Mixer for home..

[Just_Lee]

Question for you cooks... This would be for home use.

When we got married over 44yrs ago my Dad bought us a Hamilton Beach (I think) mixer it was chrome and on a stand. It lasted 43+yrs we bought another one (cheaper) and my wife HATES IT. So I am looking at buying her a better one for Christmas..

She does not need one that has all kinds of attachments, like the bread mixer and what ever. She just wants one that can use different size bowls and is on a stand. Any suggestions? My budget is limited to about $300.00 + or -..........

Thanks for your help.......

[Roy_Lynne]

Kitchen Aid, but only if your a cook and plan to do a lot of baking, otherwise for the price, get a good whisk and just use.

[jkmcmom]

Love my Kitchenaid! There are many attachments you can add to the gift. Check out Amazon for a lot of options. One of the best I have added is a side swipe beater - it's like having the spatula built on to the beater.
I've bought the pasta attachment - which is still a work in progress for me!

[Swamp_Rat]

I bought DW the most powerful KA I could afford a few years ago. I got myself the meat grinder attachment to grind any game I could get and make sausage or boudin. It's a beast and I'm sure it will be passed on to one of my kids...

[wbwood]

I bought my wife a kitchen aid 14 yrs ago and it's still going strong. She loves it.

[PUCampin]

We have a KitchenAid Pro 600, and it is our most used and favorite appliance. DW bakes a lot so it gets used for everything from bread to cookies to pies every couple days. We also have the citrus juicer attachment after burning out a Cuisinart juicer. Grandma has a Meyor lemon tree, and we juice many bags of lemons. We also juice pomogranites this way. I have never heard our mixer strain doing anything. The motor can sound a little different depending on the load, heavy loads like bread require more power applied than cake batter at the same speed setting, so the motor may be a bit louder, but it is not strainig. Hope you enjoy your KitchenAid

[calamus]

We have a kitchen aid we got as a wedding gift from my parents. I use it more than the wife does I make alot of deer sticks and jerky. I set up my slicer and run the meat through the grinder into the mixing bowl when it is about 3/4 full I mix in high temp cheese and seasoning 1 cup of hot water and mix, then put in in the jerky shooter and on to trays to dehydrate or smoke. the kids wont stay out of them. For over 10 years I abuse that mixer every year and it runs awesome.

[Texas_Roadrunn1]

Love my KitchenAid, use all the beaters. The whisk beats cream so well, much better than standard beaters. The dough hook makes it much more likely that I will make bread, I do some hand kneading, but the task is much easier with the dough hook.

[magnusfide]

Herself says her Bosch mixes the heaviest doughs better than their most powerful Kitchenaid Professional 600 home mixer that she had. Her Bosch is more stable on the counter while mixing and yet a half the weight of KA. This is her personal experience not a paid ad.

That said, I've learned to trust her judgement on all matters kitchen related since she is the one who bakes every day. DEFINITELY form your own criteria list and test both at a cook specialty store. Ignore the fancy colors and watch each one operate while listening for any struggle from the motor.

Happy hunting.

[Mocoondo]

I love seeing all the folks who love their Kitchenaid. Kitchenaid is the last mixer you will ever need to buy. We use ours all the time. In fact, we have a small collection of them which we have amassed over the years. Everything comes together so much better with a good Kitchenaid.

Be sure to get one with enough power for what you plan on doing. Some of the lighter versions have a hard time working through heavier items such as bread dough.

[SWMO]

swtgran wrote:
I must really be in the minority. I hate my KitchenAid. In fact, I boxed it up after trying to like it, for my youngest daughter to take with her when she moves out.

I love my Bosch compact. The reason I like it so much better than the KitchenAid, is because I can actually get my ingredients into it, without having to stop the machine and get the head out of the way. If I don't do that, I have a mess all over the place.

It also does not mix bread nearly as well as the Bosch, which is cheaper. The KA really struggles with some of the whole grain breads.

The Bosch is also light enough that if you have limited counter space you can put it in a cupboard. The KA must stay put. In fact, it is light enough to take in your camper. terry r.

While I don't take exception to your perspective I do have a different one.

We also have Bosch that stays in out fiver, the KA is at home.
I do agree that adding ingredients is a different experience, but we have a shield that eliminates that problem when we have to add multiple ingredients.
As for bread, I bake 2-4 loaves a week and when I need to knead the KA never has a problem, but in my experience the Bosch did, to the point I quit trying. I like the fact that even when the KA meets some tough going it never smells or feels hot and I have the confidence to set a timer and walk away when kneading with it.
I do believe that with the exception of bread the Bosch is a very good RV mixer, but just doesn't have the power and stability of the KA.

[magnusfide]

Herself agrees with you- she loves her Bosch for the exact same reasons and then some. In fact she had the maximum powered counter KA and it struggled to mix her heaviest cookie doughs. Her Bosch mixed the same dough with zero problems.

swtgran wrote:


I love my Bosch compact. The reason I like it so much better than the KitchenAid, is because I can actually get my ingredients into it, without having to stop the machine and get the head out of the way. If I don't do that, I have a mess all over the place.

It also does not mix bread nearly as well as the Bosch, which is cheaper. The KA really struggles with some of the whole grain breads.

The Bosch is also light enough that if you have limited counter space you can put it in a cupboard. The KA must stay put. In fact, it is light enough to take in your camper. terry r.

[swtgran]

I must really be in the minority. I hate my KitchenAid. In fact, I boxed it up after trying to like it, for my youngest daughter to take with her when she moves out.

I love my Bosch compact. The reason I like it so much better than the KitchenAid, is because I can actually get my ingredients into it, without having to stop the machine and get the head out of the way. If I don't do that, I have a mess all over the place.

It also does not mix bread nearly as well as the Bosch, which is cheaper. The KA really struggles with some of the whole grain breads.

The Bosch is also light enough that if you have limited counter space you can put it in a cupboard. The KA must stay put. In fact, it is light enough to take in your camper. terry r.

[PGR_Skye]

I inherited my mother's KitchenAid stand mixer and love it. It's at least 30 or 40 years old (she bought it used) and still runs great and I could use all the new attachments on it if I wanted to, but I don't. One of the nicest things about it is that if it does go bad, you can package up the head (it comes off the stand) and mail it to KitchenAid and they will repair it, even as old as it is, and return it to you with a new warranty. I have had other brands, but would never have anything but a KitchenAid now. Even though it doesn't have different sized bowls, I bet your wife will be thrilled with it.

[Spleenstomper]

I have a kitchen aid stand mixer and I would never use anything else. It is heavy, but totally worth it.