Kitchenaid standing mixer - any bad reviews?

[beergut]

I recently told GF I wanted to buy a pasta machine, and found one at a local store. She remarked that Kitchenaid has a pasta attachment you can put on their mixers. I told her I want a hand cranked machine, not an attachment. She replied that I wasn't listening, she is saying she wants a Kitchenaid standing mixer. 

I was worried it was something of a status symbol when I saw the price, but people I've talked to say they are sturdy and last for a long time (20-40 years).

So, any bad reviews from anyone on this product?

My mother has a Tilt, and let me borrow it for a week. I made pizza, bread, and pasta. It is pretty handy. I've watched videos on YouTube of the different attachments. 

I'm leaning towards buying her one for her birthday, which is coming up soon. 

Anyone have anything negative to say about these mixers before I take the plunge?

[nogooddeed]

I've had my Kitchenaid mixer for about 15 years.  Runs like a champ.  I love it and would definitely buy one again, though I doubt I will ever need to.  

[Deleted]

Oct 20, 2015 20:31:45 GMT -5 beergut said:

I recently told GF I wanted to buy a pasta machine, and found one at a local store. She remarked that Kitchenaid has a pasta attachment you can put on their mixers. I told her I want a hand cranked machine, not an attachment. She replied that I wasn't listening, she is saying she wants a Kitchenaid standing mixer. 

I was worried it was something of a status symbol when I saw the price, but people I've talked to say they are sturdy and last for a long time (20-40 years).

So, any bad reviews from anyone on this product?

My mother has a Tilt, and let me borrow it for a week. I made pizza, bread, and pasta. It is pretty handy. I've watched videos on YouTube of the different attachments. 

I'm leaning towards buying her one for her birthday, which is coming up soon. 

Anyone have anything negative to say about these mixers before I take the plunge?

No bad reviews, but these frequently go on sale for the Christmas season.  I bought my DIL's for about $199 one year on BF at Amazon.  She loves it.

Also, check around.  Sometimes you can get a free bowl or free attachment instead of a sale price.  That's usually from buying direct from KitchenAid or one of the department stores.

Does it have to be her birthday or would Christmas do?

[Shooby]

I have the Artisan. I love it. Don't get the cheap one at Walmart. It looks like the Artisan but it isn't. CHeck Amazon for the best prices.  My aunt the other model where the bowl lifts up. The Pro. It was heavy and clunky and lifting the bowl up was hard for her with her arthritis. She returned it and got the Artisan which has the tilt head. Easy to use. You have to just leave it out on the counter if your really intend to use it a lot. My is sitting there ready to go. I have the pasta maker but its' a waste of money. You can just use the KA to make the dough and then get a standing maker for far less money. The attachment is really not worth it to me. But, I have it.

[Shooby]

You should definitely buy it. You wont' regret it. I hardly baked at all until I got one. Now, I make bread, baked goods, pepperoni rolls, homemade pizza dough, etc. It really opens a whole new world, lol.

[Shooby]

The "Classic" is like $199. I think that one is more cheaply made. The Artisan runs around $279 and you can get any color you want.

[Blonde Granny]

Check out QVC for the mixer.  They often have 5 or 6 payments interest free, and add some attachments also.  At times they will throw in free shipping.  Multiple colors that are exclusive to QVC also.

[beergut]

Oct 20, 2015 20:49:17 GMT -5 Shooby said:

I have the Artisan. I love it. Don't get the cheap one at Walmart. It looks like the Artisan but it isn't. CHeck Amazon for the best prices.  My aunt the other model where the bowl lifts up. The Pro. It was heavy and clunky and lifting the bowl up was hard for her with her arthritis. She returned it and got the Artisan which has the tilt head. Easy to use. You have to just leave it out on the counter if your really intend to use it a lot. My is sitting there ready to go. I have the pasta maker but its' a waste of money. You can just use the KA to make the dough and then get a standing maker for far less money. The attachment is really not worth it to me. But, I have it.

We made garganelli on Sunday. 

I showed GF how to work the pasta machine, and she rolled out the dough, sliced it, and I rolled every noodle on the gnocchi board. It turned out very well. 

Some of those attachments cost $100.   My pasta machine cost $40, and I probably could have found it cheaper if I had really looked. 

[beergut]

Oct 20, 2015 20:53:16 GMT -5 Shooby said:

You should definitely buy it. You wont' regret it. I hardly baked at all until I got one. Now, I make bread, baked goods, pepperoni rolls, homemade pizza dough, etc. It really opens a whole new world, lol.

I totally understand this. 

If I want to make bread by hand, that means making the dough, kneading it for 10-15 minutes, then letting it rise. Knead it again, shape the loaves. Let it rise, then put in oven.

The KA mixer will do the mixing and kneading for me, so it is less labor on my part. 

Calzones are the next thing I want to make. 

[CCL]

I've got the Artisan and it is great. Go buy one! Kohls and Sam's Club are both good places to pick one up. I got mine at Kohls during one of their sales with 30% extra discount and $10 back for every $50 you spend. All together it was about $160, a bargain, I thought.

I've also got the pasta attachments (plus a bunch of others) for it and love those too.

[CCL]

Oct 20, 2015 21:01:22 GMT -5 beergut said:

Oct 20, 2015 20:53:16 GMT -5 Shooby said:

You should definitely buy it. You wont' regret it. I hardly baked at all until I got one. Now, I make bread, baked goods, pepperoni rolls, homemade pizza dough, etc. It really opens a whole new world, lol.

I totally understand this. 

If I want to make bread by hand, that means making the dough, kneading it for 10-15 minutes, then letting it rise. Knead it again, shape the loaves. Let it rise, then put in oven.

The KA mixer will do the mixing and kneading for me, so it is less labor on my part. 

Calzones are the next thing I want to make. 

I've got a really nifty bread machine that bakes bread that is in a regular loaf shape. It is great too. I love using it for pizza dough. I still roll them out by hand but it saves me all the time of kneading/rising.

[teen persuasion]

I just pulled out my kitchen aid mixer today for the first time in months.  Man, that thing is a beast to haul out of a cabinet and up to the countertop, but I don't have the counterspace to leave it out all the time.  DS5 wanted to make cupcakes, and beating cake batter or whipping something are the main things I use it for.  I prefer to knead dough or mix cookie dough by hand.

I've had mine 20 years, but as I said I don't really give it a work out.  My mom has burned out at least 3, the newer ones have plastic gears and are not the workhorses the older ones were, but mom is doing wedding cakes, Italian cookies, and pastries/sweet rolls as a side business.

Mom's  original one had the tilt head, and the head could bounce up a bit while kneading a big batch of bread/pizza dough.  Mine is the lift style, so the head is fixed, probably to compensate for the bounce issue.  There's pros and cons to each style.


 Multiple bowls would be a plus; it's a pain having to transfer the contents to another container and wash and dry the KA bowl for the next step (whipped cream, egg whites, buttercream frosting, you name it).

[wvugurl26]

I have a pro one that is the bowl lift type. I love it. The roommates have a classic or artisan tilt head one and it doesn't have the power mine has. The gears in mine are all metal as are the mixing pieces. It's heavier but it has more horsepower behind it. My brother got mine new in the box on eBay for the same price as the artisan one. Works perfectly.

The only attachment I haven't been a fan of is the ice cream maker. The instructions are awful and it just didn't turn out well. I love the shredder one. Need a cup of shredded cheese for a recipe? No problem with that thing.

[CCL]

Oct 20, 2015 22:56:00 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I have a pro one that is the bowl lift type. I love it. The roommates have a classic or artisan tilt head one and it doesn't have the power mine has. The gears in mine are all metal as are the mixing pieces. It's heavier but it has more horsepower behind it. My brother got mine new in the box on eBay for the same price as the artisan one. Works perfectly.

The only attachment I haven't been a fan of is the ice cream maker. The instructions are awful and it just didn't turn out well. I love the shredder one. Need a cup of shredded cheese for a recipe? No problem with that thing.

Really? I love my ice cream maker. I've never had any issues with it at all.

[toomuchreality]

My mom and dad's KA was probably about 3o yrs old, when my dad passed away. It still ran perfectly. It was a hot item, on several people's 'want' list.  It was the style that the bowl lifts and locks. I didn't think it was hard to do/lift at all. I thought my sister's, with the tilt head was much harder to maneuver.  -Everyone has there preferences.

(I want one!) 

[bobosensei]

Oct 20, 2015 22:56:00 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I have a pro one that is the bowl lift type. I love it. The roommates have a classic or artisan tilt head one and it doesn't have the power mine has. The gears in mine are all metal as are the mixing pieces. It's heavier but it has more horsepower behind it. My brother got mine new in the box on eBay for the same price as the artisan one. Works perfectly.

The only attachment I haven't been a fan of is the ice cream maker. The instructions are awful and it just didn't turn out well. I love the shredder one. Need a cup of shredded cheese for a recipe? No problem with that thing.

I totally agree about the ice cream maker.  I have the artisan, and the ice cream maker was the first and only attachment I got for it.  I was so disappointed with it.  It's been so long ago since I used it that I can't remember the specifics, but I recall it was a mechanical issue.  Like you could fit it to the mixer okay, but once it was on for like 45 seconds the paddle would stop turning.

After that experience I never tried the meat grinder or pasta attachments.  Otherwise I liked the way the kitchenaid worked, though I agree it is heavy to move around if you can't leave it on the counter.

[yogiii]

We have the meat grinder attachment and DH uses it for making sausage and grinding beef for burgers, meatloaf, etc.

The only other attachment we have is the ice cream maker, haven't used it much due to lack of time but I don't recall any issues with it other than I wish it made me a larger quantity of nutella ice cream!

[wvugurl26]

Oct 20, 2015 23:27:50 GMT -5 CCL said:

Oct 20, 2015 22:56:00 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I have a pro one that is the bowl lift type. I love it. The roommates have a classic or artisan tilt head one and it doesn't have the power mine has. The gears in mine are all metal as are the mixing pieces. It's heavier but it has more horsepower behind it. My brother got mine new in the box on eBay for the same price as the artisan one. Works perfectly.

The only attachment I haven't been a fan of is the ice cream maker. The instructions are awful and it just didn't turn out well. I love the shredder one. Need a cup of shredded cheese for a recipe? No problem with that thing.

Really? I love my ice cream maker. I've never had any issues with it at all.

It seemed very awkward getting it attached to the mixer. It wasn't intuitive and the directions with it were awful. We even watched a video of them attaching it. I've had no issues with other attachments.

[cael]

DH has a cheaper Kenmore stand mixer and loves it, we haven't had a single problem with it in several years. He also has the Kitchenaid pasta attachments and they're great, he makes amazing pasta with them ( I know you said you wanted hand crank though, lol)

We want to get some of the other attachments... I feel like he has one more but I forget what it is.

[steph08]

I have a Kitchenaid that we got six years ago as a wedding present - still works great! I have the one where the top tilts back for easy bowl removal.

I use mine for cakes, cookies, bread doughs, etc. The only thing is that I don't like making chocolate chip cookies in it - I don't know why, but I think it makes them differently than hand mixing. All other cookies have been fine mixing in the kitchenaid.

My dad has the pasta attachment and loves it.

[garion2003]

I've had a KitchenAid stand mixer for 23 years and counting. It's the KSM90, tilt head and 4.5 quart bowl. I really want to upgrade to a bigger bowl with the lift style...but it's def a want and not a need at this point.

Don't do too many attachments but do own the slicer/shredder and grinder (never used the grinder, but I should).

Def echo getting multiple bowls.

It's must for bread doughs, whipping egg whites or  or cream, even just making cookies - it makes such a difference.

[tcu2003]

I have the pro style one as well where the bowl lifts, and love it. Mine was a wedding present 5.5 years ago, and I use it fairly frequently. Probably on average at least once per week. No issues. I don't have any of the attachments, so I just use it for kneading, mixing, and whisking. It makes making homemade whipped cream waaaaaaaaay easier than by hand or with a hand mixer.

[The Captain]

DH I have bake hundreds of dozens of cookies every Christmas (not a typo).  The only reason we can do this with relative ease and enjoyment is due to our kitchenaid mixer, which has been in use close to 20 years.

We have a plain black one with the stand that you raise and lower with a lever.  Don't know the model but it's as solid as a iron wall and a real workhorse.   I think it may be an artisan. 

Money very well spent. 

[MJ2.0]

are you finished paying off the pool?

[chen35]

Has anyone used both the Kitchen Aid and the Bosch? What was your preference?

[milee]

Oct 20, 2015 20:31:45 GMT -5 beergut said:

I recently told GF I wanted to buy a pasta machine, and found one at a local store. She remarked that Kitchenaid has a pasta attachment you can put on their mixers. I told her I want a hand cranked machine, not an attachment. She replied that I wasn't listening, she is saying she wants a Kitchenaid standing mixer. 

 

Anyone have anything negative to say about these mixers before I take the plunge?

Neither negative nor positive, but this is all part of the pattern we keep remarking on when you post in other threads that GF views you as a supplier of luxury goods and sees no reason to save $ or change her financial situation. $30 hand crank pasta maker becomes $300 stand mixer that (although a great kitchen tool, you didn't even know or think you needed...) is a status symbol.

I love my KA, but bought it because I use it 2-3 times a week and regularly use it for things that are tough to do with a hand mixer.  You're buying something you didn't previously even know you "needed" because GF thinks it would look nice on the counter top. Not that you wouldn't find ways to use it - of course you can find ways to use it - but it wasn't on the radar when you first looked for your $30 pasta maker and this is how the pattern continues.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Actually, Cooks Illustrated gave comparable reviews to the Cuisinart as the KitchenAid.  I never saw them review a Bosch.  We did look at the Cuisinart, but I seem to remember it being more expensive.

Once upon a time. The gears in all KA were made of metal, but this is not the case in the newer models.  I think they are still made of metal in the Pro, maybe the Artisan (you need to research this) but in the lower priced models, they are made of plastic.  This is going to be the weakest link.  I would take an older model over a bigger, newer one for this purpose.

You want to pay attention to the amount of power in the model.  If you are planning on making a lot if bread doughs, then you really want the more powerful motors.  I think that the Pro model is upwards of 600, where the lessor models can be as low as 175.  The difference is significant.

[tractor]

I bought one at a household auction over 20 years ago, it one of the original chrome, heavy duty ones. My wife loves it, and I would guess it's been around for almost 50 years. You can still get parts/attachments for it. Best part is we only paid $5 for it.

[wvugurl26]

Oct 21, 2015 10:04:47 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Actually, Cooks Illustrated gave comparable reviews to the Cuisinart as the KitchenAid.  I never saw them review a Bosch.  We did look at the Cuisinart, but I seem to remember it being more expensive.

Once upon a time. The gears in all KA were made of metal, but this is not the case in the newer models.  I think they are still made of metal in the Pro, maybe the Artisan (you need to research this) but in the lower priced models, they are made of plastic.  This is going to be the weakest link.  I would take an older model over a bigger, newer one for this purpose.

You want to pay attention to the amount of power in the model.  If you are planning on making a lot if bread doughs, then you really want the more powerful motors.  I think that the Pro model is upwards of 600, where the lessor models can be as low as 175.  The difference is significant.

I have a pro version and the gears are all metal. That's why I have that one because my brother researched it. Mine is definitely more heavy duty than the tilt head ones. Glad I have the pro versus the cheaper ones.

[moneymaven]

I've had mine for 10 years and I use it all the time. It's wonderful.

But don't get her this for her birthday! How about a just because gift and some thing else for her birthday...