May 30, 2022

While shiny stand mixers have their identify in the kitchen, your hands are sometimes the best equipment! The difficult part is determining when you should apply an electrical manus or stand mixer and when you're improve off relying on old-fashioned elbow grease.

Depending on what you're making, your product schedule, and your personal pastry style, each method tin can have major advantages. Follow these tips to ensure you make the right phone call the adjacent time you lot're combining ingredients.

When to Use an Electrical Stand Mixer

Stand mixers are powerful, versatile, and efficient tools. That said, the all-time tools are only helpful if you know how to employ them! That'southward why students in professional baking & pastry programs do using stand mixers to create everything from pate au choux to buttercream frosting to bagels.

When you use a stand mixer properly, you lot'll find this tool can allow you to uniformly mix ingredients. It can also let you multitask more efficiently—and all great pastry chefs know that proper time management is key to a smoothly-running kitchen. While the machine brings ingredients together, you can focus on other tasks. Plus, many stand mixers as well accept handy features similar timers or automatic stops.

By using the provided bowl and attachments like a paddle, whisk, and hook, you can fix a broad multifariousness of mixtures. However, information technology'south important to choose the proper attachment for each task.

"I had some huge epiphanies about [simply creaming the butter and sugar]. I don't retrieve I ever was properly doing it. And I can meet the enormous difference betwixt a professional and home cook, just having someone explain the proper way to exercise these most basic things."*
Tara Bissell, Escoffier Online Baking & Pastry Educatee and Possessor/Bakery, Andy's Artisan Bread

Use the Paddle Zipper as a Wooden Spoon Replacement

Electric mixer using paddle attachment to mix batter

Likewise known as a flat beater, the paddle attachment acts similarly to a wooden spoon. However, when y'all use this tool, you won't have to worry about tired hands and arms!

If you're working in the pastry arts, you lot may detect the versatile paddle attachment quickly becomes a dearest tool. It'south perfect for creaming butter until it's fluffy, mixing a lump-free cake concoction, and folding in dry ingredients when making cookie dough.

Use the Wire Whisk Zipper for Thin Mixtures

Chef holding an electric mixer wire whisk with an egg white peak on it

Just similar a hand-held wire whisk, this zipper is designed to whip air into thin mixtures. While information technology won't stand to thick doughs and batters, it's the ideal tool for whipping egg whites and cream into stiff peaks.

If you lot're making a large batch of mayonnaise, meringues, or marshmallows, a stand mixer and whisk attachment tin gratis upward your hands so you can spend your precious time completing other tasks.

Use the Hook Attachment for Thick Doughs

Electric mixer using the hook attachment to mix bread dough

The claw is all nearly kneading thick doughs, whether you're aiming to brand a rich brioche, a whole wheat boule, or a batch of pasta. While viscid dough volition hands cling to a paddle attachment and even cause the mixer to overheat, the hook is specifically designed to stand up to these sturdy doughs.

When to Utilise an Electric Hand Mixer

A paw mixer is oft preferable to a stand mixer when it comes to lighter-duty tasks or when you are but mixing a small portion. Plus, information technology's piece of cake to apply a compact hand mixer in bowls of different sizes, instead of using the one provided with a stand up mixer.

Close up of a chef mixing eggs in a bowl with a hand mixer

There are other practical advantages to these smaller tools. They are less expensive than stand up mixers, and they often have up less space. However, when yous're working with a thick batter or dough, a hand model will likely non have the power that's necessary to reach the all-time results.

So when should you plough to a hand mixer? If you're mixing a batter for a unmarried cake, preparing a small batch of cookie dough, or whipping a stick or two of butter, a mitt mixer can do the flim-flam.

When to Use Your Hands for Mixing

Electric mixers, food processors, and blenders carry huge advantages for preparing food, especially when you lot need to make big quantities, whip air into thick doughs and batters, or consummate work speedily. All the same, whisking or folding ingredients by hand tin give you lot greater precision and control (and eliminate some dirty dishes!)

Flakey pie dough in a glass bowl

Mixing past hand may involve getting your hands muddied but y'all can also plough to elementary tools like a wooden spoon or prophylactic spatula. The flexible spatula works well for folding dry ingredients into wet ingredients when making a cake batter, while a wooden spoon tin stand upwards to thicker cookie, scone, and beige doughs.

Your hands may also exist ideal for kneading and folding dough. If you don't have a stand mixer, skip the depression-powered mitt mixer and use your easily instead. By continuously folding the dough, yous'll help develop the gluten that creates the sought-after chewy texture.

Escoffier Pastry Arts Chef Instructor Emily Maddy"Nosotros bear upon on all of the different cakes, pies, pastries, breads, and composed desserts. From the commencement to the end, you're learning one technique that rolls into another technique so you take a smashing base knowledge."*
Chef Emily Maddy, Escoffier Chef Teacher

Tools Are Merely as Good equally Your Knowledge

While knowing when to utilize a stand mixer vs. your hands will set you on the right rails, this is only 1 facet of becoming a pastry chef!

Forth with knowing which tool to select for each chore, it can be helpful to understand the specific intricacies involved in mixing frostings, bread doughs, block batters, and more. Students in Escoffier's Baking and Pastry Arts programs can get easily-on feel creating a wide variety of pastries and broiled appurtenances. Not only can they explore how to use different tools, but they may besides receive helpful critiques from professional person chef instructors.

If y'all're interested in learning more about Escoffier'southward available programs, contact us today.

To larn more than well-nigh baking and pastry, check out these articles next:

  • A Brief Guide to Viennoiseries: History and Nearly Popular Types
  • 6 Skills Every Baker Should Have
  • Pastry Chef vs. Bakery: What'due south the Departure?

*Data may not reflect every pupil'southward experience. Results and outcomes may exist based on several factors, such as geographical region or previous experience.

This article was originally published on Baronial 7, 2017 and has since been updated.

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