Hi

I want to make SMBC but my recipe specifically says to swap from whish to paddle when adding in the butter.

My mix master is belonged to my grandmother and considering she passed away 15 years ago it means its really old i love it for sentimental reasons (plus it does pretty much everything) however it only has one set of multipurpose beaters.

Does anyone know what the difference is between whisk and paddle beaters and if its really a big deal?

Thanks

The whisk draws in air - the paddle doesn't.

I have a feeling the paddle will help cream in the butter better.

Try it and see if you like the results.

I read in a recipe that if you didn't switch to the paddle when adding the butter you would just get more air bubbles. Otherwise no other difference.

Sometimes you can find extra beaters for the old Mixmasters on ebay or craigslist. I've had two of them (my mom keeps buying the things for me at estate sales) and one had a whisk and a bunch of other attachments like a meat grinder.

I think the regular beaters will do fine for you. When a recipe says to use the paddle, you can tell it's written by someone with a kitchenaid mixer, and with the kitchenaid the whisk and the paddle really do different things, but with a regular mixer the regular beaters will work for both things.

I LOVED my Mixmaster! Actually, I had several over the years. I think it was so much easier to use than my new KitchenAid. I reluctantly converted to KA after I killed several Mixmasters. I find the KA awkward to use. Anyhow, the standard beaters on the Mixmaster were the only ones I ever used-- for everything.

I found an attachment for my kitchen aid, it is just like the padle but it has rubber spatula like things that continualy scrape the sides for you. It is wonderful, saves so much time. You can find them on Amazon, or go to their website www.beaterblade.com

I would love to buy a kitchen aid - I always tell my mum that I am going to get married just so I can get one as a wedding present but they cost upwards of 600 dollars when in the US the same model costs $200 on sale.

There's a whole thread on that new beater for the KA. I read somewhere that someone claimed the beater ruined her KA. KitchenAid recommends that you don't use attachments that they don't manufacture themselves for the KA. (Lots of reasons or that, I guess!)
I still miss my Mixmaster.

I still think it's fantastic, I can see how if you didn't raise the clearance on your machine that it could put too much stress on it.

You must use the whisk for SMBC. You have to whip the egg whites. If you can't switch to paddle at the point that recipe says, just turn it down low, add your butter in even smaller chunks, and you'll be fine. You'll have a very airy icing though, fulllllll of bubbles. So when it all comes together, turn it down to the lowest setting and let it turn for awhile....try to get rid of some of the bubbles. Not sure it will or not though.