A stand mixer comes with several attachments including the paddle attachment, also known as the flat beater attachment.
The paddle attachment is used for heavy duty mixing.
The paddle attachment can be used at the beginning of a recipe when you’re creaming fat, eggs, and sugar together. Cookies are made using this method, and then you can continue using the stand mixer for the rest of the recipe. The paddle attachment is heavy duty, and can beat this thick batter together.
The paddle attachment is used for making several recipes including:
- cookies
- icing
- pancake batter
- crepe batter
Other uses for the paddle attachment include:
- creaming butter
- creaming cream cheese
- creaming butter with eggs and sugar
Paddle attachment vs Whisk attachment
The whisk attachment is used to aerate foods like egg whites and whipping cream.
The whisk attachment is a sphere shape and uses a circular motion to mix, whereas the paddle attachment beats with a large flat paddle.
The whisk attachment is used for making whipping cream and making soft or stiff peaks with egg whites.
The paddle attachment isn’t able to perform these tasks due to the different shape of the attachment and the motion it mixes in.
The paddle attachment is used for beating fat and creaming sugar and eggs together to make batter. The paddle attachment is used for heavy mixing and thick ingredients.
The whisk attachment is used for more lighter ingredients and adds more air in the ingredients. This creates small bubbles which makes the egg whites or whipping cream turn into a different state.
The whipping cream will become soft peaks, perfect for serving. The egg whites will become soft peaks, and then stiff peaks. This creates foods for soufflés, twice baked potatoes, meringues, etc.
When not to use the paddle attachment
For foods like cakes, scones, and muffins, they need to mixed until only just combined, otherwise they become tough by developing the gluten too much with vigorous mixing. Therefore, you do not want to use the paddle attachment to mix these sorts of quick breads.
