I NEVER use a mixer, hand or stand, for mashed potatoes, they turn into glue. I gently fold in the ingredients (margarine/butter, liquids) after I rice them to keep them fluffy. Do you rice your potatoes or mash? Ricing results in a uniform product.

But to answer your question, sorry, I don't have a hand-mixer - I use either a whisk or my stand mixer for anything. Sometimes I use my stick blender as well, most recently for scrambled eggs.

Whoops forgot to say congrats on your new mixer!

I do have a Beater Blade (or is it a Side Swipe?) and I love it for cookies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beater blade vs Sideswipe

Thanks Jessy. WM had it on sale for under $200 a couple weeks ago. I've made cookies and my lemon cake so far. I got it as a very early birthday present.

I've never had my mashed potatoes go gummy when using my hand mixer. They're always light and fluffy. Sometimes I rice my potatoes, sometimes mash them by hand and sometimes mash and then use the hand mixer.

Today I just dumped the cooked potatoes in my KA bowl and turned the beater on 1 and 2, added warm milk and margarine.
Had some lumps, but I just figured I didn't whirl it long enough.

I was wondering what people use a hand mixer for, when they have a stand mixer. Mom uses her hand mixer for whipped cream, even though the KA has the whipping whisk. I want to make full use of it.

I have both, and use both. I do make mashed potatoes with my hand mixer, just like Mom used to do. She did use a ricer at times, but the potatoes were always awful. And I don't like rice, either!?

I use my hand mixer for things like cakes from a mix, mashed potatoes, mashed butternut squash, whipping cream, and simple or small recipes.

I use my stand mixer for bread, cookies and more "complex" recipes since it goes from very slow to very fast. I have that blade too, and I love it for cookies.

My DD bought a hand mixer recently and said it had only two speeds, fast and faster, and she hated it. I gave her one of my old hand mixers that actually has 5 or 6 speeds. She says it works much better.

I've got an Electrolux Magic Mill Assistent and a KA hand mixer. Like Jessy, mashed potatoes are made by hand. I also don't like cookies made with a stand mixer. Those are always done by hand...sometimes, literally with my hands. :) Quick breads I also hand mix for the same reason as cookies. Once the flour's been added I prefer a gentle hand & more control with the batter/dough. I use my Assistant pretty much just for yeast breads. But the hand mixer is still used for quick stuff like beating a dozen eggs, sugar, & milk for a large bread pudding custard. Sometimes, a refrigerated sauce might thicken a bit & I'll want to add additional broth, water, etc. If it's a large quantity, more than I want to do with a whisk, I'll grab the hand held KA. For sure, it's really not needed in the kitchen though. I got the darn thing free for opening a CD many moons ago. lol For someone without a stand mixer though they can be a very useful tool.

/tricia

I use a hand mixer to blend fat into flour or a dry mixture, rather than using a pastry blender. It's much faster and does a better job.

You may find during one of those holiday baking marathons you'll have 'Brigette' occupied just when you need to beat a few egg whites for a recipe. You'll be happy that old hand mixer is available.

-Grainlady

Ok, you made me look. Yup, for some reason my hand mixer is still in the kitchen, not yet relegated down to the basement. Probably only because it doesn't take up much space and because it's a sentimental hand-me-down from DW's side. I know we've used it once or twice over the years, for what though I have no idea offhand.

I use my hand mixer quite a bit. For beating egg whites, yolks, creaming butter and tonight I am using it to make mini Baileys cheesecakes.

I found my KA made my mashed potatoes gluey. I also don't like the wire whip that came with the KA. Since most of the new hand mixers now have a wire whip I didn't want that kind either. When my DM passed I got lucky and found an old hand mixer there still in the box. It didn't have wire whips, but the old fashioned kind.

A ricer is almost impossible for me to use because of arthritis and other problems, so I use the hand mixer and my potatoes are never gluey. I don't like any lumps in my potatoes so I have to walk a fine line so that they don't get that way though. I use it to whip cream also. Most everything else such as cakes and frosting I use the KA.

Well, I don't have a stand mixer. So I use my hand mixer for cookies, cakes, meringues and frankly not much else. Never EVER for mashed potatoes, those get made with the old fashioned zig-zag masher.
Quick breads are made with a wooden spoon or a wire whisk and yeast breads either in the Cuisinart or with that same wooden spoon.
Linda C

I wouldn't have thought of using the KA to make mashed potatoes, but I was talking to someone the other day and that's all she uses hers for.

I always do mash them by hand, or when I want smooth fluffy ones, the hand mixer works great. I think I'll stick with that vs the stand mixer. Or rice them, and fold in milk and butter.

I was wondering if the stand mixer replaces the little guy, and I see that they both have different uses. I have a Sunbeam hand mixer and I really like it.

All I have is a hand-mixer so anything that needs to be beaten is what I use it for! Mostly things like whipping cream, creaming butter and sugar together, egg whites, and on a rare occasion mashed potatoes. I usually use a hand-masher for potatoes, tho because I like them just a tad lumpy.

Linda

My hand mixer is buried in my appliance cabinet, which is a lower cabinet, and I have to lug several other things out in order to find it. I don't remember the last time I used it, but I keep it around just in case I do need to use it.

I use my stand mixer for cookies and bread, although I've gone back to hand kneading my bread a lot, as I find it quite satisfying. Plus, it's fun to hand knead along side my grandson, while he has a small piece of dough to play with. When making cookies, I love the freedom it gives me to do other things while it creams the butter and sugar. All quick breads are mixed by hand, a light hand.

My sister uses a hand mixer for her mashed potatoes, but the only time I tried it, long ago when she convinced me it's the way to do them, I turned them into glue. I didn't understand what was going on, so I kept beating them hoping they'd get fluffy. Well, y'all probably know how that turned out! lol. Now I use my old fashioned hand held masher to mash potatoes. I've tried the ricer and it's too much work, as far as I'm concerned.

Sally

I don't have a stand mixer so I use a hand mixer, mainly for whipping cream or beating egg whites.

I don't have a stand mixer but I use my hand mixer for mashed potatoes, cakes and cookies.

My hand mixer is used for egg whites, cream, smaller amounts of mashed potatoes.

My KA ("Big Bertha"), is used for breads, cookies, cakes,
larger amounts of mashed potatoes.
Actually, Big Bertha makes the lightest, fluffiest mashed potaotes we've ever had.

No mixer at all isused for quick breads, muffins, pancakes, etc.

Grainlady, I'm going to have to try your method of using the hand mixer for cutting fat into flour.
Due to my constant companion, 'Arthur', the pastry blender is getting pretty hard to use.
:>)

Rusty

Like Ruthanna, I use mine for whipping cream and beating egg whites, and really not much else, but that's enough to make it important. I have a regular KA, but the wire whip doesn't reach to the bottom of the bowl, and so it will not whip egg whites unless there are at least a dozen in the bowl. For whipping cream, I put the beaters and bowl in the freezer before whipping the cream, and they fit in the freezer better than the KA bowl and beater. I think I have used my hand mixer for other things, but I can't remember what at the moment. I use a food processor to mix flour and butter/shortening for pie dough, but for biscuits, I might use the hand mixer.

Lars

I too have a hand mixer and no stand mixer. Been debating about a stand unit for decades but can't justify it. Normally the hand mixer is for creaming butter & sugar, I've used it with dough hooks for mixing meatloaf & meatballs occasionally, and general mixing chores. The other day when I made banana bread I decided to forgo getting out the mixer and just used, of all things, the potato masher to cream the butter, sugar and eggs. It worked great. Mashed the banana perfectly.

I prefer the wire "zig zag" type of masher and never use a mixer for real mashed potatoes. The only kind to use a mixer on are instants. I'm a mashed potato snob. They must be mashed properly. NO LUMPS! And I like potatoes and don't like a bunch of butter and cream in the mashed potatoes. I like gravy on them and want the potatoes to stand up and hold a well of gravy. I get so annoyed when people make potato soup and call it mashed potatoes.

I don't use my hand mixer much. It's Harvest Gold, about 37 years old and the box and mixer look new. Not a baker and don't like sweets so that should explain why my antique is in mint condidion.

I bought a potato ricer at Williams-Sonoma about 10 years ago just for the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. Love it! Rice potatoes and fold in milk and butter. Perfect!

I have a very old KA4 Stand mixer that I love, but I also use my hand mixer quite a bit. I do mash potatoes with it and don't have the gluey problem. At first I use the mixer as a masher and smash the potatoes with the beaters and I get them pretty smooth like that and then turn it on and mix some more. I don't ever add the milk and butter until the potatoes are pretty smooth to begin with. Nice and fluffy. Like Lars, I like to stick the bowl and beaters in the freezer so whipping cream only takes a minute or so. My hand mixer has regular beaters, whips and dough hooks.

OH and whatever you do, don't use a food processor for mashed potatoes! :( HAHA! I didn't realize this until just a couple weeks ago. Got a new FP and thought "this will be perfect for mashed potatoes". NO!!!!!!!!! When I make mashed potatoes with my hand mixer, I smash them first with a hand masher, otherwise the hand mixer throws they out of the bowl.

I use my KA for mashed potatoes all the time. I use the wire whisk. I think the key is to make sure the potatoes are really tender, and to add hot milk. They really do come out fluffy. I use a hand mixer at our cottage a lot, simply because I don't have a KA there.

Jo

Grainlady, that's a good idea to use the hand mixer to cut in shortening. I'm going to try that for Thanksgiving pies.

I also use the hand mixer to mash potatoes, don't try to do that in the blender, LOL, Ashley did that. It doesn't work well....

Ashley also likes homemade hot chocolate, the old fashioned kind with milk, sugar, Hershey's cocoa. She'll whip that with the hand mixer and says it makes it creamier.

I also use the hand mixer when I have something already in the KitchenAid, those marathon baking days. Love that big Kitchenaid Nancy gave me though, it's a champ for cookies.

for years I used nothing but a wooden spoon, and it worked fine for everything, but it sure was a lot of work sometimes and I can't imagine trying to bake all the recent wedding cakes without it, it's been a godsend! The KA does the cakes while the Magic Mill does the white breads, the zojirushi does the whole grain stuff and I feel almost like a bakery, LOL.

Annie

Annie

I just use mine for small amounts of egg whites and whip cream and to whip up eggs for an omelette every once in a while.