So the Costco in Marlboro has Kitchenaid 6 Quart ‘Professional’ Mixers for $249.00 out the door. Maybe it’s national & I’ll post over in the Costco thread but Marlboro is where I saw them. & yes - I did.
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Best price I’ve seen. I purchased mine for $280 last year, but with a free spiralizer attachment after rebate, which I’ve never used. At one time they had a free meat grinder attachment which is far more useful.
It’s the first Stand Mixer I’ve personally owned, although many of my family members have them. So I was overall satisfied, especially when making breads. I had learned kneading by hand – many different kinds of methods – and it was getting tiring. Even stretch and fold can be tedious. High hydration no knead is fine, but for me there are other great kneaded breads, too. I’m glad I learned the hard way, but I paid my dues and it was time to live the easy life.
However, there are manufacturing issues. There’s a dime test you can read about to make sure your mixer’s clearance is set properly. The first mixer I purchased didn’t pass the test no matter what. The second mixer did. However I had to adjust my mixer all the way for it to pass the dime test. This means I have no leeway in the future. If over time the clearance increases due to regular wear and tear, I can make no more adjustments. Even with the clearance set properly, I will often get unmixed ingredients at the bottom.
The primary reason for the unmixed ingredients, however, is that there is not enough volume in most recipes you find online. Most of the recipes are written for 4.5 or 5 qt mixers. These recipes just don’t mix properly in a 6 qt mixer. (I know this from actually using 4.5 qt mixers at relatives’ homes.) You can use the whip attachment instead of the paddle to make up for this with some recipes, but not others. It took me forever to figure this out.
Still, this 6qt model is so much better at bread, that I’m willing to work around the issues for other recipes. (It got me to use the whisk attachment for my immersion blender.) I am now almost exclusively eating my own bread and pizza. It’s been a lot of fun and very liberating.
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I have bought my 6 qt years ago around this price $249 on US amazon as refurbished. The price in France is 2.5x more for a new one. Yes, I bought a transformer 110 - 220 as well. Happy with it when making bread dough. I have never had the smaller version with the tilt head so I can’t tell. Maybe someone needs to think if they prefer bowl-lift or tilt-head.
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It’s national enough that I got one for that price 2 weeks ago in Seattle. Red, 'cause red ones go faster! Or is that only for cars?
Luckily, bowls and mixing attachments are the same size as my 10-year old Pro 5 Plus that recently stopped being able to cream butter & sugar due to worn gears. Also luckily, a brother had time on his hands and replaced the gear and re-packed the grease, so now I have a back-up that will come in handy for large cake orders. Thanks, big brother!
I do like the wider, bigger bowl, I had to borrow a regular 5 qt for a day and it seemed so narrow and tiny. But its true, you do need a minimum amount in the bowl for things to beat properly.
