KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer-2 Colors Price: $229.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 1-2 business days (Wednesday, Aug 19 to Thursday, Aug 20) + transit Condition: New
I am slowly starting to use this more and more. I bought the pasta attachment and began making my own pasta. I recently had my eye on the food processor attachment. This is such a great machine, it is one of the only machines you will ever need.
and
great reviews (4.8 put of 5.0) over at BestBuy.com
the problem with getting a kitchen aid mixer right now is you have no way of knowing if the gear box is the newer die cast ones or if they are the plastic ones that if they fail like the comments on amazon are telling about you just through a lot of money away.
[MOD: These are NEW mixers. Googlefu says that the gear problem was resolved pre-2010.]
I’ve had a Kitchen Aid mixer for 23 years (wedding gift). We’ve never gotten the fancy attachments (would love to) but we’ve never had one problem with it. Great price…if this had prettier colors I’d get one and give my dark green one to my daughter lol.
KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixers, refurbished offered by one of KitchenAid’s larger authorized resellers on eBay (USA World Sales) are currently $169.99 with free shipping. Many colors to choose from. Here is the site:
This is their typical price, but remember these are refurbished.
Or you can just go on eBay and search the sellers for either “KitchenAid” (factory direct) or “USA-world-sales” (mentioned above). Go back often as they always have new items and sales frequently. I’ve purchased from both these sellers for ourselves and as gifts and have never been disappointed - every mixer has been factory perfect and beautiful.
My personal preference, however, would be to go for the Professional 5-quart (refurbished) for $169.99. It has a larger 450 watt motor and is a bowl-lift model instead of the tilt-head like the Artisan. More limited color selection, however. Here is the link:
As for the gearbox issue, that was fully resolved back in 2007 when KitchenAid resumed using an all-metal gearbox cover. Hasn’t been a problem for years, and it really only effected the Professional 600 models (not the Artisan series seen here). The Artisans have had a few minor issues over the years, but nothing significant and nothing widespread considering just how many of these are made every year.
And as a personal recommendation, search for “Beater Blade” - an excellent replacement paddle for your new mixer. So much better than the standard paddle that comes with the mixer from the factory. Just be sure to order the right one as these are not one-size-fits-all.
I’ve had a 4.5 quart Ultra Power mixer for over ten years and have been very happy with it. It’s basically a Classic with a more powerful motor.
My only complaint is that the 4.5 quart bowl is not quite big enough for a double batch of cookies or two loaves of bread. I believe that a 5 quart bowl would be big enough.
I just can’t justify replacing it when this is the only thing I don’t like.
Make sure that you get one of the ones with METAL bearings, not plastic. Mom had the former and it died in 2 years; I ponied up and got her a model that was the all-metal and she has been using the heck out of it for 5 years now, no problems.
I am so tempted to buy this based on the comments here and in previous Woots. Thing is, I don’t cook that much - but I want to. So, maybe paying this much for a mixer might put me over the edge to start cooking more?
Here’s the thing about the KA mixer: You may only need it two or three times a year, but when you DO need it, there’s nothing else on the market at anything close to this price that will do the job as well. And do pick up the beater blade attachment when you can. Me? I’m going to make this puppy walk and talk with holiday baking.
I got one for christmas circa 2002, and have had no problems with it. Then earlier this year, I got a second one on a buy sell or trade site for $20. All I had to do was clean the flour out from between the contacts of the power selector switch. The best part is, the second one I got is an older model, which still says made by the Hobart Mixer Corporation.
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![[Preview 3]](https://d3gqasl9vmjfd8.cloudfront.net/086355ac-b3fe-4862-9b0f-fd18feb965b2.jpg){kind=link}
