Add me to the list of Kitchen Aid fans. My wife is an avid bread baker (has been since well before the lockdown), so our dough hooks have quite a lot of miles on them. We've also had a lot of fun with the pasta maker attachment, which I refer to as the "grownup Play Doh Fun Factory," and then my personal favorite is the meat grinder attachment, with which I've gotten pretty darned good at house-ground burgers.
They are indeed expensive, but as people have noted, there are frequent deals if you pay attention, and it's a very versatile and durable machine.
It's definitely more expensive than your typical grocery store ground beef, but my goodness, it's so much more flavorful. Last week, I used a mix of about 2/3 chuck steak and 1/3 sirloin, and I always throw in a couple of strips of bacon. My cost came out to like $3.75 per half-pound burger, with way better flavor than just a standard store package. I haven't bought pre-ground beef in years.
I also love it for grinding pork or poultry to make Italian sausage/similar for use in pasta sauces, lasagna, etc. There is also an accessory for sausage stuffing so you can make your own in casings. I don't have that particular toy (yet) but have definitely been happy with my grinder results.
Thanks, been checking videos and sites since then.
For sausage, sounds like:
1. Keep everything cold at every step, and double grind.
2. Don’t overfill, leave room to get air out and to tie off.
3. Prick casing to let air out when cooking.
For ground meat, sounds like cold, patient, and double grind is the coin of the realm.
Any other words of experience? Looking forward to trying it maybe this weekend!
Asheville = Larpville
I'm thinking I need a stand-up mixer but I will settle for a new washing machine. I've finally convinced the hubby. Later in the summer we're getting a new one.
My kitchen, I don't really know where I would put a stand-up mixer. I believe I have mentioned before that I hate the "open concept" design most rennovation shows go for on HGTV, but, my kitchen needs seriously help. I kinda want to take down a wall, a small one, that separates the kitchen from the "mud room".
My Pro-600 is huge and heavy! I knew it would not be one of those appliances to take in and out of a cabinet. When I moved, I made sure there was enough clearance b/tw my counter and the cabinets above. It JUST cleared it. I keep it pushed into the corner on a placemat for easy pulling-out, and I keep a stylish dishtowel draped over it to keep the dust out. And I can hide my rolling pins behind it!
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'
The downside to pasta is all the heat and water to cook it. Though I’ve been reading lately that I’m doing it wrong.
Or wait for my husband's company to go public. He's part owner of this and when pressed will admit that he is a "grandfather" of the technology. (He had some of the early ideas and trained many of the people still working on it.) https://www.hyperfine.io/
My 2010 Corolla is scheduled to hit 100k miles today. Hoping for another 400k
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'