Buying A Mixer....

[Guest j_mommy]

I know this topic has been posted on here before but I can't find it!!!

I am going to buy a stand mixer at the end of teh month....looking at Kitchen Aide.

Here are my questions...

Which series is best(ie pro, professional,artisan)?

What quart size, 5,6 ???

Which attachments can't you live without?????

THanks, Jess

[zarfkitty]

Yay! Stand mixers are so much fun to have in the kitchen!

This year for Christmas, "Santa" brought me a Kitchenaid Classic Plus. I only have what came in the box: a 4.5 quart bowl, dough hook, mixing paddle, and wire whisk.

I'm happy with the bowl size & attachments, but I really want an extra bowl. Preferably an extra bowl with a handle.

I use it almost every day.

-Shannon

p.s. It was really hard to type "bowl" on this forum. My fingers kept going on autopilot and typing "bowel." Haha.

[Franceen]

Speaking of mixers...........

I've never been much of a cook (not at ALL!)....So I didn't even have a stand mixer and hadn't used my portable mixer in YEARS....

But my husband who USED to cook some has an old Oster stand mixer with two glass bowls, a dough hook, and regular beaters (like from the early 70s).

Now I'm making gluten-free Breads. First I started with the breadmaker and then decided to go it the REAL way.

The Oster does not handle the thick batter - it won't go fast, and the dough gets all hung up on the beaters and rises to the top and is a big glob that has to be spooned off frequently. YUKKY mess!

I'm asking for a new mixer for Xmas or Birthday! SHOULD a good mixer have a hard time with gluten-free dough? Should I be using the dough hook? (Bette Haggman says no). But she also says that gluten-free Bread dough should be thin like cake batter and that consistency has yet to yield a good loaf! Only the Bread by Anna THICK dough works well.

And I've yet to succeed with Bette Hagmans 4 Flour Blend recipe.

I'm working at it though. And each loaf is different, but a bit better than the last.

Also wondering on how HEAVY DUTY a mixer has to be for gluten-free Bread dough!

THANKS

[ptkds]

I have a kitchen aid 6.0 pro. I LOVE it. It is strong enough to handle ANY dough. I would love to have an extra bowl, too. It is a 6 qt. I have the grain mill attachment, but I like buying the rice flour from asian stores. It is alot finer and easier. But I don't have any other accesories other than the splatter shield thing. I would make huge messes w/out that.

ptkds

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Kitchen Aide 6 quart is the "Cadillac" of mixers.

I have a 4.5 quart and am extremely happy.

[Cheri A]

"Santa" brought me a KA mixer too last year! I am pretty sure that mine is a Classic Plus too. I didn't buy any attachments. I would just make sure to get one that has a handle on the bowl. I really liked my old mixer, but I LOVE my KA!

[stargazer]

I have a Kitchen Aide classic (5 qt. bowl). I absolutely love it! I don't think I could live without it! I use is all the time. The splatter shield is really nice, it saves a lot of clean up. Before I got the Kitchen Aide, I went through at least 15 hand mixers. They don't hold up or have the power that the Kitchen Aide has. It works great for the gluten free doughs. I don't use many of the attachments, but my sister does and she is very happy with them.

[jerseyangel]

I have a classic Kitchen Aid (Ultra Power) in colbalt blue. I've had it for the better part of 20 years, and I love it!

It's gotten me through years of christmas cookies (multiple batches at once), and both regular and now gluten-free breads.

It still looks and performs like new. Never a problem

[Guest j_mommy]

Thank you everyone~~~I wanted some advice before I went out and dropped a huge chunk of change!!! But it wil be well worth it....can't wait to make more bread!!!

[kbabe1968]

I got a refurbished one for mother's day...got the Professional...5 qt bowl. I agree with poster who says to get the extra bowl...I would LOVE an extra bowl.

I LOVE my Kitchen Aide and I use it at least 3 times a week.

I like having a refurbished one, too, means that if there were problems, they've all been fixed...and it was about $150 cheaper than brand new.

Make sure to post a pic of your new mixer when it's here - gotta love a new mixer!

[dadoffiveboys]

We've had both the 4.5qt and 6qt mixer. We ended up giving away our 4.5qt mixer (no room for two of those on the counter) and got the 6qt - mainly because (as you can see by my name) we need the larger size because of the family size - currently 6 soon to be 7! Otherwise both handled every kind of batter. There is a lower power mixer (<250W) which I don't recommend as it didn't handle the heavy batters very well (would 'stop'). Also we got rid of the 4.5qt when we went gluten-free (nice reason to get a new mixer )