Kate Connally wrote:
>
> laurie wrote:
> >
> > between a KitchenAid Mixer and a nice food processor, which would you choose
> > and why?
> >
> > A major use for either item will be for pizza dough.
> >
> > Thanks for your recommendations.
> >
> > laurie
>
> You couldn't pay me to take a KA mixer. I hate the
> things. Sure they have powerful motors but you can't
> get at the stuff in the bowl to scrape the sides or
> add ingredients. I've never seen such poor design.
>
> Many years ago my aunt had a Hamilton Beach stand mixer
> which was perfect. The disc on which the bowls sat was
> connected to a lever. You could move the bowl in and
> out so that, when using the large bowl, the beaters would
> move from the center to the outer edge of the bowl. The
> movable disc was really meant to be moved to accommodate
> both the small bowl and the large bowl, but it had the
> unintended (I think) advantage that you had more coverage
> in the big bowl by moving it in and out. Also, the
> motor housing did not stick out over the entire workbowl
> area so you could easily stick your rubber scraper into
> the bowl to scrape down the sides. And you had plenty
> of space to add ingredients without the motor housing
> in the way.
>
> Alas, they no longer make mixers like that. I bought
> a newer Ham. Beach after hers died and they had changed
> the design of the disk. Instead of it being movable by a
> lever it now had 2 holes for placement depending on which
> bowl you wanted to use and it was fixed in that position
> the whole time you were using it. What were they thinking?
> Also, the mixer itself was more cheaply made with a plastic
> instead of a metal housing and it was not as powerful.
>
> Now, the original one my aunt had was not as powerful
> as a KA but if someone had taken the design of that mixer
> and ramped it up powerwise and added dough hooks and such
> we would have a really awesome mixer.
>
> As to the original question there is no way to choose between
> a mixer and a food processor. They are 2 totally different
> beasts. You have to have both!! There are very few things
> you can do equally well in both.
>
> And I would use neither for pizza dough. But I suppose if
> you were doing it commercially, i.e. making lots of dough
> every day I'd say you'd have to go with the mixer. I don't
> see how you could make pizza dough in a food processor.
>
> Kate
> --
> Kate Connally
> “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
> Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
> Until you bite their heads off.”
> What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
>

I wouldn't be without my Hobart N-50 (commercial version of the
Kitchenaid bowl lift model). It's an extremely versatile machine and
most importantly it can mix my cookie dough without going up in flames
or flying apart.

The access for scraping issue is really a non issue, you just have to
use the correct tool which is a rubber or silicone scraper / spatula.
They work just fine and you can jab and scrape down all areas of the
bowl with little effort. Certainly the clearance for access is not as
good a say a 30qt commercial model, but you have to make some
compromises when you want to scale down to countertop size.

Pete C.