Professional Mixer vs Hand Mixer

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Chrissy36

Assistant Cook
Joined
Sep 6, 2008
Messages
6
i have yearned for years to get a kitchen aide mixer that has all those fantastic additions to prepare assorted foods from scratch, like fresh ravoli. but i can not afford a 300.oo price tag. therefore, i opted to buy a hand mixer, which is equipped with whisker, blender, and the blades to make bread (cant remember the name). beside it being a littler harder to prepare the mixes, i dont believe there are any other differences between the two mixers. ( 50.00 is alot more affordable).

a plus about the hand mixer, is it came with a bowl that when you finish using it. you put all the blades and mixer in it and store away neatly

any opinion plz share.

its not to late to take it back if it not worth it.
 
i have yearned for years to get a kitchen aide mixer that has all those fantastic additions to prepare assorted foods from scratch, like fresh ravoli. but i can not afford a 300.oo price tag. therefore, i opted to buy a hand mixer, which is equipped with whisker, blender, and the blades to make bread (cant remember the name). beside it being a littler harder to prepare the mixes, i dont believe there are any other differences between the two mixers. ( 50.00 is alot more affordable).

a plus about the hand mixer, is it came with a bowl that when you finish using it. you put all the blades and mixer in it and store away neatly

any opinion plz share.

its not to late to take it back if it not worth it.

I wouldn't give up my KitchenAid mixer and all the attachments for anything. However, if the price tag is a problem, and for a lot of people it is, then go with the hand mixer as long as it does what you need it to do. Only you can decide whether it will work for you or not. As for the KA ravioli attachment, I've been making ravioli for years by hand and as far as I'm concerned it's just as easy to do it that way. The mixer itself and the rest of the attachments are pure gold to me. Go with what works for you. BTW, if you can find a KA and the attachments for $300 go for it. I paid $700 for mine. ;)
 
I love my KA. I burnt up a lot of hand mixers over the years with heavy doughs like bread and even some cookies. If you're planning to just mix light doughs I'm sure that a hand mixer will work just fine. I don't think I'd use it for bread or any other heavy dough, the motor won't hold up.
 
I wouldn't want to live without my KA. I do have a hand mixer but haven't used more than a dozen times in the past 5 years. It just doesn't do the job the KA does.
 
just bought a toastmaster hand blender. a stick it is called. haven't used it yet. i have an almost new hand mixer that i have only used once. i have a thirty year old stand mixer that works very well.

of course if you want to send me a ka i won't turn it down. lol

babe:chef:
 
i have yearned for years to get a kitchen aide mixer that has all those fantastic additions to prepare assorted foods from scratch, like fresh ravoli. but i can not afford a 300.oo price tag. therefore, i opted to buy a hand mixer, which is equipped with whisker, blender, and the blades to make bread (cant remember the name). beside it being a littler harder to prepare the mixes, i dont believe there are any other differences between the two mixers. ( 50.00 is alot more affordable).

a plus about the hand mixer, is it came with a bowl that when you finish using it. you put all the blades and mixer in it and store away neatly

any opinion plz share.

its not to late to take it back if it not worth it.

Chrissy,

The difference between a hand mixer and a professional mixer is like the difference betwen a 10-speed bike and a NASCAR race car. They may both have wheels and are intended to go forward - but that is about where the similarities end. Oh, yeah - they don't cost the same, either.

A hand mixer will never be able to handle the load that a professional stand mixer can. And, even if you bought a high end KitchenAid - you would still have to buy the attachments to make pasta/ravioli - I've never seen a hand mixer that had those optional attachments available. However, your could buy a hand cranked pasta machine and the ravioli attachment and do it that way.

Your hand mixer probably came with 3 attachments - whisks, beaters and dough hooks. It will probably handle small batches of heavy doughs, like cookes and bread ... but not the larger volumes of a heavy duty stand mixer.

I have a Pro-6 KitchenAid, and a hand mixer - I use them for different things. Yes, the KA was expensive (for me) - I had to save for about 5 years before I could afford it.

A lot depends on what you want the mixer for.
 
I have a Hobart N-50 that I bought in a thrift store for eight dollars (bare machine) and it cost another $200 to set it up...2 bowls, whisk, flat beater and dough hook. I found a copper bowl liner for it on Craigslist, someone gave me a grain mill attachment, meat grinder-sausage stuffer came from eBay (all metal), another plastic-bodied from a thrift store along with a roto slicer/shredder attachment. I also have a KA 5-speed hand mixer and a Braun 200 watt immersion blender. They all have a place in my kitchen, and they all get used. I will probably wear out and replace everything but the N-50. If you want a KA stand mixer, check Craigslist in your area. People get them as gifts and put them in the garage until they need the space or the money, then sell them...cheap. Like this, as a starter http://santabarbara.craigslist.org/for/830670033.html
 
I got a KA stand mixer, the heavy duty one, at a close out at Mervyn's for $200. It has the whip, paddle and dough hook. It came with a coupon to get the slicer attachment for about $25. The attachment is okay I suppose, but it's a lot easier to clean a hand shredder, etc. The other attachments are way too expensive. Got a really good hand-cranked pasta machine at Tuesday Morning for under $20. You just have to shop around and always check the various venues on the internet.

Dave
 
I love my hand mixer.... and I cant live with out it.

ITs nothing special or fancy. It does what I need it to do.

I do have a kitchen aide which i think ive used like 4 times in the last 2 years. I found it to be more work then its worth. Im constantly scraping down the sides of the bowl and my cookies dont seem to come out the same.

I love that with the hand mixer i can get into all teh areas i need to.
It still is nice knowing i have the KA for when i need it but I need to find the stuffer attachment to make my own sauages which is one of the many reasons why i wanted one.

Do agree that the KA is great for heavy duty things.
 
I got a KA stand mixer, the heavy duty one, at a close out at Mervyn's for $200. It has the whip, paddle and dough hook. It came with a coupon to get the slicer attachment for about $25. The attachment is okay I suppose, but it's a lot easier to clean a hand shredder, etc. The other attachments are way too expensive. Got a really good hand-cranked pasta machine at Tuesday Morning for under $20. You just have to shop around and always check the various venues on the internet.

Dave

Dave, I have a KA with all the attachments but I've never heard of a slicer attachement. What would you slice with this and where does it go on the mixer?
 
For most uses, the hand mixer should be able to do the job. I wouldn't expect it to do well on bread, so if that's a priority for you it may be worthwhile to save up for a stand mixer.

Of course, many things will be easier in a stand mixer than with the hand mixer. But Kitchenaid isn't the only brand out there - it's just the best advertised here in the US. One you may want to consider that costs a good bit less than the KA is the Bosch Compact Mixer. It has a great reputation and is said to be very capable.

(My association with the site linked: happy customer - I bought my mixer (an Electrolux DLX) there.
 
I have two KA and would not part with either one of them as I bake all my own bread and rolls, pizza dough. My last one was a super bargin a man and his girl friend parted company and he sold all of her kitchen tools and I bought my #2 KA for 40.00 dollars and put it in my truck and hit the road before she came back
 
Dave, I have a KA with all the attachments but I've never heard of a slicer attachement. What would you slice with this and where does it go on the mixer?

The Roto-Slicer attaches at the #10 hub, just like the other gawd-knows-how-many KA attachments. Turns your KA into a twenty-pound Salad Shooter. I have one...for my N-50. I know, I know...a fifty-pound Salad Shooter. The price was right...
 
Dave, I have a KA with all the attachments but I've never heard of a slicer attachement. What would you slice with this and where does it go on the mixer?

It is technically called the rotor slicer and shredder attachment (RVSA) - and like every other attachment on a KA it attaches on the attachment hub.

I don't use it a lot - but when I need to do a bunch of stuff and don't to be limited to the size of my food processor ... WOW does it do the job in quick order!
 
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It is technically called the rotor slicer and shredder attachment (RVSA) - and like every other attachment on a KA it attaches on the attachment hub.

I don't use it a lot - but when I need to do a bunch of stuff and don't to be limited to the size of my food processor ... WOW does it do the job in quick order!

I clicked on your link and took a look at this slicer. Wow, I'm behind on the new equipment KA has come up with, and I'm impressed. I suppose if you need to slice and shred a lot of things this would work like a charm, but I also saw a picture of the can opener. Now that's just plain nuts. :LOL: Seems like a lot of trouble just to open a can. And the $50.00 price tag...........!
Thanks for the info.
 
but I also saw a picture of the can opener. Now that's just plain nuts. :LOL: Seems like a lot of trouble just to open a can. And the $50.00 price tag...........!
Thanks for the info.

Yeah, I've never understood how the can opener sells at all. Even figuring there are folks with RSS or other problems with their hands, why would they spend $50 for a can opener that you have to attach to a stand mixer when a standalone electric can opener can be had for under $20?
 
You know - - - one of the best can openers on the market today - and I'm not kidding - is the one you see on TV. The "no touch" one that you put on top of the can, touch the button and it does the rest. Leave a smooth edge that won't cut fingers and the lid lifts off effortlessly. And NO, I'm not a salesman on commission! I got one for Christmas, had my laugh at it, and then was totally impressed. The only can it won't open in one of those small anchovy cans. Check it out.
 
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