"DawnK" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> One can overmix with a Kitchenaid mixer, though! LOL! I have done it.
> Now, I don't pay attention to the times in my recipes and pay more
attention
> to how the batter looks in the bowl. I had one tough cake. It wasn't
> pretty. Then I learned to do it differently. That said, my Kitchenaid
does
> an awesome job with cake batter, but stop mixing as soon as it looks like
> everything is incorporated.

I think you have to use some common sense and have some experience to make
satisfactory baked goods. Times and speeds in recipes are usually given for
light-weight hand mixers. If you follow them rigidly and use a stand mixer,
you will over-mix. It also depends on the mixing method. If you are using
the creaming method, it is harder (but still possible) to over do it in the
stand mixer or food processor.

The recommendation to buy one appliance over the other is difficult to make.
It depends a lot on what you bake, and how much you make. It depends on how
much space you have and how much general cooking you do. Right now, if I
had to choose only one, I would get a large food processor. A few years ago
when I was making larger batches of cookies and baking wedding cakes, the
stand mixer was a better choice. For people with little experience baking or
cooking, it might be better to do it all by hand at first.