Your Kitchenaid Stand Mixer Attachments...

Based on my Appliances on your Countertop… thread, I see a lot of us have one.

So what attachments do you own, and what do you think about them from both performance and value perspectives. For me, it is:

1.) After-Market Citrus Juicer - Don’t remember the brand, but it was way cheaper than the Kitchenaid one and seems to be identical. Quality seems good, and while it’s horizontal orientation is a little awkward, for the frequency I juice a lot of citrus it works well enough to not justify buying a separate motorized appliance, plus it is super easy to clean.

2.) Kitchenaid Meat Grinder (plastic) - Slow, but works well enough. I not only use it for meats, but some ground veggie compounds like falafel (works really well for that). I Got it for free when I bought my Artisan mixer, so value is great, but it seems a little cheaply constructed. Dunno if I would pay full price for one of these because you can get a much better dedicated appliance for not much more.

3.) Kitchenaid Pasta Roller - One of my favorite gadgets, ever. Makes making pasta quick and fun. Got it on sale direct from Kitchenaid for about 60 bucks and have no issues with performance or cleaning.

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I don’t have any but I’ve been going back and forth about 2, 3 the whole time I’ve had my the KA mixer (12 or 14 years, I guess; before that I borrowed my MIL’s for several years as she seldom used it).

I just can’t seem to pull the trigger, and much of my hesitation is driven by the mixed reviews - especially the grinder attachments have a lot of 1-2 star reviews, everything from “cheap construction” as you mention to grease or oils coming from (? the gearbox?) contaminating meat to the screw being misaligned and putting metal fragments into the mix. Glad to hear about your personal experience with the pasta attachment.

I have never seen a drop of grease from the attachment port of my mixer, have you?

I “think” what most folks attribute to contaminants in ground food is that they wrench down the retaining collar on the grinder way too tight. This puts pressure between the blade and grate, and that friction results in metal deposits in the end result.

I screw mine down just until it stops… the only reason it is there is to prevent the grate from escaping, and it does not need to be tight. Never have I seen grey stuff in my food.

Edit: Yeah, it comes with a wrench, but that is for removing it due to pressure from the grind material (which I have never needed to use). If users are attaching the collar with it, that is the source of their issues.

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My meat grinder has worked fine for years, love it for meat loaf, felafel and such. I cant imagine pieces coming off the screw, or any lubricant leakage here - it possible not to clean the unit properly though, take it apart andclean it thoroughly. Dough hook is great for bread making.

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I don’t know how old my KitchenAid is. Probably somewhere between 20-30 years. I only have the food grinder attachment, which I used this afternoon to grind beef for a patty melt. It also has pasta plates for it which I used once.

I mostly use the meat grinder, but it’s cracked and I want to replace it with a metal one. I’d love some recommendations!

Thank you for starting this thread. I use my six quart Kitchen Aid mixer several times a week. I’m saving up to upgrade to the seven quart model.

I’m hoping that someone here will weigh in on the scale and sifter attachment. I’m intrigued, but I want to hear what others think before I take the plunge.

Interesting! So if you needed 2 cups sifted cake flour , 1tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, what does it do? Or maybe you start with weights.

I’ve got the larger Kitchen Aid, and have most of the attachments I think. I bought the mixer(s) at Costco, and shortly after buying the 1st one, Costco featured a pack of multiple accessories for a great price, so bought them. I then added another few over time.
I’ve got the meat grinder w/sausage stuffers, Victoria strainer, citrus juicer, grain mill, pouring shield, and ?? Oh slicing and shredder disks too. They work well, but only tend to pull them out for bigger jobs.
Didn’t even know they have a scale and sifter now!

I have & use both the ice cream freezer & pasta roller / cutters. The both work well for the volume & frequency I need (a 1 person household who cooks for others on a regular basis.)

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I use my KA lift bowl bought new in 1977 fairly often. Over the years I have tried the meat grinder. It does a good job on cold meat with no silver skin, but I find the FP or hand mincing with a big chef’s knife easier. I go the hand mincing route often for pasta sauce or enchilada fillings.

I have 7 qt KitchenAid Pro and love it. I make pizza dough and dinner rolls with it all the time. I want the ice cream freezer attachment.

I’ve never owned a stand mixer, any brand. :sob:

I have the pasta attachments and have not used them yet (for shame)!

The ice cream maker is great. I like that it is just the bowl, no extra appliance needed. The downside is that you must keep it in the freezer (prior to using at least).

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Nope. But IIRC what I read they were ascribing it to something in the grinder mechanism itself rather than from the attachment port.

This makes sense.

How often do you use it? And would you be open to a standalone grinder?

I ask because the Kitchenaid metal one is $70-90, and you can grab a Gourmia GMG525 for about the same, and do a much better job.

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Thank you! Maybe 10-12 times a year. Space is probably my biggest concern.

I have a metal grinding attachment and I’d like the pasta one, but haven’t pulled the trigger. Since I have a manual pasta machine I’m ok waiting.
I honestly use the mixer to grind meat more than making dough. I find my hand mixer is enough for most things I bake and I only use the mixer to knead some bread doughs. So if I’m not making buttercream, or certain breads, or beating rice cakes/mochi into submission, I don’t tend to pull the mixer out for its primary purpose.

Yeah, well that is the draw of “Attachments” I guess. But my experience with most of them is, that at their price point, standalone appliances are both similarly priced, and far more functional (with the exception of the Kitchenaid pasta roller).

Both the Kitchenaid and Vitamix food processor attachments are about the same price of the best Cuisinart 14 cup FP, and there is no comparison. WTF?

The metal KA grinder attachment is noticeably better than the plastic one… the blade is larger, there are three sizes of grates, and it most likely won’t crack. But given the price point I would go with a standalone unit.

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I have a metal one and it wasn’t particularly costly. It’s cheaper than a good grinder. You can get a grinder for cheap, but they’re often not that great. The one my mom has, which is manual, really struggled to grind meat.
I actually find the pasta ones a bit overpriced given how cheap and durable a hand-cranked machine is.
But I do think it’s a big plus that you can have all these things with one machine rather than multiple ones that each only serve one purpose.
The downside is that machines designed to do that one thing are often better, so if you find yourself using one attachment in particular then it would be good to buy a machine dedicated to that specific task.

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