May 15, 2009 - 6:18pm
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
For some reason, I've had a really hard time finding stainless steel mixing bowls that have the right shape (deep, rounded bottoms, not too wide). The other day, I went to Sur La Table and found out that they sold mixing bowls thate are perfectly shaped for me!...except a mere 3qt bowl costs $40 and a 6qt bowl costs $50, which is way more than I'm willing to spend. If you want to look a picture of them, they're shown on surlatable.com. Does anyone know where I can find these kinds of bowls at a cheaper price?
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Try Wal-Mart. I paid $5 or $6 for a six-quart, I think. It's taller rather than wider, and I'm happy with it.
Susan from San Diego
Take a look at Amazon.com or Fantes
Betty
I was just at Sur la Table this afternoon. They have more than one line of SS bowls. They have a sale on. There was a 4 qt bowl for $7 and a 6 qt one for $11.
Also, most groceries carry mixing bowls, and these are generally inexpensive ones.
Happy shopping!
David
Yeah, I saw the other line of stainless steel bowls on their website, but when I got there, they only had 2qt sizes and 8qt sizes. The bowls from Wal-Mart sound right, but strangely enough, there aren't any within a reasonable distance from where I live. I just checked on Amazon and Fantes, and their mixing bowls either don't specify the dimensions or the dimensions aren't what I want. Ideally, something that's about 6-7 inches high seems right.
we're overrun with WM's here. We have 4 Super WM's with in 20-35 minutes from us.
This may not help, but I like my Pampered Chef ones, and they come with rubber bottoms, and tops too. I think you can now order directly online, if I'm not mistaken... sorry, I used to be a consultant, and I didn't realize their price, but here is a link if interested for the three together. YOu can also get them individually. https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=9791&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat=&viewAllOutlet=
...well they're too expensive for me, and I don't want rubber bottoms in case I need to use the bowls in a double boiler. In fact, I would get the OXO bowls since they have the right dimensions if they didn't have the rubber bottoms (but without them they wouldn't really be "good grips, huh?). Yeah, I sound picky, but I don't want to spend money on an okay thing and keep buying slightly better versions as I find them.
We have a couple of stores within about fifty miles of our home that carry bulk food items and cookware for professional kitchens. They're not the trendy kind of cookware store, just rough and tumble buy it by the case kind place. But they have exellent prices on some very good cookware (like the stainless bowl sets you're looking for) in a variety of styles. Perhaps you could find a similar store in your area. Try asking the chef at a local restaurant.
Winco line of heavy duty stainless steel mixing bowls are nice. I own two of them. They're taller than they are wide and heavier than many other stainless steel bowls marketed to the home user.
Here's a direct link to these bowls on the Winco site www.wincous.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=215
A quick online search using google yeilded online sources with reasonable prices (but factor in their shipping costs). Be sure to include the specific model number for the capacity you want in your search terms.
I'm going to go the nearest restaurant supply house to see if they have the right bowls. If not, then I think I'm going to buy either the vollrath and winco bowls. Thanks for all your help!
I don't know if you have your heart set on ones yet, but since price seemed an issue, I just wanted to say that our local Target has individual ones and a set of three that seemed pretty nice.
Just giving another option in case you needed another one!
http://www.target.com/Stainless-Steel-Mixing-Bowl-Set/dp/B001179S90/qid=1242611417/ref=br_1_6/181-2471259-6384431?ie=UTF8&node=4090761&frombrowse=1&rh...
Are they new? Because I went to my local Target recently and I didn't see bowls like these.
if they are new, or maybe your store was out, but ours had both the individual ones, and the set. I think the set looked and felt nicer, than the individual ones, personally.
Good quality stainless steel mixing bowls are not going to be inexpensive..
Just like everything else in life, you get what you pay for..
The least expensive SS bowls may not cost much, but they dent easily, the rims are not particularly strong, the rims crack easily, and the bowls lose their roundness, ie. they warp easily..
I have several top-of-the-line Volrath commercial-grade SS mixing bowls that I purchased in 1984..Other than the fact that their finish is dull from decades of being scrubbed, not one of them has a dent, is cracked, or is warped..These bowls range from 4-qt. to 8qt. in size..
I have other lighter weight SS mixing bowls, some of which I purchased myself, most of which were given to me as gifts..All of these bowls are dented, to one degree or another..A few of the larger ones, the 8-qt. and the 12-qt. bowls, are out-of-shape and slightly warped..None of these bowls have ever been inside of a dishwasher..With the exception of the heavy-duty 8-qt. Volrath bowl, none of these bowls has ever been subjected to extremes of hot and cold..These lighter gauge SS mixing bowls are dented and warped simply from the rigors of everyday use..Not because they have been dropped, or thrown into sinks with lots of heavy commercial cooking equipment piled on top of them waiting for a dishwasher to clean them..Just everyday home kitchen wear and tear..
These mixing bowls illustrate perfectly the differences that exist between thin gauge SS sheet metal construction, and heavy gauge SS sheet metal construction..The heavier Volrath SS bowls that I own weigh nearly twice as much as the lighter weight bowl of equivalent size and capacity..Therefore, the SS in them costs at least twice as much..Most manufacturers elect to use a higher grade of stainless steel alloy for the heavier gauge bowls, further raising the price over an equivalent-sized bowl..Finally, the heavier gauge bowls oftern require a completely different methodology to transform a flat piece of sheet metal into a bowl shape..This further raises the cost of making the bowl..In almost every case that I have personally observed, the heavier gauge bowls have rims that are larger, offer more material to grip with one's hands, and are magnitudes stronger than the rims on the lighter gauge bowls..
So, a top-of-the-line heavy gauge SS mixing bowl will in many cases cost 4-5 times as much to manufacture as will a lighter weight, lighter gauge SS mixing bowl with the same size and capacity..
The heavier gauge bowls, used in a home environment where thy are taken good care of, should last for at least 100 years, perhaps 200 years or longer..
The lighter gauge bowls, given the exact same levels of care, will be extremely fortunate to last 20-30 years before they start to crack and become unuseable..
This is one area in the home kitchen where the investment in the heavier, costlier equipment will show dividends..
Bruce
It is an unfortunate fact that many over-priced and inferior quality items are sold to dedicated home cooks and bakers, even from reputable sources.
We at TFL are lucky to have feedback from members such as you, who have experience with a variety of equipment.
I am just a home baker, but I have generally found that good quality kitchen equipment is best purchased from outlets for commercial cooking, rather than outlets targeting the home market.
I was in Caynes the other day and saw these bowls and was tempted to buy a couple - the shape was good, they felt heavy and the price was right.
http://www.cayneshousewares.com/product.php?productid=1894&cat=0&page=2
so should a person go without anything, while saving up to buy the most top notch of professional equipment? Honestly, do those dents impede how your dough rises, or how you are able to mix the ingredients. Your bowls may not be as aestheticallty pleasing to the eyes, but I bet they work just fine.
DWU doesn't make mention of what level he/she is at, so are you going to scare off potential newbies by saying to only buy the best equipment? It goes without saying that if you buy better quality, it's going to cost more.
It's like in photography....how many people especially newbies, can afford the top rated fast glass in Canon's white lenses, or the best 2.8 lens money can buy......not many. So, we all start out somewhere, and that's where our money pockets lead us to go......how many people on here have DLX mixers?? Probably only the best of the committed bakers.....do we all need them in our homes.....no.
ok, off soapbox......the op just asked a simple question and stated what financially was too much for them. Some of us offered some other options.
I got somewhat distracted while typing my above post on SS mixing bowls, and forgot to include my thoughts as regards to the OP's question for less expensive bowls that are deeper than they are wide..
The typical shape for hand held SS mixing bowls is the half sphere shape..Bowls in this shape, which constitute 80%-90% of the home and commercial market, are made from a wide variety of SS alloys, as well as a great many thickness, or gauges, of those SS alloys..These widely varying differences, along with which country the bowl is manufactured in, reflect the great dispoarity in pricing in SS mixing bowls..
The reason for the preponderance of the half sphere shape is because it is one of the strongest shapes to make a bowl in, as well as one of the easiest shapes to execute..This shape is also one of the easiest to make a bowl that will easily nest inside of another bowl of the same size..
When you depart from the half sphere shape, the weaker design requires that a thicker gauge SS be utilized in its construction..All other factors being equal, this makes SS mixing bowls that are deeper than they are wide more expensive than the typical half sphere shaped bowls of equivalent size..
When you depart from the half sphere shape, you also incur manufacturing techniques and processes that increase the time required to complete a bowl..This makes them more expensive than the half sphere shaped bowls..
It is for this reason that the home cook will seldom find the wider than deeper SS mixing bowls at the rock bottom prices that one can typically find the half sphere shaped bowls..
Most companies that choose to depart from the half sphere shape generally make these bowls using the best in computer aided design, and the best SS alloys which is why the sometimes stunningly high prices for these bowls..
The advent of China into the home cooking smallwares market over the past decade has brought the prices for a lot of kitchen tools down..
Still, and all, expect to pay at least twice as much for any design that departs from the half sphere shape, especially the thicker the gaiuge of the SS..
Bruce
who knew, really~ I didn't know that it would be any more difficult to make one shape vs another shape. I have a set of the 8 half spere nesting ss bowls, that I've had for 23 yrs, once given as a wedding gift, and they've held up perfectly, with frequent use, but probably not daily. Then I also have the PC bowls, that I linked up above, and they are nicer. I also like the rubber bottoms and lids.
it still comes down to affordability, but at least it would be a more educated decision now, since you shared the manufacturing aspect of the deeper bowls.
sorry about my tone in the prev last night, I had a rotten day at work, and it showed in my response to you.
I have an extra bowl for my KA. I often use that when I need something less in the shape of a half sphere. I find its handle useful too. I have even used it as a cloche for boules; it suffered no damage in the oven.
--Pamela
I have an 8-quart Tramontina bowl bought in Sam's Club for about $15. It's built like a tank, NSF-certified and I'm certain will outlast me. My recollection is that they carried a variety of sizes.
I got this set from Pleasant Hill grain and am pleased with it. Good weight, good shape, reasonably priced.
Kitchen appliances are an essential part of domestic life. I would recommend using best mixing bowls for cooking. Along with great recipes, it would be fine to use.