Replacement Beaters for Stand Mixers

[HungryC]

Oh, and I forgot to add that you can't use the beater blade to mix any hard ingredients (chopped nuts, chocolate chips, cold butter straight out of the fridge, etc). Since most hard ingredients are folded in at the very end, I haven't found this limitation inconvenient in the least.

[paulraphael]

Oh, and I forgot to add that you can't use the beater blade to mix any hard ingredients (chopped nuts, chocolate chips, cold butter straight out of the fridge, etc).  Since most hard ingredients are folded in at the very end, I haven't found this limitation inconvenient in the least.

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So, if you're making something with nuts or chips folded in at the end, do you change to the original beater?

[HungryC]

So, if you're making something with nuts or chips folded in at the end, do you change to the original beater?

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Depends on the item in question. For a thin batter or dough (like pound cake or sugar cookies), I fold in nuts, etc. by hand. For stiff dough or a double/triple batch (like choc chip cookies w/nuts), I switch to the metal beater. It's a simple switch, and I put both beaters in the dishwasher anyway. The beater blade is dishwasher safe. Technically, KA instructions say to handwash the cast alumnium beater, but I can't see how dishwashing it causes any harm...the fininsh isn't shiny anymore, but who cares about that? I guess after 10,000 dishwashings, the metal MIGHT degrade, but I figure I'll wear out long before cast aluminium will. Here's a closeup pic of the blade in action: you can see the clean places on the bowl in the background, where the beater blade has most efficiently scraped it clean.

[KitchenQueen]

I've added nuts, chips, everything but pebbles to the batters and doughs and the beaterblade handles it fine.

Trust it, and give it a try.

I just realized I have not used by regular KA blade once since I bought that beaterblade.

[paulraphael]

Ok, I got the beaterblade a couple of weeks ago. It's INSANELY GREAT, to quote Steve Jobs. Took a bit of fiddling to get my bowl perfectly aligned (actually had to bend the tabs on the side of the mixer bowl a bit). Now it fits and works perfectly.

I'd say it cut the mixing time on a 2kg batch of chocolate chip cookie dough by two thirds. Not only does it mix everything more efficiently, but there's no need to stop and scrape the bowl. Ever. It also works as a handy bowl-shaped spatula to scrape everything out. No problem with the chocolate chips, though I haven't tried mixing anything heavier or chunkier.

I wonder if these guys will supersize this product for commercial hobart mixers. This would save people a ton of time in pastry kitchens. The thing is already NSF / ansi rated for commercial use.

Kitchenaid is really missing the boat by not encouraging products like this. I don't know why they don't do what Apple does with iPod accessories: have an approval program. Apple has to like the product in order to endorse it. The product gets an official sticker, the consumer gets peace of mind, and Apple gets a fee. Everyone wins.

Edited February 26, 2009 by paulraphael (log)

[HungryC]

With KitchenQueen's encouragement, I used the beater blade to mix in chips & chopped nuts to a big batch of chocolate chip cookies on Fat Tuesday, and it worked like a charm. No straining, no weird noises, no damage to the silicone/rubber flange on the blade.

[imanalienchef]

I have to say me and my girl just bought one of these beaterblades for our kitchenaid and honestly has anyone wondering ever hooked up your kitchenaid with the paddle and a dry bowl and just really fast turn it on and immediately off and keep doing that and you can see how the paddle is about 1/8 th inch from the side of the bowl and doesnt come close to scraping it at all. So this blade is like OMG wonders....hello who took so long to figure this out. We love it. Try it people and dont be doubtful about everything. It honestly works. We try many new gadgets in a years time and some things I wish I always had and some things ....Well they should never have recieved a patent. Good luck all!!!

[Chris Hennes]

I've had my Beater Blade since Christmas now, and it may be the only thing in my kitchen that if it broke, I'd pay for overnight shipping to replace. I've used it to do the preliminary mix on bread dough, to make cookies and brownies, and to do the bind on sausage, and it performed exactly as advertised every time. It's head and shoulders better than the beater that comes with the 6qt in part because it's plastic and therefore dishwasher safe. In my opinion, KitchenAid should buy this company and ship these things standard.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I got a SideSwipe for my 5 quart lift-bowl style KA mixer as soon as it became available. It works as intended, but the BeaterBlade looks easier to clean, and I might have gotten that one had it been available at the time. SideSwipe looks like it might be better for getting more air into the mixture.

[Cim Ryan]

I bought the SideSwipe instead of the Beater Blade because it seemed to me that the way the fins alternate would mix better, and their downward angling would push stuff up and out the top less that the straight, continuous fins on the Beater Blade. Of course, I haven't actually used a Beater Blade to compare them; I've been so happy with the SideSwipe that I see no need to ever switch. As others have said, I haven't used the original paddle after using the SideSwipe for the first time.

[Special K]

I've had the Beater Blade for at least three years, and I've loved it. I have always used it to mix in nuts, chocolate chips, etc., with no problems. So imagine my surprise yesterday when the thing snapped right off at the neck! It was easy to fish out of the cookie dough, no shards or anything to worry about, and I just switched to the standard issue blade (which I'm surprised I even kept) to finish up.

I'll probably replace it; which do you folks recommend, Beater Blade again, or Side Swipe?

Thanks.

K

[emannths]

Just FYI, it looks like Kitchenaid has finally gotten into the game and now sells one of these guys. They call it the Flex Edge Beater. Amazon link.

[Special K]

Oh, hey, thanks! I'll order it and report back.

[Special K]

Oh, wait. Mine's a 6-quart. But Beater Blade now has a RED one that'll fit. (And it's six bucks cheaper.)

Did I mention it's RED?