Stand mixers

Si_Clist

I do the breadmaking in this house, my Lady Wife does the cakes and pastry, and we've managed nicely doing everything the old-fashioned way for the last 40 years.  However, now my arthritic wrists and hand are making it very difficult for me to knead bread dough, and the wife's got major issues with her shoulders which just about rule out such things as blending sugar and butter for cakes.  So despite our strong aversion to "labour-saving" gadgets which just cost money, clutter up your kitchen and make more washing-up, we're beginning to wonder about a stand mixer - albeit one of the cheaper ones. 

Question is though - are they worth getting if all you want one to do is knead bread dough and mix the ingredients for cakes and pastry?   Do any of the cheaper ones actually do the biz?

Anybody got one they use for those purposes and care to share their thoughts?

Sky_

Mine's a Kenwood, so more mid-priced than cheap.  I have fairly severe fatigue issues and the mixer makes it possible for me to make things that we'd otherwise have to buy or do without. 

I mainly use it for sourdough bread dough, biscuits, cakes and aquafaba meringues.  It blends (rubs in), creams and whisks with ease and I find it a brilliant addition to my kitchen. 

pollyanna_26

I have Rheumatoid and Osteo Arthritis along with Fibromyalgia. I've had a big Kenwood mixer for years but also a smaller version. Brilliant for kneading bread but also for many other things such as grating cheese, chopping onions etc. The big one was expensive but has more than paid for itself over the years. The smaller one was on offer and came with various attachments for different tasks. Both have saved me money over the years. I have a tiny KW chopper half price in my little coop store. I grow lots of herbs including flat leaf parsley . The electric can opener for tins that aen't ring pull is very useful and that too was half price. There are a couple of other brands with similar functions so worth having  look online.

I can empathise with the painful wrist and hand the cold ,wet and windy weather didn't help and the sudden heat hasn't somewhere in the middle would be better.

When my health went downhill I decided to try to limit the pain and various gadgets helped a lot. You should be able to find something to suit  your budget but aim for one that does more than knead and make pastry. It's surprising how useful blending, grating, slicing , chopping and other functions can be. You can make good homemade soups with barely any effort which can use up odds and ends of veg etc and lots of cheap healthy meals. Best of all you wont be putting a lot of strain on your muscles and joints.

polly

PollyWollyDoodle

I’ve got a Kenwood K mix and I think its brilliant, I make bread, pastry, biscuits and cakes with it. I love it, because you can set it going and walk away; if I’m making a cake I will start by blending butter and sugar, and then I can go on weighing out the next lot of ingredients while it’s doing that, so it saves me time. I struggle to knead bread dough because I have wrist pain and it’s great for that. Bear in mind that it’s quite heavy, you will probably want to keep it out on the worktop all the time rather than lift it in and out of a cupboard. I would definitely replace it if mine stopped working.

You can get attachments for grating, mincing etc  but they’re quite expensive, and as said above the Kenwood itself is not a cheap option.  I have a cheaper food processor which I use for grating large amounts of cheese, making coleslaw and similar. It only gets used every couple of weeks.   In my experience a cheap food processor will probably do the job of cutting, slicing or grating, but for a mixer it’s worth paying a bit more for one with a fairly powerful motor. 

Gem-gem

I received a Kenwood K Mix this year from DH for my b.day. 

We waited until we had a 10% off coupon from Lakeland and then bought it, saving just under £40. Annoyingly, a 20% off voucher came in the post this week. 
 Today, I used it to mix my ice-cream mixture before putting it into my ice-cream maker. I have also made cakes and scones with it. Yet to experiment with making dough. I have the sausage / mincer attachment - have not used it yet. 
I also like the fact that you can turn it on and then add the ingredients to it as it is mixing or weigh out other ingredients. 

I also have a Kenwood food processor which I use to chop and slice (coleslaw), blend soups, make pastry etc. 

Aftercare service is superb. I have spoken to them on the phone and visited their factory place in Havant, asking them questions and getting them to show me things. 

GSDMum

Thinking out of the box..... have you tried the 'no kneed' method? So much easier and convenient. Have a look on youtube, there're many recipes, such as this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTCYct_S0s

Apintplease

If you are looking for a stand mixer and you have counter space - Kenwood all the way

The one I still use is 30 - 40 years old now, their motors go on and on. Plus it seems that no matter how old your model, you can buy replacements if ever required

You do need counter space for one though, they are not light. Mine sits in a cupboard in the porch which means its not utilised as much as it could be. I do have a magi mix which sits on the counter as it has such a small foot print, its great for cakes, not so hot on the bread

If Im making bread then the Kenwood comes out to do the kneading. Can take a bit of practice but even I can make decent bread using it

Si_Clist

Thanks folks, that's all very useful indeed.  Right then, Kenwood it is then - if we can manage to save up enough to get one

Incidentally, re no-knead bread, I've made loads of it (and in fact perhaps came close to promoting one video a bit too often on the prepping thread!) but although it does work with the wholemeal spelt flour we always use, we feel that a "proper" loaf is worth the extra effort.

CRANKY40

This lady has a cake shop in London. It may be a waste of half an hour of your tme, it may not be. I found it interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4TR9xbpiO8&t=1814s

Si_Clist

Thank you.  That was indeed interesting - on more than one level.

Gosh, after all that giggling I need to go and have a lie down in a dark corner ... 

Wraithlady

May be worth looking for a second-hand one - they really do last for decades. The Bay of E seems to have quite a few averaging about £35 plus postage