November 24, 2009 - 6:48pm
KitchenAid Artisan mixer?
I just came across a sale on the KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer (up here in Canada) at Home Outfitters ...Nov 25 & 26, 2009, while supplies last.
It's $299.99 less $100 in money cards and there is also a $50 MIR bringing the mixer to $149.99.
This is a pretty good deal ....BUT....is it going to be useless for bread making? My loaves are always around 500 grams ..never bigger. Is this mixer only for cakes/cookies or will it do some kneeding?
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I bought my Artisan for about the same price (in USD) a bit over two years ago during a "Cyber Monday" sale at Amazon. Many breads later (and dozens of bagels), it's still going strong.
I will say that I have never mixed dough over speed 2 - which is the top speed noted in the manual. I think many mixers are abused by their operators failing to read and follow the instruction manual, with the result that the motor breaks down. In too many cases, the manufacturer is blamed when it really is the fault of the operator.
With the bagel dough (58 percent hydration), I use two pounds of high gluten flour and that does strain the motor after about four minutes during the second (six-minute) mix. I'll shut it down for a few minutes if I'm concerned about overheating and sometimes I put an icepack on the motor head for cooling purposes.
I've also used it to mix 2# of flour with a higher hydration dough (68-70 percent) with no strain on the motor.
In my experience, five hundred grams of flour will be easily handled by the Artisan - so long as you follow the manual's instructions and don't use any speed higher than 2.
Happy shopping!
I got my KA as a wedding gift 20 years ago and it's still going strong after countless loaves of bread, cakes, cookies, and many other goodies using the attachments. I think it's a great investment that will give you many years of joy.
I'm baking a lot of bread with my Artisan and haven't had any problems. I did get up to 116* when I was working a stiff brioche dough but most of the time I make 500-600g batches. Buy me the blue one and I'll send you my white one!! '^)
I"ve been using a 4.5 quart Kitchenaid for 5 years. I've mixed up to about 1.2kg of dough in my mixer.
advises against this mixer if you plan on doing intense dough like brioche or large quanities. Recently I was baking at a friend's house. She had one of these and it felt like a toy in my hands when compared with the Pro Series one I bought on the recommendation of Greenspan.
If your concern is money look on Craig's List. Many times brides will get them and not want them. Or people will buy them on mail order, realize they are too large, and then also realize they are too heavy to ship back.
I was really worried about forking out the cash for the Pro and have never ever looked back (3 years later). Hope that helps.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I did go and look at the machine..it sure is pretty :)
But I decided against it. My thinking is I don't want to have to baby it ...I use an old 30 year old siemens kitchen machine which is a dead ringer for the bosch compact. I made the ciabatta this past weekend with it (as show here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24OBsYsR-A ) and although it turned out just fine, I thought the KitchenAid would have been better.
I will just carry on using my siemens for now..when it breaks then I'll decide on a bosch or a KitchenAid Pro ...thank you for everyone that offered opinions..it's very much appreciated !
I have an KA Artisian that is 25 years old and has been used for everything from breads, bagles and cookies to milling 100's of quarts of tomatoes... and is still like new! I am going to pass it on to my sister this year as last Holiday I received a KA Pro 6 and I love it as well. Don't hesitate to buy the Artisian (IMHO) just be sure to read ALL the instructions as not only will it help keep the mixer in good shape, but there are some excellent tips in that book to make your mixing & baking easier! ENJOY!
P.S. What color?
The KA mixers of today are not necessarily the same as those of 25 years ago. Plastic gearing, etc.
I have lusted after one of these for years and finally got to use my boyfriends that he inherited from his late father. OMG what a WONDERFUL machine!! The problem is that since it was his dads and was used for MANY years starting in the 60's or 70's, there is no manual. Where can I get one? I REALLY want to take care of it and help it to last as long as possible!! What an AMAZING mixer! I can't wait to work up some bread or even his Dad's Donuts!!!
Thank you!!
Try here. http://shared.whirlpoolcorp.com/product_literature/search.jsp?siteCd=KAD
I finally settled on the Cuisinart 5.5 Quart. There was a conair/cuisinart warehouse sale in my area this weekend and I picked up a refurbished one for $150.00 (7quarts were $200) Warranty is 90 days on refurbs so I intend to do a lot of baking to put it through it's paces while still covered!