Talk me out of buying a KitchenAid

rascal said:
I'm glad I don't have a mixer.

Russ
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Having a mixer is essential, especially if you bake a lot! If you don't have a stand mixer, at least get a hand-held one. You'd probably be surprised about how much life would be a little easier for you in the kitchen!! :whistling:
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
If you're talking about super cheap mixers, this one is similar to mine, for less than $50 at Target:

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Like mine, it includes dough hooks, and is perfectly suitable for anything I want to do. My meat grinder, pasta roller, and mixer cost me about $100 combined. They do everything I need, so it's hard to justify the expense of a high-end replacement.
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For a little bit more money, THIS one would've been nice. A little stronger also!! Someone I know wants a mixer. This would be their perfect one!!! Love the bright orange color!! :whistling:
 
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vernplum said:
Been toying with the idea of getting a KA Artisan or Mini recently. I want to grind my own meat (I have a hand-grinder right now that always clogs) and make pasta (q.v. semi-disastrous manual ravioli making session) so I need the attachment functionality, plus, although I'm not a prolific baker, I guess I could put it to use making pizza as well as pasta doughs, pastries, etc.

A store near me has an offer of USD $530 for the Artisan and they will throw in the metal meat grinding set (about USD $220 list) as part of the deal.

Should I do it? Any other pros and cons to consider?

Pros:
  • Fresh hamburgers, meatloaves, sausages, pasta, labour saving on dough making...
  • Nice shiny new gizmo may inspire me more.
  • Attractive bundle deal.

Cons:
  • Takes up quite a bit of space and I don't have counterspace for it to be out all the time. It will need to be stored (and it weighs a sh*t ton).
  • Pasta maker add on costs about USD $150. That will take a long time to amortize the cost.
  • How often will I really make sausages? if I thought pasta-making was messy, that's even worse.
  • 1 yr warranty only.
  • I got a butcher nearby who can grind meat on demand.
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My mother has a kitchen aid and everyone i talk to that has one loves it. At the the end of the day your paying for a name and the aesthetic of it. If you don’t look at the motor size and all the other specs. You can buy a referbished one that will do the same job and there are other brands that are a lot cheaper. Still recommend a kitchen aid mixer tho1
 
Should've mentioned this earlier.

The KA Mini is really no bargain. In one of her vids, Amy learns How to Cook, Amy had tested & evaluated the KA Mini. She came to the realization that the mixer was not one that she would want to buy.Said that it was a pure waste of time & money. Whipping cream, making snicker doodle cookie dough & making bread dough, like she usually does with ALL the mixers that she evaluates, her final conclusion was "Why waste money on this little machine? Said that she would've left it on the store shelf. It's just not worth it!! :eek:
 
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TastyReuben said:
Keep in mind, too, that that ATK review is for the KA Classic, which is a scaled-down (budget) version of the Artisan, so that'll be a slightly robust machine anyway.

SeriousEats did a similar review to that one, and they liked the Ambiano (sp?) mixer from ALDI. They said as long as it was working, it did a pretty good job for the home kitchen, but they didn't expect it to have the life expectancy of a KA.

My sis has a really crappy Hamilton-Beach or Sunbeam, one of those, and it's basically a hand mixer that fits in a stand and comes with a bowl. It even came with a dough hook. Can it knead bread? Not on your life. :laugh:

My KA is still muscling through pizza doughs and bread doughs like a champ, 25+ years on, and doesn't show any signs of stopping any time soon, I like it very much, and it's frequently in use.
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We had an KA Artisan model when I was married, but let the wife have it in the divorce. She used it way more than I did. My KA classic was the floor display at a Bed, Bath and Beyond store. It had no box and the dough hook and whisk we're missing, but it had the full factory warrantee. They wanted 150-bucks. I offered them 75-bucks, and they took it. I ordered the two missing parts from KA. so, for around 120-bucks, I got a KA stand mixer that I have had for 20 years, now.

CD

CD
 
caseydog said:
We had an KA Artisan model when I was married, but let the wife have it in the divorce. She used it way more than I did. My KA classic was the floor display at a Bed, Bath and Beyond store. It had no box and the dough hook and whisk we're missing, but it had the full factory warrantee. They wanted 150-bucks. I offered them 75-bucks, and they took it. I ordered the two missing parts from KA. so, for around 120-bucks, I got a KA stand mixer that I have had for 20 years, now.

CD

CD
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That's interesting for two reasons:

1. My friend got divorced and his wife took the stand mixer. The weird bit...he's an excellent cook, cooks for big groups, like charities, and his wife didn't cook at all, and the mixer was his before he met her...but she took it. :(

2. I bought my KA mixer at a store that was going out of business - they were selling the shelves and fixtures and everything, and every week or so, whatever was left was marked down a further 10% or something like that. Somehow, someone missed mine, because I found it, still in the box, just tossed in a big display bin with a bunch of unrelated stuff, and I got it for something like 70% or 80% off.

I didn't even want it, I just knew it was a great bargain and got it, and for a couple of years, I don't think I used it more than a couple of times. Now, though, I use it all the time. I'm using it tomorrow to make bread.
 
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