KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer K45SS, White

Clearly the best for the price, and more than adequate even for heavy dough
KitchenAid has three main models of stand mixer: the 4.5 quart Classic tilt-head ($188, or $226 for the slightly more powerful “Plus”), the 5 quart Artisan tilt-head ($298), and the 6 quart fixed-head Professional ($359). The prices are Amazon prices; MSRP is considerably more, and B&M retailers have trouble matching Amazon even with Black Friday sales.I’m sure the bigger mixers are, in some ways, better, but don’t underestimate what an enormous step up even the lowly Classic model is from a hand mixer or plastic food processor. This is a very solid product. And most of us, while we value the convenience of a big stand mixer when baking things, don’t exactly use these things every day. Even if you think that at some point in the future, you have reason to get a bigger one, remember that the bigger ones take up a lot more space, and these things actually have decent resale value, so if you want to upgrade later, your previous investment isn’t necessarily lost altogether.I bought this because I’d been baking Dutch-style appeltaart a number of times, and people really like it, but it was a lot of work to make. At some point, I looked into how to make it faster, and I ended up getting a $20 peeler/corer/slicer for the apples, as well as this mixer. Appeltaart involves a heavy shortbread pasty crust (what the Germans call “Mürbeteig”), which is a challenge for a lot of kitchen equipment and traditionally has to be kneaded by hand, so if I was going to get a device to make it for me, it would have to be a pretty heavy-duty one.The dough has a 3:2:1 flour/butter/sugar ratio (by weight) and just a little bit of egg. Usually, I’d cut the butter into small pieces to make it easier, but to put this mixer to the test, I just dumped in the ingredients and pulled the delightfully solid-feeling lever to the slowest speed. It wasn’t a small amount of dough either; the bowl was filled pretty much to capacity and a little bit of flour spilled out initially. At first, it looked like the dough was never going to come together, but I just left it running for a few minutes and before long I had a perfect dough. I had worried that maybe the dough would be too crumbly because the mixer can’t do the typical squeezing motion that you do by hand to really make the dough cohesive, but it turns out that once everything is thoroughly mixed, it only takes 10 seconds of hand-kneading to make the dough really come together. The hard work is really in the mixing and the mixer does it extremely well.It’s clear that these things have been on the market for a long time and a lot of minor issues have been worked out over the years. The shape of the attachments and the shape of the bowl, for instance, are well matched to each other so the thing will beat even a single egg or a small amount of whipping cream just fine, and doughs don’t stick to the bowl when using the paddle attachment. The bayonet type bowl attachment really locks the bowl in place without making it hard to remove, things don’t splatter into spots that are hard to clean, etc.Two nit-picks:1. The mixer works if you don’t lock it in the down position. I can’t imagine this is good for the internal gearing, though then again the head is heavy enough that it might not matter very much. Still, it would be good to have some sort of interlock so that it didn’t operate when you don’t lock it down. Meanwhile, just remember to double-check that you have it locked down before turning it on.2. The whisk attachment oxidizes a lot when you put it in a dishwasher, especially if you use a copious amount of strong detergent (e.g. Cascade brand). This leaves a black powdery residue that rubs off easily. I don’t think it’s particularly dangerous if it were to end up in your food in small quantities, but it has a metallic smell and taste and it’s unsightly. I’m sure it says somewhere in the manual that the whisk attachment shouldn’t go in the dishwasher, but it would be nice if the manufacturer could either make it so this doesn’t happen in the first place, or alternatively attached a label to the thing with a warning so you can’t miss it.

Amazing!!
We originally had a different, cheaper mixer that broke on us pretty quickly. We waited awhile to buy a new one as we didn’t know if it would be worth the money spent. Let me tell you, this is 100000% worth the money. My partner loves to make homemade breads and cakes and other yummy foods and this mixer has made it soooo much faster and easier for them. It’s sturdy and well built and hopefully will last us for years to come. 🙂

Classic, works great, tons of options!
Got for my wife for xmas, she loves it. Works for so many things with the right attachments. Best brand, everyone could benefit from one of these.

This thing is FANTASTIC. If you do baking of any kind, this thing will save you a lot of time and effort. Some people said this wouldn’t be able to handle a tougher bagel dough… it does, while also making a loaf of bread and 2-4 dozen cookies.But it doesn’t stop there, there’s attachments too! Truly an invaluable tool in the kitchen. Worth every cent.

I love this. Works well. Easy to use. Easy to clean.I see why it’s so cherished.

Yep, KitchenAid is the best!