If you mention a stand mixer it seems Kitchen Aid is the benchmark standard. However I do not want to pay $300 for a mixer that would not see much use. Maybe once a month.

Are there any alternatives closer to the $100-150 range?

We've had a Sunbeam... it's been fine, but we don't use it that much.
The reviews for the Kitchen Aid are better.

https://www.cakecentral.com/fo...-vs-kitchenaid-mixer

Kitchenaid sells manufacturer refurbished models on their website.

These are currently $120 off with free shipping.

5.5 qt for $199: https://www.kitchenaid.com/ref...mixer.rksm55bm.html?

6 qt for $209: https://www.kitchenaid.com/ref...mixer.rksm60er.html?


Or, if you're patient and willing to put in some work, you can often find unused/lightly used Kitchenaid stand mixers at estate sales, garage sales, Goodwill shops, Facebook/Craigslist, etc. I got mine off Facebook Marketplace years ago. New in box. Had been just collecting dust. Some folks get them as wedding/housewarming/Xmas gifts but never get around to using them, before selling them at a big discount.

Timely thread. My wife just texted me that she wants me to bring her Kitchen Aid mixer up to Michigan. That means I’m going to have to haul it back in August.

You can get a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment for your mixer.

I'm just sayin', that's all.

Yum! Home made ice cream.
.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
You can get a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment for your mixer.

I'm just sayin', that's all.

Yum! Home made ice cream.
.

And a sausage grinder/stuffer kit. And pasta maker.

My mother’s Kitchenaid has been handed down to the third generation now, after my wife’s passing. They certainly seem to be worth the money, to me. Even for occasional use. Buy quality and cry once.

What will you be using it for?

If its just mixing, buy a $12 hand mixer. If its pasta making, buy a cheap hand cranked model. If its bread making, there's always grandma's tried and true method of hand kneading.

KitchenAid stand mixers, while expensive, are worth every penny IMO. I will say, though, if you are going to buy one, don't go cheap/small. Those little "artisan" models may look cute, but they won't handle a big wad of dough. Break out the checkbook and buy the big-ass industrial strength model. You won't regret it.

If serious, weekly bread making were an option, I would recommend paying even more for a Bosch Universal Mixer or--our favorite--an Ankersrum from Sweden. Since we do that, we don't own a conventional stand mixer.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
If serious, weekly bread making were an option, I would recommend paying even more for a Bosch Universal Mixer

For dough making, my wife uses a Bosch. For pasta or cookies, she uses her Kitchenaid.
Both work well.

I use my KitchenAid often to make bread. One of my daughters gave me a grain mill attachment to grind wheat.

I saw it posted on NextDoor a few years ago for $150. I asked if they would take $100 and they agreed.

When I picked it up, it was a new, never used wedding present and she was going through a divorce.

A $500 mixer for $100. I use it often for making bread. I made sourdough rye dough yesterday and baked it this morning.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Kitchenaid sells manufacturer refurbished models on their website.

These are currently $120 off with free shipping.

5.5 qt for $199: https://www.kitchenaid.com/ref...mixer.rksm55bm.html?

6 qt for $209: https://www.kitchenaid.com/ref...mixer.rksm60er.html?

Give them an email address and they’ll send a 10% off coupon code that works for those as well. I just tried it myself.

There’s plenty of used ones on yard sale sites for way less than $300

My wife bought me this refurb beauty for my 50th birthday in 2022 and I think she paid around $180-$200, the model brand new is around $350-$400. It looks and runs like brand new:




They’re the go-to mixers for a reason.

Ours gets used heavily. Enough that I'm thinking about upgrading to the bigger one vs the tilt model we have now.

Bosch makes a great alternative. not in that price range though

if you go KA stay with the Pro model. the other now has nylon gears that strip relatively easily

Generally speaking, what is a good size to get? I know everybody is different in needs and such.

Is a 5 qt too small?

Making bread and such a few times a week?

A 5 quart refurb on KA is $299 and you get 10% off.

The bigger one is only $10 more

“Kitchenaid sells manufacturer refurbished models on their website.

These are currently $120 off with free shipping.

5.5 qt for $199: https://www.kitchenaid.com/ref...mixer.rksm55bm.html?

6 qt for $209: https://www.kitchenaid.com/ref...mixer.rksm60er.html?”

My Kitchenaid is so old it was manufactured by Hobart. My cousin and her ex had a divorce sale and they gave it to me.

My wife originally had a small Kitchenaid and eventually I bought her a Kitchenaid Pro series which she's used for some 16 years. 
I had done service on it over the years (inspecting and changing grease per guidelines) and recently her bread baking has substantially increased which taxed this machine a bit. 
She mentioned during her last baking that the mixer was getting quite warm and I opened it up later to find that one gear showed significant wear. (She's been doing around 12-15+ pounds of dough total for each baking sesson).



As folks in the KA forum have mentioned, I found the residue of that gear wear in the grease so I cleaned all parts in mineral spirits and replaced the worn gear with OEM parts/gasket/new food grade grease. It's back together and working fine (Again, 16+ years old with lots of use). KitchenAids are good machines.

However, during this repair, my wife heard from friends who had bakeries that they had switched to Ankarsrum machines at home.
(History- originally built for commercial use, the Ankarsrum was given a redesign by Alvar Lenning in 1939 after Ankarsrum was taken over by Electrolux). The electrical motor and the aluminum components are cast and assembled at the Electrolux factory in Ankarsrum, Sweden. This machine uses a completely different concept for mixing bread dough. Nowadays, most stand mixers have planetary motion. Ankarsrum on the other hand is considered a spiral mixer, which is completely different from a typical stand mixer.

Spiral mixers are built to withstand tougher ingredients and instead of the motor being on the head of the mixer, it is placed in the base, under the bowl. Unusual for a mixer design, but there are a few brands out there that have spiral motion, including Bosch as snwghst mentioned. The Ankarsrum has a 7-liter (8-quart) bowl that can hold up to 21 cups of flour and comes with a 7-year warranty and offers a lot of attachments. (* And it is not cheap). Wife just got one after much research and thought.

I can observe that you probably won't need one of these if you're in the cake, cookie and meringue side of baking. These are built for handling a lot of bread dough and there is a slight bit of difference in use from a standard mixer. As we use this one more I'll post some observations-


(stock picture)

We have one that was my Grandmothers.
Still going strong.
Look for a used one, locally or eBay.