Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
cream butter/sugar?

IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?

nb

On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 8:33:22 AM UTC-10, notbob wrote:
> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> cream butter/sugar?
>
> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> nb

They used a whisk. A whisk is indispensable for me. I don't need no stinkin' electric mixer.

On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 12:33:22 PM UTC-6, notbob wrote:
> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> cream butter/sugar?
>
> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> nb

A lotta hard damn work, that's how! Bakers used to knead dough by hand too! That's why old bakers had forearms like Popeye!! When I used to make donuts by hand back in the 1980's, I had hyperdeveloped "donut cutting muscles" in my right forearm!!

John Kuthe...

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> cream butter/sugar?
>
> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> nb

With the back of the spoon. Just sort of press it into the bowl, stir,
press it into the bowl, repeat...

On 3/20/2016 1:33 PM, notbob wrote:
> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> cream butter/sugar?
>
> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> nb
>

Years ago, I used to do it with a very heavy, strong (large) spoon. I
would press the sugar and butter against the edge of a bowl and keep
turning it. Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.

MaryL

On 2016-03-20 2:33 PM, notbob wrote:
> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> cream butter/sugar?
>
> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?

They did it with a spoon. I still see the occasional recipe that calls
for creaming butter and sugar with a spoon. Nuts to that. I use a hand
mixer.

On 3/20/2016 2:33 PM, notbob wrote:
> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> cream butter/sugar?
>
> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> nb
>
Softened butter and the back of a spoon.

Jill

On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:

> Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.

Of course!

I don't think I've been without a mixer since I was a wee tad. My mom
usta have one of those classic Sunbeam stand mixers. I've made baked
Alaska, by hand, using a balloon whisk, but never hadda cream
sugar/butter together, by hand.

nb

jmcquown > wrote:
> On 3/20/2016 2:33 PM, notbob wrote:
>> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
>> cream butter/sugar?
>>
>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>>
>> nb
>>
> Softened butter and the back of a spoon.
>
> Jill
>

I've never used anything electric to cream butter and sugar. Usually I
use a spoon, sometimes a fork or my pastry cutter, and occasionally my bare
hands.

--
jinx the minx

On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:

> Softened butter and the back of a spoon.

Looks like I'm gonna hafta buy me some BIG wooden spoons. No kidding!
I don't have a one. Had some plastic spoons that were shaped like
classic old wooden spoons, but they were cheap Chinese plastic, which
melted like butter. I tossed 'em.

Howzabout one of these?:

http://tinyurl.com/j8mwx8k

nb

On 3/20/2016 4:35 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>> Softened butter and the back of a spoon.
>
> Looks like I'm gonna hafta buy me some BIG wooden spoons. No kidding!
> I don't have a one. Had some plastic spoons that were shaped like
> classic old wooden spoons, but they were cheap Chinese plastic, which
> melted like butter. I tossed 'em.
>
> Howzabout one of these?:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/j8mwx8k
>
> nb
>
Just how much butter and sugar at one time are you talking about? You
can use the back of a tablespoon if you do it gradually in the bowl.

I gather you're not opening a 1900's Cake Shoppe.

Jill

On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:

> Just how much butter and sugar at one time are you talking about? You
> can use the back of a tablespoon if you do it gradually in the bowl.

1-1/4 stk butter
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C bwn sugar

> I gather you're not opening a 1900's Cake Shoppe.

Only if I can make some $$$$.

I think I'll be buying a used electric hand mixer from the thrift
store. I was too lazy to drag out my Kenwood, so did it by hand. The
only problem, now, is to not eat up all the damn dough (w/
raisins n' walnuts) b4 the oven reaches temp.

nb

On 3/20/2016 4:55 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>> Just how much butter and sugar at one time are you talking about? You
>> can use the back of a tablespoon if you do it gradually in the bowl.
>
> 1-1/4 stk butter
> 3/4 C sugar
> 3/4 C bwn sugar
>
So you got a workout. :-D

>> I gather you're not opening a 1900's Cake Shoppe.
>
> Only if I can make some $$$$.
>
> I think I'll be buying a used electric hand mixer from the thrift
> store. I was too lazy to drag out my Kenwood, so did it by hand. The
> only problem, now, is to not eat up all the damn dough (w/
> raisins n' walnuts) b4 the oven reaches temp.
>
> nb
>
I have two electric hand mixers. Want one? <G>

Jill <---slapping nb's hand. Leave the dough alone

On 3/20/2016 2:55 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:
>
>> Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.
>
> Of course!
>
> I don't think I've been without a mixer since I was a wee tad. My mom
> usta have one of those classic Sunbeam stand mixers. I've made baked
> Alaska, by hand, using a balloon whisk, but never hadda cream
> sugar/butter together, by hand.
>
> nb
>
I have had a mixer most of my life, but I made some cakes by hand when I
was in grad school. I also went without a car throughout all my years
in college. That was the pits, but the positive side of it was that I
left grad school without owing any money.

MaryL

On 20 Mar 2016 20:35:32 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>> Softened butter and the back of a spoon.
>
>Looks like I'm gonna hafta buy me some BIG wooden spoons. No kidding!
>I don't have a one. Had some plastic spoons that were shaped like
>classic old wooden spoons, but they were cheap Chinese plastic, which
>melted like butter. I tossed 'em.
>
>Howzabout one of these?:
>
>http://tinyurl.com/j8mwx8k
>
>nb

A hand crank egg beater works for small quantities.

i have a $200+ stand mixer...
but i still do the butter sugar by hand!

it seems like alot of trouble for 2 eggs and a cup of sugar

marc

On 2016-03-20 3:55 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:
>
>> Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.
>
> Of course!
>
> I don't think I've been without a mixer since I was a wee tad. My mom
> usta have one of those classic Sunbeam stand mixers. I've made baked
> Alaska, by hand, using a balloon whisk, but never hadda cream
> sugar/butter together, by hand.
>



It's not a lot of fun. You can understand why the electric beaters
became so popular. I will age myself here, but when I was a kid we did
not have an electric beater. Ours was a manual... two beaters and a hand
crank. I don't think there was ever a kitchen utensil that was more
difficult to operate.

On 3/20/2016 5:07 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-03-20 3:55 PM, notbob wrote:
>> On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:
>>
>>> Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.
>>
>> Of course!
>>
>> I don't think I've been without a mixer since I was a wee tad. My mom
>> usta have one of those classic Sunbeam stand mixers. I've made baked
>> Alaska, by hand, using a balloon whisk, but never hadda cream
>> sugar/butter together, by hand.
>>
>
>
>
> It's not a lot of fun. You can understand why the electric beaters
> became so popular. I will age myself here, but when I was a kid we did
> not have an electric beater. Ours was a manual... two beaters and a hand
> crank. I don't think there was ever a kitchen utensil that was more
> difficult to operate.
>

I can give you one that was more difficult (although it was not a
"kitchen" utensil). My mother originally had one of those washing
machines with a hand wringer. We hung the laundry outside on a clothes
line. They always smelled so nice, bu my mother was elated when she got
her first electric washer and dryer. Yes, that ages me!

MaryL

On 3/20/2016 5:35 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On 20 Mar 2016 18:33:19 GMT, notbob wrote:
>
>> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
>> cream butter/sugar?
>>
>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> Gee, that's a tough one.
>
> -sw
>
The *big* question is how did they make butter b4 electricity?!

Jill

On 3/20/2016 6:07 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-03-20 3:55 PM, notbob wrote:
>> On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:
>>
>>> Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.
>>
>> Of course!
>>
>> I don't think I've been without a mixer since I was a wee tad. My mom
>> usta have one of those classic Sunbeam stand mixers. I've made baked
>> Alaska, by hand, using a balloon whisk, but never hadda cream
>> sugar/butter together, by hand.
>>
>
>
>
> It's not a lot of fun. You can understand why the electric beaters
> became so popular. I will age myself here, but when I was a kid we did
> not have an electric beater. Ours was a manual... two beaters and a hand
> crank. I don't think there was ever a kitchen utensil that was more
> difficult to operate.
>
Those worked fine as an *egg beater*. They became more difficult if
you're talking about trying to use one to cream something as thick as
butter and sugar. Those were the days when the bowl needed to be very
heavy ceramic or glass, with a flat bottom. Otherwise while you're
cranking, the bowl was likely to try to get away from you.

Jill

On 2016-03-20 4:00 PM, jinx the minx wrote:
> jmcquown > wrote:
>> On 3/20/2016 2:33 PM, notbob wrote:
>>> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
>>> cream butter/sugar?
>>>
>>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>>>
>>> nb
>>>
>> Softened butter and the back of a spoon.
>>
>> Jill
>>
>
> I've never used anything electric to cream butter and sugar. Usually I
> use a spoon, sometimes a fork or my pastry cutter, and occasionally my bare
> hands.
>


I have to admit that I have no idea why you would do that, other than to
prepare to live through the Apocalypse. I have done it by hand and it is
a lot of work. I have used recipes that said to use a spoon but cheated
and used beaters, and I had great results. I used to bake a lot of
cookies and always used the electric beater and they did a great job.
Creaming the butter and sugar is a very important step in making good
cookies.

On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:

> Jill <---slapping nb's hand. Leave the dough alone

Ow!

I jes put in a doz cookies. (munch ....mumble)
nb

On 3/20/2016 6:39 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>> Jill <---slapping nb's hand. Leave the dough alone
>
> Ow!
>
> I jes put in a doz cookies. (munch ....mumble)
> nb
>
Uh huh... betcha got to lick the bowl, too.

Jill

On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:

> Yes, that ages me!

Not necessarily.

My step-mother preferred her wringer washer. The wringers were
powered, but she still hadda feed the wet clothes by hand and hang 'em
on the line. She jes wouldn't cotton to one o' them thar newfangled
washer/dryer thingies. This in '75. Seriously.

nb

Dave Smith > wrote:
> On 2016-03-20 4:00 PM, jinx the minx wrote:
>> jmcquown > wrote:
>>> On 3/20/2016 2:33 PM, notbob wrote:
>>>> Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
>>>> cream butter/sugar?
>>>>
>>>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>>>>
>>>> nb
>>>>
>>> Softened butter and the back of a spoon.
>>>
>>> Jill
>>>
>>
>> I've never used anything electric to cream butter and sugar. Usually I
>> use a spoon, sometimes a fork or my pastry cutter, and occasionally my bare
>> hands.
>>
>
>
> I have to admit that I have no idea why you would do that, other than to
> prepare to live through the Apocalypse. I have done it by hand and it is
> a lot of work. I have used recipes that said to use a spoon but cheated
> and used beaters, and I had great results. I used to bake a lot of
> cookies and always used the electric beater and they did a great job.
> Creaming the butter and sugar is a very important step in making good
> cookies.
>
>

That's how I grew up doing it, and I don't think it's a lot of work. Takes
but a few minutes, and no extra object to clean up. If I had to drag out
the mixer every time I wanted to whip up a batch of toll house cookies, I'd
almost never make them.

--
jinx the minx

On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:

> The *big* question is how did they make butter b4 electricity?!

You've obviously never seen Chris Griffin (Family Guy) churn butter.

nb

On 2016-03-20 6:13 PM, MaryL wrote:
> On 3/20/2016 5:07 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2016-03-20 3:55 PM, notbob wrote:
>>> On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Of course, it was easier when I used a mixer.
>>>
>>> Of course!
>>>
>>> I don't think I've been without a mixer since I was a wee tad. My mom
>>> usta have one of those classic Sunbeam stand mixers. I've made baked
>>> Alaska, by hand, using a balloon whisk, but never hadda cream
>>> sugar/butter together, by hand.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> It's not a lot of fun. You can understand why the electric beaters
>> became so popular. I will age myself here, but when I was a kid we did
>> not have an electric beater. Ours was a manual... two beaters and a hand
>> crank. I don't think there was ever a kitchen utensil that was more
>> difficult to operate.
>>
>
> I can give you one that was more difficult (although it was not a
> "kitchen" utensil). My mother originally had one of those washing
> machines with a hand wringer. We hung the laundry outside on a clothes
> line. They always smelled so nice, bu my mother was elated when she got
> her first electric washer and dryer. Yes, that ages me!


Yep..... definitely not a kitchen appliance. ;-)
They were called washing machines, as opposed to the things we now call
washing machines but used to call automatic washing machines. Not only
did they require that clothes go through the wringer as part of the
rinse phase of the wash, but also part of the "spin" cycle. I don't
remember my family ever having a wringer that was hand powered, but I
know they existed. So...... you will have to excuse me if I am somewhat
unsympathetic to women's complaints about being expected to to the
laundry because if you compare the work involved in doing a load of
laundry today to what it takes to do a load of laundry today.... it's
nothing. Quite seriously... a load of laundry today involved putting a
load of clothing, towels or dainties into a machine, adding detergent
and pushing a button. Go and watch television for an hour and then come
back, take it out of the washer, put it into the dryer and push a
button. 50-60 years ago, that hour of Dr. Phil was solid work.

On 2016-03-20 6:13 PM, jmcquown wrote:

>>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>>
>> Gee, that's a tough one.
>>
>> -sw
>>
> The *big* question is how did they make butter b4 electricity?!
>
>
Touche

On 2016-03-20 6:19 PM, jmcquown wrote:

>> It's not a lot of fun. You can understand why the electric beaters
>> became so popular. I will age myself here, but when I was a kid we did
>> not have an electric beater. Ours was a manual... two beaters and a hand
>> crank. I don't think there was ever a kitchen utensil that was more
>> difficult to operate.
>>
> Those worked fine as an *egg beater*. They became more difficult if
> you're talking about trying to use one to cream something as thick as
> butter and sugar. Those were the days when the bowl needed to be very
> heavy ceramic or glass, with a flat bottom. Otherwise while you're
> cranking, the bowl was likely to try to get away from you.

Bingo. One hand to hold the bowl down and one to run the beaters. The
trick was that it actually took two hands to operate the beaters.

On 2016-03-20, Dave Smith > wrote:

> Creaming the butter and sugar is a very important step in making good
> cookies.

Agree.

I did it by hand, but not enough to double the volume, as one cookie
site recommended. OTOH, these oaty-meal cookies DID turn out pretty
damn good, even if I do say so, myself. Prolly all the raisins and
walnuts I put in 'em.

My last batch was an abysmal failure. Too dry. 8|

nb

On 2016-03-20 6:47 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, MaryL > wrote:
>
>> Yes, that ages me!
>
> Not necessarily.
>
> My step-mother preferred her wringer washer. The wringers were
> powered, but she still hadda feed the wet clothes by hand and hang 'em
> on the line. She jes wouldn't cotton to one o' them thar newfangled
> washer/dryer thingies. This in '75. Seriously.
>

Another thing there...... perma press. There is a washer and a dryer
cycle for it now. It didn't exist back then. After the clothes were put
through the wringer they were hung on the line to or on an indoor rack
to dry. Then everything had to be ironed.

On 2016-03-20 7:12 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> Creaming the butter and sugar is a very important step in making good
>> cookies.
>
> Agree.
>
> I did it by hand, but not enough to double the volume, as one cookie
> site recommended. OTOH, these oaty-meal cookies DID turn out pretty
> damn good, even if I do say so, myself. Prolly all the raisins and
> walnuts I put in 'em.

Personally, I would skip the walnuts, unless chopped fine. Try chocolate
chips. They can take oatmeal cookies up a notch.

On 2016-03-20, Dave Smith > wrote:

> Go and watch television for an hour and then come
> back.....

Yep.

I will always remember the PBS series, Frontier House. When the rich
family finally moved back to their home digs, the woman (wife) went in
and hugged her washer/dryer.

nb

On 3/20/2016 7:11 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-03-20 6:19 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>
>>> It's not a lot of fun. You can understand why the electric beaters
>>> became so popular. I will age myself here, but when I was a kid we did
>>> not have an electric beater. Ours was a manual... two beaters and a hand
>>> crank. I don't think there was ever a kitchen utensil that was more
>>> difficult to operate.
>>>
>> Those worked fine as an *egg beater*. They became more difficult if
>> you're talking about trying to use one to cream something as thick as
>> butter and sugar. Those were the days when the bowl needed to be very
>> heavy ceramic or glass, with a flat bottom. Otherwise while you're
>> cranking, the bowl was likely to try to get away from you.
>
> Bingo. One hand to hold the bowl down and one to run the beaters. The
> trick was that it actually took two hands to operate the beaters.
>
>
Or someone else to hold the bowl.

Jill

On 3/20/2016 7:01 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2016-03-20, jmcquown > wrote:
>
>> The *big* question is how did they make butter b4 electricity?!
>
> You've obviously never seen Chris Griffin (Family Guy) churn butter.
>
> nb
>
Uh... no. Then again I got bored with Family Guy several years ago.

Jill

On 3/20/2016 7:09 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-03-20 6:13 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>
>>>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>>>
>>> Gee, that's a tough one.
>>>
>>> -sw
>>>
>> The *big* question is how did they make butter b4 electricity?!
>>
>>
> Touche
>
Game, set, match. :-D

Jill <--who knew the answer b4

On 2016-03-20 9:10 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 3/20/2016 7:09 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2016-03-20 6:13 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>>
>>>>> IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>>>>
>>>> Gee, that's a tough one.
>>>>
>>>> -sw
>>>>
>>> The *big* question is how did they make butter b4 electricity?!
>>>
>>>
>> Touche
>>
> Game, set, match. :-D
>
> Jill <--who knew the answer b4


Your mind must be churning with all that trivia it is holding.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 1:39:36 PM UTC-6, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-03-20 2:33 PM, notbob wrote:
> > Do I gotta drag out my orbital stand mixer or is there a manual way to
> > cream butter/sugar?
> >
> > IOW, how did chefs cream butter into sugar b4 electricity?
>
> They did it with a spoon. I still see the occasional recipe that calls
> for creaming butter and sugar with a spoon. Nuts to that. I use a hand
> mixer.

For pie crust I "cut" the butter into the flour with two dinner forks, putting every lump through a fork, When I can't find anymore big enough lumps it's finished.

John Kuthe...

On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 5:13:20 PM UTC-5, MaryL wrote:
>
> My mother originally had one of those washing
> machines with a hand wringer. We hung the laundry outside on a clothes
> line. They always smelled so nice, bu my mother was elated when she got
> her first electric washer and dryer. Yes, that ages me!
>
> MaryL
>
>
My mother had an electric wringer washing machine and when
it finally bit the dust she was adamant she did NOT want a
new electric washing machine that would spin the water out.
After a few months of tripping off to the laundromat every
week my dad said enough of this shit and bought a new washer.
She loved it! Was such a time and back saver.

I still hang out sheets to dry as my bras, weather permitting.

itsjoannotjoann wrote:
>
>My mother had an electric wringer washing machine and when
>it finally bit the dust she was adamant she did NOT want a
>new electric washing machine that would spin the water out.
>After a few months of tripping off to the laundromat every
>week my dad said enough of this shit and bought a new washer.
>She loved it! Was such a time and back saver.
>
>I still hang out sheets to dry as my bras, weather permitting.

I love watching bras flapping in the breeze. . . .