Hand mixers are a convenient go-to appliance as you whip, beat or mix the ingredients of your favorite creations. They provide flexibility to move about the kitchen, and some models like the KitchenAid® Cordless 7 Speed Hand Mixer offer extra convenience because you are not tethered to one spot with a cord. Hand mixers typically come with two beaters, which are versatile and useful for many recipes. Other hand mixer attachments include a whisk, dough hook and blending rod.
Read this guide to learn more about hand mixer attachments and how you can use them in your next culinary adventure.
Hand mixer attachment uses
5 Hand Mixer Attachments Explained
KitchenAid® hand mixers come with beaters such as the Stainless Steel Turbo Beaters™. Select models also come with Flex Edge Beaters, a Stainless Steel Pro Whisk, Stainless Steel Dough Hooks or a Blending Rod. Read on to learn more about each of these attachments and how to use them with your hand mixer.
1. Stainless Steel Turbo Beaters™
Stainless Steel Turbo Beaters™ are self-cleaning, as they are designed with no center rod. They are great for mixing dense ingredients like chunky macadamia nut cookie dough and decadent crumb cake batter. The beaters are the most versatile of the hand mixer attachments.
Stainless Steel Turbo Beater™ uses
Mixing cookie dough
Mixing cake batter
Mashing potatoes
Beating eggs
Blending butter and sugar
Stirring gelatin mixtures
Mixing dry ingredients with liquid ingredients
Stirring in nuts or chocolate chips
Mixing chiffon
Mixing homemade icing
Whipping homemade whipped cream
Whipping meringue
Whipping quiche filling
Mixing quiche crust
Beating macaron filling
Recipes to try
Summer shepherd’s pie
Chocolate tahini cookies
Mashed potato waffles
2. Flex Edge Beaters
The Flex Edge Beater Accessory delivers twice the surface area for faster, more thorough mixing,1 and it also reduces the need to scrape down sides of the bowl, when compared to metal beaters. Flex Edge Beaters are a versatile attachment that can be used to mix up the ingredients of your favorite creations.
1. Compared to metal Turbo Beater II™ accessories based on cake batter.
Flex Edge Beater uses
Slowly stir in chunky ingredients, like nuts or chocolate chips
Stirring cake batters
Stirring cookie doughs
Mashing potatoes
Mixing cheesecake
Mixing crepes
Recipes to try
Mashed potatoes
Classic chiffon cake with basil whipped cream and strawberries
3. Stainless Steel Pro Whisk
A whisk is another common hand mixer attachment that can be used for a variety of recipes. The most common type of whisk is shaped like a balloon and has wire tines. A wire whisk is used for incorporating air into a light mixture quickly. The KitchenAid® Stainless Steel Pro Whisk has 16 tines and can easily whip egg whites to fluffy peaks or transform heavy cream to whipping cream to top your favorite desserts.
The Stainless Steel Pro Whisk comes with the KitchenAid® 7-Speed Hand Mixer.
Stainless Steel Pro Whisk uses
Whipping egg whites
Whipping heavy cream
Mixing pudding
Mixing sauces
Mixing mousse
Beating meringue mixtures
Mixing homemade gelato
Recipes to try
Lemon mousse
Meyer lemon and raspberry pavlova
Coffee pudding with sweet caramel whipped cream
4. Stainless Steel Dough Hooks
Dough hooks are another useful attachment for your hand mixer that can help you create delicious homemade pasta and bread doughs. This attachment helps eliminate the manual effort of kneading dough by hand, streamlining your bread and dough recipes. Use your dough hooks to knead yeast dough for homemade sandwich bread or other bread varieties. Two Stainless Steel Dough Hooks come in the accessory package for the KitchenAid® 9-Speed Hand Mixer.
Stainless Steel Dough Hook uses
Kneading bread dough
Kneading pasta dough
Mixing quick breads and batter breads
Blend butter and sugar
Recipe to try
Basic sandwich bread
5. Blending Rod
A blending rod is another helpful attachment for your hand mixer. A blending rod will make your hand mixer function similarly to a hand blender. It is a great tool for mixing soups, milkshakes, drink mixes and sauces that require light mixing. When you purchase the KitchenAid® 9-Speed Hand Mixer, you will get a variety of attachments including the blending rod.
Blending Rod uses
Mixing chocolate milk
Mixing milk shakes
Blending drink mixes
Blending smoothies
Lightly mixing sauces
Emulsifying dressings
Recipes to try
Pumpkin spice latte smoothie
Carrot ginger elixir
Asian lime dressing
Are hand mixer attachments universal?
Across brands, hand mixer attachments are generally not universal, but are made specifically for the brand’s hand mixer. Many KitchenAid® hand mixer attachments are interchangeable between select models. For specific information about your hand mixer and which attachments go with it, you can check your owner’s manual.
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