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!
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!