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It’s no secret that I love my KitchenAid stand mixer, it’s my most prized possession, and I always recommend it as one of the best stand mixers you can buy. So when I got the chance to try the pastry beater attachment, which doesn’t come as a standard accessory, I could hardly refuse.
I recently tested KitchenAid’s flex-edge beater, and I was so impressed with the silicon edge on the attachment, and how it scrapes mixture from the side of the bowl that I couldn’t understand why it’s not included with every stand mixer the brand sells.
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You'll have to pay extra for the pastry beater
I own a KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head stand mixer, and it comes with a standard beater, wire whisk, and dough hook. Apart from using the flex-edge beater now when I make sponge cakes, I’ve always used the stand beater to make cakes, scones, and pastry (yes, I make my own). But I’ve never thought I needed another or a better attachment to make pastry.
What does the pastry beater do?
It might sound like a stupid question, since a pastry beater must be designed for use when making pastry. However, since I’d been happily making dough with the standard flat beater, I wanted to find out what makes KitchenAid’s pastry beater different, and whether it is worth buying one.
KitchenAid told me that “choosing the right accessory makes all the difference”. I certainly found that when using the flex-edge beater, and I’d never try to knead dough with anything other than the dough hook.
But what’s the real difference between the standard beater and pastry beater? “The flat paddle is your everyday go-to for normal to heavy mixtures from cakes and cookies to mashed potatoes,” says KitchenAid.
“The innovative pastry beater has horizontal bars to help cut butter into flour, it quickly and efficiently breaks down the cold butter before it has a chance to melt, without overmixing or heating it up.”
And this is what makes it suitable for pie dough, biscuits and shredding meats. My version also came with a handy dough scraper, but it isn't always included with every purchase.
Top tip
Do check before dropping a pastry beater into your online shopping basket, as you’ll need to buy the correct one depending on whether you have a KitchenAid tilt-head or a KitchenAid bowl-lift stand mixer. You can purchase the pastry beater with a tilt-head design from Amazon for $29 (in Silver) and the bowl-lift design from Amazon for $39 (in White).
How does the pastry beater perform?
I made a standard pie dough using 8 oz of all-purpose flour with 2 oz of butter. Throughout, I followed the same procedure when making pastry with the standard flat beater.
I placed the flour into the mixing bowl, with the cold butter on top, which I’d cut into cubes. I then set the mixer to speed 1 and continued at this speed until the mixture reached a breadcrumb consistency. At this stage, everything was the same as when using the standard beater.
I then started to add water to combine the ingredients. But it’s at this stage that I noticed a difference in the mix. The dough began to get caught in the horizontal bars of the attachment. I’d never had this issue, to this extent, when using the standard flat beater, as the bars take up less room.
I had to stop the stand mixer several times to remove the dough, which made me question how easy it is to use compared to the standard beater.
However, despite the inconvenience, it still made a pretty good pie dough, and it was easy to roll out without being too heavy or too wet. As, you can see below, I made sausage rolls which I sprinkled with poppy seeds.
Of course, the final test is in the eating, and I certainly did plenty of that! The pastry was lovely and light and tasted just the same as if I’d have used the standard beater.
Is it worth buying the KitchenAid pastry beater?
I don’t think there’s a big difference between using KitchenAid’s standard flat beater and the pastry beater. If anything, when making dough, it got caught on the horizontal bars and made my life a little harder.
However, it can also be used to shred meat and mash fruit and vegetables. But here again, although I didn’t test these ingredients, I don’t think you’d find much difference between the two attachments.
If you’re not sure which way to go, and you’d prefer to save a few dollars, I’d stick with the standard beater. But if you do want to try a different accessory, I recommend spending your money on the flex-edge beater instead.
Do you already own the KitchenAid pastry beater? Can you convince me to change my mind? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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