The Mixer

My mixer has arrived and I have yet to play with it because I’ve been so busy with school work and a new niece!

I have the Pro 600 in shiny Onyx Black. I haven’t decided 100% on a name, but I’m heavily leaning towards Tinkerbell. Why? 1) it’s ironic; 2) this is where the magic happens.

I have done a ridiculous amount of research on this and here is what I’ve found:

• Buy the biggest mixer you can afford says one camp…buy only what you need says the other
• Has the plastic gearbox been changed? Evidence is inconclusive from my research (some say the change happened in the Summer, others say it’s still the same and will not be changed). You can buy a metal gearbox here. BUT, it may not actually be the gearbox, but a missing retainer clip. Read here for all the details.
• Hobart was the maker behind the old KitcheAid, but Whirlpool has taken over. There are die hard fans of the Hobart type and claim it is the supreme and the new ones don’t measure up.
• If your bowl comes unclipped during the mixing process, you can call up KitchenAid and they’ll send you bowl clips.
• Thinking of getting your mixer out of country? Having your mixer shipped to another country automatically voids the warranty. It’s a gamble you’re taking if you’re hoping to save some $$$. I’m not sure what the warranty is if you move and take your mixer with you…somehow I think it still ends up being void.
• I was having a bit of trouble snapping the bowl into place, but this video shows how it’s properly done. I tried to align them all first, but it seems like I just need to put it on the locating pins and just push the bowl down.
• Here are videos on the beater to bowl clearance. I don’t have a US dime on me, but I think a Canadian nickel will do the trick. I think the US dimes are a bit thicker.
• Wattage is insignificant when purchasing your mixer. Cook’s Illustrated gives the skinny and says that most makers give wattage for their input and this only is the power to the mixer motor and not the output — the power it mixes the ingredients at.

Now that I have the mixer, I want to pimp out my mixer with gadgets. I have received the food grinder attachment free (can we say yummy burgers?) and I’m looking to get the pasta roller set to make delicious fresh pasta. I’ve decided to not get the ravioli maker as it’s a hand crank attachment and the amazon.com reviews aren’t the best. I’m going to go with a different ravioli maker. Other gadgets I’m lusting over is the 11 tine whip that whips egg whites faster than Rachael Ray can say “EVOO” and the combi whip and bowl (I think exclusive to Williams-Sonoma). This 3 quart bowl is fabulous for small jobs when you don’t need to bake 14 dozen cookies.

Looking through the recipe book, they give a nice variety of recipes and a Raspberry Filled Almond Meringue cake that I’ll definitely have to try. I also like how some recipes have a “feed a crowd” option in case you need to make 150 servins of chocolate fudge.

I plan on thoroughly testing my mixer. Christmas time is coming and the masochistic chef inside me has decided on making a cookie sampler set for my family. Just my dad’s side so it’s not too hectic, but in order for a family to have a dozen cookies, I need to make 11 dozen cookies. If I do 4 different cookies and 6 of each…264 cookies…