A
heavy duty kitchenaid or cuisinart kitchen stand
mixer is a ‘must have’ for every active kitchen. Most routine tasks can
be
accomplished with a hand mixer but if you’re an avid bread baker or
make a ton
cookies and cakes you really should consider a stand mixer. It’s ease
of use,
versatility, large capacity and power make it a real kitchen workhorse.
Most quality stand mixers
come with a variety of attachments allowing you to make spaghetti
noodles,
fresh juice, or even stuffed sausage. They are a real time and labor
saver.
Review Stand Mixer Considerations
Before buying a kitchenaid or
cuisinart stand mixer, there are
several things you must take into consideration.
Space requirements.
Units
can be over 20lbs. and over 20 inches tall.
These are counter top models.
If
you put it away in the cupboard or on top of the refridgerator, you’re not going to want to lug them out. Luckily enough, they come
in a variety of
colors and go well right next to your coffee pot.
Motor size.
They can range anywhere from 200-1000 watts.
This is real important if you’re making a lot of heavy doughs like
pizza or
bagels. You don’t
want the motor to
burn out. Metal
drive gears. Some
of the lower end ($100) models
come with plastic gears or metal gears in a plastic housing. These are features you
want to
consider. Get yourself a kitchen stand mixer that has metal drive gears and a thermal switch. Make sure
the mixer you
choose has one single beater with a stationary bowl and not a pair of
beaters. This
single beater feature
actually reaches the edges of the mixing bowl as it operates so you
don’t have
to scrape it as you go.
How I Chose a Stand Mixer
Trying to decide on the
‘right’ kitchen stand mixer can be a headache.
My wife does a lot of baking.
A
lot of baking. It’s
nothing for her to
make three cakes or 10 dozen cookies on the weekend.
We have eight grandkids.
She would stay up all night on friday mixing batch after batch
with her hand mixer. We were at the store just before her
birthday and
she hinted at the kitchenaid model
on the shelf. It
was lower end with plastic gears for about $100.
I spent about a
week
researching the specifications, varieties, colors and reputable
manufacturers
of stand mixers before deciding on a 600 professional series kitchenaid
model.
Most of the manufacturers do offer lower end mixers, which are great
for
routine tasks that you would normally use a hand mixer for, but if
you’re going
to do a lot of heavy baking and dough mixing you’re really going to
want a
beefed up
model. This particular model has a thermal switch.
which automatically shuts the unit down when it starts to overheat.
This came in real handy one night when I was mixing up a
double batch of bagel dough for twenty minutes and the unit turned off.
I thought I broke it, but once the stand mixer cooled down
It was good as new.
The Bottom Line
By Drake-by-the-Lake "movie critic" (State of Euphoria) -
This review is from: KitchenAid KP26M1XMR Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Meringue (Kitchen)
We went with the white/"meringue" mixer (would have preferred light green "jadite", but such is not available). Works great! Now granted, as with any piece of machinery--including your car--you must learn the in's and out's. Before purchasing, I printed out all the reviews you see here and the product description, and studied all this information. Then after purchasing, I read the product manual. You owe it to yourself to do the same -- after all, you're plunking down several hundred dollars. The main thing to carry away from the reviews here is to go easy with the high gluten flour.
This is a reliable machine. It gets a workout in my household on almost a daily basis. No complaints! The things I like about this, and the KA brand in general, is the elegant design, which inspires confidence (being heavy and metal, rather than el cheapo plastic) and accentuates rather than detracts from kitchen decor. I am not sure when so many major manufacturers decided that American consumers preferred cheap and ugly and unreliable, a la Wal-Mart, but they are wrong, and KA is right.
Do not try to scrimp and go with a lower powered model, such as the 525 watt. I think you will regret it. I have read little hints in the reviews of that model, to the effect that the machine labors under heavier loads; not good. I also don't recommend getting refurbs or used, based on discontented reviews I have read on them. Just drop the three sixty-nine (current price), minus the twenty-five dollar discount. It's worth it, if you are cooking for more than one person. I like to imagine buying something once, using it for a lifetime, and then bequeathing it in my will. I do not expect things I buy to ever break, or if they do, they should be repairable, rather than disposable.
I considered this and the 1000 watt, 7 quart Viking, which was considerably more expensive, and went with this because it's so much cheaper and has rather good reviews. Viking seems to be an over-priced brand in general which tries to appeal to price snobs rather than offering real value. I also did not like the fact that you do not see many Viking products in stores; which leads one to think about what happens if the Viking needs repair or replacement parts; hmmmm... Also, the Viking just does not offer neat attachments such as an ice cream maker.
Yeah, I suggest also purchasing the ice cream maker attachment for another fifty bucks or so. We have had a lot of fun crafting unusual flavors like green tea and ginger.
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