The TikTok Hack That Turns Hand Mixers Into Stand Mixers
TikTok has proved to be more than just another social media platform: It's also a (mostly) trusty app we turn to for advice in times of sticky situations in the kitchen. TikTok introduced the many to the ingenuity of sticking a cupcake liner on a popsicle to stop it from dripping all over your hand and reverse draining a pot of boiled pasta to make life easier — both life-changing hacks, quite frankly. So, if you're halfway through a recipe that requires a stand mixer but find yourself standing with its handheld version instead, fret not, a viral TikTok hack will save the day.
In a video posted on TikTok, @rachel_loaf shared their friend's clever solution to making a hand mixer work in a recipe that required a stand mixer. They simply placed a wire rack over the bowl of ingredients that needed to be whisked and popped the beaters of the hand mixer through it. The wire rack supports the hand mixer as it does its job in the bowl, helping it stand upright as a stand mixer. That's about it: A wire rack is all you need to turn your hand mixer into a makeshift stand mixer.
Does the hack really work?
Not only do fellow TikTok users agree that this could be a game changer, but they also suggest ways to amend the hack The beaters of a hand mixer are not tall enough to evenly whisk through the entire bowl when kept in one place, to which one comment offers a creative solution: "[Y]ou can put the bowl on a lazy Susan turntable so you can get all the sides." Still, if the bowl is on a lazy Susan, and the rack is on the bowl, the rack's going to turn with the bowl unless you hold it, making it perhaps not entirely effective.
@rachel_loaf honestly a stroke of genius #bakinghacks #kitchenhacks #funny #kitchenhumor
But don't leave the makeshift stand mixer unattended just yet; while your hand mixer is securely wedged between the wire rack, what is securing the wire rack? There is nothing stopping the rack from slipping to the side, dropping the hand mixer, and toppling the bowl of wet ingredients in the process. This may be a concern especially when you try to whisk thicker liquids — such as egg yolks — that can make the hand mixer quake vigorously, knocking over both the wire rack and the bowl. The potential mess the flying liquids will make in your kitchen may not be worth the trouble. Not to mention the fact that hand mixers are no match for stand mixers in terms of power, so if you're, say, kneading dough, even a TikTok hack may not be able to help your hand mixer.