Dunno why I didn't say this before.... but for goodness sake you have a chance at learning how a LOL (little old lady) bakes something? Buy yer Kitchenaid later in a post-holiday sale, for now give her a comfy chair to sit in, a cup of team to sip, and have her direct you thru the process in her kitchen.

I didnt want to have to say it. her Stollen blows. ;)

I found out it is supposed to have an almond paste filling..."it is???" or marzipan.

hers is more biscotti. a stollen is supposed to be somewhat moist from the fruit.

my German friends walked me thru what is for them.

Ah... never mind then :D

I was lucky enough to learn the secrets of gravies and biscuits (but not as biscuits-n-gravy) from a little old black lady... missed out on the fried chicken secrets....

My wife had a kitchen aid mixer for years. I don’t think she used it a dozen times. Heavy, no room on the kitchen counter, hard to clean. She baked all the time and used the hand mixer for most. stuff. She really didn’t like it. Was in storage until I put it on f’book marketplace and sold it for a hundred bucks last year.

Many have plastic gears.
AI blurb:
Models with All-Metal Gears (Best for Doughs/Heavy Loads):
Pro Line & Commercial Series: Known for all-steel gear systems for serious baking.
Bowl-Lift Models (Pro 600, 5 Plus, etc.): Generally feature all-metal gears for strength, though some older ones might have had plastic housing.
Newer Models (2023+): Many recent bowl-lift and Pro Line updates feature fully integrated metal gearboxes.
Models with Mixed Gears (Metal & Plastic/Nylon):
Artisan & Classic Series (Tilt-Head): Typically use metal gears for most functions but incorporate a plastic (nylon/Kevlar) worm gear as a safety fuse, designed to break under extreme strain to save the motor.

We have one that is at least 40 years old (lift bowl, and it is a PITA). We have the old Cuisinart too. Hard to find parts for but it does yeoman's duty.

This is exactly why I bought my wife a bowl lift. Her tilting one stripped out the gears because she does a lot of heavy stuff like home made bread and big batches of cookies. Everything we read was that the bowl lift was much more heavy duty.

I was literally thinking this past weekend that our Kitchenaid stand mixer hasn't been out of the closet since we moved into this house 2 years ago. And beyond that, I don't remember the last time it was used.

Nice to have but pain to store and get out. If I was getting one, I would look into the pre-owned market. Estate sale, Ebay, garage sale, and so on. Not worth the money if you use it as little as we do.

My MIL had a lower cabinet in her kitchen that stored the Kitchenaid. The shelf in there was on a lift and raised up to counter height so you never had to store it or lift it out. I'd say that is the best solution.

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Our Architect model KA rarely if ever leaves the counter top.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1766526695.JPG

It does have a custom cover too.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1766526803.jpg

you are wise beyond your years.

I had a senior Korean lady teach me Kalbi. haha...and she taught me how to iron a dress shirt.

@matthewb0051, I worked on a house doing repairs and mods to the gourmet kitchen that had a mixer lift. They are a huge space hog but this kitchen had an island about 5' x 8', so there was plenty of room. Still, they open up and out into the walking space.

That's the irony, but I guess they liked the nothing-on-the-counters look.

My wife got a Kitchenaid mixer when she got her first house back in the late 70s. It still works great. We used it at Thanksgiving to make mashed taters.

Way more power than a hand mixer. We keep it on a sliding shelf, under the stove.

Why more power than a hand mixer?
Probably because it's electric.

flack...

my hands arms are sore. I just mixed my dough by hand. not a problem. but mixing the almond paste was exhausting.

done. assemble and bake tomorrow!!

a Stollen is hundreds of years old. I went old school!! :D.

my dough tastes heavenly. off to a good start.

I repaired a KitchenAid mixer for a lady at work years ago. I think it had spit its gear grease out. Found a YouTube video, ordered the repair kit and some food grade grease and got it back in shape- sort of a fun project and the lady was always bringing in baked goods, so it was in all of our best interest to get it back working!

To answer the question: "do I really need a stand mixer?" without the benefit of reading about Stollen, the answer is, if you've survived without one for 20 years, then no. Unless you plan to take on these types of recipes on a more regular basis.

We bought one from Costco when it was on sale maybe 10 years ago. It was only used once and now it takes up precious kitchen space, collecting dust.

yea. they are not light either. I'll sleep a few weeks on it.

I found a burly one on Facebook that interests me.

Yes, you need a stand mixer. I use mine for grinding meat and stuffing sausage, shredding cheese, and also mixing stuff. I've beaten the hell out of this old warhorse over the past 20 years. It's a little worse for the wear (the cover for the accessory drive fell out a couple of years ago), but it still keeps going.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1766539814.jpg

Ours was doing yeoman's duty to create all this:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1766541595.JPG
I've had a hard time getting used to working in such a 'dirty' environment, as shown in Patrick's photo, after having worked for such a long time in a 'clean as you go' clean room.

And yes, the cookies are good.