Kitchenaid stand mixer, which one?

[scbelleatheart]

I thought I knew what I wanted but now I'm more confused.
I have always had the oster kitchen center, well two, one is 30 years old. I have every attachment possible but I want a new mixer in stainless. I like the Pro 600 ($399 -20% off) so $320. 500 model $299- 20% off so $240.
I go into Target they have the 500 for $199 but no stainless, it's grey. And then they have another one for $249 and it has the lift lever and pins to hold the bowl (but no splatter cover) like the 600. Attachments will cost me another $300 or so for any of them.
Final answer? any advice? What would you buy? Forget all the attachments? Forget stainless and keep the old one under the cabinet?
I guess what i most want is a great mixer and the pasta attachments to roll noodles by machine istead of by hand crank. I can use my food processer to do all the other stuff the atachments do.
TIA!

 

[Taja]

I would just keep the old mixer and attachments and consider a motorized pasta machine. Probably much less expensive!

I do love my KitchenAid, though. Not sure what model it is--it has the bowl lift and splatter guard, which came with it. I did purchase an extra bowl, but no other attachments. And I think I paid about $190 or so 20+ years ago!

 

[csharpwv]

It sounds like you have a pretty good arrangement right now - AND - have you never watched Rachel Ray? Retro appliances are all the rage! Get with the time by hauling out the ancient stuff in your house! HAHA


All joking aside - DW has the KitchenAid Artisan Mixer and IF you have the counter space - I would definitely suggest going UP a size. It works well for what DW uses it for (icings, baking, cookies etc etc) BUT I wish it were a size up. I recently went to make meatballs and it really struggled some getting everything mixed up well wish such a thick mixture.

As far as pricing - I would WAIT until the day after Thanksgiving - or closer to the Holidays. The reason why I say that is KitchenAid USUALLY (has for the last 4 years) runs a promotion to get free attachments after mail in rebate OR they offer really great promotion pricing on special colors, packages, and other specific models.

We received our mixer as a wedding gift from DW's Paternal Grandmother - (we got married in October) and we went to buy attachments around the holidays at Boscov's (we love Boscov's but there are none in WV where we live) we saw some great rebates and picked up all the attachments we thought we would use!

A mixer with ALL of the attachments is a HUGE investment (well not HUGE like mortgage huge LOLOL - but a significant expenditure!) so I REALLY don't think I would abandon your tried and true 30 year old mixer because it isn't stylish. If it works, does the job, and has life left in it - KEEP IT! Treasure it!

I'm not sure how old you are but I bet it was a wedding gift, OR passed on to you from a loved one. I treasure two cast iron skillets that were passed on me by a woman who was very much like a Grandmother to me. I feel like she is with us when we cook/eat with that cookware.

Legacy kitchen equipment - now that would make a great thread!

 

[ilovejack02]

My sil who is a trained pastry chef says skip all the attachments. The only thing she recommended me to get was an extra bowl, nice to have a cpl if making several things at once.
I have a Professional 5 425 watt, bowl lift from QVC, 299.00 Love it.

I would guess the 199.00 from target is a lower watt and if you are going to be working with heavy dough , you will burn up the motor so says my SIL. She has one of the 600 series of course.

How much will you use and how much heavy dough work are you going to be doing is where I would start I guess.

I like the PP's idea of keep your old stand by and get a pasta machine : ).

Also wait till holidays is a good idea too, I got a good rebate on mine through qvc around thanksgiving.

 

[sookie]

go through QVC! they are all metal and AWESOME.

 

[Cindy B]

Just bought an Artisan last week and it was delivered a few days ago.. love it!

I bought it from www.kitchenaid.com on the refurb site. It was $169 and we got the metallic gray. I love it!

 

[Debbie-TN]

I got my Pro 600 from QVC last year for $299. I love it, but it's almost too big for the average kitchen. It really is for the professional kitchen. The head doesn't tilt back, the whole bowl lifts up to the beaters, so it's a little hard to scrape down the sides. If I had it to do over, I would get a smaller one with 2 bowls. It's impressive sitting on the counter though.

 

[rbork]

If you want to save some money, aside from just keeping the one that works. (Kept my Hobart until it finally died 25 years later) How about a refurb on-line. I forget the exact model name but it's the biggest, heaviest duty Kitchaid without going commercial from online. It happens to be white. But sometimes you can snag a different color. I wish I had a hydraulic lift for it out of the cabinet though
Good Luck with whatever you decide.