Hello,
A lot of you have KA or equivalent type stand mixers. What would be the
absolute entry level mixer you could recommend- stand or hand- for
mixing cookie dough?
Thank you

"Craig Busch" > wrote in message
...
> Hello,
> A lot of you have KA or equivalent type stand mixers. What would be the
> absolute entry level mixer you could recommend- stand or hand- for
> mixing cookie dough?
> Thank you
>

I would think that a 325 Watt or higher stand mixer would be fine.

>A lot of you have KA or equivalent type stand mixers. What would be the
>absolute entry level mixer you could recommend- stand or hand- for
>mixing cookie dough?
>Thank you
Mixers for Cookie dough?...
..If I make in small quantities .I don't bother using mixers for that..
f..<grin>....unless you are interested in making well aerated cookies
where eggs are to be beaten well. such as lady finges sponge drops and
meringue based cookies.....

The thought of not using a mixer is a possibility. I guess I would have
thought that it might be easier to have an even mixture.
Thank you

chembake wrote:

> >A lot of you have KA or equivalent type stand mixers. What would be the
> >absolute entry level mixer you could recommend- stand or hand- for
> >mixing cookie dough?
> >Thank you
> Mixers for Cookie dough?...
> .If I make in small quantities .I don't bother using mixers for that..
> f..<grin>....unless you are interested in making well aerated cookies
> where eggs are to be beaten well. such as lady finges sponge drops and
> meringue based cookies.....

Craig Busch > wrote:

>The thought of not using a mixer is a possibility. I guess I would have
>thought that it might be easier to have an even mixture.

I made cookies (and cakes and bread and frosting) for years without a
mixer of any sort. I never had a problem with unevenly mixed
anything. Then I blew out my shoulder, and I've been using a mixer
ever since. I really prefer making cookies without using a mixer, but
it's just not an option for me.

jenn
--
Jenn Ridley :

"Craig Busch" > wrote in message
...
> The thought of not using a mixer is a possibility. I guess I would have
> thought that it might be easier to have an even mixture.
> Thank you

I agree that you don't need a mixer, but it sure makes things easier. You
can also make double or triple batches all at once, which would be very
difficult by hand.

what about a food processor?

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> what about a food processor?
>

You can use a FP for cookies, but there are some considerations. One is
capacity. The other is the viscosity of the dough. I find that making
stiff doughs in the FP can be a challenge. If you don't do it exactly
right, the blade will stall in the dough. I have a large, 900 watt FP, and
it still can stall-out with cookie dough, especially if I am not careful
about the way I add the ingredients. I love my FP, but I still use the
stand mixer for large jobs or when I am mixing something very stiff where
torque is an advantage over speed.

On Wed, 28 Dec 2005, wrote:

> what about a food processor?

For cookie dough? I grew up in a house with a stand mixer and no food
processor. Not really sure what you can do with a food processor. I
thought they were good for slicing, mincing or blending things. Can you
use they like a mixer?

--
Send e-mail to: darrell dot grainger at utoronto dot ca

Craig Busch wrote:
> The thought of not using a mixer is a possibility. I guess I would have
> thought that it might be easier to have an even mixture.
> Thank you

Actually I prefer to mix cookies by hand - they come out so much
better.
-L.

In article .com>,
says...
> >A lot of you have KA or equivalent type stand mixers. What would be the
> >absolute entry level mixer you could recommend- stand or hand- for
> >mixing cookie dough?
> >Thank you
> Mixers for Cookie dough?...
> .If I make in small quantities .I don't bother using mixers for that..
> f..<grin>....unless you are interested in making well aerated cookies
> where eggs are to be beaten well. such as lady finges sponge drops and
> meringue based cookies.....
>
>

Actually my 12 year old Sunbeam Mixmaster works just fine for cookie
dough. It's a 228W unit and adequate for those needs.

But I need to get something a little heavier because I'm into the bread
thing now and kneading by hand can get tedious.

So I'll probably end up with a KA series myself.

Hi Tony-
I'd never dissuade anyone from getting a KA, tho I have heard some
complaints about the new ones. I LOVE mine and the day I bought it 20
+ years ago said "I should have gotten this a LONG time ago <G>.

Food processors are excellent for bread, tho they work very fast so you
have to not over work the dough.

Also for indirect breads, anything with a preferment (sourdough,
polish, biga, etc.) you don't have to knead. If you mix the
ingredients and then allow them to rest, autolyse, fold rather than
knead. I haven't done this with straight doughs simply because I
haven't made them in a while. Even if you do want to knead, by hand or
a mixer, allowing the dough to rest cuts the time involved with
kneading way down. There are descriptions of the no-knead in many
places, including _Bread Baker's Apprentice_, _Bread_ (Hamelman),
_Artisan Making_...

-Marylouise

Tony P. wrote:

> Actually my 12 year old Sunbeam Mixmaster works just fine for cookie
> dough. It's a 228W unit and adequate for those needs.
>
> But I need to get something a little heavier because I'm into the bread
> thing now and kneading by hand can get tedious.
>
> So I'll probably end up with a KA series myself.

"What mixer would you recommend..." is a frequently discussed issue over
on news:rec.audio.pro and news:rec.audio.tech But they have a different
definition of "mixer" over there. Every time I see this subject line, I
have to double-check which newsgroup I am reading to establish the
context of "mixer". :-)

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005, Craig Busch wrote:

> Hello,
> A lot of you have KA or equivalent type stand mixers. What would be the
> absolute entry level mixer you could recommend- stand or hand- for
> mixing cookie dough?

As a few people have said, you can mix cookie dough by hand. You really
don't NEED any electric mixer. If you are like me and multitask in the
kitchen, having a mixer you can leave run while you work on something else
is really helpful and nice to have.

If this is the case then a hand mixer will not do. Even if you can find a
hand mixer strong enough you will find it hard to hold the bowl with one
hand and the mixer with the other. It also defeats the idea of letting it
run while you work on something else.

As for a stand mixer, I have a 525 Watt Kitchen Aid and it works fine even
on heavy doughs like gingerbread. I look at it like stereo or cars.

If I need a stereo with 500 Watts I want to buy something with more than
500 Watts. The quality at the top range is not going to be as good. If I
buy a 1000 Watt stereo system and only play it at 500 Watts then it should
sound better than a 500 Watt stereo played at 500 Watts.

Similarly, if I'm driving 100 kilometres a days to work at 100 km/h, and
100 kilometres back, I'm not going to buy a 3 cylinder economy car. It
would handle it but I'd drive it into the ground after 4 or 5 years. If I
buy a bigger car (one that will handle 160 km/h easily) then driving it at
100 km/h every day it will still have some resale value in 5 years.

Mind you, my mixer is running 3 hours a night every night for a month
straight before Christmas. Everyone I know gets a dozen each of a few
different cookies, plus my wife and my work have bake sales, plus I like
to try one or two new recipes every year (this year was lemon squares;
basically a shortbread base with a lemon curd on top).

--
Send e-mail to: darrell dot grainger at utoronto dot ca