Going to buy Kitchenaid Professional, Lifting-bowl model mix

I made two really beautiful loaves of Greek Easter Bread this weekend...let's just say my baby Kitchenaid 4 1/2 qt. mixer was working overtime...It was HOT...So, sounds like a good enough reason for me to upgrade.

You can see the loaves here: http://www.babettefeasts.com/2009/04/happy-greek-easter-christo-anesti.html this weekend. Or, if you don't visit the blog, here're photos (top is the finished product, bottom is the loaves on the last rise. Eggs are hard-boiled and baked with the bread):

[Jenise]

Wow. Just wow, Barb. Those are stunning.

New machine? How exciting - do you have a photo of it?

LOL, Celia--Right now, I'm just in the talk-myself-into-it phase of the purchase. I won't pay extra for a special color--I just want a stronger motor, a bigger bowl and one that doesn't stick on the base after mixing (sometimes if I've mixed a heavy dough, the bowl is a pain in the neck to UNtwist from its base...)

I've had enough. It's my job. I need the right tools to do the job.

Darn, did I sound too excited?

Tools for work are tax deductible, right? I don't work in food, but I do put my mixer through industrial usage - I'm sure it wasn't designed to be given a work out every day. The last batch of fudge I made nearly did it in. I don't mix bread in the mixer any more, after a batch of brioche blew up the old one my mother handed down to me (granted it was older than me).

I ended up buying this one with a 700 watt motor and am really happy with it so far. The brand is Kenwood - not sure if that's a UK/Aus brand, or whether it's available over in the US as well. I looked at the Kitchenaids, but they were almost double - I bought the Kenwood for $350, the Kitchenaids were about $680. The motor on the KitchenAids was also only 300 watts, although I'm sure there's more to it than just motor size, because everyone I know who has a KA is really happy with it.



Do keep us posted, Barb, there's nothing like shopping for kitchen appliances vicariously!

Wow. 700 watts is impressive...I don't recognize the brand, but it could be out there...I'll def. keep you up-to-date on the shopping!

B

Kenwood is Japanese. They made good receivers. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Kenwood-Corporation-Company-History.html

For Christmas I treated myself to a KitchenAid Pro 600 (I think that's the number). The bowl is large, at 6 quarts, and the motor will take you through anything. I got the one with the bowl-lift. I recently went on E-Bay and bought another bowl. That's handy.

Love it. Love it. Did I mention I love it?

Mine is red.

Beautiful bread!

Kenwood is Japanese. They made good receivers. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Kenwood-Corporation-Company-History.html

Larry, Pete says they're not the same company. Apparently that's a very common discussion on the audio/electronics forums.

Patti, that looks like exactly what I need. My next business purchase.

Kenwood is Japanese. They made good receivers. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Kenwood-Corporation-Company-History.html

Larry, Pete says they're not the same company. Apparently that's a very common discussion on the audio/electronics forums.

I guess you're right. Kenwood Corp. makes audio eqpt; Kenwood Ltd. makes small appliances. Not too smart to use same name, IMO>

[Jenise]

Wow. 700 watts is impressive...I don't recognize the brand, but it could be out there...I'll def. keep you up-to-date on the shopping!

B

They're here, Barb. And shortly after I bought my KitchenAid I ran into a Kenwood that I wished I'd bought instead. Similar money to the KitchenAid in U.S. money or maybe $50 more, but a lot more horse AND a liftable mixing arm. Celia's the first person I've known to own one, though.

Kenwood Ltd. is owned by De Longhi and their mixer is identical to the Kenwood.

Our local consumer magazine did a review which might help : Choice Magazine. It's pretty old, though.

Jenise, I bought the Kenwood because it had substantially more HP and was cheaper than the KA, but now I'm not sure what the differences in the HP actually mean in practical terms. Even with 700HP, the mixer still groans a bit when beating stiff fudge for 10 minutes. The other diff was that the cheaper Kenwood had some plastic panels, whereas the KA was an all metal construction, although the more expensive Kenwood is all metal.

I don't think it started out as a De Longhi brand, and I'm not sure which Kenwood corporation came first - my mother's Kenwood was bought 44 years ago and it was an established brand back then.

FWIW, Cook's Illustrated had the KA 600 Pro as their top mixer from 2005 until a review last year when it was supplanted by the Cuisinart 5.5 Quart Stand Mixer. KA was #2. Then a few months later KA introduced a new dough hook (which had been CI's main complaint), shipped only with the Pro series and now per CI, Cuisinart and KA are co-leaders. I don't know if they reviewed the Kenwood or not, the print article has only the summary with their top three mixers, not the full test results.

Speaking from personal experience, I upgraded from a KA "Ultra" (325 watts) to the KA 600 Pro (575 watts) a few months ago from necessity - I killed the old mixer kneading bread. I bought from Amazon, where there seems to be a remarkable difference in price between colors that can vary daily. I might have considered the Cuisinart (I've found CI's equipment recommendations pretty reliable) but I had enough KA attachments to discourage that. The dough hook really is a huge improvement. I was constantly fighting the C-shaped one in the old KA, dough (especially wet ones) wanting to ride up the hook. The new spiral one that comes the the Pro works great. Anyway, so far, so good. My only criticism is that it's noisier than the old machine, I'm guessing because there are more metal parts involved inside. But that's probably good, maybe I won't break this one

I too read the CI note about the new hook, and called KA to see if I could put it on my old mixer. They asked for the serial number and said no. I was having so much trouble with the old hook on pizza dough that i bought a new Professional 600, also from Amazon. I got a black one that was half the price of the other colors. Go figure.

The dough is very different with that new hook. It seems better kneaded and easier to work with.

Ray, we must have bought at almost the same time because I also got black and from Amazon. I watched prices for a couple of days and the colors seemed to change prices within hours. But there must have been a surplus of black ones I understood the new dough hook wouldn't go on the smaller mixers so I didn't call KA but actually went to the length of suggesting it an aftermarket product to the outfit that makes those "sideswipe" paddles for KA mixers (this was while my Artisan was still working). I don't know why KA doesn't offer a smaller version. Maybe marketing to differentiate the Pro and get people to buy up. Anyway, that new hook is vastly different, isn't it?

I got mine from Kohl's, my wife had a 30% off coupon. -RP