Why would anyone ever have need for one of those batter mixing machines in their kitchen?

That is a great mystery to me too! LOL!

They actually are quite nice for things like meringue and bread dough.

How @syz? What can it do that hand held beaters can’t?

Oh and, bread isn’t a batter. It’s a dough. I don’t think beaters would work very well on that.

Let’s flip it around – what’s so great about having to stand there, mixing something by hand for a long time when you could be moving on to the next step in the recipe? And there’s a special attachment for bread that works quite well. The heavy-duty Mix Master motor saves on hand kneading. If you do a lot of cooking, they can be a nice tool. Don’t like them? Don’t buy one.

@syz Oh well. I have a bread mixer! And anyway, you still have to tend the bowl. You have to scrape it off the sides and stuff. And the next step in the recipe involves adding stuff to the batter, which you can do with one hand while the other hand holds the little mixer. I guess if you baked all the freaking time along with doing other things in the kitchen, it might have a use.

I would love one to gently mix my fresh fruit and granola yogurt parfaits!

Many of my customers use them to mix the epoxies I make for them.

I’m always very grateful for my KitchenAid when I have a recipe that asks you to cream together butter and sugar (and lots of recipes start this way). The goal in those recipes is always to get as much air into that mixture as possible to leaven the batter. Hand mixers have a hard time with this. You need the paddle attachment (AKA the “leaf”) to muscle its way though that stiff mess, and then you just turn up the speed when it starts to come together.

I often wondered the same thing and never considered it worth the investment, but my mom bought me one and I have to say I do use it quite a bit. You get the same number of bowls and utensils dirty, so why not?

-I don’t have to keep putting the messy hand mixer down or try to balance it on the bowl.
-I actually mix for the full two minutes.
-Adding ingredients gradually is much a smoother process and one I no longer ignore.
-My arms don’t feel like they’re falling off when I “beat until fluffy.”
-My hands are free to scrape the sides of the bowl, get ready for the next ingredient, work on other dishes, or even clean up a bit while that batter mixing machine is doing its thing.
-Less mess (If you saw the splatter I am capable of with a hand mixer, you would understand.)

I see. Thanks @Supacase. I don’t ever bake, though.

It’s fun to have all the latest kitchen gadgets, but obviously need is not part of the “mix’. All of the things the gadgets can do were done without them originally, by hand. When I moved from a house to an apartment, I cut down on all the time savers because of lack of storage space. It takes more time to do the things I used machines for, but now I’m retired, I have time.
I enjoy the process. I’ve also simplified my cooking.

Nobody needs that machine. It is just a luxury Item. No diffent than a nail gun. It just makes life a litte easier.

Actually….nail guns can do a few things that I can’t do with just a hammer!

Nu-uh hammers are more versitile. nailguns just drive nails. Hammers drive nails, demolish walls, and crack skulls, a versitile tool indeed.

Ow! Well, hunters could use them too, I guess!
I was thinking specifically of a window sill thingy that was coming off. I could not, for the life of me, get a finishing nail driven in to tack it down. I whipped out the nail gun and PCHEW!! Twas done. : ) Plus they use invisible nails and I like that.

@Dutchess_III why would a hunter need a hammer?

Cuz they can crack the animals in the head, like you said!

One of my girlfriends does a lot of baking and occasionally does free catering jobs for some of her friends. If she had to mix all of that stuff by hand, her arms would fall off. She’ll often make 10 dozen sets of cupcakes in a day. She also makes bread and uses the bread hook attachment.

Yeah, I could see it if you did that kind of baking @Kardamom!

I know a bunch of people with the Kitchenaid “Stand Mixer” and they love love love it. It is good for whipping cream (much better than the thing stuff in the can) and like others have said, for adding ingredients without having to stop and balance the hand mixer in the bowl. It’s also more powerful than a little hand mixer and the different attachments are good for different types of batters and mixes.

Some people like to make bread not in a bread maker, but different shaped loaves (as opposed to the bread maker’s square loaf) and the stand mixer is great for kneading as well.

I think having a stand mixer in the kitchen says “Serious baker here.”

For “formal” events I just set the bread maker on dough, and then shape it however I want. I also use my own ingredients (involving a dark ale!) and not box mixes.

@Dutchess_III Would you be willing to post your recipe for the bread with the dark ale? It sounds yummy.

@Dutchess_III I was talking about people and I was joking so don’t get scared lol.

Well….I just use a basic white bread recipe. I use a dark ale in place of the liquid (either milk or water.) I don’t use an egg. Sometimes I do. Either way it’s great. The egg just gives it a different texture. I use brown sugar for the sugar requirement….and I use probably 3 tablespoons, more than is usually called for. Good stuff, Maynard! MUST have real butter to go with the bread!

@Dutchess_III Yum!

When I married my wife, I asked her what she would like as a wedding gift from me.
She asked for a kitchen-aide.
We don’t use it often, but it is a wonderful thing to have when doing major baking.

@Dutchess_III: I understand what you’re saying but not everyone wants a breadmaker. I happen to have one and I don’t use it very often. If the main difference between a bread maker and a mixer is that the bread maker actually does the baking, I would rather have the mixer, as it’s not a big deal to put the bread into an oven, whereas a mixer is so much more versatile (not saying I don’t appreciate the breadmaker, it was a gift and I have used it, but hearing you say you use it to make dough, the mixer sounds more versatile).

@jca Sure it is…if you do lots and lots of baking. But I don’t!

@Dutchess_III: Yes, but your question “Why would anyone ever have need for one of those…...” implies that nobody should, could or would ever have need for one of those machines. Whereas you just answered your own question “if you do lots and lots of baking.” So obviously there are people who would have need for those machines.