troy439•26d agoProlific Poster

My stand mixer died mid-batch at 3 AM and I had to finish by hand

I was making a double batch of brioche for a farmer's market booth last Saturday and my 20-year-old KitchenAid started smoking and locked up solid at 2:45 in the morning. Had about 8 pounds of dough that was halfway through kneading. I didn't have a backup mixer so I dumped it onto the counter and spent 45 minutes hand-kneading that sticky mess on my granite surface. It actually turned out okay but my arms were shot for the rest of the day. Here's the debate: should I sink money into fixing an old machine or just bite the bullet on a new commercial-grade one? Has anyone else pushed through a broken mixer situation and regretted it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_bailey26d ago

My buddy Mike had the exact same thing happen with his Hobart at 4 in the morning before a wedding cake delivery. The motor seized and he dumped 12 pounds of sugar cookie dough on his island and finished by hand. His wrist was so jacked he couldn't pipe borders for three days and had to call in a favor from some other baker. He ended up buying a refurbished commercial mixer off a restaurant liquidator for like $600 and it's been running strong for five years now. Fixing old ones can be a money pit, my uncle sank $300 into gear repairs on his KitchenAid and it died again six months later.

thomas_roberts26d ago

Respectfully disagree, sometimes fixing the old one is worth it if you know a good repair guy.