KitchenAid Mixer Buying Guide
KitchenAid stand mixers have been a favorite kitchen appliance for both professional and home cooks alike for years. Here are nine important questions to consider before buying a KitchenAid mixer.
1. What is the difference between the tilt-head and a bowl-lift design?
The tilt-head stand mixer has a bowl that is attached to the base and the head lifts back to provide access to the bowl and the beater. A bowl-lift mixer uses a mechanism by which the bowl is lifted up to meet the beaters.
2. Which bowl size to choose?
Bowl-lift models offer greater capacity and the convenience of being able to handle larger batches. The KitchenAid bowl-lift stand mixer is available in 6- and 7-quart wide bowl capacity, allowing cooks to mix dense, large batches. The 6-quart bowl-lift models can handle recipes with up to 14 cups of flour, which translates to 8.5 loaves of bread or 13 dozen cookies.
The KitchenAid tilt-head stand mixer is available in 4.5- and 5-quart bowl capacity, with over 40 colors.
3. Which KitchenAid stand mixer is ideal for beginners?
Both tilt-head and bowl-lift stand mixers are easy to use, so the ideal model for a beginner should be based on its intended purpose. For home cooks, who don't do a lot of baking, the KitchenAid tilt-head stand mixer is ideal for single batches and everyday use. Tilt-head stand mixers are available in capacities up to 5 quarts with the option of a glass bowl. The glass bowl has measurement markings and offers clearer visibility of ingredients being mixed. And it's also microwaveable, so it's convenient for melting chocolate or butter.
4. Which KitchenAid stand mixer is ideal for baking enthusiasts?
Baking enthusiasts can find both tilt-head and bowl-lift stand mixers to be a great fit. It depends on how the cook intends to use it. Does the cook often make large batches of cookie dough, bread, etc.? Bowl-lift stand mixers are offered with larger, wide bowl capacities, allowing the baker to mix multiple batches in the bowl.
5. Which model or series saves space?
The tilt-head stand mixer saves space as it fits under all standard kitchen cabinet heights (18").
6. What finishes or materials are used in the mixers?
KitchenAid is a global leader in color development. The company's designers throughout the world evaluate trend reports and color forecast, to develop a cadence of new colors for their stand mixers.
Every KitchenAid stand mixer has a heavy zinc cast body, coated with a unique powder coat paint that can withstand years of kitchen activity. KitchenAid mixers in the Artisan Design series offer a more dramatic paint finish by using metallic fleck paints and two coat paint methods. The company instills rigorous testing processes to ensure that the mixers have a high quality paint finish. Every coating is required to pass the same extensive color match process and material testing.
7. Which stand mixer offers the most horsepower?
The 7-quart mixer is KitchenAid's most powerful, best performing, longest lasting, largest capacity, quietest bowl-lift stand mixer available. The 1.3 HP high efficiency motor delivers 0.44 HP to the bowl, is designed to run longer and deliver optimum torque with less heat build-up, making this KitchenAid's most powerful stand mixer.
The robust motor, the backbone of the mixer, delivers 0.44 HP* to the bowl enabling the mixer to deliver consistent power to small and large loads with less heat build-up, resulting in years of dependable mixing. When combined with and guided by the new advanced motor control board, this is the longest lasting and most efficient motor yet. Simply put, the new, highly efficient, special purpose motor delivers the power you need when you need it.
*Motor horsepower for the mixer motors was measured using a dynamometer; machine laboratories routinely use this to measure the mechanical power of motors. The 1.3 horsepower (HP) motor reference reflects the horsepower rating of the motor itself and not the mixer's horsepower output to the mixer bowl.
8. What are the differences between the classic, artisan, ultra power and pro models?
Capacity, feature set and designs:
The KitchenAid Classic stand mixer is a 4.5-quart tilt-head style mixer. It comes in one color, white, and a brushed stainless, handle-free stackable bowl.
The KitchenAid Ultra Power stand mixer offers additional colors in the 4.5-quart stand mixer.
The beautiful, and most popular, KitchenAid Artisan mixer, offers a polished 5-quart bowl with a comfortable handle, a pouring shield, and over 40 colors to select from.
The KitchenAid Professional 600 Series bowl-lift stand mixer model takes capacity to the next level at 6 quarts and comes in the top eight Artisan colors.
The 7-quart mixer is KitchenAid's most powerful, best performing, longest lasting, largest capacity, and quietest bowl-lift stand mixer available.
9. Are KitchenAid attachments compatible with all stand mixers?
All KitchenAid stand mixers, regardless of their capacity, have an attachment hub that accepts over a dozen KitchenAid attachments for pasta making, food grinding and more.