Making pastry using a Kenwood Kmix?

[slimpersoninside Profile]

Daughter has discovered she likes baking and is thinking of getting a Kenwood kmix. As well as general baking one of the things she would very much like to be able to do is rub butter into flour. Although I have a Kenwood chef with a K beater I have never used it for 'rubbing in', does anyone have any experience of using one for this purpose and does it do the job well?

Thank you for any help.

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

If I remember correctly, when I had a Kenwood Chef, I wouldn't have used the K beater to rub the fat into the flour... so it can only have been the balloon beater.. Others may know differently though.

These days, I use the little processor that is an accessory to my Bamix .. that works a treat

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I make brilliant shortcrust pastry in my Magimix. Can’t imagine doing it in the Kenwood.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

I make brilliant shortcrust pastry in my Magimix. Can’t imagine doing it in the Kenwood.

PP, please tell me how, I've never managed to!

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Erm . . .

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I use the Magimix for pastry
The trick seems to be to have the fat fridge cold (and ideally any water too should be chilled or iced)
The other trick is to not overdo the rubbing in, just pulse and don’t let it get too fine and even (Ina Gartem, Barefoot Contessa tip; she actually returns the fat to the fridge after dicing it)

This video is quite good but I wouldn’t rub in the butter quite so much, and 2 tbs liquid seems very little

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/tech ... stry-video

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Yes, totally agree about the coldness and restricted pulsing. Also resting before rolling.

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

Yes, totally agree about the coldness and restricted pulsing. Also resting before rolling.

that's the same as I do ... just bit of pulsing with cold ingredients and water

[Suffs Profile]

Yes, totally agree about the coldness and restricted pulsing. Also resting before rolling.

that's the same as I do ... just bit of pulsing with cold ingredients and water

I do the same with my Kenwood Multi-pro processor.

[Gruney2 Profile]

That's how I make it - and if i can successfully do it, anyone can.

[slimpersoninside Profile]

Sorry if this comes over as a bit 'snippy' but I'm really after anyone that has had experience of using a Kenwood mixer with K beater to rub fat into flour.

If using a machine to make pastry I too would use my food processor. However daughter has neither a mixer or processor and cannot house both. She would definately use a mixer far more than a processor so, as long as it can rub in fat, it's the better option.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The thing is, only having room for one, I have the Magimix, I've never had a full sized stand mixer

I'm fairly sure I've seen someone do it successfully as in this video, which is for Kitchen Aid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PGOrt9K1t8

[Suffs Profile]

If she only has room for one machine, and wants a stand mixer, then I'd get one of these for making shortcrust pastry with ... I've not used one but I've known folk who do and their pastry is just fine.

https://bestreviews.com/best-pastry-cutters

[Suelle Profile Website]

Sorry if this comes over as a bit 'snippy' but I'm really after anyone that has had experience of using a Kenwood mixer with K beater to rub fat into flour.

If using a machine to make pastry I too would use my food processor. However daughter has neither a mixer or processor and cannot house both. She would definately use a mixer far more than a processor so, as long as it can rub in fat, it's the better option.

I've never used my mixer for pastry, as it seems too much faff to clean it afterwards, but this recipe suggests the k beater would do the job:

https://www.kenwoodworld.com/uk/cooking ... lemon-tart

[Gruney2 Profile]

If she only has room for one machine, and wants a stand mixer, then I'd get one of these for making shortcrust pastry with ... I've not used one but I've known folk who do and their pastry is just fine.

https://bestreviews.com/best-pastry-cutters

Oh is that what they're for! I found one in a drawer, many years ago. The pastry it produced never caused any complaints from me.

[Pampy Profile]

I've successfully used the k-beater on my Kenwood chef to make pastry.

[slimpersoninside Profile]

Thank you for your ideas and help.

Thanks SSue, that link certainly shows a K beater will rub in fat.

Interesting thought there Suffs, cheers!

The blurb/recipes would suggest it's capable thanks Suelle. One of daughters comments was that everything can go in the dishwasher .

Oooh Pampy, you appeared as a late entry that came up when I tried to post, and what an entry! Thank you, it's great to know someone has had success, I'm never quite sure if wondrous claims attributed to machinery etc are hyperbole.

A processor would be a waste for her as she's not into 'cooking' and it would sit idle, whereas she enjoys baking and would use a mixer much more often.

[janetmw Profile]

I usually use a food processor to make pastry, but when I have a mountain of mince pies to make at Christmas, I have used my Kenwood Chef to make the shortcrust pastry. I use the K beater to do the rubbing in - I don't think the balloon whisk would be sturdy enough. I use fridge cold fats cut into dice. Once rubbed in I bring the crumbs together with water by hand to avoid over working it.
I always use the Chef with the K beater to make cakes using the rubbed in method.
Hope this helps.

[slimpersoninside Profile]

I usually use a food processor to make pastry, but when I have a mountain of mince pies to make at Christmas, I have used my Kenwood Chef to make the shortcrust pastry. I use the K beater to do the rubbing in - I don't think the balloon whisk would be sturdy enough. I use fridge cold fats cut into dice. Once rubbed in I bring the crumbs together with water by hand to avoid over working it.
I always use the Chef with the K beater to make cakes using the rubbed in method.
Hope this helps.

Thank you. You have been a great help!

I'm guessing I will get a glimpse of a Kmix on daughter's worktop at some time.

[janetmw Profile]

PS
If the mixer is to be used for baking purposes, I find my Flexi/Creaming beater is worth its weight in gold for creaming sugar and butter. Much more efficient than the K beater.

https://www.kenwoodworld.com/uk/products/kitchen-machines/kmix-attachments/kmix-creaming-beater-ax500-awax500001