I'm done with Kitchen Aid

[Massimino]

I called Kitchen Aid customer service because I am in the market for my first Kitchen Aid mixer. I looked at the models my local BJ's Club offered, and they had a model that sold for $269, which was in the 300 watt range, maybe 350.  I asked the customer service rep a little about the various models and what was special about some of them.  The reply was that the motor is much more powerful in some models, and some models have bowl lifts, while others do not. They were mostly the same after that.

They then offered me a 525 Watt, 6 quart model, new, a close out, and in mostly any color I wanted, for $279, and free shipping.  One year warranty. List on this is $429. How could I turn that down? 

There are differences in the new models and the 20 year old model you may have. For one, the old model doesn't have the slow smooth start they incorporated into new models to keep flour in the bowl  on startup. The new models also come with a thermal breaker, not so on the very old models.

The reply to the question about 14 cups of flour is that it translates to 6 cups of bread flour, or dough.   I told her that I could push 6 cups through the $50 ($37 on sale) model I bought in my local Wal Mart. The difference being that the model I used had smaller cork screws in it, they are much easier to turn in dough than the curved hook that Kitchen Aid spins. Plus they rip through the dough, I didn't like it.

As far as buying a Hobart, or any other industrial strength mixer. I have a family kitchen, we cook our dinner in it,  and I make a 1.5 to 3 lb's of dough for rolls and other breads. If you are runing Pizza Hut, or some other business,  you needed more than a Kitchen Aid mixer, that's why you killed it.

[chiguy]

 Hello Massimino,
 I upgraded and bought the 525watt KA 6qt. I got mine factory refubished for $189 plus shipping, $221 total. I bought it off www.kitchencollections.com and it came with a 6 month factory warranty which i have exhausted with no problems. The only color avaiable at that price was black, i am not sure if the same deal is avaiable. The $279 that KA offered you was still a very good deal especially since you're wife may not want a black mixer.   goodluck,  Chiguy

[Les]

I've had two KA mixers in the last two years, one of them the Pro 5 Plus and the other the Pro 600.  I found them both inadequate for pizza dough if you are making more than one or two pizzas at a time.  I hate to sound like a broken record but the Electrolux Assistant, which you can get for $450 if you look for bargains, was one of the best pizza investments I've made.  It has a relatively high learning curve, but once you figure out it's quirky techniques it works awesomely, has an 8 quart bowl but handles single batches with no problems, and is built like a tank and so should last a lifetime.  And no, I don't work for Electrolux! 

[Nathan]

For the record I didn't "kill" anything.  It's just that the thermal protection would kick in after I got into mixing a batch of dough after about 4-5 minutes or so.  It seems to get more sensitive each time it's used.  When I first got this last mixer it would make it through a batch no problem.  But then it started getting to where it didn't like it. 

As for the 14 cups of flour thing...  I never really expected it to be able to handle that much high gluten flour, but they should state on the box that they are talking about all purpose flour.  Personally I wouldn't own a mixer to make cake batter or something like that.  I bought it because I got sick of hand kneading.  Not to make cake or meringue etc. 

[KAidVerne]

Nathan,  the outside of our box DOES state that Flour Power refers to "all purpose flour".

[myxsix]

As to KAid Verne:

The fact that KA employees are on this site and reply to posts about mixers clearly indicates tha KA is interested in pursusing customer service and that their employees care about the products they sell. KA also has a forum section on it's website (http://forum.kitchenaid.com/) and KA employees are really keen on answering questions and complaints promptly. In fact, unlike Bubba, I'm not so keen on US products these days because they cost more, the quality isn't always so good but to top it off (the deciding factor), the customer service is usually terrible. Kitchen Aid is one of the few American brands to still really shine in terms of innovation, quality and customer service. I have a 5K5SS that I bought in Hong Kong and my only complaint was about cost. I'm looking at a Hobart now but fact is, if KA made commercial mixers I would probably buy one because their customer service is just so damn good!

[Bubba Kuhn]

What pray tell is a  5K5SS ?

[phil47952]

     A Bosch Universal will take care of this pronlem......   Or a DLX

[weaverpizza]

Phil,

I am curious about your comment on the Bosch.  I have access to both the Bosch and the DLX and it seems that when doing say a double 18" recipe in the Bosch at 63% hydration, it goes into a ball and sort of wobbles around the outside of the bowl.  The Bosch mixer can even 'walk' on the counter because of the off balance nature of the dough going round and round.

Any comment or wisdom appreciated.  Do you have good success with this machine and how?

Also for Les, You have had both the KA and now the DLX.  I is a great mixer but Perhaps naively I long for the spiral dough hook to quickly and properly knead pizza dough like most pizzerias.  They use a spiral hook on large hobarts.

Perhaps it is key for me to use the great equipment I have access to and 'knead' 66-80% of the flour as many have said and use autolyse together to make dough in my existing equipment.

When I do 10-16 pizzas for a group though I want something fast.  Then when I do one at home in the larger mixers the small dough ball in the DLX or Bosch seems to thunk around and not really knead.    But do I keep a KA around only for the singles and double recipes.  Seems a pity.

Advise appreciated.  Thank you, Mike in VA