Hand mixing vs. Stand mixing

It's not a stupid question.

Cakes, cookies, you're generally ok. Keep in mind that you can't throw hard butter into a mixer any more than you can mix it by hand. (Just sayin, many whisks and paddles are damaged this way - just because it worked once doesn't mean it won't break your mixer later)

Biscuits, scones, other quickbreads where gluten formation is supposed to be limited, stay as far away from the stand mixer as you can, preferably facing at least 90 degrees away from it. Well, you can sift together dry ingredients this way, and maybe even add your shortening, but as soon as you start hydrating you need to switch to hand mixing. Otherwise your quickbreads will be a bit like racketballs in their texture.

Pretty much the same rule with pie crusts, for example.

This is not a stupid question. However, a better question is WHY would I need to mix something by hand?

Depends on the recipe. In most cases using a stand mixer will be fine. In some cases the stand mixer will over mix the ingredients. The act of mixing for some ingredients actually changes them.

For example, some doughs can be overworked by a stand mixer. Also, things like chiffon or angel food cake require you to fold whipped egg whites into the batter. If you attempted to do with this a stand mixer you would lose all the air in the egg whites and have a dense cake.

Basically, if the techniques in a recipe make all the difference then you want to hand mix when it says to hand mix. A good recipe will explain why you need to prepare it a certain way.

If you are going to start off with the basics then using a stand mixer should be fine. After a while you'll start realizing certain terms have significance. For example, if the instructions say to 'fold' the ingredients together then you don't want to use the stand mixer.

Good luck and have fun.

P.S. if something doesn't work out ask WHY here. There are some really bright people here who have helped me tremendously.

P.P.S. remember that it is not only the ingredients you use but the techniques you use that make a difference. Baking is often in the details.

The only things inappropriate for machine mixing are things that need to be folded into batters - whipped cream, meringue and so forth - without being deflated. Otherwise the stand mixer is fine. You can give a batter the same amount of mixing in a machine that you do by hand.

Let's look at cakes in which we don't want to develop the gluten in the flour. Use the creaming method. That means cream the butter in the mixer, then add the sugar and salt. Add any other ingredients except for the flour and baking powder. Save those for the end of the job and mix them enough to incorporate, not enough to develop gluten. Pour it into the pans and into the oven. You'll get soft, moist cakes this way.

I mix almost everything with a stand mixer. Really dense doughs like biscotti are really faster to do by hand so I do that but I could do it in the mixer with dough hook if I wanted to. I always beat meringues in the mixer but fold them into the batter by hand. Same with whipped cream. So when I make chocolate mousse, as an example, I melt the butter and chocolate together and then temper the yolks and add them in and set this aside. I beat the whites into meringue and the cream into whipped cream with the stand mixer. Then I mix it all together by folding the whipped ingredients into the chocolate mixture. Use common sense. You'll find a way to mix most things with the mixer. Take care.

Fred Foodie Forums

Just wanted to thank everyone for their answers. I knew most of it, I guess :-) Though I am confused about something. Everyone who answered said not to use it to fold, but the instructions that came with the mixer, tell you what attachment and speed to use for folding. Though I don't see how a mixer could do any folding, so I wouldn't have thought to use it for that anyway.

There are instruction for cutting fat into flour to make pastry. I wouldn't use a mixer for that either.

I'm guessing it has that in the manual so marketing can claim that their mixer does folding as well. Doesn't mean it actually works as well as hand folding.

Using a mixer to fold needs some skill as folding by hands.It is not that easy as following the recipe and the machine directions squarely. You have to judge and see it if there is a proper incorporation without excessive deflation of the foam. However if I used a four speed hobart mixer. I can use the the number one for folding dry ingredients into the meringue. The number two which is said to be equivalent to the number one speed on the three speed machine is just a bit faster and tend to deflate the aerated foam more than the number one of the four speed machine. If you make only a small quantities of batters hand folding would be easy but if you made more than 80 quarts of the same mixture and do it by hand with the batter reaching literally your armpits that is pretty unsanitary and inconvenient and you are not guaranteed that you had done carefully the folding process. Meanwhile for cutting, a special beater attachment for such job could do it nicely. But again you have to watch out that the fat is not mashed into the dough when making pastry.

Roy

Didn't really figure it did. But I so far haven't made anything that required me to fold in anything. I'm sure it's soon to come, but hasnt' happened yet.

Cadie

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If I come across it, I'll do it by hand. LOL, nope, not doing anything near 80 quarts of anything. I'm just baknig for my family, and usually only for the 3 of us in my house.

A specific "pastry blender" beater attachment, or a beater attachment? I don't have a pastry blender, last time I made one (apple pie crust) I was stuck using two knives criss cross style, and that's a bit of a PITA. But I didn't read the recipe beforehand and didn't prepare by getting one. Still don't have one... don't actually think I've seen one...

I use a food processor to cut fat into flour for pastry. It works better than a pastry blender for me.

Complete amateur here. MAYBE 8 quarts but there is no way I'm making 80 quarts. This just boggles my mind. I've made cakes big enough for a wedding of 50 but I usually make multiple batches. Even then I think three batches of 6 quarts is all I've ever needed to fold in one evening.

I guess if I'm approaching 20 quarts for 50 people you could easily exceed

80 quarts for large events (300+ people). It always amazes me to watch shows when the chef needs to prepare for 300 people.

I wasn't baking much when I got married but I sure would have liked to watch in the kitchen when they made the dinner for my reception. At the time my grandmother, who was senile but sweet, didn't like either of the two menu options I had arranged for the reception. The kitchen prepared a third menu (6 courses) just for my grandmother on the fly (they found out she was unhappy as they served the first course). I didn't even ask them to. I'm guessing that was a tough thing for them to do.

There is a pastry blade attachment for such mixer. A paddle tends to incoporate the fat into the flour; but there are some bakes who are skilled in using such paddle attachment for making pastry. after several years of experience. But again even with the pastry blade attachment, it needs considerrable skill to be able to competently use it without blending too much fat in the flour and therefore attain the desired level of blending the fat / flour to form distinct granules of the required particle size. As you said you are making just small amount, then mixing by hand ( rubbing fat to the flour)is a better option , as you will be more sensitive to the level of mixing that you consider as appropriate for a certain pastry dough,. Roy