower housing. I put everything back together, and ordered a pin
(about $7.00), which arrived a few days later. After taking the mixer
apart, removing the grease again, and cleaning and removing the gear
tower, I replaced the pin, and all is well. I used the mixer for both
bread and pizza dough last week, and it's been used for several batches
of cookies. And I have a spare worm gear follower, if the original ever
gets stripped.

I just wanted to mention that I called KA customer service when I
found that the pin was missing, and asked what could have caused that to
happen. They had no answer, and they don't sell replacement parts. They
were nice, but suggested that I send them the mixer for repair. I
didn't even ask how much it would cost.

So, if your KA's planetary stops spinning, check the worm gear
follower before ordering a new one. If the worm follower doesn't appear
to be damaged, check the grooved roll pin in the gear tower shaft. You
can save yourself a substantial amount by replacing either one, and/or
the gear box grease, without sending the mixer back to the company, or
finding a local repairman.

I agree with Jakkom: get your self a second bowl and whisk.

Mama Goose, I wish you lived next door to me.

:)

Sailaway, I cook them until done, but not brown. You can fit four in a qt ziplock freezer or I think twelve in a gallon bag. When I want them, I set what I need on the counter to thaw. Top with butter if wanted and cook until brown. All sixteen will fit on a half sheet pan.

Order second bowl and whisk, order scraper beater---done! I can see that they would be very useful.

Sherry, thanks for the answer to my question about baking or not baking the rolls. So, basically, they would be like the "brown-and-serve" rolls my mom used to buy---only better!

Mama Goose, Thanks for the information on how to salvage a broken mixer for $7!!! I think I'll print that out and put it with my mixer information, rather than trying to find this post later when/if I need it.

Do you put the beaters in the dishwasher? My instructions say not to put in the dishwasher, but I can't figure out why. I confess I have done it a time or two when tired and they seem fine.

Sherry, I do put my beater in the dishwasher. However, I've noticed that some of the white paint/ coating is starting to flake off of the flat beater. So, it is probably best to hand wash the flat beater and the dough hook. The wire whisk should be able to go in the dishwasher with no problem.

I have the burnished beater and dough hook. The information included with my mixer states that they should NOT be put in the DW.

You're welcome, sail_away.

Sherry, I used to put the beater attachments in the DW, until the enamel started peeling on the flat beater, starting at the mounting hole. I ordered a new one, and always wash all the attachments by hand now, but I hand wash silverplate, so throwing in an attachment is no trouble. I also hang the attachments on hooks above the KA, so they don't rattle around against other utensils in drawers.

I had the big kitchenaid pro that I used weekly for making honey
wheat berry bread but it broke apart at the housing for some reason. DH said he
couldn’t fix it, he can usually fix anything, Kitchenaid said to send it in and
they would take a look. I didn’t ask about shipping either I ordered a Magic Mill
instead and have no regrets. It had a
learning curve but after the first time my bread is just as good as ever.

I still have a Kitchenaid artesian with the glass bowl
sitting on the counter but I’ve only used it once since getting the Magic Mill.
I’m sure I will use it for smaller things just haven’t been in a baking,
cooking mood we have just been so busy around here that if I get dinner on the
table I feel I’m doing good.

I'm not too concerned about hand washing the beaters. The SS bowl is too large for my DW, so I have to wash it anyway. Why not just put the beater in the bowl and wash them both at the same time?

Mine are not enameled, they are the metal ones. The dishwasher is large enough to hold the bowl, so I tend to put everything in there.

Sailaway, my instructions did also, that is why I was asking what the reason was for not using the dishwasher.

There are a lot of complaints on the KA site about the metal (burnished) beaters oxidizing and leaving a grey residue in food. So that's probably the reason for the hand wash only instructions. I read another review on Amazon complaining about the oxidation and claiming that the beater had only been hand washed.

Ok, thanks. That makes sense and explains why there are also the painted ones. I guess I had better go back to hand washing. I've only used the dishwasher a couple of times.

I do want to get one of the paddle ones with the scraper attached. I've got a KA hand mixer that I love also. It is starting to slip a little, so I need to be looking for a new one of those also.

It's the best place to store all my beaters.

Thanks for the post about fixing your mixer, Mama Goose! I own a KA/Hobart since the early 1980's. Don't use it as much anymore, since I now live alone. I will get another cabinet on the far wall next year, and will store mine out on the counter then. Will be so much easier to use, than now, taking it up from the floor in the pantry. I want the scraper beater, and will get it some day. I don't have any of the attachments, as I never had the money for them. Love to use mine for all the same reasons as others, and like the idea of hanging the beaters... will have to incorporate that. I am on my second flat beater, as the coating came off the first. Handwashing is easy, as I don't own a dishwasher. ;)

Moni

I always thought I wanted one, and picked up a lightly used Cuisinart on Kijiji. I really don't know what to use it for. I've never used it for cookies, although it's supposed to be good for that. It sits with a shower cap over the mixing bowl to keep the dust out of it.

I store my attachments in the bowl. I have a really small kitchen, and the three standard attachments fit perfectly in the bowl. When I use the mixer I just put the other two on the counter until everything is clean and dry again.

Scraper beaters are great but check them regularly, because when the scrapers get a little stiff or old, chunks of the silicone scrapers break off....