How long until it breaks?
2 months like the steamer? 6 months like the toaster? A year like the iron? 2 years like the bread machine? How long?
How much to ship it from America?
Why does it cost £350 here and $300 there? That's double. Double is obscene.
Do I just want one because it would look pretty on our oak worktops?
Would owning one make me able to follow recipes?
Would owning one fill me with such baking prowess that I don't need to follow recipes?
What colour?
Answers on a postcard please.
(Images from Amazon.)
My mom has had hers since 1980. She did have to get a new beater once b/c the paint was chipping from hers. It's still working!! It's SO worth it- good looking, functional, great for baking cinnamon rolls, and all around my favorite appliance! I have red, my mom's is white, my cousin's is stainless, and my aunt's is blue. You really can't go wrong (though I"m not a huge fan of orange!).
ReplyDeleteMy mom has also had hers for decades, and uses it all the time. Yes, it is attractive, but it also makes all baking projects infinitely easier. My sister got one for Christmas last year, and as soon as I move into a more permanent home, I plan on splurging on one for myself.
ReplyDeleteK. and I have spent hours at John Lewis investigating these... We are pretty sure our headshots have been widely distributed among security people over there! But we bake like there is no tomorrow and we NEED one! We have been researching and people do say it works wonders and is amazingly durable, so we are probably going to get one very soon (I want the entire set… have you seen the toaster?????) We just get so mad that things are often the exact same price in the US and in the UK... The only tiny problem is that the currency is different... :-/
ReplyDeleteI love my Kitchen Aid and I am not much of a baker. It is really heavy, so shipping it would eat up quite a bit of cash. My guess is that the extra 50 pounds are for shipping and tariffs. Buy it, you will love it. It makes life much easier.
ReplyDeleteI use mine every day. Seriously for 5 years and not one technical problem whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI love mine and have had it for 2 years! I have the Artisan model. If I could, I'd get a Pro 6 instead, especially if you're planning on using it a lot. The Artisan feels like could be more powerful and weighty to keep it steady.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother's still worked when she died...I'm not sure when she got it but she was 82.
ReplyDeleteA couple things I think are much easier with a stand mixer:
1) cookie dough - i have burned at least two hand mixer engines to oblivion and my arms are too weak to do it by hand
2) mousse, meringue, and anything that needs to be really fluffy
3) icing - nothing beats it for creaming the butter/cream cheese and sugar to perfection.
I want a red breville mixer which is similar to these. Alot of my appliances are the red breville ones and they are all great. I love the colour too.
ReplyDeleteI say splurge on one of these!
I want one too..cream you know..in case we change kitchens/colour schemes...hah
ReplyDeleteThey're between $650-800 (AU) here though..
It's funny, ours is in use as I type. I can look over to the kitchen and see it. They don't break! Ours is not mine, as I do not cook, ours is his, as he does cook. Right now, he is using it to make pizza dough, so we can have homemade pizza (yum). Ours is the chrome color. More masculine I guess... I didn't get much of a say. But I would go with a neutral, I probably would have picked cream. Each of our kitchens has been a different color, so red would be sassy, but also clashy.
ReplyDeleteI'd say I'd bring you one next time I come to the UK, but they are WAY too heavy to carry.
You know? Now that I think of it, it's one of the few things they still make in a old fashioned solid, it won't break kind of way. We buy most cooking gear in antique shops, because its more sturdy, but not this. (like our oven! We have a 1930's cast iron stove. They don't make them anymore because they never break, and they want you to need a new one now and then).
i have had my kitchenaid for 5 years and it is in great shape. i wouldn't be without it. things i use it for: cake batter, cookie dough, pie crust, whipped cream, meringue, and occasionally bread dough.
ReplyDeletewhile i can't say for certain whether you need a stand mixer, i can say that if you DO need a stand mixer, this is the one. the only one. the best one.
as for color, i bought a green one ("pistachio") and i have never regretted it. then again, i have not done a major kitchen redecoration or anything.
my mom has two...both still working after YEARS of HEAVY duty mixing. i can't wait to get mine!
ReplyDeleteThat price difference really is obscene!
ReplyDeleteMy mum swears by her Kenwood Chef. Not as pretty, but uber-reliable.
Ah, forget it, I'm sure I lost you at 'not as pretty' ;)
Imperial gray kitchenaid you will be mine in a few short weeks! I think my mom has had hers for 20+ years. Love that thing. Totally worth the counter space. AM going to eat a slice of cheesecake I made with it a few days ago actually....
ReplyDeleteEvery household in my extended family owns one, and we've never had an issue. I bought one (in pink) when I turned 18 with my babysitting savings and have never regretted it. I lost the bowl during one of my moves and bought a new one at Bed Bath & Beyond without any hassle. Even though I don't bake as often as I should, it makes me smile every time I look at it, and makes me remember helping my grandfather make bread with his.
ReplyDeleteI saved my money when I was 19 and bought the pink one...it still sits in the box (I'm now gluten intolerant - but that's another story). Regardless of the lack of utilization - I still LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteMy mom also has her from eons ago and it works like brand new. Sure, it's pea green and doesn't match her kitchen, at all, ever, but it's been around forever. I had the white one on my registry but I removed it... I'm holding out until they release the new ones with the vintage style glass bowl (instead of the stainless bowl)!
ReplyDeletehttp://idoyoudowedo.com/
I believe that a kitchen is not complete without a KitchenAid Stand Mixer.
ReplyDeleteI like the green apple and butter cup-colored mixers. I've wanted one for YEARS, because they are amazing. My mom has one (it's white) but she rarely uses it. I'm the baker of the family, and when I moved out, the mixer started gathering dust. She should just loan it to me until I get my own. ;)
They are wonderful! My mom has had hers since maybe the 80's or early 90's and it still works perfect... I have had mine for 5 years and it is still working.
ReplyDeleteFor color... that is a tough one. I personally try to not get something trendy as this should last you for many years and I while I sometimes love pink I think I would get tired of it... but that is my opinion.
yes, yes do it.
ReplyDeletei don't know what i would do without mine.
& it's true, they last for years.
I wanted to register for an orange one simply because it is orange. But the truth is we never f'n bake.
ReplyDeleteOnce you own one, you never go back. It's magic.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I currently use a hand me down mixer. It was my mom's, and she's had it since the early 70's, and she lugged it abroad when they lived there for a few years and it survived the travel and lots of use with an electrical outlet adaptor. She gave it to me when she indulged in a new one, and it still works just fine. You'll have it forever.
My fiance's grandmother gave me hers as a housewarming gift, as she wasn't using it anymore. Decades old and still going strong. It weighs a ton. It's beige, but if I was buying one I would have gone with red. I love red appliances. I've registered for the ice cream maker attachment, and the fact that it can also make ice cream makes me love it all the more.
ReplyDeleteMy mother has had hers since her 1982 wedding to my dad. It works perfectly! That is the one thing I'm most looking forward to getting for our wedding. We're registered for one in pistachio!
ReplyDeleteWe just got one as a wedding gift in aqua blue :) We've used it once and it's amazing and it's also a very pretty decoration!
ReplyDeleteThe new models are not supposed to be as good as the ones our mothers/grandmothers had.
ReplyDeletehowever, I still reallllly want one. French blue.
I have my grandmother's kitchen aid mixer and not only do I love it, but I love knowing it's something she touched almost daily. It always makes me happy when I get to use it! I'm not sure when she actually bought it but she has been gone for 13 years and it's still going strong.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I see one of these I flip-flop between "grrrr" and "oooooh". That's "cost" and "oooh,so shiny" in English.
ReplyDeleteThe price difference is the same in Australia. Pretty much DOUBLE what they cost in the US. NOT FAIR - (did you hear the foot stamp??). I'd have one in stainless steel/chrome. Mostly because it's neutral but also 'cos it's shiny.
i want one sooo bad!!! haha how fun!
ReplyDeleteI had one in Texas and when I moved to Holland I paid the extra expensive price just to have one again. (Actually, my boyfriend was already in Holland & he bought it way before my official move just because he wanted to have one too!) It's fantastic & well worth the money.
ReplyDeleteKitchen Aid's are truly wonderful! I used to use them when I was working in professional kitchens and it was one of the first items I bought for my business (in cream - lovely jubly). You can do so much with them they really are indispensible and I think they are the most hard wearing (as well as stylish)of stand mixers. You can make brioche, italian meringue and it makes everyday baking so much easier!
ReplyDeleteWhat ever you do DONT buy one from the US because as the power is different you will need to use a big bulky and ugly power adapter to make it work in the UK.
I use mine a lot and have only ever had one small problem with it. The kitchen aid people collected it, fixed it and sent it back v. quickly and all for free (another reason why it's probably best to buy one in the UK).
I've had my Kitchen Aid for a year and a half now. Well worth it. I have the Cobalt Blue version in the Artisan Model. I love it because it matches my cute French country kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI use mine a lot. Mostly to make cookies and bread, but I've mead mousse and frosting in it, and I've also tested its limits with tofu and peanut butter (very sticky, hard to clean, but delicious end result). My mom still has her avocado green one from the 70s. Still working and she has beat the hell out of it.
Aren't they divine? From the fabulous colors to the whispered promises of delicious treats that come along with them. The pink is irresistible, but I think my fiance would kill me...
ReplyDeleteA huge thank you to everyone who left a comment and answered my questions about the gorgeous kitchenaid mixer. We're still undecided. The Boy thinks we should go for it, I'm hesitant to spend SO much money! I'm thinking we probably will get one eventually, but I need to build myself up to it!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'd go for cream, The Boy for red. But I think both of us could be swayed by the silvery one.
Just a thought, my mom got one each for my sister and I for Christmas a few years ago ( I love mine!) but she bought certified refurbished ones off of Ebay --I think they were quite a bit cheaper and they both work great! That might be something for you to look into..
ReplyDeleteI'd go for the heavy duty or pro model, with a crank to lift up the bowl instead of a tilting head. The motors are much heavier duty and they cost the same as what you quoted. Look at William Sonoma or some other snazzy/expensive kitchenwares store.
ReplyDeleteI've got the heavy duty model (which is really the orig. re packaged as far as I can tell) and it doesn't mind making 2 batches of bread a day with some oatmeal cookies in between kneading.
one more thought, you should def. buy one for where you live, they use a lot of power and you don't want to have to worry about getting a power converter and not frying the thing, it's a good piece of equipment!
ReplyDeleteThey last forever! I've had mine for almost five years now and I absolutely love it. Mine is the pistachio color, which matches nothing else in my house, but the light green sitting on my countertop makes me smile.
ReplyDelete