Kitchen stand mixers are your go-to when it comes to making bread doughs, cakes and pastries. These appliances, however, can do so much more than your favourite chocolate chip cookies! Of course, some models have power hubs for fitting in optional attachments like a pasta maker, juicer or food processor. But you can be a versatile cook even with your whisk and flat paddle. Here are some creative mixer tasks you can try.
1. Prep Meat Dishes
Cooking meat dishes can be time-consuming, especially when you have to do manual work. Kitchen stand mixers, however, can help cut prep time and effort. It gets even better when you try these meat recipes during your meal prep routine:
- Chicken or pork shreds. Shredding cooked meat with a fork can be tedious. And if you choose to do it by hand, you need to let the meat cool down first. To speed things up, put your still-warm, boneless chicken or pork in the mixer bowl, secure the paddle attachment, then mix at a low-speed setting. You’ll have a bowl of shredded meat for soups, salad or sandwiches in less than a minute! Try this technique with turkey, beef or tofu, too.
- Meatloaf and meatballs. Yes, you can use your trusty bowl and spoon to mix all your ingredients for either meat dish. But a stand mixer can do it faster. Plus, you get to keep your hands clean. Start by throwing in your ground meat, onion, egg, bread crumbs and seasoning. Then mix using the paddle attachment. All that’s left to do is to shape and cook or freeze.
- Stuffing. You can also add ravioli or dim sum filling to your stand mixer recipes. With the same paddle mixing technique, you can quickly whip up a double batch then freeze for cooking later.
- Hamburgers and sausages. Do you love impressing your BBQ mates with homemade burgers and snags? You can impress them more by making a big batch of your grill favourites in a flash! When you use a stand mixer, you also get to emulsify the meat with the fat. It will result in a better sausage texture than your food processor.
2. Whip Up Homemade Dairy Items
If you love making ingredients or food items from scratch, then you’ll love kitchen stand mixers even more. They are you’re go-to for fresh and preservative-free dairy goods at home:
- Whipped cream. Ditch processed cream and forget the elbow grease. Use your stand mixer for whipping liquid cream instead. Make sure to chill everything, including your mixing bowl and whisk, to get airier whipped cream for your desserts. You can stir in powdered sugar or your favourite flavouring, too, if you like.
- Churned butter. Butter making from scratch is doable with your stand mixer, too. Just continue whipping your cream until the buttermilk separates from the fat. After which, save the buttermilk (for delicious baked goods) and drain all excess liquid from your homemade butter. Season it if you like or make flavoured butter for gifting. For this task, mixers with splash guards, like the Kenwood KMix or Sage Bakery Boss, are ideal.
- No-churn ice cream. If you have an ice cream maker at home, that’s great! But in case you don’t, you can still make this frozen treat from scratch with your stand mixer. Use the wire whisk attachment to mix your heavy whipping cream, fold in the condensed milk and your mix-ins, then freeze in a loaf tin.
3. Make Mashes and Dips
Who needs a masher or a blender when you have kitchen stand mixers to do the mashing for you? They’re perfect for lightening your workload, especially during holidays and movie nights! Here are some delicious mashes and dips you can effortlessly make next time:
- Mashed potatoes. This staple goes with almost anything. The problem is that boiled potatoes tend to dry out if you mash them too long. You then add more liquid to improve its texture only to get gummy results. For a creamier mash, try putting your warm spuds in the mixer bowl, and use the flat beater on a medium speed setting. Afterwards, reduce the speed while you add the rest of your mix-ins.
- Guacamole. We love avocados on toast. But when you have to mash them for a party, the stand mixer is your best friend. Put your halved avocados, lime juice and seasonings in the bowl and let the paddle do the mashing at medium speed. Now, stir in your chopped tomatoes, onions and jalapeños by hand, and you’re ready to serve!
- Homemade dips. If you love chunky dips like cream cheese and spinach or hummus, then you know it’s hard to make them smooth by hand. Use the beater or wire whisk attachment instead, so you can simultaneously prep the snack dippers. Ideally, use a mixer with a flex-edge beater, like the AEG UltraMix, for easy scraping. Check out our article on stand mixer attachments to learn more.
- Salad dressing. Emulsified dressings need fast and consistent blending. Save your wrist by letting your stand mixer and whisk attachment do this job.
4. Serve Breakfast or Brunch for a Crowd
Who doesn’t love waking up to a delicious brekkie spread? It’s hard to do a lot of cooking, though, when you’ve just gotten out of bed. So, grab your stand mixer and let this versatile machine help you make these:
- Granola. Put your oats, seeds, dried fruit and honey in the bowl, then mix. Pour the mixture out into a baking tray and pop it in the oven. You can also do the same trick when making granola bars for lots of healthy snacking.
- Egg recipes. Do you need a large bowl for beating lots of eggs? Use your stand mixer! Add in cream or flavourings of your choice while whipping if you prefer. Now, you can easily make all sorts of breakfast creations, whether it’s an omelette, quiche or frittata.
- Buttermilk pancakes. Who needs store-bought pancake mixes when you can make them with your mixer? Let it mix your dry and wet ingredients. Meanwhile, start warming up the skillet. And don’t forget the butter and syrup!
Keen to add a new mixer to your kitchen counter? Our buying guide and stand mixer reviews might help you find the perfect appliance.
