Stand mixer suggestions please?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

oldrustycars

Senior Cook
Joined
Mar 7, 2009
Messages
160
Location
Naperville, Illinois
My daughter loves to bake. I'm thinking about getting her a stand mixer for her birthday. The Kitchenaid runs from the mid $200 range to way up. Are the entry level ones still good? Can we mix meatloaf in it? Any other suggestions? Thank you.
 
I've had a 350 Watt bowl lift Professional model for about 10 years. I use it regularly to make bagels. That's a heavy load of thick dough. It can mix a meatloaf depending on how much meat you're using.

If she is going to use it a great deal or for heavy loads, a model in 450W to 600W range may be better.
 
I've got this one
It was rated very high, though I did notice it straining a bit last weekend making a 10 hot dog bun recipe. It doesn't due that for one loaf of Italian/French bread. It's good for small quantities due to the bowl design over some of the other ones. I like it.
 
>>loves to bake

get the style with the bowl rise, not the tilt head
get the biggest one they make

saves replacing it 2-3 years down the road.
 
I have the KA 600Pro and love it.

The only down side is sometime small batch stuff doesn't mix as well.

Check around for pricing... you can find them for really good deals (even better if you don't worry about the color).
 
Very good entry/starter stand mixer that is reliable & easy to find replacement parts: KitchenAid K45SS & KSM75.

edit: pretty much any KA stand mixer that has the black dots (motor bushing covers) on the side of the head .. those are the good old style ones. Newer KAs with no black dots on the head are the newer style .. but AFAIK, do not live up to the old style in reliability. This is what I was told by a KA repair man when I was looking for replacement parts for my KA Professional 6 mixer (KP2671X). That mixer had no black dots & was impossible to find a replacement worm gear for it (outdated model).

While the K45SS model has been around for 20+ years (maybe longer) and you can still find replacement parts for it EZ.
 
Last edited:
My daughter loves to bake. I'm thinking about getting her a stand mixer for her birthday. The Kitchenaid runs from the mid $200 range to way up. Are the entry level ones still good? Can we mix meatloaf in it? Any other suggestions? Thank you.

Yes to both of your questions. Many of us here are equipment junkies. Bigger - more powerful - better. Tool Times' Tim Allen of the kitchens.

I've had a K45 Since the year I got married (1982). I bake A LOT of everything except bread. After 29 years, it is still going strong, and has managed to mix everything I threw at it. Purchased new at that time it was $179. At the time there were only 2 models for home kitchens - the 4 1/5 quart with the tilt head (mine), and the 5 quart with the lift bowl. Now there are several models and many bigger, more powerful ones.

The added power and size is important to serious bread bakers. But for most of us, it will always be nice to have bigger & better, but the smaller models will probably do everything we need.

I'll bet that there are a lot of us 'over 50 crowd' that still have our old K45's and don't plan on replacing them.

So even though we all want to tell you how great the bigger models are, you will have a perfectly good mixer if you get the Artisan or similar model.
 
Many of us here are equipment junkies. Bigger - more powerful - better. Tool Times' Tim Allen of the kitchens.

I'll bet that there are a lot of us 'over 50 crowd' that still have our old K45's and don't plan on replacing them.

:ermm:OK, I'm busted! Who told ya I am an equipment junkie? I thought I was on the downlow....:angel:
 
I have a Kitchen-Aid 300 watt tilt-head unit. I don't know or care what the model number is. All I know is that it works. I use it mostly for cakes, puddings, frostings, whipping heavy cream, and other light-to-medium duty uses. For breads, rolls, bagels, etc, I use my breadmaker. I got tired of waiting for someone to gift me one, so I bought one for myself last year. It's a factory refurbished Cuisinart, it will make a 1 pound, 1½ pound, or 2 pound loaf of bread and I paid less than 50 bucks for it. The only problem I've had with it is the paddle is a real bear to remove from the spindle when cleanup time comes. I have other factory refurbished Cuisinart kitchen appliances (toaster oven, blender, food processor) and they've given me no trouble whatsoever over the last 6 or 7 years, so I figured the bread machine was a good gamble.

BTW Cuisinart also makes stand mixers, and they sell refurbished ones a lot cheaper than the equivalent Kitchen-Aid model. I think the cheapest Kitchen-Aid stand mixer is around $250.00, so you could probably get a refurbished Cuisinart stand mixer and a refurbished Cuisinart bread machine for less than the price of a Kitchen-Aid mixer alone. Just a thought.
 
Last edited:
Ktichen Aid Pro 5 or 6? I have been doing some online tutoring...I now have enough money in my paypal account to buy a KA mixer. Canadian Tire has the Pro 5 on sale this week ($200 off). Would you buy a 5 or a 6? Which one is better? I am a rudimentary cook--someday I might be a good cook, but right now, I just work with what I have and hope it tastes good. Luckily, my DH (and dogs) eat everything I make. I want the pasta and meat grinder attachments. Can the 5 handle those?
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom