Going to the Kitchen Aid Experience Store

[vilasman]

This weekend. And if I am successful and not letting the few pennies I have burn a hole in my pocket, I should be able to buy a few toys if the prices are right. IE better the BB&B with coupons. My questions are

Have any of you been there... whats it like

I want a kitchen aid hand mixer... are more speeds better?

Is there anything I need to be on the lookout for?

 

[JillBurgh]

What?! You are going where?? How do I get there? How long will it take? How much are you allowed to buy? Should I rent a truck?

 

[Russellkhan]

From what I've read, the hand mixers with more speeds have more power and get better reviews.

In case it's not clear, I don't have one and haven't used one - I'm just a compulsive online window-shopper. I recommend Epinions and Amazon for online reviews.

 

[vilasman]

The Kitchen Aid expierence Factory store. Where you can the tour and see how the big beast (6 qt mixer) is made in Greenville,Ohio. My wife's girls thing is having a pow wow in columbus and rather than being stuck in a hotel room all day, I am driving the 1.5 hrs to greenville and doing something useful and productive.
Then, also, may the good Lord be praised, I got paid... I do contract electric work, the bills are paid... and thank God again, I didn't get enough to really think about getting that icebox that I want for the garage. But if I had gotten it, i wouldn't have blinked twice about getting a 17" laptop.

Anyways... I want all the accessory blades for my food processor, maybe SS jar for the mixer, 2 of the freezable ice cream bowls for the mixer, the covers for all of the above if they are cheap, oh yeah, i want another slow cooker as well. And the hand mixer. But the goods have to be cheaper than what I can get at BB&B with a coupon and kitchen collection on sale. And those 2 can be hard to beat

But at the very least, I will have a kitchen aid expierence to look back on

 

[jpmcgrew]

The Kitchen Aid expierence Factory store. Where you can the tour and see how the big beast (6 qt mixer) is made in Greenville,Ohio. My wife's girls thing is having a pow wow in columbus and rather than being stuck in a hotel room all day, I am driving the 1.5 hrs to greenville and doing something useful and productive.
Then, also, may the good Lord be praised, I got paid... I do contract electric work, the bills are paid... and thank God again, I didn't get enough to really think about getting that icebox that I want for the garage. But if I had gotten it, i wouldn't have blinked twice about getting a 17" laptop.

Anyways... I want all the accessory blades for my food processor, maybe SS jar for the mixer, 2 of the freezable ice cream bowls for the mixer, the covers for all of the above if they are cheap, oh yeah, i want another slow cooker as well. And the hand mixer. But the goods have to be cheaper than what I can get at BB&B with a coupon and kitchen collection on sale. And those 2 can be hard to beat

But at the very least, I will have a kitchen aid expierence to look back on

Forget the covers that keep the flour from blowing out they don't work you are better wrapping a dish towel around the sides.

 

[vilasman]

I have that cover
at best it is sometimey
I meant the covers that keep the dust from settling on the mixer/blender/foodprocessor that keep the grease from mixing with that dust and making them impossible to clean

 

[Russellkhan]

Those are nice. I want one for my mixer, not sure if the KA one will fit though and I've never seen one made for mine (Electrolux DLX).

 

[AMSeccia]

I have the KA cover. We have a love-hate relationship. Would rather see the copper glisten, but that dust and grease you speak of is a real issue so I tend to keep it covered unless I'm in a run or wave of heavy use. It's a very nice cover, and fits well (even with those useless flour guard/cover) with pockets on each side for your manual or the KA cookbook if you like to keep it there, but it's not as pretty as the mixer itself.

As for the hand mixer, I don't have the KA, but I do have a similar Cuisinart which I love. I would always go for more speeds, personally, but I would get the model with the most power (watts).

 

[JillyBean]

I'm too jealous to post.

 

[AMSeccia]

Ha JillyBean, good one! I too am very envious!

 

[Adillo303]

Since I am not near the tour / store, I was tempted not to read this thread. I have been coveting the bowl shield for my KA in hopes of averting the "flour explosion". Now I know that help does not lie in a bowl shield.

I had a KA hand mixer for lots of years. Whatever goomitzagam that holds one fo the beaters in broke. The beater would fall out. Made do with it a year or so. I looked for parts and found that KA does not sell any parts for hand mixers. One day, I could not find it, DW casually says "You said it was broken, so I tossed it". Could use a hand mixer, whipping cream in the KA stand is messy. Also, thank you for the tip on more power with more speeds.

AC

 

[vilasman]

I saw on the kitchen Aid boards that all of the hand mixers have the same motor , the only difference is the number of speeds...

 

[Andy M.]

Make sure the top speed of the mixer you buy is fast enough. Compare a couple of models if possible. Our KA hand mixer won;t whip cream any time soon.

 

[CookwareFreak]

I've been to the KitchenAid Experience store. It is fun! I was amazed at the little town. They have a small KitchenAid timeline in the basement where the refurbs are...it is interesting seeing all the old mixers. They have one that they mounted a pen on...and it shows the precision of the mixing action. I didn't buy much because I already have a KA mixer, FP, blender, etc. I did see their new slow cooker...it looks neato!

I wanted to tour the factory...but we had been driving all day and it is quite a ways off the interstate. By the time I got there the tours had ended for the day.

 

[vilasman]

I wound up not going. First I found the accessories that I was looking for, for my food processor at an online store called comfort house, which was having a sale and was where i got the food processor in the first place. ThenI called the kitchen aid store. A nice enough lady answered the phone and told me that they were very limited in what they had in stock. When I asked about the items that I potentially wanted, the prices were no better than BB&B with a coupon. I have 20-30 coupons.
So I figured why waste the gas...

 

[SpiceUmUp]

I was at the KA experience store for the third time two weeks ago. GREAT place, wonderful cooking demonstrations and the ladies that work there are wonderful. There is a little KA museum in the basement with the Refurbs and closeouts.

The town on Greenville is really nice. I would avoid the MAID-RITE sandwiches but they are a local favorite and the place really draws a crowd.

The Factory tour is fun and informative. Wear very comfortable shoes and be ready for a long long walk. The people that work there are great and don't seem to mind a bunch of gawkers walking through the place.

Try to go to Greenville in Late July for Annie Oakley Days. Side walk sales, live music in front of the courthouse and a county fair a mile or so outside of town.

Many good deals at the Experience store so bring a full wallet and an empty trunk.

 

[reesecook]

I think for hand mixer, currently the best in the market is either make by Cuisinart or KitchenAid. I currently own a Cuisinart PowerSelect CHM7, it's work great for me.