kinda genius: sideswipe spatula mixer blade
The cooler temperatures and grey skies of autumn have arrived, and I have shifted into hardcore baking mode. My trusty ol’ stand mixer has been whipping batter and creaming sugar like crazy, and I never thought it could get any easier until a fellow foodie hipped me to the SideSwipe Spatula Mixer Blade. It’s designed to replace the “k paddle” attachment on your stand mixer (and not just for KitchenAid mixers) scraping the bowl as it mixes, thus allowing your batters to be smooth and perfect in a fraction of the time. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after reading a few of the positive reviews on the SideSwipe site (from Cook’s Illustrated, for one) and watching a pretty nifty video of the blade in action, I’m convinced. Find the blade for your mixer at the SideSwipe site, or swipe your own from Amazon, where they run about $25. –Megan B.
My quick review: Thought I’d love it too, until the plastic nubbies started breaking off in my cookie dough. Perhaps I got a faulty one…
The same thing happened to mine. The SideSwipe people sent me another one (the first one had only lasted a few months), and said that not only were they improving their product, but also I had to adjust my mixer so the SideSwipe wouldn’t smash up on one side of the bowl. I have not been able to do that. This second one has lasted longer, though now I see that one of the nubbies is preparing to break off. I think next time I’m going to get the other kind from I think it’s Beater Blade, which has a whole silicone blade molded around the beater, instead of just nubbies. I do like the way the SideSwipe has been working, aside from the longevity issue.
Oh my. Wow! I need this. Henrietta (that’s my Kitchen Aid mixers name) needs this!
I also had blue nubs in my cookie dough, and I can’t adjust my mixer like they suggest. Nice idea, needs some work.
I can’t say for certain that they’re related, but shortly after I started using a sideswipe blade the lock on my KA Artisan mixer broke. When I first got it, I adjusted the height of the head a little to keep the sideswipe from mashing into the bottom of the bowl. Ok, no big deal. Then I was mixing up a batch of cookies one day (with the head locked) and it started bouncing around because the lock wasn’t engaged anymore. I can get the lock to engage if I adjust the head way down (but then even the regular beater blade runs into the bowl, not to mention the sideswipe). So, no lock for me.
I still think the sideswipe is a good idea, I just know that I’ll never use it again. I’ll take the extra 30 seconds and scrape down the bowl manually.
Bri: The lock mechanism will often fail if the height adjustment screw is turned too far to the right (lowering the head). Try backing off the screw 1/4 turn at a time and see if that helps.