Review: Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

I bought my stand mixer with a gift card from our wedding. I wasn't sure I needed it, but there was nothing else in the store that I wanted. By the time I bought it, I had been trying to spend that gift car for two years! I wanted to be done carrying around a gift car with that value so I bought the mixer.

It was such an awesome purchase! I'm happy to report that I didn't research the product to death before buying it. I assumed its reputation was worthy and bought it. To this day, I haven't looked at any other mixers. I'm very happy with the one I bought.

It came with three different mixing attachments (all of which I use) and a flour pour shield (to keep it from spraying into your face). Knock on wood, I've not had any problems with it. It's powerful enough to mix heavy bread and cookie doughs. It's never seized up on me.

If you choose to buy one, make sure you pay attention to which model you're getting. They sell some cheaper versions that have smaller motors and only 4.5 quart bowls. This might be fine for the occasional cook, but if you're going to use it a lot, I'd go for the bigger motor and bowl. Obviously, there are more powerful and bigger models to choose from. If you're going to be using it a ton, I'd say save your money for one of those. It used to be (as of 2003 when I sold these at WS), that the Professional series was made completely of metal. This meant that they were significantly less likely to seize up and they would probably still be working when you died.