KitchenAid K45SS Classic 250-Watt 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer, White
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of KitchenAid K45SS Classic 250-Watt 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer, White
Customer Review: A Gift for Generations
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this mixer 10 years ago at a garage sale for 40 bucks and thought I had died and gone to heaven! Seriously I had wanted a KitchenAid mixer for years but the ole budget just could not afford a new model.
It's still going strong.
We use it on a daily basis and the family rule is that if you leave the mixer a mess you invoke mom's wrath! All kidding aside it's a workhorse and worth ten times what I paid for it.
The whisk attachment is great for beating egg whites and whipping cream (put the bowl and whisk in the freezer for 15 minutes prior to whipping). The motor is so strong that if you start out whipping cream on a fast setting you will end up with cream all over the walls and yourself!
I use the dough attachment and do not notice any problem with the motor. I will say that you do need to watch when using it to knead dough as it will move across the counter and end up on the floor.
I love the fact that the bowl and mixer head are designed so that I do not need to be constantly scraping the bowl.
If you enjoy making your own sausage get the grinder attachment. You can experiment with your own sausage seasonings and also add less fat than what you can find in store bought sausage.
It's telling that there's already been a heated discussion as to who gets the mixer when I leave his earthly abode. I've already deeded it to my daughter and I have no doubt she will use it for many years herself. She's kept us in cookies on a daily basis and deserves her reward for her efforts.
Customer Review: NOT FOR MAKING BREAD ON A REGULAR BASIS!!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
A word of warning - the Kitchenaides made in the past 10 or so years have a less powerful and durable motor than the older ones. If you like making homemade bread (like I do) purchase a professional mixer to knead your dough (or do it by hand like I do now). Kitchenaides used on a regular basis to make homemade bread (especially using whole wheat flour) will destroy your motor. When you send the mixer in for repairs (under warranty) they will say you've been using it commercially and refuse to stand behind their warranty. If you tell them you use it to make bread they'll tell you it's not made for that (they can't explain why they provide a dough hook though or neglect to provide any warnings against breadmaking in particular). I've always loved Kitchenaide appliances, my sisters is 15+ years old and going strong but my poor 4 year old mixer overheats and strains doing the same recipes. My next mixer will be a Magic Mill DLX Kitchen Machine, its twice as much, but will last like the old Kitchenaides do. I have to give 2 stars for the lousy warranty service and lack of honesty in their manuals.
Update: August 2004
Haven't been using my KA for bread since (bought a breadmachine to mix my dough). Only using the KA for light use abut 4 times a month. Now it makes a grinding noise continuously while in use. Cookie doughs seems almost too hard for it too. My sisters is now over 20 years old and going strong (even with bread). I wish they made them like they used too........
Customer Review: Great, but not for heavy jobs
Summary: 4 Stars
You can't deny that KA makes the best mixers. I love my Classic for most jobs, but when I get to making bread or muffins or some such, the capacity is a problem. i can't put in more than 5 cups of flour or I will burn out the motor. That means no double batches of anything. And even when I stay under 5 cups, the motor really starts to sound labored. I wish I had put the money into a higher-powered motor. I will definitely do that next time, but that will probably be many years from now since KA are made so well.
UPDATE: I've been making a lot of bread lately and my KA Classic just isn't up to the task. It bogs down a lot even with one small loaf's worth of dough. Worse, because the bowl twists into the base to hold it into place, when the mixer is working a loaf of bread and working hard, it's twisting the bowl into the stand so hard that I can't get it out no matter how I strain. My husband has to get it for me, and even he has to do a kung-fu yell and really put some muscle into it. Finally, the last loaf of bread I made caused the silver metal ring around the head-part (where the beater attachment goes) to fall right off. I had to stop the machine pronto to jam it back on. It's just falling apart under such a basic task. I'd say that unless you're only doing mashed potatoes, cake mixes and the like, you really need a more heavy-duty mixer. I'll be getting a Magic Mill DLX soon.
I'd re-adjust this for 3 stars instead of 4.
Customer Review: MADE IN USA
Summary: 5 Stars
Before you give up on the American standard give this a second look. This model is just right for a small kitchen. Believe me I know, back in the day when I was a young child Julia Child cooked in our family ranch commercial kitchen and I had the privilege of being spoon fed her Calzone and Cannelloni. One thing that always impressed me was how efficiently she used this model of the mixer. In those days, the late 70's, it was either that small model or the huge ones that used god knows how many watts. But in addition to being the most economical this model has some advantages that a great chef learns to take advantage of. For instance just recently I made bread and wanted to use a larger bowl- a stoneware pitcher just a bit wider than the stainless provided. That's where the smaller, tighter radius with this machine comes in. You can place a slightly wider base over the outside of the machine base and do no harm to a stoneware dish. By just holding onto the dish I was able to mix the bread dough just fine. Point being you can often fit the paddles on this machine into just about any bowl you mix with and when you're really cooking it can be so handy; all you have to do is reach over and hold your dish under the mixer and turn it on. So all in all if Julia Child could multi-task her kitchen this way then it's definitely no sacrifice for a quart less. A fantastic mixer!
Also watch for a sale I got this one for 50% off new from Amazon!
Customer Review: A Must Have For Serious Bakers -- Worth Every Penny!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Kitchen Aid since 1994 and it's still going strong. We had a tradition in our family to give one as a wedding gift (split between siblings) and you can't go wrong. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I am an avid baker and I use my Classic mixer often -- for making cookie dough, cakes, breads, and also for slicing and shredding vegetables and cheese using the KitchenAid RVSA Slicer/Shredder Attachment for Stand Mixers.
I also have the KitchenAid FGA Food Grinder Attachment for Stand Mixers and use it to grind elk meat with bacon for really good burgers (or when I run out of elk burger in the freezer). It's a life saver, esp. in these budget times and high food prices.
I recently bought Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients to make my own bread easily. Once again I used my kitchen aid to mix the dough ingredients efficiently. These are no-knead recipes so it's just mix and place dough into a storage container to store until ready.
I can't imagine my kitchen without one of these mixers. If I could rate it 10 stars, I would!