Electric hand mixer that won't burn out?

Greetings,

At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
(like, e.g.,
http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.

Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
to keep making chocolate chip cookies?

(Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)

(Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
kitchen.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.

--
Jews for Obama (http://www.jews4obama.com/)

On Aug 4, 3:20�pm, j...@kamens.brookline.ma.us (Jonathan Kamens)
wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...ndmixers&T1=KT...)
> every 2-3 years. �We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?

Even the best hand mixers won't stand up long to mixing heavy doughs
like for cookies. I have a 7 speed KitchenAid that's great for
whipping and mixing batters but I don't think it would last long on a
steady diet of mixing stiff cookie doughs.

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
>
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as
> we want to keep making chocolate chip cookies?

You're doomed as long as you use the wrong tool
for the purpose. Cookie dough is way too thick
for mixing with a handheld electric mixer.
It's like using a knife as a screwdriver and
complaining when the tip breaks off.

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
> every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
>

I wouldn't use a hand mixer for cookie dough but KitchenAid does
make a dough hook for the model you picked (the cheapest by the way).
Were you using the dough hook? Using beaters for dough is guaranteed
to burn out the motor. I'd also go with the strongest mixer I could get;
i.e. the 9-speed KA.

/da

In article <g77kpf$2bm$1@jik3.kamens.brookline.ma.us>,
jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us says...

> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.

I've got an older (90's) Sunbeam Mixmaster stand/detachable unit that
just goes and goes. I paid $50 for it though now I see they want $169 or
so for the same thing.

However their hand mixers are based on the classic:

http://www.sunbeam.com/category.aspx...=kitchen&cid=6

Mark Thorson <nospam@sonic.net> writes:
>You're doomed as long as you use the wrong tool
>for the purpose. Cookie dough is way too thick
>for mixing with a handheld electric mixer.

I suppose I should have been clear that when the dough gets
too thick for the hand mixer, we switch to a spoon. Granted,
perhaps we are not switching soon enough, and perhaps that is
what is causing our mixers to die a premature death, but I was
hoping that perhaps there is a better answer than that...

--
Jews for Obama (http://www.jews4obama.com/)

Jonathan Kamens wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
> every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.

That is the same hand held mixer that I have been using for years and mine is
still going strong. I use it for chocolate chip cooks, meat loaf and other tough
jobs and it works fine.


>
>
> --
> Jews for Obama (http://www.jews4obama.com/)

"Jonathan Kamens" <jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us> wrote in message
news:g77kpf$2bm$1@jik3.kamens.brookline.ma.us...

> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>

Well, I use either a pastry cutter
(http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Pastry_Cutter) or a potato masher,
which I think works better than a pastry cutter, to cream the butter and
eggs together, then a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips and the
optional nuts. Neither of those things burn out.

I have mixed the cookies using an electric device like a mixer or food
processor from time to time, but it is neither faster nor "easier" than
using the hand tools, at least in my opinion. It is just more clean up.

You can even mix the chips in with your hands as the following recipe
recommends: http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/...p?RecipeID=111. I
have never done it that way, but I would highly recommend washing your hands
before doing the mixing, even though you washed your hands, or at least
should have, before you started cooking.

I don't know if you use the mixer for something else, but the bottom line is
that cooking had been done with hand tools for a lot more of human history
than power tools, and quite often, they are actually the better choice
(though one time I tried making mayonnaise with a whisk, and that is just
for the birds).

Brian Christiansen

On Aug 4, 2:20*pm, j...@kamens.brookline.ma.us (Jonathan Kamens)
wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...ndmixers&T1=KT...)
> every 2-3 years. *We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
>
> --
> Jews for Obama (http://www.jews4obama.com/)

Dunno. I have a KA hand mixer, the 6 speed, and I've used it at least
once or twice a week for about a decade now. I'm thinking about
getting a 7-speed, with a whip attachment, actually.

N.

On Aug 4, 3:17*pm, "Brian Christiansen" <brian_christi...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> "Jonathan Kamens" <j...@kamens.brookline.ma.us> wrote in message
>
> news:g77kpf$2bm$1@jik3.kamens.brookline.ma.us...
>
> > Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> > once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> > post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> > up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> > it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> > ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> > to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> Well, I use either a pastry cutter
> (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Pastry_Cutter) or a potato masher,
> which I think works better than a pastry cutter, to cream the butter and
> eggs together, then a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips and the
> optional nuts. *Neither of those things burn out.
>
> I have mixed the cookies using an electric device like a mixer or food
> processor from time to time, but it is neither faster nor "easier" than
> using the hand tools, at least in my opinion. It is just more clean *up..
>
> You can even mix the chips in with your hands as the following recipe
> recommends:http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/...p?RecipeID=111. *I
> have never done it that way, but I would highly recommend washing your hands
> before doing the mixing, even though you washed your hands, or at least
> should have, before you started cooking.
>
> I don't know if you use the mixer for something else, but the bottom lineis
> that cooking had been done with hand tools for a lot more of human history
> than power tools, and quite often, they are actually the better choice
> (though one time I tried making mayonnaise with a whisk, and that is just
> for the birds).
>
> Brian Christiansen

I can't think of anything easier than creaming shortening and sugar
with an electric stand mixer. Clean-up? Pshaw, a quick hot-water
wash (under the running water) with a little soap smeared on, and the
beaters are good to go. Plus, I can finish the recipe in the stand
mixer, using only that one bowl and a spatula. I'd never try creaming
shortening and sugar by hand - it just doesn't work as well. IMO, of
course.

As for the OP, I can't imagine mixing cookie dough with a hand mixer.
I use mine sometimes for brownie batter (homemade- it's thinner than a
box mix, actually), frosting, and beating eggs for whatever. That's
about all I use it for.

N.

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
> every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
>


The ad for your mixer says it's "powerful enough to mix double batches
of cookie dough" If that's their claim, they should stand by it. Have
you contacted them?

Personally, I mix heavy cookie dough by hand. It helps to establish the
calorie deficit so I can eat more cookies without getting fat :-)

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
> every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
>


Was it really a Kitchenaid, or was it maybe a Sunbeam that kind of looks
like the one you linked?

Bob

On Mon, 4 Aug 2008 20:08:06 +0000 (UTC), jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us
(Jonathan Kamens) wrote:

>Mark Thorson <nospam@sonic.net> writes:
>>You're doomed as long as you use the wrong tool
>>for the purpose. Cookie dough is way too thick
>>for mixing with a handheld electric mixer.
>
>I suppose I should have been clear that when the dough gets
>too thick for the hand mixer, we switch to a spoon. Granted,
>perhaps we are not switching soon enough, and perhaps that is
>what is causing our mixers to die a premature death, but I was
>hoping that perhaps there is a better answer than that...


Probably time to switch to a stand mixer. You can get a refurbished
tilt head for $169.00. That's not much more than the cost of 2 of the 7
speed hand mixers or 3 of the 3 speeds. For $200 you can get the heavy
duty 5-qt Professional model (475 Watts, all metal construction).

http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...AND&HDR=outlet

FWIW, the 3 speed has a 170 Watt motor.

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
>
> I suppose I should have been clear that when the dough gets
> too thick for the hand mixer, we switch to a spoon. Granted,
> perhaps we are not switching soon enough, and perhaps that is
> what is causing our mixers to die a premature death, but I was
> hoping that perhaps there is a better answer than that...


I mix cookies by hand with a metal spoon and have never had a problem.
The only reasons I'd be tempted to use a standup mixer or other
electronic help would be:


if I were making an especially large batch as though making them
commercially

if I had arthritis or other medical condition which made using my arm in
that way difficult.


I thought there would be a whole list, but I can only come up with the 2
possibilities. If you don't have either of these, I'd suggest just
mixing by hand from the start. You can let the fact that the hand
mixers die prematurely, or you can say that clean-up is easier.


Good reasons for using the hand held mixer: egg white and cream. And
even then, a hand whip works fine.


--Lia

In article <g77kpf$2bm$1@jik3.kamens.brookline.ma.us>,
jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us (Jonathan Kamens) wrote:

> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.

I'm very happy with my Braun Multi-Mix unit. Includes a stick blender,
chopper, and a tall container for doing some stick blending. Don't know
if they still sell it, but it does what I need it to do when I don't
want to haul out the KA stand mixer.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

On Mon 04 Aug 2008 12:20:15p, Jonathan Kamens told us...

> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...xers&T1=KTA+KH
> M3WH) every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
>

I don't know of a current model hand mixer that I would recommend, as I
haven't needed a new one.

My dad bought my mother a "Dormey" hand mixer made by Dormeyer in 1954.
She used it until she passed away in 1998, and I have been using it since
then. I also happen to have a KitchenAid stand mixer, but I still use the
hand mixer for many things.

The are frequently sold on eBay. Currently there are two for sale. If you
don't mind buying something used, buy one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dormeyer-Dormey-...xer-Model-7500
_W0QQitemZ160267075932QQihZ006QQcategoryZ11653QQss PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZ
ViewItem

or

http://tinyurl.com/5zerga

As a side note, I have since bought two of these mixers on eBay "just in
case" mine dies. I doubt that it will, though, so here I sit with three of
them. :-) Oh, the two on eBay are *not* being sold by me.


--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Monday, 08(VIII)/04(IV)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Where am I going, and why am I in this
handbasket?
-------------------------------------------

On Mon 04 Aug 2008 12:20:15p, Jonathan Kamens told us...

> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...xers&T1=KTA+KH
> M3WH) every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?
>
> (Yes, we could get it fixed, but I'm pretty certain that
> getting it fixed costs more than buying a new mixer.)
>
> (Yes, a real stand mixer would almost certainly solve this
> problem, but we wouldn't use one often enough to justify the
> expense, and besides, we don't have space for one in our
> kitchen.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
>

I would not be happy with anything currently on the market. However, some
of the older hand mixers have survived decades of use.

My dad bought my mother a "Dormey" hand mixer made by Dormeyer in 1954.
She used it until 1998 when she passed away. I now have it and use it
regularly, although I also have a KitchenAid stand mixer that I use for
heavier mixtures.

You can usually find one on eBay, in fact, they are several currently
listed now. Here is one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dormeyer-Dormey-...xer-Model-7500
_W0QQitemZ160267075932QQihZ006QQcategoryZ11653QQss PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZ
ViewItem

OR

http://tinyurl.com/5zerga

If you don't mind buying something used, I can't recommend this highly
enough.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Monday, 08(VIII)/04(IV)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Where am I going, and why am I in this
handbasket?
-------------------------------------------

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
>I'm very happy with my Braun Multi-Mix unit. Includes a stick blender,
> chopper, and a tall container for doing some stick blending. Don't know
> if they still sell it, but it does what I need it to do when I don't
> want to haul out the KA stand mixer.

I have the Braun, too. I wouldn't even consider
using it on cookie dough.

"Jonathan Kamens" <jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us> wrote in message
news:g77kpf$2bm$1@jik3.kamens.brookline.ma.us...
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
> every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.
>
> Having once again smelled the smoke of hand-mixer doom, we are
> once again in the market for a new one, and so I thought I'd
> post and ask: is there a mixer on the market that won't give
> up the ghost after a few years (and if so where can we get
> it), or are we doomed to continue contributing to the
> ever-growing global waste disposal problem as long as we want
> to keep making chocolate chip cookies?


http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=142281

You need a mixer with dough hooks for making cookies,
Or get a kitchen aid.


--
Old Scoundrel

(AKA Dimitri)

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
>
> Greetings,
>
> At our house, we seem to go through an electric hand mixer
> (like, e.g.,
> http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/produc...&T1=KTA+KHM3WH)
> every 2-3 years. We don't use the mixer that
> often, maybe two or three times per month, and yet there
> always comes a time when the blades stop spinning and wisps of
> smoke come drifting out of the motor, along with the awful
> smell of a motor that shell spin its blades no more.

Symptoms precisely describe crap made in China, especially if they occur
immediately after the return limit date.