Erin Doman on August 5, 2016 3 Comments The term “stand mixer” is a bit of a misnomer. It gives the impression that it is just meant for mixing doughs and batters for baked goods, but in reality, it is so much more than that. In fact, it may be the most versatile small appliance in your kitchen. It can perform a multitude of essential kitchen duties just by the addition of simple attachments. Don’t miss out on all that your stand mixer can do. s Here are our nine must-have stand mixer attachments and accessories for your kitchen. 1. Juicer It seems like everyone is juicing these days. Juicing your fruits and vegetables is a great way to increase your daily produce intake and get to the coveted nine servings a day. When you juice, your body gets the benefit of the nutrients found within fruits and vegetables in a way that is very easy for your body to absorb and utilize. The juicer attachment for a stand mixer is a slow juicer, meaning that it uses mastication to produce juice. Slow juicers provide a high juice yield with minimal nutrient loss. Certain stand mixer brands, such as KitchenAid, offer several other accessories that can be used to help your juicing process, including a citrus juicer, multiple pulp screens, an extra wide feed tube and more. Stand mixer juicer attachments also double as sauce makers. Next time you are needing to create a creamy Alfredo sauce or a tangy salad dressing, know that you can turn to your handy stand mixer juicing attachment to do the hard work for you. A juicer provides many health benefits and it creates delicious and flavorful juices that can be varied depending on your tastes. This attachment is necessary in any health-conscious cook’s kitchen. 2. Food Processor A food processor is a must for any kitchen. It’s a great tool for preparing food and cuts down on time spent in the kitchen. With your average food processor stand mixer attachment, you can slice, dice, shred and julienne all sorts of foods. When you get a food processor attachment for your stand mixer, it attaches to your mixer’s motor, giving it superior power. It performs all of the jobs that a standard processor does, including shredding and julienning hard cheeses, fruits and vegetables. With a powerful attachment, you don’t need to worry about overwhelming your food processor, as these appliances can shred even the toughest vegetables and cheeses. To top it all off, you can put it in the dishwasher when you’re done, since the motor is completely separate. The different slicing attachments can all be stored in a secure box, which is often included. 3. Pasta Maker Store bought pasta can’t compete with homemade. You can make restaurant quality meals when you make your pasta from scratch. The idea of making homemade pasta can be daunting, as it requires rolling and cutting by hand, and you are often limited to the kinds of pasta you are able to make. A stand mixer pasta maker attachment can change this. Stand mixer attachments and accessories for pasta can not only roll pasta dough and cut it, saving a lot of work and time, but some attachments can even make shaped pasta. KitchenAid makes a pasta maker stand mixer attachment that is able to create spaghetti, bucatini, rigatoni, fusilli, large macaroni or small macaroni, so you have the freedom to create almost any shape you want! 4. Grain Mill If you’re not already milling your own grains, it might be time to start. A grain mill is a great way to make inexpensive and specialty flours for baking and there is the perfect stand mixer attachment for doing just that. Fresh flour adds great flavor to meals and the grain mill can vary between finely ground to cracked grains, giving you greater control over your cooking and baking. A stand mixer grain mill attachment can work with any low-moisture grains, such as rye, buckwheat, millet, wheat, oats, corn, rice, and others. These stand mixer attachments are great additions to any household looking to use specialty flours, anyone who follows a gluten free diet, or anyone who appreciates working with fresh flour. 5. Ravioli Maker Is there anything better than ravioli? Pasta filled with goodies really can’t be beat, unless, of course, it’s freshly made. Making ravioli by hand requires rolling the dough, placing the filling at equal lengths along the dough, placing another dough sheet over top, sealing and cutting it. It can be a lot of work, even for the most skilled chefs. A ravioli maker stand mixer attachment uses a roller and hopper to do all that hard work for you so you can have dinner on the table in no time at all. These machines feature wide rollers that create approximately three pockets of pasta per row. The hopper provides even distribution of your ravioli filling, ensuring you the perfect plate of pasta every time. These attachments are also easier to clean than you might think, and often include a handy scrubbing brush to help you hand wash it. 6. Ice Cream Maker Salted caramel, wild blueberry or apple pie flavored ice cream are all within your reach, along with any other flavor you can imagine when you get an ice cream maker attachment. These accessories are perfect for the summer and for parents who want greater control over the sweets and desserts their children eat. These attachments are easier to use than a traditional ice cream maker, with no requirement of rock salt or ice. Ice cream maker attachments can make roughly two quarts of homemade ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet in about half an hour! Look for models that include extra recipes in their care guide to make it easier for you to get started. It’s a must-have attachment to satisfy any sweet tooth. 7. Food Grinder Did you know that your stand mixer has the capability to grind raw meat and other food products? A food grinder attachment will allow you to not only make your own ground beef, lamb, pork or chicken from raw cuts, but it can also cut other foods to make chunky style sauces and mixes. In fact, it is the perfect attachment for freshly made salsa. A food grinder is one of the more versatile stand mixer attachments, along with being one of the least expensive. You can use these attachments to create breadcrumbs or grate hard cheeses, especially if you don’t have the recommended grain mill or shredder attachments. Many of these attachments feature a fine plate and a coarse plate, giving you greater control over your cooking. Due to the versatility that these products offer, they really are quite essential for any kitchen. 8. Slicer/Shredder/Sausage Stuffer The slicer/shredder attachment is great for smaller jobs such as shredding and slicing cheese and vegetables. Making a pizza? The shredder will make short work of some fresh mozzarella. How about coleslaw? Use the attachment for carrots and cabbage. Are you feeling like a stir fry tonight? Put your vegetables in and you’ll have them sliced up in no time. This attachment is well worth getting just for the amount of time it will save you in the kitchen. You can also use this attachment for meat preparation. The sausage stuffer is an accessory that is meant to be used with the food grinder attachment. It feeds ground meat from the food grinder into sausage casing. Have you ever thought of blending your own spices and making your own fresh kielbasa, Italian, andouille or other sausage? When you make it yourself, the flavor is more developed and you can tailor it to your taste and needs. 9. Blade Spiralizer This is the attachment that is not only extremely useful in the kitchen, it is also really fun to use! To use, you simply attach the fruit or vegetable and it rotates for hands free peeling, which can be convenient for challenging vegetables to skin, such as potatoes. You can also you this attachment to spiralize zucchinis, beets and other vegetables to make a healthy pasta alternative. This product is perfect whether you want to prepare apples for a delicious pie, prep your potatoes for a mash, or create a healthy plant-based “pasta” supper. Zucchini noodles to replace pasta in dishes is an ideal way to eat more vegetables and reduce your carbohydrates, but you can also use it for a number of other vegetables — get creative! The spiralizer works for carrots, summer squash, beets and pears, to name just a few. It’s a great way to add variety to your dinner and dessert options. Takeaways There are nearly endless options of accessories for your stand mixer. They turn your mixer in to an all-purpose appliance and can help to keep out the kitchen clutter with the use of smaller attachments as opposed to many small appliances. The best part is that they connect to a high power motor, making the stand mixer attachments and accessories extremely powerful kitchen tools that fully utilize the mixer’s capabilities. It’s true that a stand mixer really is the ultimate kitchen appliance for a chef of any skill level!
Nancy Williams says February 3, 2018 at 10:40 am Where can I get more recipes for my ice cream maker Reply
Nadia Karsem says January 13, 2020 at 11:11 pm Thanks for sharing nice list of kitchen gadgets! I love that all these attachments eliminate the need for many bulky kitchen appliances. Reply
daniel bradshaw says January 16, 2020 at 1:47 pm Your welcome, Nadia! We love kitchen gadgets around here too =) Reply