288628 Sun Mar 03 11:49:00 -0800 2002 25 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1558213 I am beginning to consider giving in to my previous doubts about Kitchenaid mixers to cash in on one. BUT... Are they TRULY worth the price tag? Do they measure way past whisks and hand-held mixers? Do tell... Sun Mar 03 11:49:00 -0800 2002 0 katydid 1 1558215 The short answer: yes to all three. The longer consideration: KA may have just been bought out by Whirlpool (read it, don't know if it's true or a rumor - my Whirlpool experience is negative). You may want to look at the other heavy duty household mixer (can't remember the name, something like Kenmore) which gets good reviews, too. My personal experience with KA has been super. One inherited from 60's (4 1/2 qt) still chugs along, my own from the 70's ditto. The small one has been serviced once, the latter, never. When the dough hook shank cracked after 20+ years, they replaced it gratis. But if they no longer are running the company, I'd worry that service and parts might become more problematic. Sun Mar 03 12:11:30 -0800 2002 1558213 0 saucyknave 2 1558232 Whirlpool acquired KitchenAid in *1986*, so any new changes in the quality of KitchenAid products wouldn't worry me. Sun Mar 03 14:32:06 -0800 2002 1558215 0 KathyR 1 1558216 If you are a serious cook and plan to do any baking, it is well worth the investment to get a Kitchenaid stand mixer. The motor and all of the other elements are heavy duty enough to stand up to whatever challenges you will provide it, especially heavy doughs and batters. If you never bake from scratch, a hand mixer is probably adequate to meet your needs. The power takeoff on the Kitchenaid also allows you to buy attachments like a meat grinder/sausage stuffer, pasta cutter, grain mill, etc. I've had mine for more than twenty years, and it will probably last forever. Sun Mar 03 12:19:46 -0800 2002 1558213 0 zora 2 1558222 My factory reconditioned 450 Watt Epicurean Kitchenaid arrived on Friday. It works well, but the motor is both loud and shrill. It's not an obvious malfunction sound, and it doesn't get louder or shriller as I put the machine through its paces. It's just not a "healhty" sound, if you know what I mean. Is this just a fault of the beast, or is mine abnormal? Sun Mar 03 13:14:30 -0800 2002 1558216 0 Lindsay B. 3 1558228 i just traded in my regular model for the phenominal professional model. one of the reasons was because after i'd had my little one tuned up it never ran the same, something about replacing brushes. but the speed never went above four so it wasn't the workhorse i needed and it always made a really odd sound and overheated. (although some heat is normal) it was really hard to deal with my mechine not being it's normal self, but i couldn't be happier with it's replacement. Sun Mar 03 14:00:11 -0800 2002 1558222 0 Rochelle 1 1558239 In my opinion, the impressive look of the KitchenAid mixer alone is worth the price tag. It just looks ultra-cool on your kitchen counter (even though I keep mine covered with a kitchen towel to avoid dust settling in the bowl...). It just screams out PROFESSIONAL BAKER!!! That said, I just love mine and use it at every opportunity. I made chocolate souffle for Christmas Eve using a hand-held mixer then the same recipe for Christmas night using my new KA mixer (can you guess it was a Christmas gift?) and somehow, the latter version seemed lighter, fluffier. If you're into baking, I think it's well worth the investment. Sun Mar 03 16:49:08 -0800 2002 1558213 0 Sonia 1 1558241 Kitchen Aid mixers don't hold a candle to Kenwood, Bosch, or Magic Mill. These are real mixers for the serious baker (looks aren't everything either). Your best bet is to go to King Arthur Flour and read their recommendations. They have a message board also that you might check out for advice. Link: http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/htmlos/49145.5.2946541862498191252 Sun Mar 03 17:40:35 -0800 2002 1558213 0 Bruce Cole 2 1558265 I don't know. I don't have any experience with Bosch or Kenwood but I do have a 20-plus yr old KitchenAid that I inherited 10 yrs ago and a Magic Mill that I bought largely on the recommendation of King Arthur. While the MagicMill can hold a huge quantity of flour and sugar it has a couple of idiosyncracies that keep me from wholeheartedly recommending it. The design is quite different from KitchenAid; the bowl revolves. While this makes for the lightest buttercream ever, still I find that I must constantly scrape the bowl even with the built in scraper; also a lot of stuff remains somewhat unmixed and stuck to the beater, no matter how I adjust it. Worse, the machine is prone to throwing batter and dough around the kitchen. Partly this is because it whips so light but I cannot turn it on and then ignore it for a bit the way I can with my KitchenAid; I have to monitor it. It has a real personality in my kitchen, eccentric and beloved. The bottom line is though, if I were doing it over I would buy KitchenAids largest most powerful mixer. I've never had a seconds problem with my KitchenAid but it's a 3 1/2 qt bowl, too small for most of my needs. KitchenAid has a great canopener, of all things, that I keep attached to my mixer. Mon Mar 04 00:49:04 -0800 2002 1558241 0 Wendy Leonard 3 1558328 If you've got a 20-year-old KA, you may have one that actually is a Hobart, and that's way better than today's KA. I understands that KA used to contract with Hobart (which makes heavy duty machines for commercial kitchens today) to supply the motors, but at some point (and I'm not sure when, but my guess is it was at least 15-20 years ago), KA decided it would be less expensive to find a different supplier. If you've got an old KA with Hobart guts, you've got a fine machine. If you've got a post-Hobart machine, it simply doesn't have the power or wherewithal. Mon Mar 04 21:05:59 -0800 2002 1558265 0 Bob Libkind 4 1558334 Actually Hobart sold its KitchenAid Division to Whirlpool in 1986. There is no reason that I know of to believe that there has been any material change in the product or its quality standards since that time and Kitchenaid is a high quality appliance brand. Mon Mar 04 22:48:03 -0800 2002 1558328 0 jen kalb 5 1558381 Didn't mean to imply that current KA is a poor product -- just that when the motors were made by Hobart they were superior. That, at least, is what at least one professional pastry chef tells me. Tue Mar 05 23:08:55 -0800 2002 1558334 0 Bob Libkind 1 1558243 yes. For all normal home uses (cakes, cookies, bread, etc) these are excellent and reliable. I think their blade design mixes very well indeed. The meat grinder attachment is a good one, too. Sun Mar 03 17:55:58 -0800 2002 1558213 0 jen kalb 1 1558259 I won a KA mixer + all attachments on a game show in 1975. It has been a workhorse, and is still going strong. It has done everything from whipping cream to kneading bread, and with attachments, ground meat, shredded veggies for salad and slaw, made juice, and even ice cream. Don't hestitate for a moment; you won't regret buying it. Sun Mar 03 23:08:35 -0800 2002 1558213 0 LBQT 1 1558263 My wife can live without a food processor, blender, toaster, and most other appliances, but I wouldn't try to pry her KA from her fingers. She's on her second. The first was the bottom end model. It lasted 20 years before we finally replaced it. It still ran (a little loud and with a sometimes worrisome grinding noise), she just wanted the bigger model and a different color. I figure I can afford to spring for 1 every 20 years. David "Zeb" Cook Sun Mar 03 23:52:08 -0800 2002 1558213 0 David "Zeb" Cook 1 1558307 Oh yes buy your Kitchen Aid, life will be infinitely better. Well maybe not life but your baking life will be easier. But buy the 6 quart not the 4 1/2 or the 5 quart. My Kitchen Aid is in storage while I go to school in another state and I miss it way to often. Mon Mar 04 15:36:10 -0800 2002 1558213 0 sipagolda 1 1558315 wow! i am convinced! i guess the hardest part will be picking a color. i think i will do a little cross-brand check but i think KA will be the winner. i bake all the time; yeast bread, quick bread, muffins, cornbread.... so i think a mixer will be dandy! (and very handy) Mon Mar 04 16:40:12 -0800 2002 1558213 0 katydid 2 1558318 Good for you! I'm rather partial to the cobalt blue one I own but I really like the new retro colors too. If you have extra funds, the chrome one is killer (for literally twice the money). Mon Mar 04 17:17:38 -0800 2002 1558315 0 Sonia 3 1558343 And I think you can order a pink one online from KitchenAid and a portion of the price will go to breast cancer research. Tue Mar 05 02:45:46 -0800 2002 1558318 0 LBQT 4 1558347 I've entertained the idea of a KA for quite some time. Now that I've read this entire thread I'm convinced. I still have some questions, though. I know from all of you that it should be the 6 quart size. What about attachements? Which ones would you recommend? Also, does anyone have a recommendation of where to buy one at the best price? Thanks, guys! Tue Mar 05 07:00:11 -0800 2002 1558343 0 Ann McL 5 1558350 I've had the grinder for many years. While I don't use it on a regular basis, when I need it it's indispensable. If you are into sausage making, you can get an addition to it for stuffing the casings. Best of all, it makes dynamite ground beef for hamburger on the coarse grind. And now that there's such concern about meats that have been contaminated, whenever I use ground meat I grind my own so I can still make them very rare. Before I just did it when I wanted to be sure of what cut I was using. (I find chuck the best for beef patties, meat loaf, etc.) I strongly recommend it if you have children or elderly people you want to feed hamburgers. Dont get the extruder for pasta. Been there, not too satisfactory. I've seen good comments about the roller attachment in an earlier thread. Tue Mar 05 09:32:10 -0800 2002 1558347 0 saufcyknave 6 1558353 Saucyknave, I agree with both your points. On a seasonal note, the KitchenAid is ideal for making gefilte fish. Grind fish, onions, matzoh directly into the mixing bowl. Then use mixer to combine with the rest of ingredients. Pat G. Tue Mar 05 10:03:11 -0800 2002 1558350 0 Pat Goldberg 7 1558354 Just out of curiosity, does the grinder do a better job with gefilte fish than the processor would? Recipes for quenelles call for a processor. And do you think that the old method of chopping it in a wooden bowl brought a noticably different result? Tue Mar 05 10:15:33 -0800 2002 1558353 0 saucyknave 8 1558370 I've only made quenelles once or twice, following Julia's recipe. It is quite different, in my estimation, than gefilte fish, in that one wants the fish to be chopped extremely fine. Some recipes even suggest putting the chopped mixture through a seive. Although I am not looking for quite that fine a mixture when I make gefilte fish, another problem with a food processor is capacity. When I make gefilte fish, I make at least two dozen pieces. This would require many batches in the food processor, even a large capacity one. The grinder, on the other hand, has infinite capacity. The more important point for me is that I have to get out the KitchenAid in any case, in order to mix in the other ingredients. So the easiest thing to do is to put the bowl under the grinder to catch the fish and onions, then move it to the work stand to finish the process, then put the bowl in the fridge to rest. Just makes life easy. I have never chopped by hand so have no information there. Pat G. Tue Mar 05 18:33:26 -0800 2002 1558354 0 patcgoldberg 9 1558383 Another seasonal favorite made with the KA grinder: chopped liver. Better texture than with the food processor. Wed Mar 06 00:49:26 -0800 2002 1558370 0 LBQT 6 1558363 Well, it is hardly indispensable, but I keep my KitchenAid next to my sink and I keep the can opener attachment on the KitchenAid. It's a great little canopener! Tue Mar 05 11:44:24 -0800 2002 1558350 0 Wendy Leonard