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deedles_gw

Pop up stand mixer shelves worth it?

deedles
12 years ago

Wondering if anyone has one of these mixer shelves and if they're worth the cabinet space? Thanks.

Comments (12)

  • melissastar
    12 years ago

    YOu mean the kind that pull out and up? like this?
    http://www.pullsdirect.com/index.cfm?page=product:mediaGallery&uniqueId=1573616

    Yes, I have one and I love it. It does, however, take up a fair amount of cabinet space. There is room for one pull out drawer underneath the mixer, where I keep silicone baking mats, parchment paper, cookie cutters, etc.

    A lot of folks say they worry about the stability or stuff spattering. I've found it to be quite stable with my heavy duty older-model 6 qt. lift-up type KitchenAid mixer. The mixer does not move on the platform (a polyurethaned butcherblock in my case). And I don't find batter spatters to be any more of a problem mixing on the shelf than on the counter.

    Here's what I love about it: Keeps my mixer in a place convenient to store and easy to use without having to lift it. Actually, expands my counter space when in a baking project, since the mixer is on its own stand. Easy to use...not perfect mind you, though a pneumatic lift might be that..but a LOT easier than lifting by hand.

    In my last kitchen (another house), the mixer was kept in an appliance garage that was behind the full depth of the counter (bumped out into the next room). That was even easier...a long reach to the back of the counter, but then I'd just drag it forward 20" or so. If I had that option again, OR, I had the room to keep it ON the counter (and that was a look I liked...not the case in this kitchen) I'd do it. If not...I'd definitely do the appliance lift.


  • suzanne_sl
    12 years ago

    Here's the mixer lift thing melissastar referenced:

    I decided against one of these for a couple of reasons. I don't have that much room to give away in my small kitchen, but even if I did, I prefer to have the mixer up on the counter. I just used the mixer this morning to make a cake, so I remember: I like having the ingredients and the measuring stuff right on the same surface as the mixer. I'm a bit of a mess, so I had cocoa powder and puffs of flour on the counter, plus blots of frosting that threw themselves out of the mixing bowl and not onto the cake. I'd rather wipe off the counter than the floor. Just me. Also, I've not yet reached the stage of life where lifting the mixer from the bottom shelf of the pantry is a problem for me.

  • poohpup
    12 years ago

    suzannesl couldn't have said it better. Exact same reason why I decided against one.

  • breezygirl
    12 years ago

    I considered one also, but decided against it for the space issue and the spilling on the floor. Flour routinely puffs out of my KA onto the counter. I would not want to be constantly cleaning that off the floor everytime I used the mixer.

    Here's a thread when I was considering it. Lots of good opinions both ways on it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Old thread on mixer lift

  • melissastar
    12 years ago

    From the fact that I don't find splatters and mess any more troublesome using the mixer on the stand than on the counter, it MIGHT be inferred that I'm a neat cook. To the contrary, I'm a very messy cook...with lots of puffs of flour, cocoa and blobs of butter, frosting, batter and the like, falling on the mixer platform, nearby counter, etc. It may, in fact, be that I'm an even messier cook that suzannes1 or poohpup, because in my previous kitchen, when the mixer WAS on the counter, I was always cleaning stuff up off the floor then too!

  • deedles
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Never even thought about the floor mess issue. I don't think that'd work for me... I'm kind of a messy cook. I wonder if mine would fit on a 15" deep pantry shelf? I have the Kitchenaid with the lift up bowl.

  • dianalo
    12 years ago

    I thought about it but then realized that since I got my large KA food processor, that I barely touch my stand mixer. The mixer is in the bsmt now and since moving back into the kitchen last summer, I have not needed it yet. The fp is not as nice a look but it functions better for me as it does more and its accessories take up less space. I love how a stand mixer looks in a kitchen and think I would have it on the counter if there was a logical space for it. In my setup, it was just not convenient. Function wins.

  • deedles
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I mostly use mine for making bread and the occasional grinding of meat, so it wouldn't need to be out. I think they're about 14" wide, so it should fit on a 15" shelf okay. Probably make space for that in the pantry.

  • catbuilder
    12 years ago

    In my last kitchen I had the lift because there was no place on the perimeter counter to store it, so it had to go in the island. I didn't want it sitting out on the island, so I got the lift. I, too, make a mess and didn't like wiping up the floor after using it, so after lifting it, I would slide it off onto the counter. My mixer also walks when making bread, so this was a good solution. I also didn't like leaving the door open while the mixer was out because it was cumbersome to move around. It may seem like a waste to get the lift if you're just going to use it on the counter, but it is much easier to lift it up this way than to bend over and haul it up to the counter. I didn't get it for my current kitchen because now there is enough perimeter counter space to store it on the counter. It all comes down to if you like the look of having it out and if you have enough cabinet space to give up for it.

  • ILoveRed
    12 years ago

    Love mine. Will have another in the next house.

  • mskitchen
    12 years ago

    I love mine and have it installed on one corner of the island. Used it the first time at Thanksgiving and had no issues with stability, etc. I find myself using the Kitchen Aid more now since I don't have to lift it out of the bottom cabinet where I stored it as I didn't like it on the counter.