KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Nickel Pearl
|
List Price: Our Price: $339.99 You Save: $160.00 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $315.00 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Nickel Pearl
Customer Review: planetary shaft separated
Summary: 1 Stars
We make bread often - three times every two weeks; our usage of the machine is quite heavy, but not excessive, and we keep the kneading speed to 1 or 2. We bought the machine in 2007; soon enough, the "planetary" rotator descended from the rest of the unit. As this probably happened while the mixer was under warranty, we should have called KA, but didn't, and simply pushed the rotator up back against the machine. It worked for a while (6 months?), on condition one periodically pushed the rotator/agitator back into place. Eventually the rotator fell entirely off the vertical (ridged) shaft extending from the body of the machine: I wrapped the base of the shaft with nylon tape (as used in plumbing), and pushed the rotator back into place. That worked for a while, although I did have to replaced the nylon tape every now and then. Eventually that 'fix' stopped being sufficient. It's been in the garage for a while - we've been kneading by hand - really, not much more work than doing it by machine - but today, I got around to wrapping the shaft with duct tape: it looks like this might hold for a while.
There are many negative reviews dealing with the plastic/metal gears issue, but not so many dealing with this (although I've seen at least one), so one might conclude that we were simply unlucky. On the other hand, what odd engineering: there is nothing to hold the rotator to the shaft, except friction, unless there was a part that fell into one of our breads, and we ate it without noticing. I think not - how can this design ever work?
Customer Review: Not impressed
Summary: 3 Stars
This was my first purchase of a stand mixer. I occassionally make cakes, pasta, and bread - and mix/beat/knead them by hand. I had always wanted a stand mixer, but could never justify the expense. I finally chose to splurge on a nice stand mixer and bought the Kitchenaid Professional 600. I chose this over the Kitchenaid Artison mixer because it has metal gears (instead of plastic) and because it specified on the box that it was good for bread dough. I used it once - to make a carrot cake and cream cheese frosting. I found it lacking for the cake batter and frosting because I had to keep stopping the mixer and scraping the sides of the bowl because the mixer itself doesn't reach the sides of the bowl. When I put in the confectioner's sugar, dust got everywhere in my kitchen, despite the use of the dust guard. Also, the lifter was a little awkward to use - on this model the head does not tilt back so you have to lift the head to change the attachments and/or remove the bowl. It was difficult to get the bowl positioned just right; it was also difficult to remove the bowl. It would not fit on my counter under my cabinets, and it is too big to use on the countertop outside the overhead cabinets, so I could not use it on my regular countertop, which was disappointing. Further disappointment set in when I realized that I did not have a cupboard space big enough to store it in. It was also very noisy to use. I returned it after the one use.Customer Review: It doesn't beat the old Hobart made KA mixers...
Summary: 4 Stars
but it seems to do a decent job. I had to send two back after they froze on me, but number three has been working for several months without a hitch. Customer support was terrific in replacing the defective products.
Keep a close eye on "flour power" in the rating. Just because it states it will handle up to 14 cups of flour doesn't mean it is for every type of recipe, especially breads. Go to their website, read the manual, and research the product. Also, check out their "Conversations" forum where owners post. Granted, most are happy owners, but some have legitimate complaints.
The slow start is a nice feature, as it keeps your flour from becoming dust in the room, and the spiral dough hook is much nicer than the "C" hook with the other models. If you have hard water, you may notice a discoloration of the stainless attachments, no matter how careful you are. The bowl, however, seems to hold it's shine. Handwashing the parts is a must, as dishwasher detergent is too harsh for them.
The bowl-lift design takes a little getting used to if you're used to the tilt-head. Sometimes it may even seem to get in the way.
All in all, it's a good mixer, but the older style KitchenAid mixers made by Hobart were superior. Should this one go after the warranty is up, I may consider another brand. But then, it seems the brands have their glitches, too.
Customer Review: It's a dream!
Summary: 5 Stars
KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Nickel Pearl
I bought this KitchenAid mixer for my wife as a Christmas present. She'd said that she's been wanting one forever, and now that we have a house to put it into instead of the cramped apartment, it was something that i just had to deliver to make her Christmas one to remember. She was extremely excited when she unwrapped it on Christmas morning.
The first thing she made was meatloaf. This may not sound like a major feat, but you don't know my wife. She has a major major fear of cold raw meat. So you can imagine my surprise when i came home to meatloaf. She was so proud of the fact that she didn't have to use her hands to mix it. I of course was happy with that because i knew that i wouldn't have to mix it myself anymore.
When ask if someone wanted advice about buying this KitchenAid mixer she simply stated, "Hell Yeah!" She went on to exclaim, "It's the best appliance that i own! Why wouldn't someone buy this?"
Overall, she's in love with this machine. She loves to use it for the aforementioned meatloaf, as well as all sorts of desserts and the like. I cannot wait to see what types of things she makes for this upcoming Christmas!
Customer Review: Very Satisfied
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this mixer as a Christmas gift for my wife. It had been years since I gave up repairing the old Mixmaster we had and she had been relying on a handheld mixer. We looked at KitchenAid mixers for several years, and I finally bought this when she decided to ditch an old breadmaker and try artisan breads from scratch. All I can say is that we are extremely impressed with the quality of the mixer, both from a fit and finish standpoint as well as performance. It's big, brawny and can handle any task in our kitchen!
I saw some reviews here citing gear noise and problems with overtemp shutdowns. Our experience thus far is very, very positive. Bottom line - it handles bread and pizza dough in large quantities with no problems.... AS LONG AS YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. The instructions are quite clear - keep the speed with dough hook at 2 Max and follow KitchenAid's guidelines for mixing times (which are substantially shorter than most cookbooks.) As the dough stiffens the gear noise increases. This is an easy audible notice that the mixer is using more power and it's about time to shut it off. The noise level is certainly not objectionable. If you continue mixing the mixer will eventually shut off from overtemp. Let it cool off for 10 minutes and it works again. No big deal. A great mixer at a great price.