Jay, A friend of mine from Sacramento just bought a Professional HD series at Costco for 279 dollars.

AnnieMacD - 25 October 2009 05:37 PM

Jay, A friend of mine from Sacramento just bought a Professional HD series at Costco for 279 dollars.

Ditto, I just came in from the CostCo in Spartanburg, SC; $279 USD New, AND I have a coupon for $‘s off any single item purchase there, but I am a little hesitant to buy after reading all the comments in this thread.  I have an older 4.5 qt tilt-head model that has been bulletproof, but it is at least 10 years old.

The great thing about Costco is they have a great return policy.  They’ll take it back long after manufacturer’s warranty expires.  You could always get one, give it a really good workout, and decide if you like it or not.

Patrincia - 30 October 2009 02:29 AM

The great thing about Costco is they have a great return policy.  They’ll take it back long after manufacturer’s warranty expires.  You could always get one, give it a really good workout, and decide if you like it or not.

  I am considering this, a refurb from KitchenAid is $239 plus about $20 for shipping, I’m trying to get off my wallet and get one, but I really like the idea of being able to return one if I really do not like it as much as the old one.

We’ll see, maybe I can justify the bigger one for the holidays… :rolleyes:

Hi, All. There is nothing like coming late to the party, but I have been looking for an opportunity to share my experience with Kitchen Aid. For so many years I was a strong fan of KA stand mixers. I have an Artisan that I loved, but I thought the more powerful 600 Watt lift-bowl mixer would be better. However, I found it to be a pain to add ingredients. The Artisan tilts out of the way, but with the lift-bowl you have to carefullly try to get additional ingredients into a very small area, or stop and lower the bowl, but that is not the real problem. The real problem was that I burned up the transmission when making a double or double +1/2 load of sour dough bread. It was approximately1500 grams, or about 3 pounds. I have since changed completely over to a Bosch, and I love it. I regularly mix up 2500 gram loads, and it does not even get warm. At first I missed the pasta roller attachments, or dragged my Artisan (that I am saving for my grand-daughter) up out of the basement, but I found that I love the slower, more hands-on pasta rolling with a Marcato Atlas pasta roller. The attachments for that device are unbelievable. To conclude, I highly recommend the Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer as long as you are not going to very large batches of dough. I do not recommend the 600-Watt lift-bowl KA for anything.

I can offer more opinions about the Bosch, if anyone is interested.

I regularly make bread in my KA, and 3 lb. of dough is roughly the outside limit for my 4 1/2 quart. You will most certainly burn out the motor, using high speeds with dense doughs. For instance, I don’t do bagels in the KA except just to get them started - only the looser doughs at 65% hydration and up, including sourdoughs. I try not to exceed the recommended speeds and stop the machine at the first sign of more than ordinary strain. Should qualify my enthusiasm though, and mention that this is an older KA. Purchased in 2004 when I understand they were better made.

My only problem is that the head wobbles a bit from side to side now. Something needs to be tightened, but it’s not clear what! Probably inside. I’m nervous to try and take it apart, so have been promising myself to see if there’s an authorized service agent in Victoria now. It’s ridiculous to have to ship it to Vancouver! Advice, anyone?

Kerry, welcome to the forum.  I too have burned out the motor of the KA Professional.  I only use it for non-bread baking now.  I also have the Bosch which handles smaller batches of bread just fine but I rarely use it for bread (it’s great for cookies) as I make bread in bulk and have two Hobarts…..

I have been considering a 10 qt Hobart, as the only reaon I am considering another mixer is that although my tilt-head KA is solid, 4.5 qts just barely makese enough batter for a 12 x 18 sheet cake, and multi-tier cakes are definitely multi-batches of batter.  Any suggestions on the Hobart mixers in the States?

Tom, I have the 10L Hobart model HSM10 and I love it.  It’s probably equivalent to the 10qt.  I make everything in it - bread, cakes, meringue, mousseline - the lot.  I never use the KA for bread - it just cannot handle the stiff doughs.  I also have a 20L Hobart but that’s another story!

Colour me green, Annie!! Glad you’ve talked about this, though. I was already feeling concerned about what I would do if my KA broke down in the middle of a job. Also need a bigger capacity - 10 qt at least.

Loved the Hobarts that I’ve worked with at school and work, and I believe my older KA was actually made by Hobart for KA. Read that somewhere about the older models. Might have to go shopping soon.