Kitchen Gadget Review #1

Until this last year I called small apartments my home. Within these tiny walls was a even tinier kitchen in which I had to make the so called "magic" happen. Even I was amazed that I could churn out pounds and pounds of dog biscuits for the store in this small space or throw dinner parties for 14 guests. 

One of the most challenging aspects of small kitchens is the storage space. I love kitchen gadgets. I could hoard if space and money allowed. But something I learned from the amazing Mr Alton Brown is that there should be no "unitaskers" in the kitchen. I could not agree more. These tools are marketed so well you are sure you need them - all of them. Garlic presses, melon ballers, egg poachers, toasters, apple corers and egg slicer all designed to do one job and take up room in your kitchen for the 390 days a year you do not use them. 

One of the kitchen appliances I love is the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I loved my orange KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer almost to death. It was taking a huge beating turning out batch after batch of dog biscuits for the store. To its rescue came the even awesomer KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Stand Mixer. I know what you are saying - how does a space challenged kitchen have room for 2 stand mixers. I love my smaller orange mixer so much and he is so handy for quick smaller jobs. And his bigger brother does all the heavy lifting for the dog biscuits. Each of them are used weekly and I think that qualifies for keeping them both. 

Now if you have a stand mixer you know that they are the so much more than a mixer. The attachements are endless and a wonderful way to add in other "appliances" without really doing so. From ice cream maker and pasta roller to meat grinder and juicer - pretty amazing. 

One of my favorite attachments is the beater blade - mine is by New Metro Design. Why didn't I think of this. Turning the mixer off to scrape down batter is tedious. This tool does the job for you. There are several makers of these types of beaters and KitchenAid actually makes their own now. 

For about $24 you have a beater blade that will let you multi task while it does an amazing job of mixing you batters. Best for thinner batters like cake and pancake types. The classis metal beater is still best for stiffer dough like cookies.  If you don't have one and make a good amount of batter type recipes in your mixer then run out and get yourself one.