KitchenAid Reviews

I received the 5 qt bowl lift stand mixer for a Christmas gift.

It's performance was pathetic from day one but we managed to limp along for six months before it quit altogether. It's elliptical orbit was supposed to make better contact with the food it was mixing, but instead it made contact with the bowl, scratching it and completely throwing the bowl off it's pins. You could not begin to hold the bowl on to the machine even with both hands! It would heat up, give off the 'hot electrical' smell and quit.

When we called Kitchen Aide, their *first* response was that it was 'operator error.' Sorry folks, but after being a professional cook, I am smart enough to snap a bowl in place over two pins and a button spring-snap at the back. It was insulting on top of having to cope with a mixer that did not live up to even the least of my expectations.

We called them and they sent a replacement. It worked two weeks, got hot and quit in the middle of mixing 5 cups of bread flour. And the same little snippy customer dis-service agent *argued* that a 5-quart mixer should not have to handle that load. For thirty minutes she tried to force us to believe that it was user error.

She then had the audacity to suggest we make *half a pizza*, wait half an hour and make the other half of the pizza. What planet does she live on? A $300 machine can't make a single crust pizza? Does that mean I make a half of a loaf of bread at a time, too? That machine should make half a dozen loaves of bread every day of the week for years for that kind of money.

We asked to speak to a supervisor and read the instructions right off of page eleven to her. The book said no more than '12 cups' of flour. So five cups of bread flour is too much when the instruction booklet says 12? Hummph! and hogwash! And they suggested that the machine should not run for more than six minutes at a time. . .Six minutes? SIX MINUTES?

What if I had been making a really stiff dough like pasta? Oh, yeah, that's right. . .it wouldn't make semolina pasta dough at all when I tried it. . .that's right 2 1/2 cups of semolina would not mix and knead on a $300 machine enough to run through the pasta extruding attachment we purchased separately.

How about trying to grind sausage in six minutes? That isn't going to happen in this life time either. Save your money and skip the attachments even if you break down and buy the mixer.

The Oster Kitchen Center we had mixed 8 cups of flour for 3 loaves of bread at a time at least 3 days a week for nearly 20 years with no complaints from it or me (plus using the blender, ice cream, food processor, shredder and grinder attachments) until I finally wore it out. . .not the motor, mind you. . .the connector that held the attachments to the motor was so worn down that it was unusable, but the motor fired up just fine. And, yes, it routinely made double batches of semolina pasta dough that I ran through my hand cranked Atlas pasta machine.

Yeah, they are sending us a new machine, but we don't think we should have had to go through this plus they do not guarantee that it will be any better than the two we have had already.

And we certainly should not have to had to argue for half an hour that a five quart machine can't handle five cups of King Arthur bread flour.

If you're looking for a heavy duty mixer that almost belongs in a restaurant but is really for the home, this is the one for you. A couple of things to be aware of though. This mixer is a bit louder than the artisans. And because it has the lifting bowl design, it's slightly taller. You may want to measure the height of your counter-to-cabinet space. The mixer doesn't fit under some of my cabinets.

If you bake heavy bread doughs or large batches, this is the mixer for you. I had a slightly smaller Kitchen Aid mixer, which I also loved, but the extra size and motor power of this model is invaluable. It is a beautiful machine. It is heavy and quiet, and very powerful, like an expensive luxury automobile. It is also very beautiful, I have it in red, and it is just gorgeous with my red le creuset pans (they have the exact same color and finish). It has a very useful feature where it starts out slow when you first turn it on, then gradually speeds up. This keeps things from slopping out of the mixing bowl. There are three things I do not especially like about this mixer, but you will notice I give the machine 5 stars anyway. The first problem is really minor. It takes some degree of coordination to get the bayonet at the back of the mixing bowl attached to the mixer. The other two problems stem from the top of the mixer not swinging up, as it does on the smaller mixers. Using the plastic chute accessory to load ingredients is a bother, so I soon stopped doing that. When I put ingredients into the bowl, it is kind of an awkward, messy procedure. Then, when you finish mixing, it is also awkward to get the beater out of your food product. If something were to happen to the machine I own, these problems would not keep me from buying the same exact machine again. For people who cook large batches, this mixer is just wonderful. If you don't really need the volume, you would be happier with one of the smaller mixers, the top of which swing up.

I was disappointed in this product. I know the silicone bakeware is floppy and assumed the sled would support it, but it didn't. The baking pan slipped right through the sled, curling the sides of the pan up. I resorted to using the baking pan without the sled on a cookie sheet, which worked ok, but again the floppiness of the pan made loaf removal a challenge.

I can't get past the chemical odor this pan gives off when baking. I was baking only at 350 degrees and the chemical smell overwhelmed the fresh baking cake aroma. The best part of baking is gone.....the results were good but the smell....can this be dangerous like teflon fumes???

My wife Marisa uses to make bread at home: very good !! With this 6-in-1 she makes different stile breads.
It is good for the dimention of each food, I suggest it to all my friends!

Buyers beware, I have had the spatula a few weeks and it started to fall apart, peeling on the sides and I have only used it a few times. It looked nice but does not hold up.

This product stands up to heavy use without fraying or melting. My only complaint, and it's a significant one, is the shape of the handle. I find it awkward and clunky. It's probably great for people with larger hands. I've decided to replace mine with cheaper ones.

This is definately superior to the common hard plastic spatulas. This one is flexible...easy to clean...a good size for everything...easy to manage. Superior quality consturction.

I have to admit that this is not as handy as I hoped. It is big and clumsy and it's a little too flexable.

Don't get me wrong, this is a very nice well made basting spoon. However there were 2 things that bothered me. 1 - the spoon itself was too thick, and 2 - the silicone made the spoon really flexible. Its probably ideal for replacing a ladle for soups and sauces but not for basting roasts (the thickness and flexibility prevents a good amount of gravy from getting scooped up).

I have the four piece set of these silicone utensils, and have been very pleased with them. They are heat resistant, heavy-duty, and look sharp. They are slightly flexible, but I have not found this to be a problem. The best part is the wonderful easy-clean properties of the silicone. My other heat-resistant utensils always look icky and need to be scrubbed with a scouring pad to clean the textured finish. These look great right out of the dishwasher! I've had them for a year and they've held up great. The spoon is a nice size and great for ladling soups, etc.

I've tried just about every salad spinner on the market and this one is average at best. After reading some of the reviews on this site I had high hopes, but the spinner doesn't even come close to drying salad greens. Not sure what the point in keeping this thing is if I have to use towells to dry my greens anyway. Another dissapointment is the spinner's capacity. The plunger in the middle reduces the volume of greens the spinner can hold and restricts any internal movement of contents. Although that probably reduces bruising, I would think a little agitation is necessary to enable a path for water movement (otherwise doesn't it just force water against the internal side of the lettuce leave?). If you want a spinner that dries relatively well, look at other brands.

Looks nice and works okay. Pump handle gets stuck in locked position when spinning. Stem does not easily detach from basket as shown in pictures. Really must be hand washed.

A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry". I love to cook and I prepare three meals a day most days of the month.

My husband and I embarked on a mostly vegan lifestyle about 3 months ago and I decided that I needed a larger salad spinner. I purchased this salad spinner to replace a smaller one that is battery operated that I have been using for at least 15 years.

Pros:
1.The rubber bottom on this spinner keeps it in place on the counter while you are using it. This is a big improvement over the standard spinners.
2.The large capacity is also very nice if you eat a lot of vegetation.
3.The pump is easy to use provided that you remember not to push all the way to the bottom of the stroke with causes it to lock. This takes a little getting used to, but you will get the hang of it eventually.
4.The pump mechanism should be less susceptible to breakage than the string models. I have heard from others that the pull mechanism is prone to breakage on the pull models.
5.It removes as much water from the produce as my battery operated salad spinner.

Cons:
1.I can't remove the center stem on the basket no matter what I try. I think that this is a design flaw.
2.The spinner is a little awkward to clean with the center stem in place.

Overall, I think this product is middle of the road, not great but not terrible either. I like having the extra capacity, but I would be much happier if I could get the stem out of the basket to facilitate cleaning the thing.

For a silicone spatula it is not heat-resistant. The first time I used it the edges cracked. Plus it is not flexible so you can only use it at certain angles. Waste of money...I sold it in my garage sale!

I recommend Le Creuset instead.

Pretty nice spatula, but the shaft is bit too flexible for my taste :( Also, although it is 9" in length, this is certainly not a compact spatula.

I have the four piece set of these silicone utensils, and have been very pleased with them. They are heat resistant, heavy-duty, and look sharp. They are slightly flexible, but I have not found this to be a problem unless you want to do heavy scraping with the turner. The best part is the wonderful easy-clean properties of the silicone. My other heat-resistant utensils always look icky and need to be scrubbed with a scouring pad to clean the textured finish. These look great right out of the dishwasher! I've had them for a year and they've held up great. The turner has not disintegrated on the edge, either, like many other types do. The smooth finish allows food to slip right off without sticking as you're cooking.