Kitchen Aid Mixer or cheaper model?

[rbork]

Go for the 6 qt!
I have a refurb'ed Kitchen aid 6 qt prof. mixer from Amazon.
Works beautifully! I am a hard core baker and have been known to just let the mixer go and watch some T.V. The motor is great and won't burn up.
I had a hobart prior to this one - it was my mothers and she was a professional cake decorator. I finally killed the hobart after about 25years. And DH surprised me with the 6qt off Amazon.
6qt is great for double and triple batching mixes.
beating a heap of mashed potatoes for big dinners.
I never put the beaters in the dishwasher but I have been known to throw the bowl in there!
Good luck and Do what's right for you.

 

[annakris1973]

I have the Kitchen Aid Professional series and I love it! DH bought it, refurbished, about 6 years ago for $199. I love that it has the larger bowl, so you can make large batches at one time. The whole lifting the bowl thing, instead of tilting the motor back, took some getting used to, but its not a big deal. It stays on my counter, because it is so darned heavy to move around! I agree with what another poster said about being cheap vs being frugal. I would much rather pay more for something that is going to last me a lifetime.

 

[clownchk]

Seriously, if you are making your own bread daily, invest in a bread machine. It's a HUGE time saver, you dump everything in and start it, and 2-6 hours later it's done.

Anne

Except we HAVE a bread maker. Well had one, and we could not get a decent bread out of it. It was either too gummy, too oily or not "fluffy" enough. We gave up and gave the bread machine to my parents, who tried it for aobut 3 months, then gave it to my sister.

I finally found a recipe that we love and I've been making it 4/7 days of the week (I double it some days).

LOVE the fresh bread, but don't always ahve time to knead it for 5 minutes. this will be great!

~Elena (Took the rotisserie to the basement since we only use it about 6 times a year!)

 

[ducklite]

Except we HAVE a bread maker. Well had one, and we could not get a decent bread out of it. It was either too gummy, too oily or not "fluffy" enough. We gave up and gave the bread machine to my parents, who tried it for aobut 3 months, then gave it to my sister.

I finally found a recipe that we love and I've been making it 4/7 days of the week (I double it some days).

LOVE the fresh bread, but don't always ahve time to knead it for 5 minutes. this will be great!

~Elena (Took the rotisserie to the basement since we only use it about 6 times a year!)

Wow! Out of curiousit what type is/was it? Mine is from Willams-Sonoma and I've only once gotten a bad batch--entirely my fault!

Anne

 

[ginna74]

hey where would one go to get kitchenaid stand mixers things like the whisk and such. I like mine but haven't taken good care of the stuff and would like to buy a new set. anyone know? TY in advance

 

[T. Lynn]

Amazon.com or Linens and Things

 

[natenapril]

I have the Kitchen Aid Artisan and Love it!! It was a big splurge for me but no regrets!! This weekend we bought the Kitchen Aid Blender and love it too!

 

[ah1126]

I found my Kitchen Aid in an outlet kitchen store. They carry regular and refurbished. They often have good sales, and I got an additional mall discount. Mine was just over $100. Keep your eyes open and you will find one for a great deal!!!!

 

[ladysoleil]

I love my Artisan stand mixer.

One tip I've found out that makes it a lot easier to use the mixer on the counter. Get one of those flexible disposable chopping boards (dollar stores have them- it's a thin, stiff sheet of plastic, basically) and set the mixer on top of it. It makes it easy to slide the mixer back and forth on the counter when you need to move it to clean the counters or slide it into a better position to work with it and prevents getting the mixer or counter scratched up.

I love my mixer. I use it for cookies, cake, whipping cream, meatloaf, etc.

 

[Daisimae]

I've had my white on white, Ultra Power, tilt-head KA mixer for seven years now. It was purchased new from Amazon. I make a lot of cakes, icings, heavy cookie dough and bread. I could not do it without this machine. It's also great for potatoes, twice baked and mashed, meatloafs, meatballs, etc.

I've solved the problem of having the dry ingredients splatter all over the counter, by adding them in a little at a time. I have the splatter shield, but, it was more problems than it was worth to me. I also do all of my clean-up, for the bowl and attachments, in the dishwasher. No problems there either. An extra 4.5 qt bowl, without handles, was a great find on eBay. I can make larger amounts with the two bowls at the same time than using a model that uses 5qt or 6qt bowls.

I bought mine white because I know they last forever. I have not had one problem with it. But, I am dreaming on one in color now. Just don't know which color. LOL

I've had the opportunity to use my Mom's and SIL's MixMaster. Neither machine worked well for my cookie batter. I had to spend time scraping the beaters and bowl. I couldn't add the ingredients and walk away like I do with my KA.