Mixing Bowls

[Mother of four]

Does anyone have a recommendation for some good heavy weight Stainless steel mixing bowls?

[ZenSojourner]

Can I ask why you prefer stainless steel over glass or ceramic?

I'm not making a value judgment at all. I've used SS bowls but I don't like them, for no particular reason really. I'm just more comfortable with a glass or stoneware/ceramic bowl because I'm ancient and that's what we had back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. It's what I'm used to, basically. The only exception is the SS bowl that clips into my KA mixer, and even that I've occasionally wistfully wished was milk glass, like the bowl that went with our Sunbeam Mixmaster when I was a kid.

I'm wondering if you see some advantage to the SS.

[bushwickgirl]

SS doesn't break, chip or crack, but ceramics do, to start with; SS lasts forever. It's better for heat or cold retention than glass and ceramic, unless the glass is borosilicate, and heavy pottery bowls retain heat and cold very well, but not necessarily thinner ceramics/porcelain. I'd rather chill a SS bowl in the freezer for whipping cream than glass, for example, for a few reasons. Can you put a glass or ceramic bowl directly on a flame, like you can with SS? No, but you can use them in the MV and all of these materials in an oven, as long as the glass is tempered. Good ceramics tend to be more expensive than SS as well. SS is normally lighter in weight than pottery, a consideration for some people.

I like glass and ceramic, it's more stylish than the very functional SS, and have a few, but I always grab the SS first. I prefer to let bread dough rise in pottery, prefer to store food in the frig in glass (visibility being a plus.) I use SS for just about every other cooking application. The SS bowls I own are stored on the top of the frig, grab handy, while the other stuff is hidden away. I think it's a good policy to have a mix of materials and a few sets of bowls in every kitchen.

It's kind of a personal decision what bowl material you chose, there's no right or wrong, but there are some minor advantages to SS, usage-wise and longevity speaking.

Restaurants rarely use glass anything in kitchens, tempered or otherwise, too risky. SS is the norm.

"Pottery pieces have been found that date back to 1400 to 1200 BC, making this craft much older than the craft of making porcelain. " Yes, ancient.

I well remember the white glass bowl on my mom's stand mixer and how bummed out she was when it broke.

[breadchick]

bushwickgirl, funny you mention putting a s/s bowl on a burner.

Years ago, pretty much the same era that ZenSojourner refers to, I couldn't find a wok. There wasn't a store in town that sold them. I took my 13 inch s/s mixing bowl and would use it for all my stir fying. As long as I worked fast, it was fine.

I still have that bowl (it works perfectly for my huge batch of gingerbread cookie dough right around this time of year) and the burn marks on the bottom remind me that at one time I didn't have much but made do. It makes me smile.

[ZenSojourner]

I was just trying to figure out when I would want to put a mixing bowl on a burner, LOL!

The fact that SS makes for a lighter weight mixing bowl may become a factor in what I'm using sooner than I would like. I think in 50 years I've only ever broken one mixing bowl when I dropped it (full of cookie dough). It did make a mess!

[bushwickgirl]

"mixing bowl on a burner"

I've had a few occasions to do it when I was a pro chef, made hollandaise right on the burner, gas on low. Whisk very fast, pull it off if it's getting too hot, to control the heat, quick and lazy chef's way to cook, no water bath. I've seen crazy pastry chefs do it for curd and pastry cream. Now these are heavy SS bowls I'm talking about, not the light thin ones. Bowl gets hot, fingers get singed, it's all good.

breadchick, you were using your creative noggin, very, very good.

[ZenSojourner]

These are things I don't ever do, but it sure is fun seeing how other people do things!

I'm becoming a kitchen voyeur, I'm afraid . . .

[bushwickgirl]

If you try the hollandaise, and are successful, you will definitely impress your friends. It's not that easy, requires practice, split second timing and a watchful eye, but it's fun. And quick.

breadchick's SS bowl/wok story reminded me of something else, I once saw a cook brown a large quantity of stew beef in a SS bowl stove top. All I can think of was that he was too darn lazy to walk over to the shelving a get a large roasting pan, but it worked. Why not, it's SS, a wok type shape, heat conductive, etc.

[breadchick]

What I forgot to mention, is that my favorite bowls I've been using forever are the Mason Cash mixing bowls. I have them all - from huge to small. I'm also admitting to having a real fetish for mixing bowls. I don't need any new ones, but then again... ;-)

[bushwickgirl]

I do like those Mason Cash bowls, great for bread dough risings. They look so nice.
I ♥ them.

[emily]

Has anyone noticed that the Mason Cash bowls have gone downhill in quality? They were hard to find for a while and the company went through some ownership changes from 2004-2007. Finally got my hands on some new bowls to add to my collection and they are thinner and much less heavy than the ones I purchased 10 years ago. Even the bowl shape is different.

[bushwickgirl]

Well, that's not good news at all. The last one I had was maybe 20+ years old and is gone now. Maybe I'll look for used on ebay. Thanks for the sad heads up.

[andrewtree]

Bought a new larger Mason Cash off ebay last year to add to my collection, seems identical to my older ones that I've had for 20 plus years in weight/quality/shape. Perhaps it was old stock.

[emily]

I bought mine from Pacific Merchants, which is supposedly now the exclusive distributor of Mason Cash bowls in the US. Even the raised cane pattern is more pronounced than on my old bowls, which makes them look vaguely like a knockoff product.

[breadchick]

Sad to hear. Glad I bought mine before the downturn in quality!

[Jay F]

What bushwickgirl said.

[mikie]

I recently saw a new KA mixer with a glass bowl. It's a 90th anaversary issue, but the bowl is available seperately at Amazon. Here's the link to the KA press release:
http://www.kitchenaid.com/assets/pdfs...

[ZenSojourner]

I have mixed feelings about that .. .

saaaad because it only fits tilt head models and I have the other kind

relieved because it's $80 and I'd have a tough time justifying that LOL!

[bushwickgirl]

Well, you can see what's in it, as opposed to SS. ;-) Aside from that, it's really nostalgic. I can't believe KA's been around for 90 years. I haven't, but KA's been on my life for at least half that itme.

[Mother of four]

Exactly what bushwickgirl said. The glass bowl for the KA looks interesting, but not interested in paying that kind of money for it.

[will47]

Nthing Volrath. I have a couple of Polar Ware brand coated SS ones, which I think are roughly comparable, and maybe available for a little cheaper.

[ZeroSignal]

Polarware is Vollraths only real competion anymore on quality S/S products made in USA so they are good, some of there stuff is even better

[ZeroSignal]

Vollrath bowls are very nice and made in USA. But some people dont like how they are built higher than some of the import commercial S/S mixing bowls which are usually lower and wider.

[SamCanon]

Great selection of mixing bowls at Ashton Green which is here in Toronto (lots of sizes)

http://www.ashtongreen.com/search.asp...

[Leolady]

Vollrath commercial SS bowls from a restaurant supply store. Get the best and heaviest.

[Mother of four]

Did a search and came up with this website. Hard to tell if this is what you are talking about. They don't seem very expensive.
http://restaurant-supplies.katom.com/...

[dscheidt]

Vollrath do (at least) two lines of mixing bowls. Ones pretty heavy weight stuff, the other is much lighter, and much cheaper. The ones with numbers starting 69 are the heavy ones.

[Mother of four]

Went to look at a bowl that I just picked up at a nearby Restaurant supply house and lo and behold it said Vollrath on the back with the number 69. I am now on my way way to pick up a few more. I had to laugh, I was at Sur La Table this afternoon and here was the exact Vollrath bowl that I had bought, with a price tag that was a whole lot more then what I paid!!
Love the restaurant supply stores!

[Leolady]

Congrats! Glad you liked my advice.

[bushwickgirl]

Ditto on the Vollrath, the standard brand in restaurant kitchens, although I did get a set of three from eBay last year, Oxo Good Grips, very heavy, "bronzed" (as in color) on the exterior, no hanging ring, curved lip, just as good as the heavy duty models from Vollrath. I've seen the same set used on Chopped, if that's any recommendation. I paid significantly less for the set than the amazon price. I think Target sells these as well. I've dropped them with no damage, dents or dings.

http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Grips-Stainless-Mixing-2-Quart/dp/B0002I3ZS4/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1289080423&sr=8-33

My fav restaurant supply website, low, low prices:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/3-qt-...

[ospreycove]

motherof4, I can give high ratings to both Vollrath and Katom. I have used Katom for years, and find them to be great to do business with. They are out of Tn, I think, and they are primarily internet/catalog. As for SS mixing bowls, as others here have said go for the best gauge it is something you USE, not like a Thanksgiving or Christmas design platter.....lol