So three or four years ago I decided that I wanted to add a stand mixer to
Since I make pizza about three times every two weeks, it sounded like a good idea at the time.
Then you know me...I couldn't settle for just "any" stand mixer, I wanted something that bolted to the kitchen cabinet or stood in the floor and made the windows rattle when I turned it on and started mixing something.
Something like this 60 quart model would do nicely, don't you think???
Then upon further consideration, realizing that my kitchen was basically 12 feet x 14 feet, I realized that, since I generally only make one or two pizzas at a time, that unless I wanted to have to wheel the monstrosity out into the carport when we had company or when I actually wanted to COOK something...that I should downsize my aspirations and get something a little more portable.
Then I started looking at the KitchenAid mixers which are in every store except possibly AutoZone and the local Men's Big/Tall Shop, but I wasn't satisfied with the speed selections and the fact that the bowl just sat there on the base and could start spinning around while unattended and fly off into space or something.
Finally I found out about the larger capacity KitchenAid Professional 6 quart model...
(except mine's gunmetal grey...remember it's part of my "arsenal" by default...)
which has more motor horsepower and additional speeds, but more importantly it had a lift stand base that allowed me to lock the mixing bowl onto the unit so when I come back from the basement or restroom after ten minutes my dough is still inside the kitchen rather than sitting out in the back yard with the Robins and Nuthatches pecking at it.
I ordered it on sale, online, with free shipping, and when it arrived and I busted it out of the cardboard and Styrofoam and tossed it up on the counter top, and I'm sorry to report that I've only used it once or twice since.
Why, you might ask?
Because it's too large to only make dough for one pizza!
When I dump 2-1/2 cups of flour and a cup of water and a pack of yeast and some salt and white pepper into the bowl and turn it on, the paddle or dough hook barely touches the mixture.
I think that my mixer laughed and taunted me and said "that's all you got" in "Mixer-ese"
Then I had the brilliant idea to take it off the stand and stir things up by hand, and then remount the bowl on the mixer. When I turned the motor back on the dough hook grabbed my little blob of dough and proceeded to make it slowly crawl up to the top of the hook and ride around in circles like some kind of silly kitchen amusement park ride.
I know that when I use yeast I'm basically "fermenting" my dough...so I might get "drunken" dough in the process, but spinning my dough around getting it "drunken"???
So any way, in a few minutes when my milk finishes "scalding" and my butter finishes melting, I'm going to make another try at using what has been a giant paperweight for the past two years in my kitchen.
I'm tossing together about 6 cups of flour and 6 eggs and a bunch of other stuff and trying to make three or four loaves of Greek Easter Bread.
I'll try to avoid having to repaint the walls or buy new flooring or replace my counter top, or wash flour off of the Turbo Pup in the process.
Wish me luck...if you will...
(And I'm REAL glad I didn't buy that 60 quart model else I'd probably need counseling)
1 comment:
I have my mother's kitchenaid mixer. She got it from a professional supply house in the early 70's when she and her friends would gather on a Saturday morning to make french bread (I also have her french bread pans). They'd start with a little wine before making their sponge and then start the process of transforming 20 lbs of flour into 4-5 dozen loaves of very manly, thick crust french bread. While the dough was rising they'd enjoy many beers but by late afternoon, when it was time to bake the bread, they'd enjoy scotch and bourbons. I still remember the laughter from the kitchen as they worked and gossiped but also the smell of the entire house having that much yeast breeding and the baking.
I've been tempted to spraypaint the old mixer but then again, its worn appearance tells a story.
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