The KitchenAid Stand Mixer! (now help us with a new coffee maker)

[Starkess]

I have wanted a stand mixer for so long! They're so expensive though. Someday, I will get a lovely red or orange one and it will be the glory of our kitchen!

[Shryke]

Actually, we've discussed replacing our dishwasher (which we never use) with a second oven. My Step-mother has a convection oven/microwave. Such a device would free up counter space very nicely.

WHAAAA??? How the hell do you never use a dishwasher???

I now can't picture your kitchen at all. A dishwasher that's never run and a stand-mixer that never leaves the cupboard.

Yeah, now I think you are pulling our legs here. For shame!

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Shryke,

The Dishwasher is 1960's vintage. It was probably installed when the house was first built. The few times we've used it the dishes didn't come out very clean. We prefer to hand wash our dishes anyway.

MC,

You've mentioned whipped cream. I could use the mixer to make rather interesting flavored butters as well, couldn't I?

[Lord of Oop North]

WHAAAA??? How the hell do you never use a dishwasher???

I have a dishwasher that I never use, either. Although I do live alone.

[Tormund Ukrainesbane]

I love my kitchen aid. I last used it to make bread, the time before that I combined Bailey's and whipping cream to make a topping for Irish coffee.

[Bronn Stone]

It hasn't been the revelation I expected it would be. Truth is that I am not much of a fan of most of the things it does best. I can't think of many foods I love that are based on dough. Pasta? meh. It is better than dry by far but I still don't care for it. Breads? - double meh. The local bakery chains are great and even then it's just bread. The sausage grinder did a great job with the pork but struggled badly with the whole duck. And there was SO much trimming involved as every tiny membrane-bit choked the machine, resulting in duck breast mush.

Also, all desserts leave me flat. Just not a sweets person.

Same with the Cuisinart. The 'really good blender' does everything I need and is a LOT easier to clean.

[MercenaryChef]

It hasn't been the revelation I expected it would be. Truth is that I am not much of a fan of most of the things it does best. I can't think of many foods I love that are based on dough. Pasta? meh. It is better than dry by far but I still don't care for it. Breads? - double meh. The local bakery chains are great and even then it's just bread. The sausage grinder did a great job with the pork but struggled badly with the whole duck. And there was SO much trimming involved as every tiny membrane-bit choked the machine, resulting in duck breast mush.

Also, all desserts leave me flat. Just not a sweets person.

Same with the Cuisinart. The 'really good blender' does everything I need and is a LOT easier to clean.

my industrial grinder at work will struggle with duck that has not been cleaned properly before grinding. you cannot expect it to grind sinew and membranes. you clearly just did not know what you were doing.

[Shryke]

Bread, meh?????

I CAST THEE OUT!

[Bronn Stone]

my industrial grinder at work will struggle with duck that has not been cleaned properly before grinding. you cannot expect it to grind sinew and membranes. you clearly just did not know what you were doing.

True. But at the same time, it wasn't for lack of attention or effort. There is simply too much sinew and membrane, distributed throughout. A bigger and more expensive duck might have been easier, but if I have to break the bank to make it work, the job is not really worth doing. Not gonna spend $30 on a duck to yield a couple of pounds of sausage.

I definitely developed an appreciation for the duck sausages I've had elsewhere. And for why Bruce Aidells discontinued his amazing one (trying to recreate it was the inspiration for breaking out the sausage attachment in the first place).

[MercenaryChef]

bronn, regardless of the size of your duck it will still have much sinew. it is just the nature of my favorite fowl. there is a reason that duck sausage is usually expensive and hard to come by. it truly is a lot of work to break a duck down into the most lean pieces possible to make a proper grind and then sausage of it. but, that is why one would do it i would think. things worth making are worth making properly in my world. for you buying sausage would probably make more sense.

[Bronn Stone]

bronn, regardless of the size of your duck it will still have much sinew. it is just the nature of my favorite fowl. there is a reason that duck sausage is usually expensive and hard to come by. it truly is a lot of work to break a duck down into the most lean pieces possible to make a proper grind and then sausage of it. but, that is why one would do it i would think. things worth making are worth making properly in my world. for you buying sausage would probably make more sense.

Alas, buying a sausage I like is no longer on the table. The ones I can find aren't worth it, IMO. Not going to spend the premium for a duck sausage that tastes like chicken or is so overwhelmed in spice that it doesn't taste like duck.

Duck is my favorite protein overall. Only lamb comes close. But it is one with which I've had very little success as a home chef, and the failures are both expensive AND (more importantly, IMO) disrespectful to the animal. In fact, I'd say the only unabashed success was the duck stock, which will probably keep me coming back. I just finished the last ice cube of the most recent batch and I don't know what I'll do without that big bag of stock cubes in the freezer. Reheating leftovers and using the stock to reconstitute them has been a delight.

I'll probably make another trip to the Chinese supermarket and get a whole bird, which I will break down into leg/thighs, breasts and 'the rest' for stock (including head and feet - it is a Chinese butcher). The legs I'll 'semi-confit' - I won't get enough fat to actually immerse them, so I'll just pan fry them in what there is on low heat. Not as good, but what I can do. The breast I'll probably grill.

I wonder if I could start saving chicken fat to do a confit in a combination of duck and chicken fat. Buying duck fat around here is insanely expensive. Demand exceeds supply by quite a large amount.

[MercenaryChef]

Alas, buying a sausage I like is no longer on the table. The ones I can find aren't worth it, IMO. Not going to spend the premium for a duck sausage that tastes like chicken or is so overwhelmed in spice that it doesn't taste like duck.

Duck is my favorite protein overall. Only lamb comes close. But it is one with which I've had very little success as a home chef, and the failures are both expensive AND (more importantly, IMO) disrespectful to the animal. In fact, I'd say the only unabashed success was the duck stock, which will probably keep me coming back. I just finished the last ice cube of the most recent batch and I don't know what I'll do without that big bag of stock cubes in the freezer. Reheating leftovers and using the stock to reconstitute them has been a delight.

I'll probably make another trip to the Chinese supermarket and get a whole bird, which I will break down into leg/thighs, breasts and 'the rest' for stock (including head and feet - it is a Chinese butcher). The legs I'll 'semi-confit' - I won't get enough fat to actually immerse them, so I'll just pan fry them in what there is on low heat. Not as good, but what I can do. The breast I'll probably grill.

I wonder if I could start saving chicken fat to do a confit in a combination of duck and chicken fat. Buying duck fat around here is insanely expensive. Demand exceeds supply by quite a large amount.

bronn, here is a secret that will help you a lot, both in finance and flavor! buy lard or even better uncured pork back fat. take the back fat, cube it, put it into your freezer until well chilled, grind it and then render it slowly. drain out the solids that exist and then you have a lovely option to confit in. duck fat is a crazy racket. and rendered pork fat will do the job just as well. another cool trick i like is to brine the duck rather than salt it. the brine does the same thing as far as seasoning and leeching out liquid that will pollute your confit fat and it prevents it from getting too salty. after brining smoke these duck legs for four hours before confiting them. the smoky element goes perfectly with the duck.

[Angalin]

I'm surprised it's that hard to come by ducks. No hunters willing to sell you some cheaply for the freezer? Also, why are ducks in particular so sinewy?

WHAAAA??? How the hell do you never use a dishwasher???

Bread, meh?????

Doesn't happen often, but I'm with Shryke on both counts. ;)

[Alexia]

WHAAAA??? How the hell do you never use a dishwasher???

My dishwasher keeps breaking and I finally gave up on it. Handwashing is better for my electric bill anyway and isn't really that much extra work, except for holidays.

I keep feeling tempted by a Kitchen-Aid but I just can't justify the cost. I do a ton of baking but a handheld electric mixer does the job just fine. Being able to shred meat would be nice but I'm not sure that its worth that much money!

[Bronn Stone]

bronn, here is a secret that will help you a lot, both in finance and flavor! buy lard or even better uncured pork back fat. take the back fat, cube it, put it into your freezer until well chilled, grind it and then render it slowly. drain out the solids that exist and then you have a lovely option to confit in. duck fat is a crazy racket. and rendered pork fat will do the job just as well. another cool trick i like is to brine the duck rather than salt it. the brine does the same thing as far as seasoning and leeching out liquid that will pollute your confit fat and it prevents it from getting too salty. after brining smoke these duck legs for four hours before confiting them. the smoky element goes perfectly with the duck.

Have some fat back in the freezer already. Probably not gonna cube it and refreeze, but I can find a way to adapt this to a way I can use it. Thanks a bunch.

[Tobin]

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer is the God/dess of Mixers, it is known.

Alton Brown has one with a flame paint job that looks awesome.

Mom just got a black professional one - she burned up the motor in her regular after trying to make a particularly stiff batch of oatmeal cookies.

I'd love to have one, but I don't have the counter space for it either - so I end up hand-stirring everything (I know, it's a crime).

I had a little hand mixer, but rarely used it for some reason.

[Warg Arry]

I just had no idea such a

existed.

[Tears of Lys]

I blush :blush: to admit it, but I've been using the same old electric mixer for more years than most of you are old. No stand, no attachments. In short, a travesty of mixology.

Chef's convinced me. I think I'll ask for a KitchenAid stand mixer for our anniversary that's coming up soon.

[Lord of Oop North]

Ok, so I've been watching youtube videos of stand mixers for at least 20 minutes now.

I think that I have a problem.

[Shryke]

Ok, so I've been watching youtube videos of stand mixers for at least 20 minutes now.

I think that I have a problem.

No, LoON, no. It's not a problem. It's taste.