My New Stand Mixer Attachment

I dearly  love my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but there are a few things it just cannot do. It cannot whisk less than a handful of eggwhites to stiff peaks. It cannot scrape all of the flour from the bottom of the bowl. It cannot make coffee (who knows, maybe there's an attachment for that...).  Luckily, several third-party companies have stepped up to add to Kitchenaid's array of attachments.

After seeing a few reviews of two of the new silicone-tipped beaters, I decided to buy myself the SideSwipe. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. this first picgture shows it head-to-head with the flat beater that came with my mixer. The blue wings are little silicone fins that flex and actually scrape the bowl while mixing. The package claims that it lowers the time needed.  I think it lowers the danger of killing your Kitchenaid by a poorly timed insertion of a spatula.

(Yes, that can happen. Yes, there are a few companies around who can fix busted mixer motors for less than the cost of a new mixer. Yes I have experience in this area).

I tried out my new toy on boxed cake mix this week. I did the minimum possible prep for the mix--i.e. dumped the bag of powder, the eggs, the oil, and the water in the mixer, and turned it on. After a minute or so of stirring, I cranked the speed up. After another minute or two, I was done. No spatula needed, and no hunks of flour stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Bravo, SideSwipe.