I am in the UAE and I love baking cakes. Iv tried your orange chiffon cake and Bostini on two separate occasions and todate am receiving praises. Your videos, recipes and tips are a real guiding factor for me. Not to forget your so soft and calm voice and manner.
Iv recently joined the forum and again it has so much for us to learn. I use a hand-held simple Moulinex Blender for baking which my mom bought 25 years back when she started baking. I now want to upgrade to an all-in-one stand mixer for all my baking needs which will help me for a long time, atleast worth the investment i make in it. Could u and the other fellow Bakers and Bloggers please advice in this regard. Iv heard only of KitchenAid, Cuisinart n Kenwood. Which is better? I m completely new to stand mixers. I’l be really grateful for detailed opinions and personal experiences that’l help me in deciding. Thanking you tons in anticipation.
I’ve been contemplating what my future mixer upgrade would be. I think the Kitchen Aid Artisan is well built—I have it and love it (even fell off the counter once and is still working fabulously!!). My only wish is that it would be able to handle larger amounts of bread dough as I bake a fair amount of bread—in this respect, I know many people love the Bosch—and now you can get a steel bowl with it (I had previously ruled it out because I wanted a metal bowl for egg whites) but am still undecided and need to do further research. If you are primarily a cake baker and do not do large cakes (ie: weddings)—then the Artisan is a great mixer—many recipes are designed “around” it and it lasts!
I don’t think there is a ‘better’! You choose one or the other. I have both, the Kenwood since 1973 and as a Christmas present I have just received a Kitchenaid from my husband. My Kenwood still works well, if a bit noisier than when it was new, but when mine was new they were still made here, in the UK, but I believe they are now made in another country. I don’t know if that makes a difference, but it may influence your decision. So far, I am pleased with my new mixer, but I have only had it a short while. It looks good though, I have the Candy Apple Red model, very swish!
Jeannette and Bill, I smiled thinking of you both loving your bright red mixers!
I think the bowl-lift 6QT KA is a little more difficult to add ingredients to than the 5QT Artisan, so if you make primarily single batches and don’t need the capacity, you might choose the 5QT. I went with the 6QT for the capacity, as I like to double up.
I recently upgraded from the 4.5 quart old Kitchen Aid to the spiffy 6 qt Pro model. I LOVE the new machine. I make lots of bread and hate to make a mess for one loaf, I double recipes or make big batches quite often. If you’re just making the occasional cake for a family (not wedding cakes etc). The smaller machine would suit you. But, if you’re a bread maker, get the larger machine. It won’t go to waste, just to waist.!
I also have the bright RED KA mixer - and red KA food processor too. Love them and the color. I have them side by side on the counter - next too a red cookie jar. Can you guess what my favorite color is?
I also have the bright RED KA mixer - and red KA food processor too. Love them and the color. I have them side by side on the counter - next too a red cookie jar. Can you guess what my favorite color is?
My favorite color is red, too, but I’m very careful about what sort of red things I buy; I’m afraid that too many red things will spoil the joy of it. Plus, red often doesn’t fit into decors that are otherwise very satisfying. I have a red coffee mug that I treasure and I dread the day it breaks. I haven’t found any other mug of the right shade of red. Years ago, I bought a red coffee maker, but I was never happy with it. It’s not *entirely* red; the top and bottom covers are white, and the contamination always pained me. It’s now relegated to the attic and I have a nice stainless steel one.
I have the Pro 6 and love it. I don’t find it hard adding ingredients at all; but, then again, I have no experience with any other mixer. It comes with a plastic shield so you can add ingredients without flour dust flying all over the place. I seldom use that shield. I use silicone cups to add ingredients which easily bend to create a spout.
I can see the tilt head being an advantage when checking egg whites and cream for stiff peaks. I either have to remove the whip attachment or use other tricks to determine it’s stiffness, such as sticking your finger through the whipped cream and if a tunnel forms, it is stiff
Thank you so much to each one of you for taking out time and sharing your experience and opinions. I really really appreciate it. Thank you once again.
““Hi Naila,
I haven’t been baking that long either - but i love my kitchen aid artisan 5qrt 325hp motor. Since i started baking i even bought another 5qrt s.s bowl so i don’t have to keep washing in between different creams for the cake. I can’t bake without it - best purchase i have ever made with my baking!”“
so nice of u to join in the discussion littlelottie.
What about the all the batter going to the sides during mixing, and scratches on the walls of the bowl. Is there any thing like this in KA?
Also how much did the mixers purchased cost you all. What all is included in the package. so that I can compare here in my place.
What about the all the batter going to the sides during mixing, and scratches on the walls of the bowl. Is there any thing like this in KA?
Your bowl will acquire scratches. Who cares? It’s a tool and tools will show the wear, but the blades don’t normally contact the bowl. You can purchase some third-party beaters for the KA that have a silicon blade that clean the sides of the bowl. If you don’t do this, you periodically have to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides with a spatula.
I bought my 5 qt at Costco; it came with one bowl, a flat blade, dough hook, and whisk, plus a few little extras like a spatula. The power was 475 watts. Cost maybe $300-ish? It’s been a fine mixer, but I sometimes wish for a bit larger bowl if I’m doing a double batch of whatever. I also bought an extra bowl, which I have been very glad to have.
+1 for the KA 6QT mixer. I got a KA 620 Pro for Christmas and love it. I find I bake more now because the mixer is available. My wife is loving that feature!
There were some problems several years ago with KA using plastic in the gear assemblies, but they have returned to metal. That episode sold me on the KA; that and the 575watts of power.
