KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Nickel Pearl
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of KitchenAid KP26M1XNP Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Nickel Pearl
Customer Review: Pearl mixer
Summary: 5 Stars
I looked over all the popular brands of mixers for quite a while. I considered the Cuisinart, Viking, Artisian, and of course, the pro model. I know there are tons of bad complaints about these mixers and the Artisians. It came down to me deciding that I really only baked cakes and such and never really intended to make much bread or beat heavier types of batters. I think if I planned on it, I would have bought the Viking. It is a bit pricier and customer service is for the birds with only one or two repair facilities. I have used the pro for a couple of months and can say the following:
PROS:
1. Good fit and finish-beater was hitting bowl every once and a while and had to adjust was the only issue
2. utensils seem heavy duty
3. hand crank makes lifting and lowering bowl a breeze.
CONS:
1. the "soft start" where the beaters start at a low speed and then speed up to the selected speed can sometimes cause messes.
2. The nickel finish was not quite what I had hoped for and I am thinking I might have liked the chrome better. It is sort of dull looking and I would have liked a bit more bling from the finish.
3. The utensils are not dishwasher safe and that sometimes is a pain cleaning them. The pro should certainly have dishwasher safe ones for the price.
Customer Review: Mixer cannot handle bread dough
Summary: 2 Stars
I have owned 3 Kitchenaid stand mixers, starting with the Artisan. I just replaced my 600, Professional, unit because the motor burned out after less than 2 years of use. While these mixers look good, are easy to operate, and they work well for cake and cookie batter, etc., they are not built rugged enough to handle yeast bread and pizza dough. The new model 600 I purchased last month has the same problem. I went to make 2 loaves of wheat bread with 6 cups flour, using the dough hook, and setting the mixer speed to number 2 as the manual states but within 3 minutes, the mixer over-heated and shut itself off. I checked the manual and it said that the mixer has a built in fuse and that the unit would be operational again in 30 minutes. Great, but what do I do with the yeast dough that needs more kneading? Of course I had to finish the kneading the old fashioned way, by hand. I've basically had it with Kitchenaid small appliances. They are okay for the casual person in the kitchen, but I am turning my attention to the Viking Mixer which is the same price and has 900 watts of motor power as opposed to 575 that the "professional" Kitchaid 600 model offers. For this reason, I do not recommend spending so much money on a mixer that is really not built tough enough for kneading bread and for serious home bakers.Customer Review: Almost 5 Stars!
Summary: 4 Stars
I can easily see why this mixer repeatedly receives the top honors from America's Test Kitchen. Received my first one 8 years ago as a gift from my wife - yes, I'm the one who loves to bake! There is absolutely no comparison between it and my previous machines (Sunbeam and Oster) with regard to performance. The only reason for not giving it 5 stars has nothing to do with it's performance, but with KitchenAid/Whirlpool (KitchenAid was bought out/taken over several years ago).
Only when my old machine died under a heavy load and I tried to obtain a service - NOT a user's - manual, did I learn that Whirlpool/KitchenAid does not provide them on their products. Several conversations/e-mails all ended up with the same result - a referral to an "authorized repair shop." With no other options, I ended up paying [...] in labor to have a [...] fusible link replaced.
Hey, but it was still cheaper that buying a new motor and now I have two machines! And with the great deal I got through Amazon [...], it was a lot cheaper that graduating to even the smallest Hobart mixer[...] for the home baker.
I hope the folks at Whirlpool change their ways and make BOTH manuals available to the buyer. The repair shop certainly was unwilling to sell me a copy!
Carl - The Cake Guy
Customer Review: Durable work horse
Summary: 5 Stars
When I chose to buy a stand mixer, I wanted to get the best money could buy. Cook's Illustrated rated the KitchenAid Professional 600 the best, so I looked around a little and agreed that it looked like a great mixer for the price.
I can't say that I've really put this machine "to the test" by trying to knead a two-pound loaf of dough (Cook's already did that...and it passed), but it has worked great for me so far. The 575 watts is lower than some of the competition, but don't let this fool you! It's a marketing gimick based on the watts it takes from your wall socket, not the power it exerts on your food.
I'm a culinary student, so it's important to me to get the best equipment I can so that it performs well and will last a long time. This machine is on par with, if not better than, the commercial Hobart mixers we have at school. The cavernous 6-quart bowl does not escape the paddle attachment (unlike the Hobart). You can put anything at the bottom of your bowl and this mixer will get it.
It's certainly pricey, but I promise you that it's a good investment because it is the only mixer you will ever need to buy. KitchenAid has fallen short on their lower-end models (some of which I would never recommend), but this top-end model is definitely the best on the market.
Customer Review: THEY HAVE FIXED THE PLASTIC GEAR COVER PROBLEM :)
Summary: 1 Stars
It appears so many people were breaking the plastic gear covers inside that they have finally fixed the problem. Now they have "POT METAL" (JUNK METAL) aka very wimpy metal gears. So instead of breaking the plastic cover the gears themselves strip out, blow chunks and grind to pieces.
I speak from experience. Our third one just died. After the first two we knew we needed to be tender with the "little" mixer. All that did is made it so our warranty has expired and we get to pay for the third.
So why do I give them a star. 3 reasons.
1. Great features (unfortunately if you use them the machine will self destruct)
2. Somewhat good warranty. (at least they let us try again & again)
3. This is the real reason they get a star. Amazon does not allow 0-star reviews.
Legal disclaimer: I actually do not know if they fixed the plastic gear cover problem itself. I just know that all three of mine although used tenderly broke gears, stripped gears, blew chunks off gears, self destructed gears. I guess you get it. JUNK GEARS
The gears are to metal what baloney is to meat. They say it's all meat, but what kind or quality?
After further reading of reviews I found where you can buy replacement gears.
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