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2 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

I also just want to say that Kitchenaid Mixers are THE SHIT!

And if you're kind of handy, you can get some really damn cheap. Case in point, I now have procured 3 of them for a grand total of $75 to get them in working order.

The first one was a K5SS (the holy grail of Kitchenaids - the solid state version of their first gen K5A, from the 70s-80s, it still says Hobart) I got at a garage sale for $10. It needed some TLC and I didt some pictures of the restoration of it on the old site. It went from that yuck almond to bronze. I'm about to paint it black soon. More pictures of this one soon.

Next I got a tilt head artisan for free. The catch was that the gears were stripped. That was a $10 part. And a super easy fix, it's literally the most common kitchenaid mixer video on YouTube. That ended up being a gift for my niece.

Finally about 3 weeks ago I got a Professional 5 Plus, also free. In this case the planetary fell off it. That was a slightly pricier part of $50, but still a far cry from the $450 this mixer usually runs. And also not a majorly complex fix. And this one is in great shape, I'm a little torn which to make my primary, this one or old trusty.

And let me also just say, if you have a kitchenaid and don't have a meat grinder - what's wrong with you? Hands down the best thing I might have in my kitchen. Forget store ground meat, you can do your own for much cheaper and much leaner. Plus I've made breakfast sausage in it that is better than anything from the store.

Counterpoint: Ankarsrum. If your primary use is lots of dough or heavy dough, don't waste time trying to keep Kitchenaids alive. Now if you are doing lighter stuff like cookies, or needing to cream or whip frosting/meringue, then the Kitchenaid excels.

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20 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Counterpoint: Ankarsrum. If your primary use is lots of dough or heavy dough, don't waste time trying to keep Kitchenaids alive. Now if you are doing lighter stuff like cookies, or needing to cream or whip frosting/meringue, then the Kitchenaid excels.

Wife has had her kitchenmaid for 29 years. She makes at least one loaf of wheat bread a week. That's 1500+ loaves, runs like new. That's not counting the pies, or the pasta she makes with the thing. Haven't had to do shit to 'keep it alive'.

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We’ve had our Kitchenaid for 40 years. It’s not been regularly used as we don’t bake much. I’m about to buy the meat grinder. I’m debating between the Kitchenaid at $9& and the better knockoffs a $49. I’ll likely go with the real deal unless someone here has a valid argument for the cheaper one.

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43 minutes ago, otisdog said:

Wife has had her kitchenmaid for 29 years. She makes at least one loaf of wheat bread a week. That's 1500+ loaves, runs like new. That's not counting the pies, or the pasta she makes with the thing. Haven't had to do shit to 'keep it alive'.

Agree. My kitchen aide is from 1997 and it will do whatever I want. Keeps pumping like Ron Jeremy in a 4 way. 

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43 minutes ago, otisdog said:

Wife has had her kitchenmaid for 29 years. She makes at least one loaf of wheat bread a week. That's 1500+ loaves, runs like new. That's not counting the pies, or the pasta she makes with the thing. Haven't had to do shit to 'keep it alive'.

That's a light dough and a single loaf. KitchenAid is just fine for small tasks like that.

Ankarsrum is if you want to make 4 loaves at once or you have high gluten or very dry doughs (long knead sourdough, bagels, etc). You can make triple batches of most doughs with no issue. Bonus: the machine runs quiet doing it.

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10 hours ago, otisdog said:

Wife has had her kitchenmaid for 29 years.

 

10 hours ago, pops said:

My kitchen aide is from 1997 and it will do whatever I want.

I recommend you both upgrade to a younger model, from 2001 at the oldest, which is a lot more impressionable and eager to please

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11 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

We’ve had our Kitchenaid for 40 years. It’s not been regularly used as we don’t bake much. I’m about to buy the meat grinder. I’m debating between the Kitchenaid at $9& and the better knockoffs a $49. I’ll likely go with the real deal unless someone here has a valid argument for the cheaper one.

I don’t think the brand matters all that much. But I would recommend two things:

1. dishwasher safe. That makes like 1000x easier because you don’t need to wash it by hand. 

2. Metal. I have a plastic one and I wish I had a metal one. It just feels like it doesn’t have the right oomph. Make sure it isn’t anodized aluminum, they aren’t dishwasher safe. 

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11 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

That's a light dough and a single loaf. KitchenAid is just fine for small tasks like that.

Ankarsrum is if you want to make 4 loaves at once or you have high gluten or very dry doughs (long knead sourdough, bagels, etc). You can make triple batches of most doughs with no issue. Bonus: the machine runs quiet doing it.

If I was more of a baker, I might go for something like this. The biggest thing I do with mine is tortillas. I mean I bake with it, but not at these levels. 

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15 hours ago, otisdog said:

Wife has had her kitchenmaid for 29 years. She makes at least one loaf of wheat bread a week. That's 1500+ loaves, runs like new. That's not counting the pies, or the pasta she makes with the thing. Haven't had to do shit to 'keep it alive'.

Our tilt head is coming up on 21 years of use with plenty of dough (but not 3 loaves per day) and everything else. 

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On 6/2/2022 at 6:40 PM, Captain Ron said:

I also just want to say that Kitchenaid Mixers are THE SHIT!

And if you're kind of handy, you can get some really damn cheap. Case in point, I now have procured 3 of them for a grand total of $75 to get them in working order.

The first one was a K5SS (the holy grail of Kitchenaids - the solid state version of their first gen K5A, from the 70s-80s, it still says Hobart) I got at a garage sale for $10. It needed some TLC and I didt some pictures of the restoration of it on the old site. It went from that yuck almond to bronze. I'm about to paint it black soon. More pictures of this one soon.

Next I got a tilt head artisan for free. The catch was that the gears were stripped. That was a $10 part. And a super easy fix, it's literally the most common kitchenaid mixer video on YouTube. That ended up being a gift for my niece.

Finally about 3 weeks ago I got a Professional 5 Plus, also free. In this case the planetary fell off it. That was a slightly pricier part of $50, but still a far cry from the $450 this mixer usually runs. And also not a majorly complex fix. And this one is in great shape, I'm a little torn which to make my primary, this one or old trusty.

And let me also just say, if you have a kitchenaid and don't have a meat grinder - what's wrong with you? Hands down the best thing I might have in my kitchen. Forget store ground meat, you can do your own for much cheaper and much leaner. Plus I've made breakfast sausage in it that is better than anything from the store.

This. When I got divorced a couple of years ago I made damn sure the mixer went with me. I even gave up the le creuset in the trade.

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This. When I got divorced a couple of years ago I made damn sure the mixer went with me. I even gave up the le creuset in the trade.

You can’t replace a Kitchenaid with a cheaper knockoff. You can get great enameled cast iron for 30% of the price


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If I could save three things from the kitchen, it would be my chef's knife, my lc skillet, and my lc saucepan. Use each of those things almost every single day, and I expect each will last me my entire life. We'll see on the chef's knife but probably. I don't feel the same attachment to the kitchen aid but I don't bake as much and it's a sentimental calculation for me.

Will say that the cheese grating attachment is great if you need to shred a fuck ton of cheese.

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Our food processor has gone to the great appliance graveyard in the sky.  Need a new one -- might as well make it my Father's Day gift.  Don't need blending capability, we have a VitaMix.

I'm pretty much the only one who uses our old one, and that's mostly for dicing or chopping veggies (think mirepoix or potatoes), slicing veggies (think cucumbers, etc.), shredding/grinding raw meat (think burgers or shredded ribeye for cheesesteaks), or shredding larger quantities of cheese.

Durability is requirement #1, ease of cleaning is #2, capacity is not so important, I can work in stages.  What are my options?  Price doesn't really matter so much.  I'd rather it outlast me on this planet.

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I have a Cuisinart that I rarely use. As I’m usually just cooking for two I can use a knife faster than dragging it out and cleaning it. Since you have a vitamix they have a food processor attachment I would look into.

From there I would look into a restaurant grade unit.

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We just bought the massive Breville 16-cup food processor. It's amazing - powerful, quiet, and comes with a lot of useful attachments. I nearly went with the Magimix, but we like our Breville appliances (immersion blender, espresso machine, juicer) and figured we'd use the accessories. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PHNFML2?tag=serieats-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&ascsubtag=5121915|n982ad798b0a0484ebf13cd079475f56c10|B00PHNFML2

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9 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

A KitchenAid stand mixer is a life changer.  I love mine.  I also love my Le Creuset and Staub enameled cast iron pieces.  

Funnily enough, the most important thing my kitchen is my Smeg kettle.  

  Don't know how I ever lived without a kettle.  We use that thing every day

 

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1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Me too.  I got rid of all my coffee makers and use either a French Press or a Chemex.  A kettle makes that all so much easier.  I am also a fan of tea in the evening before bed.

Fuck, now I want some tea.

 

Maybe the lack of a kettle is why I don't drink enough tea. I might invest in one.

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What are the must have pots & pans for a daughter (no pics) moving into her first real adult apartment?  Brand?  Type?  We have a combination of D3 All-Clad and some older stuff. I like stainless for the durability and ease of use.  Opinions?

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47 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

America's Test Kitchen just did a shootout and said the OXO Nonstick Pro was the best 12" skillet.  Price probably factored in (~ $45).

I'm a big fan of buying relatively cheap for non-stick and relatively pricy for stainless/clad stuff.  Nonstick coating tends to wear faster and is unrecoverable once it starts to go.  If I (or my daughter) burns something onto my stainless stuff, a good shot of barkeeper's friend usually cleans it right up.

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2 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

What are the must have pots & pans for a daughter (no pics) moving into her first real adult apartment?  Brand?  Type?  We have a combination of D3 All-Clad and some older stuff. I like stainless for the durability and ease of use.  Opinions?

Not moving into my first but I'm always interested in this

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What are the must have pots & pans for a daughter (no pics) moving into her first real adult apartment?  Brand?  Type?  We have a combination of D3 All-Clad and some older stuff. I like stainless for the durability and ease of use.  Opinions?

First real place? Does she cook? Does she clean? I’d go cheap. Let her figure out real cookware when she’s old enough to appreciate it. I’d go to Sam’s and go with either their members mark hard anodized 15 pc set for $129 or 11pc ceramic coated for $149. It’s very good stuff, better than what 90% of American households have, and will easily last until she is ready to decide what she wants in better stuff. It’s durable as hell and easy to clean, dishwasher safe, oven safe. Both sets look great.

As an aside I don’t see any talk around here about carbon steel skillets vs cast iron. I plan to get a couple.
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13 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Our food processor has gone to the great appliance graveyard in the sky.  Need a new one -- might as well make it my Father's Day gift.  Don't need blending capability, we have a VitaMix.

I'm pretty much the only one who uses our old one, and that's mostly for dicing or chopping veggies (think mirepoix or potatoes), slicing veggies (think cucumbers, etc.), shredding/grinding raw meat (think burgers or shredded ribeye for cheesesteaks), or shredding larger quantities of cheese.

Durability is requirement #1, ease of cleaning is #2, capacity is not so important, I can work in stages.  What are my options?  Price doesn't really matter so much.  I'd rather it outlast me on this planet.

Magimix. It’s the consumer version of the robot coupe industrial food processor. 

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4 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

What are the must have pots & pans for a daughter (no pics) moving into her first real adult apartment?  Brand?  Type?  We have a combination of D3 All-Clad and some older stuff. I like stainless for the durability and ease of use.  Opinions?

 

whatever set they have on sale at costco 

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I wish I had seen that a while back. My granddaughters were coming to visit and they can wear out visits to the shave ice place. Bought a contract taproom on Amazon which was a pain in the ass. They hated it; it went to goodwill. Let us know how it works.
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9 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

America's Test Kitchen just did a shootout and said the OXO Nonstick Pro was the best 12" skillet.  Price probably factored in (~ $45).

I'm in the market for one of these.  I was watching ATK the other day and they were using an OXO skillet.

I'm a fan of ATK recs and OXO makes legit stuff. So I'm in.

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1 minute ago, Post Oak said:

I'm in the market for one of these.  I was watching ATK the other day and they were using an OXO skillet.

I'm a fan of ATK recs and OXO makes legit stuff. So I'm in.

Yeah, it checked all their boxes (lightweight, comfortable handle, broad cooking surface, taller sides) and came in at the lower end of the skillets they tested for price.

Oh, every skillet they tested passed their functional test -- I think it was 50 fried eggs without oil or something like that.

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teach your daughter not to crank the heat under an empty nonstick.  like my wife's dad should have

3 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I have one of those.  I think I have used it twice.  It makes good toast, but I do not make toast that often.

it's a nice looking toaster which I guess is the point but it's not any more functional than the ones that cost 10% of what that stupid thing did. wedding gift so I'm not even that annoyed by it (and do like the smeg stuff from an aesthetics perspective and I'm sure they are nice and functional) but damn, toasters pretty much toast.

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First real place? Does she cook? Does she clean? I’d go cheap. Let her figure out real cookware when she’s old enough to appreciate it. I’d go to Sam’s and go with either their members mark hard anodized 15 pc set for $129 or 11pc ceramic coated for $149. It’s very good stuff, better than what 90% of American households have, and will easily last until she is ready to decide what she wants in better stuff. It’s durable as hell and easy to clean, dishwasher safe, oven safe. Both sets look great.

As an aside I don’t see any talk around here about carbon steel skillets vs cast iron. I plan to get a couple.
I've been disappointed in the carbon steel pan I bought. Got it for eggs because we want to get away from nonstick pans altogether, but even after seasoning, cooking bacon in it, etc, eggs still stick. And scrambled eggs make such a mess that it takes forever to clean.
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I've been disappointed in the carbon steel pan I bought. Got it for eggs because we want to get away from nonstick pans altogether, but even after seasoning, cooking bacon in it, etc, eggs still stick. And scrambled eggs make such a mess that it takes forever to clean.

Same here. I gave up on it.
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