The Mixer of My Dreams

I've been putting off writing this post…  Not procrastinating because it was difficult, because I didn't have a NAME for it! It needs a name… RIGHT?  Came to me making a double-batch of chocolate chip gluten free Nestle Toll-house cookies day before yesterday.

Yes, Ok. It's a bloomin' stand mixer. Alton Brown would probably laugh…or not. Wade Chi has a great photo of AB and his "Fireball" on his Blog post Tyrannosaurus Mixer?

I didn't do any real research before Orangey arrived.  I just knew I didn't want a cheap, disposable ornament in my kitchen. And yeah, I wanted a lift-bowl  Kitchenaid. In hindsight, the flip top wouldn't have been bad either.  I know, I know, brandname hype - right? We didn't have a big-name mixer when I was growing up. I'm thinking my mom might still have that old Braun kicking around.  It was a versatile workhorse.

If you want to do some research, this page has some good info for you.
The Only Stand Mixer You'll Ever Need | Reluctant Gourmet

I'm quite glad I didn't have to pick a colour, that was the lucky lot of the handsome Christmas fairy.  There are (at least!!) 25 colours, check it out!

With this much choice, I would have been paralyzed standing in front of the colour book, but sometimes, the universe makes the choice for you. Don't mess with Karma. Tangerine it is!

I admired Alton's Fireball for years on Good Eats - if you haven't seen the show, you should. He mixes great cooking with interesting delivery, recipes, common sense, facts, history (mostly American), and costumes.

So, I guess I should tell you a bit about this new family member.  In lieu of a name, "Orangey" seemed appropriate. It's the 4KB25G1X, Deluxe 5 Edition Mixer. 450 Watts of power (but if you read the article above, the watts aren't the whole story), the box says it has "Flour Power". Well, that was a giggle. If you know me, I've eaten gluten-free for 20+ years, so "Flour Power"… a bit of a misnomer for me, but some of the doughs I've made have been…strong.  6 3/4 loaves of bread, 1 dozen cookies, or 7 pounds of mashed potatoes! Accompanied with a "wide-chute" pouring shield (splash guard), a flat beater (which you'll see isn't getting used), a wire whip, and a dough hook.

One of the first things I bought Orangey was a flex-edge spatula blade so I didn't have to scrape the bowl down every couple of minutes.  67-point planetary mixing is all fine and well, but… the reviews on the internet (and the manual), still involved scraping the bowl.  I did a bit of research on the internet and found out that there are Kitchenaid accessories, and third-party ones that "might" void your warranty! YIKES!  Bed Bath and Beyond was my first stop, their website advertised they had them, but apparently none in stock. They had the third party model…I wasn't buying that. Then, checking out the website, Sears is a good place to shop for Kitchenaid accessories. Although not always the best prices online, check in the store.  Amazon is another good source online to check for comparison shopping. (Although I admit, I prefer the .com to the .ca site for pricing.)

Soooooo, I've been putting Orangey to work these past few weeks, but… it still didn't have a name. Until I made those cookies. Are you excited yet? Drumroll…

Roadrunner!!  

Meep Meep! Orange like the Roadrunner's legs, AND it makes a sound like running, running, running, running when it's under the load of a double-batch of cookies!

My latest accessory acquisition for Roadrunner is a Mixer Attachment Pack.  There was a great sale at Sears online that caught my eye, I thought they had a good price, until I checked Amazon.com, $104US - which somehow works out to $107.10 Cdn! Shipping was $29, and an import fee of $6.96 on the whole order (I'm guessing GST), not bad!  The parcel arrived at work last week while I was under the weather, so I just got it home yesterday, and I haven't opened it yet. Perhaps on Saturday I can try out the meat grinder, sausage stuffer, grater, slicer, strainer attachment so I can purée some tomatoes and apples. Riiiiiiight. That's optimistic.  I might grind some meat…

This countertop wonder is quite the workhorse. I expect many years of service from it - heavy, so it won't walk around on it's own, sturdy, metal gears, and accessories out the wazoo, (there's even an ice cream maker… but I already have one - and he's handsome too). ;-x

Although, I still have my mom's 30+ year old Sears hand mixer (successfully patched back together after it's "episode") for the small jobs…tucked in it's little case in the drawer, but haven't had call for it yet.