Whenever something breaks or wears out, people love to claim that “they just don’t make things like they used to!” And while that may be true about some things, anyone who owns a KitchenAid stand mixer will tell you otherwise!
I’ve gone through a couple of different stand mixers over the past two decades, and the only reason I bought my current mixer was because I needed a bigger size, not because the old one had stopped working! These machines are truly built to last, and I couldn’t imagine my kitchen without one!
And since I know that a lot of you feel the same way about your KitchenAid stand mixer, I have a feeling you’re going to love today’s post! :-) Because today I’ll be sharing 9 brilliant stand mixer hacks that will help you make the very most of it!
9 Brilliantly Useful Stand Mixer Hacks
1. Test It Out
While KitchenAid stand mixers are well-known for their solid construction and durability, anything you buy new can have unexpected defects. Be sure to test the performance of your stand mixer regularly and thoroughly within the first year so that if it does fail, you’ll still be covered by KitchenAid’s warranty.
2. Prevent A Mess
Anyone who has used a stand mixer is probably already familiar with their ability to make quite a mess! Whether you’re mixing something with a lot of flour or something with a lot of liquid, splashes and splatters are a common occurrence.
Before you mix those sorts of things, just drape a kitchen towel over the top of the bowl to prevent any messes! Or for a slightly more sophisticated solution, KitchenAid makes a pouring shield attachment that prevents splatters and has a convenient pouring chute too.
3. Quickly Shred Chicken
Need shredded chicken for enchiladas or a casserole? Let your stand mixer do the work for you! After cooking the chicken and while it’s still warm, place it in the bowl of your stand mixer.
Using the paddle attachment, turn the mixer on low speed until the chicken starts to break into smaller pieces. Then increase the speed and let it run until the chicken is shredded to your liking!
4. Fluffier Whipped Cream
A stand mixer already takes all the work out of making whipped cream. But with just one extra step, you can ensure your whipped cream turns out extra light and fluffy!
An hour before you want to make your whipped cream, place the whisk attachment and the bowl from your stand mixer in the fridge. Using chilled cream is crucial, but when you add in a chilled whisk and bowl too, you’ll end up with lighter-than-air whipped cream in record time.
5. Store Attachments In The Bowl
Your stand mixer probably came with a few attachments, like a paddle, whisk, and dough hook. While undeniably useful, these attachments can be a pain when it comes to storing them!
The easiest storage solution by far is to just keep them in the bowl of the stand mixer. If you’re worried that they’ll damage the bowl, just line the bowl with a kitchen towel before putting the attachments in. Problem solved!
6. Let It Warm Up
KitchenAid stand mixers are lubricated with a food-grade lubricant. On one hand that’s a good thing, in the unlikely event that it ever ended up in your food. But food-grade lubricants do have a tendency to separate after periods of non-use, and the liquid part can leak.
Luckily there’s an easy fix for this issue! If you haven’t used your stand mixer in a while, just let it run on low speed for a few minutes to warm up the lubricant. The separated solid and liquid parts of the lubricant will remix, then it’ll be ready to use!
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7. Fix The Beater Height
If your stand mixer is leaving unmixed ingredients at the bottom of the bowl, or if the attachments are scraping the bottom of the bowl, there’s a problem with your mixer’s beater height. While that might sound serious, it’s surprisingly quick and easy to fix it yourself!
Check out this post to learn how to adjust the beater height on your stand mixer.
8. Slide It Around
Tired of scraping your stand mixer across your countertop, or heaving it off the counter to move it? Just set your mixer on a towel, and you’ll be able to slide it around easily.
9. Go Beyond Mixing
One of the best things about owning a KitchenAid stand mixer is that it isn’t just a stand mixer. Thanks to the wide variety of accessories they offer, you can use your mixer to make pasta, extract fresh fruit juice, grind meat, chop vegetables, shred cheese, and so much more!
You can check out all 10+ of KitchenAid’s stand mixer attachments here.
Share your favorite stand mixer hacks below!
I waited years before I bought my kitchen aid mixer, because it is so heavy to pick up. I don’t like appliances sitting on my counter. So I came up with the idea to put in on a rolling cart. It’s has 3 shelves and I put the top shelf upside down to make a flat surface. Also I put a plastic placemat under it, so any drips would be easy to clean up. I roll it out of my pantry to use and back in after I use it. I keep baking ingredients in the other 2 shelves.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use my 40 year old Kitchen Aid mixer to mix my meat loaf. It works great. I start whit mixing my eggs first, then I add my spices, half the meat and give it a mix on slow to combine. Add in bread crumbs and the rest of the meat and mix until fully combined.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sometimes, I feel like the girl that doesn’t fit in (like when there were cliques? in school)! I often see that the people who consistently follow here have pretty expensive tastes and live at an economic level higher than I!! lol! I cannot think of a time when I could’ve justified spending the amount of money that a KitchenAid costs! But I do notice that all of you talk about doing so like it is nothing! I am in the process of getting a stand mixer, but I’ll tell you…it certainly won’t be a KitchenAid!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Same here. I could never afford a KitchenAid mixer either. My daughter bought me one for Christmas about 15 years ago. Now they’re over $400.00.
I would like to replace mine, but the cost is way overboard for me, too, so I feel for you–we’re both in the same boat.
I hate to say this, but it’s a reason why I don’t become a member of Jill’s OGT Plus–as a senior citizen, I have a hard enough time stretching the income we have; too expensive on an annual basis. I don’t subscribe to magazines, or online news companies, etc. for the same reason: the cost is too much for me\us.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.There’s an equal amount of really good mixers out there; you just have to do the research as to which one comes close to this one (there’s even better ones than KitchenAid out there–you just have to look around).
I also have my KA stand mixer on my counter. I keep an oven liner mat under the mixer, and it slides like it weighs less than a pound. I thought a toaster oven mat would work but it is only 11” long and a little bit short of the length of the rubber legs on the mixer. When I recently bought a new stove they told me NOT to use the oven liners in the new oven. The didn’t give me a reason. I cut my old liner to fit my mixer. By the way, my mixer is over 53 years old and going strong. Kitchenaid still uses the same motor they have used for over 100 years. VERY IMPRESSIVE INDEED!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.KitchenAid mixer motors are from Hobart–the same company that makes commercial mixers that are used in bakeries and restaurants.
The oven liner question: Because it drops the temperature of the oven down, so you don’t get a correct reading. If you Google that, you’ll find that out. I’m like you: I’ve always used an oven liner, until about 25 years ago I read in one of those “Ann Landers” help articles that I shouldn’t use it. It explained why we shouldn’t, so since then I no longer use it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hope that helps!
We use our stand mixer a lot and to make things MUCH easier we sacrificed some under the counter space and installed a mixer lift. Loved it so much at the farm that when we moved to smaller housing it was one of the first things we did to make our baking easier in our new home.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My husband gave me a KA stand mixer for Christmas years ago, and since then I’ve acquired several of the attachments pictured – the rolled and extruded pasta makers, and the juicer. Next I’d like to get the meat grinder or spiralizer. When I make cookies or other recipes that call for softened butter and I didn’t think to set it out ahead of time (which is often), I put the butter in the bowl and put the bowl in the oven on low heat. The metal heats up in a few minutes and the butter melts just a bit but gets soft enough to beat. I’ve used the microwave to soften butter but it tends to pop and explode if not watched carefully, and I’d rather not have the extra mess to clean up (not to mention the waste).
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Here’s a hint: I take a glass bowl, put an everyday paper plate over it, upside down–and it melts the butter in the microwave without splattering all over the inside.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a appliance slider, like this one, at Amazon. At first I thought the mixer might be too heavy. But, it handles it like a champ.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VPY5KSX/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_w49DEbZ45CNXR
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Has anyone used the meat grinder attachment? Is it sturdy?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes very ground pork for sasuage
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have been using our meat grinder for over 20 years and it has worked great. We by chuck roast when it’s on sale to make burger. By doing this we can control the amount of fat. We like it lean. Other meats like sirloin roasts works well.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Very good attachment. I like to do `specialty” burgers. Just throw in some bacon, cheese and jalapeno peppers and let the grinder do it’s thing
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I absolutely love LOVE my stand mixer! I’m a cookie decorator and I couldnt do without it. I’ve never tried the other attachments as they’re a bit spendy. I always put a paper towel in the bowl of my mixer when not using, to keep dust and whatnot out. When I use it for royal icing, I rub the bowl down with lemon juice to make sure any trace of oil is gone (oils, butter, lard, etc. will break your royal icing).
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I attended a kitchenaid demo at a store and the demonstrator gave a tip to wipe the bowl with white vinegar to make sure no oil on surface before whipping egg whites for meringue
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great tip about low speed warming the lubricant! My mixer had leaked when I’d moved, and I’d had it serviced once for that reason. Now, I’m no longer using a mixer as much for just the two of us, so that tip will help avoid another leak problem. Thanks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I bought my Kitchen Aid mixer because I make homemade dog biscuits a few times a year and the dough is tough to hand mix. Since then I make more as this powerful machine does all the hard work for me. Well worth the money spent!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put felt pads on the feet of my mixer and it slides across the counter just beautifully.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh, I need to do that! Thanks for a great idea!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I did the same thing. Works beautifully!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Me too! So much easier now
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sometimes after I’ve mixed ingredients with my Kitchen Aid, the bowl gets stuck in the stand and I have a very hard time removing it. Any suggestions to prevent that from happening?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Mine too! I was going to ask that same question!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just hit the handle with the butt of my hand and it jars it loose. (Forcing it in the right direction of course!)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you really don’t use it often, and you notice oil seeping from it, you may have to open it up and replace the grease. It is not hard to do. I found a you tube tutorial, ordered the grease and gasket, and did it myself. I bought mine at an estate sale, and it had sat for a while.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have the Kitchen aid mixer. We like it. There is one cookie recipe where it called for a 2 cups flour and ground oats that it didn’t handle that well. It was almost like it was starting to rock . So I had to hold one hand to keep it steady.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a Sunbeam Mixmaster that I got in 1974 and am still using. When the kids were little, I used the mixer multiple times a week. Now that we are down to two of us at home, I don’t use it as often but it has always been a workhorse and never let me down. I still use it for baking and whipping potatoes!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love to bake every so often but hate to clean the bowl and attachments if I haven’t used them in a while. So, last week, I made this cover for my Kitchen Aid. I advise to not blow up this picture too large. I’m no seamstress but love an occasional craft. file:///C:/Users/knipe/Pictures/Pix%20for%20Painting%20Water%20Colors/Mixers/My%20new%20KA%20cover.jpg
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When I was younger, in my forties, fifties, sixties, and even up until I hit 75, we’d have a lot of company, the family that was close enough to travel to our home, neighbors with no family nearby, however, now that I hit my mid-80s we go out to eat for a treat, not to very expensive restaurants, unless it is a special occasion, but one that caters to people with allergies. My husband is gluten intolerant.
I loved my Kitchen Aid and used it often but I did not keep it on the counter, as I have a coffee pot, canisters, and a smaller oven that is on the counter. I use this oven most of the time, now that there are just two of us at home.
- Now, I rarely have use of the Kitchen Aid, so I keep it in a closet, but I loved it when I was younger. As for the mashed potatoes, yes, I used the Kitchen Aid for creamy mashed potatoes, loaded with sour cream, butter, and some half & half when we had a crew coming for dinner. Now I admit to being lazy, since there are just two of us at home, and so I buy the already mashed potatoes at either Aldi’s or Price Chopper/Market32. LOL
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