For example, last month, I promised my friend that I would make a 7up Cake for her birthday. That meant that I had to make 2, one for her and one for my house. I forgot that I loaned my trusty heavy duty KitchenAid to my daughter. The recipe calls for 20 minutes of creaming butter. I had to physically hold my old hand mixer for 40 total minutes while frequently scraping the bowl to combine the ingredients.
With my Artisan stand mixer, I would have pressed 1 button and let the mixture blend on its own with NO constant bowl scraping. It creams butter in almost half the time. Had I been thinking, I could have driven to my daughters picked up my mixer and still would have spent less than 40 minutes. Lessons learned and back to the reasons why I love my mixer.
The Artisan is a classic top of the line stand mixer that mixes, whips and mashes wonderfully well. It has been voted the best stand mixer for home use and is an Amazon choice product. I primarily use it to make cakes, cookies, pies, brownies, muffins, cupcakes, frosting, pastry dough, mashed potatoes, guacamole, salad dressing, whipped cream, meringue, rolls, and coffee cake.
But I do not do it justice. You can use it as a food processor, make bread, pasta from scratch in various sizes, pizza dough, and even ice cream as well as grind meat, core, peel or slice fruit and vegetables, or even shred cheese. There are a multitude of applications if you have the 10 attachments that can be purchased to go with it.
Since I do not bake weekly, I have a special place for the mixer in an under the counter cabinet when I need the extra space. Most of the time, I keep it out since it is so colorful and decorative.
Features
- PLANETARY MIXING ACTION - The mixing action is similar to the way the planets move around the sun. Hence, the name planetary action. It spins in one direction and moves around the bowl the opposite way. The beater, dough hook, and whip move and touch the bowl 59 times per rotation for a thorough mixing. Instead of scraping the bowl by hand, the rotations ensure that the sides of the bowl are scraped by the beaters.
- 10 SPEED OPTIONS - It comes with 10-speed options. Use slower speeds for kneading, medium speeds for mixing, and higher ones for whipping.
- TILT HEAD DESIGN - The hinged head of the mixer tilts back so that you can easily add ingredients and have easy access to put on attachments.
- 5 QUART MIXING BOWL - It comes with a polished stainless steel 5-quart bowl that allows you make up to 9 dozen cookies. Stainless steel is nice and you do not have to worry about breaking the bowl (like I did with my first mixer).
- COLOR OPTIONS - There are 20 different beautiful colors to choose from to match your decor or personality type. Pictured is my mixer in Empire Red. I know color does not make a good cake, but I like having it blend in with my kitchen.
Product Performance
This is a heavy duty product and built to last. It cuts down mixing time and combines ingredients thoroughly. The specifications say that the mixing bowl can hold dough for 9 dozen cookies. I have never made that many cookies, but whenever I make sweet potato pies, I can easily hold mixture for 3-4 pies.I love the pouring shield chute for adding ingredients. When mixing, it cuts down on flour or mixtures flying everywhere. It definitely makes clean up easier.
Notice the 10 speed options in the picture below. More speeds give you more control over your mixture and impacts the texture and fluffiness.
Dimensions
This mixer weights 26 pounds.Its measurements are 14.1 x 9.3 x 8.7 inches (from KitchenAid Website).
The motor speed is 325 watts.
Pros
- 59 point planetary mixing action for thorough and consistent mixing
- Can choose from over 20 different colors
- Tilt head design
- Large dishwasher safe 5 quart bowl that can hold dough for up to 9 dozen cookies
- Comes with nylon coated flat beater, nylon coated c-shaped dough hook, 6 wire whip, 1 piece pouring shield
Cons
- Only a limited one year warranty. With proper usage, most people have no issues with the durability and quality of the mixer. I have had my Empire Red over 5 years and have had no issues.
- No automatic timing settings. For me, this would be a nice to have, but not a necessity
- Takes up counter space. This is true especially for those with limited counter space. I store mine under the counter when I need the space. Otherwise, it blends in nicely with my kitchen.
Price
Although a hand mixer is considerably less expensive, it is generally best for quick, small jobs like mixing a couple of eggs for an omelet. A stand mixer performs all the tasks a hand mixer does and more with less effort on your part.For me, I consider the price of the mixer a long term investment. It saves me time and I bake with confidence. I know my frosting will be fluffy and my cakes will be light. I know I can leave the machine running while I perform other tasks.
It is worth the price even though I do not use all the features.
