Best stand mixer for your money...

[gina2000]

I'm going against the crowd. I absolutely HATE my Kitchen Aid. First off, I hate that the beaters rotate and not the bowl. It makes it very difficult to get a spatula in to help aerate and distribute the batter. Secondly, I hate how awkward it is to attach a beater. I know I'm in the minority but I'd never buy another one (and this one was a gift).

On the other hand, I LOVE my Sunbeam. I've had it for over 25 years and it's a champ. It's also cheaper and the customer service has always been superb. I can't comment on the reliability or ease of use of new Sunbeams, though.

My mom is of the same opinion....not that it matters but it's another vote for Sunbeam.

 

[TiffanyK]

I've had a bottom-of-the-line Kitchen Aid for about 13 years now. It's still running great. My husband bought it at Walmart. I love it.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I had the Kitchen Aid classic that I loved but needed a bigger mixer so we went to the largest one that they make for home use & it's been a gem for almost 10 years. My older one is still going strong with a relative.

 

[hopemax]

I will vote for a Sunbeam too. That's what my Mom had, and so it was what I was comfortable with. Hers has been going strong since 1974. I never had a mixer, just a stupid handheld, but when I saw a 70's Sunbeam at a garage sale for $5 last year, I snatched it up. Someday, I think I want a KitchenAid, but since basically all I use it for, right now, is making chocolate chip cookies, the Sunbeam fits the bill.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I love my kitchen aid....and always wanted one but was too cheap...DH surprised me with it for Christmas. It isnt the top of the line...but it was about 179. I think. But I love had borrowed my sisters and my neighbors before. Have gone the cheap route before but in the end you spend more money for all the other mixers

 

[Sadie22]

I still have the first mixer my mother owned, a Sunbeam Mixmaster we got with S & H Green Stamps about 40 years ago. It's used only to make mashed potatoes now.

I bought a Kitchen Aid off Amazon about three years ago. It was $100 less than any of the local stores' sale prices for that model. I have made quadruple batches of oatmeal cookies with it. Some of the cheaper models have plastic gears. Metal gears are much better.

 

[badblackpug]

I've had my KitchenAid since 1992, and I love it. To give you a better idea, my grandmother had one that probably dated mid 1930s to early 1940s and it was still going strong as of her death in 2002.

 

[DMRick]

Two Kitchenaids are on sale at Kohl's (and I have a 30% off coupon and it's Kohl's cash week)..the artisan (which my daughter loves) and the 6 quart (which is a lift bowl). The difference in price is small, because of the specials. I just wonder if the one with the bowl lift is a pain to use. I tend to buy 'overkill' and I don't want to make that mistake and then end up hardly using it because of the work of using it. That said, I've been reading that the 6 quart has a better motor for making bread (and a better hook) and is easier to add ingredients to. I hoped to get it today, I just don't know which I should get. I just don't use it that much. Any htoughts?

 

[roscoepc1]

Kitchenaide. Hands down. They use all-metal parts....I believe they are the only ones in the industry to do so, although I might be wrong for some of the industrial mixers...which obviously you're not buying, lol....

 

[jen22984]

Two Kitchenaids are on sale at Kohl's (and I have a 30% off coupon and it's Kohl's cash week)..the artisan (which my daughter loves) and the 6 quart (which is a lift bowl). The difference in price is small, because of the specials. I just wonder if the one with the bowl lift is a pain to use. I tend to buy 'overkill' and I don't want to make that mistake and then end up hardly using it because of the work of using it. That said, I've been reading that the 6 quart has a better motor for making bread (and a better hook) and is easier to add ingredients to. I hoped to get it today, I just don't know which I should get. I just don't use it that much. Any htoughts?

My Kitchen Aid has the lift bowl and I dont feel like it is a pain to use at all. I actually plan on upgrading to the 6 qt lift one in a couple of years because I love mine so much, but I need the bigger bowl for some recipes if I double them!

 

[DMRick]

I listened and I just got back from picking it up. And got new baking pans (mine were older than dirt) and flour (wheat and white), eggs, oil, chocolate chips and walnuts. I can see I'm going to save a lot of money by owning this LOL..NOT.
Hubby says we'll have to charge the grands a $1 a cookie until we get paid back!
The thing I like the best about the lift bowl, is it fits nicely under my cabinet without having to pull it forward.

My Kitchen Aid has the lift bowl and I dont feel like it is a pain to use at all. I actually plan on upgrading to the 6 qt lift one in a couple of years because I love mine so much, but I need the bigger bowl for some recipes if I double them!

 

[jen22984]

I listened and I just got back from picking it up. And got new baking pans (mine were older than dirt) and flour (wheat and white), eggs, oil, chocolate chips and walnuts. I can see I'm going to save a lot of money by owning this LOL..NOT.
Hubby says we'll have to charge the grands a $1 a cookie until we get paid back!
The thing I like the best about the lift bowl, is it fits nicely under my cabinet without having to pull it forward.

YAY! I can't wait to upgrade to the bigger bowl! Any time my DH has a thing at work he get picked for desserts so I usually make double batches of whatever I am making. I made some pumkin cheesecakes a year or so ago and had to take some of the batter out and mix it by hand afterwards because I thought I had room for 2 batches in the bowl, but I didn't and it started to over flow!!! I'm not sure if my bowl is 4.5qt or 5qt (I think its 4.5qt).

My sister's and I went in together and bought my mom a 6qt on last year or the year before as her Mother's Day gift to replace her very old 4.5 qt one. I love baking at her house because the bowl is sooo big! I've also went together with my mom & one sister to get my younger sister a 5qt one for her wedding gift last year. She isn't much for cooking so I figured teh 5qt was good for her!

 

[DMRick]

It has two rebates, and I have to pick which one I want. $40 off, and a free magazine, or the ice cream maker. I think I'll go with the $40, because I would prob not use the ice cream maker.