I agree with Lars on this one... mine is the raised/lowered bowl model rather than the tilt top and I think it is superior to the latter. I actually dug out the original paperwork, and I guess mine (industrial tan) was about the last model of KA mixer that Hobart made in 1985.

Alexa

I got a KA pro but have been very disappaointed with it. Should have just asked for a refund when I had to get it replaced right after I bought it. It doesn't whip the bottom of the bowl and it bounces on #2 when mixing dough. I have to hold it with both hands. I had a Kenmore for over 30 years that still would work except the glass bowl broke. Had I not spent so much for it I would just trash it and get a Bosch or something else that gets better reviews. The small $16 hand mixer is used most often for most things.a

Sm :
Is this the one you bought about the same time I did?
I hope you bought the PRO Model. I called them and sent the Artisen back.
And reordered the PRO I think it was only $20 difference with the rebate.
I got it on Amazon. I had the Original box. They paid the Shipping.
You should have a Warranty with your's
Lou

Yes, Lou, I have a warranty. No, Lou, it wasn't the Pro.

Yes, everybody, I knew it could be adjusted -- and I did. And, yes, I knew a spatula was my friend. No, it didn't work.

I'm thinking of begging my son to give me his grandmother's Sunbeam back. Surely I can have it refurbished so that the beaters will release. That's the only thing wrong with it. (He's strong enough to do it, but I'm not.)

sm

While I've always liked KA mixers, there are a lot of people that don't for whatever reason, and I find that those who have had the traditional Sunbeam/Hamilton Beach type stand mixers have the hardest time with the transition. It usually has to do with the perception of difficulty in adding ingredients, or things left on the bottom of the bowl. I've never had this issue, yet some can't seem to get rid of it for all their attempts at adjustment.

I have both types of mixers, the KA I prefer for doughs and heavier things like that, while the Sunbeam excels with cake batters and the like, although I can do fine with them in the KA as well.

Unfortunately, there really aren't any of the traditional type stand mixers made today that are worth buying. SM, if you can't get your old one back, perhaps you could find a similar replacement on Ebay or at a sale, sometimes there are even new in box ones that were possibly wedding present duplicates.

Sorry it didn't work out well for you, but good luck!

Just a reminder to any of you out there still using a trusty old Sunbeam Mixmaster stand mixer. The older all metal ones, Model 12 and down. They do require occasional oiling and it's simple to do. Push the handle to the down position for removing the beaters and you will notice two little holes on the body once the handle is down. Apply two drops maximum of sewing machine oil in each hole. You will also notice a little hole on the body right in front of the Mixfinder (speed) dial. Add another drop oil.

Then add a couple of drops of oil into the pto (power take off) where you would attach the juicer attachment, right next to the handle. That's it.

DON'T over do it.. a couple of drops max. Best to use something that can make tiny drops of oil like a syringe type dispenser.

Sm: I can't send you an email. Did you buy it from Amazon ?
I bought the new one about Jan 1. I had the Artisan a long time, before.
I told them I only used it about 5 times , which I did.
If anyone remembers I had trouble with the dough riding up the hook, to the motor.
If you bought it from Amazon. I think you can return it like I did.
You should be able to return it anyway.
Lou

SM: ??????????????

LOU

Lou, I got it from W-S. Been so busy since it played out that I haven't even had time to contact them. But all my experiences in the past with their customer service dept. have been good, so I'm hopeful there will be no problem.

sm

I recently bought my second Kitchenaid - the Pro 600 - because I needed something bigger and a little more powerful than my Artisan. So far I'm loving it. I did have to do the 'dime' test when I first got it, and made a minor adjustment to correct the distance from the beater to the bowl.

By the way, from what I understand from hanging out on the Kitchenaid website forums, they also have excellent customer service (based on what other's experiences have been). You can contact them directly if you would like to find out more about the problem you are having.

Bonnie

SM - I have one my MIL gave me that is at LEAST 35 years old. She bought a new one in 1995 and gave the old one to me. A year later, she bought a KA "pro" and gave the new one to my SIL. Less than a month after getting the pro (during holiday baking), she was trying like heck to negotiate a trade with me -- her NEW PRO for the ancient, ugly KA. No deal. LOL! She says the new one is a POS and she will never ever buy another KA product. (I've been happy with their mini-processor, but after using her new mixer, I wouldn't have it if she did give it to me.)

I'm with Nancy, I'd rather pay a few dollars more and have a better product. My KA keeps chugging along, but if it every does die, I'm going with an Electrolux or Viking. (Or maybe I'll win the lotto and go for the new Hobart!)

Sorry you are having trouble! I hope that you rapidly fall in love with it or find one to fall in love with!

Mine is an early 90's model (Classic, tilt head, which I prefer) that I've had since I was 17... bought it used. Some of the coating has worn off the apex of the flat beater. Also, the beater sticks to the shaft if I forget to oil it with vegetable oil after each washing. I have to hit it with a meat mallet to get it off if I forget to oil the shaft. Just started doing that after I got a dishwasher, maybe there's a correlation. My motor has just started complaining these last few months... it makes a different pitch than it used to and something just doesn't feel quite right. I do not know if I would replace it with another Kitchen Aid... I think if it goes out, that's a sign to get another brand. I only paid 30 dollars for it anyway. The Magic Mill and Boshch Universal mixers might be functional, but I would hate looking at something that ugly (maybe utilitarian is the word, though the KA mixer is also utilitarian but it has style) every day.

DH gave me a KA that he so proudly bought with credit card points. I kept telling him to get himself something. I wish he had. I am like SM...I absolutely hate it. Absolutely! And I have had it for about 4 months and have used it every weekend since I got it. I can't honestly say that I like anything about it. Mine is a beautiful Artisan blue machine. Sits proudly on my counter. It has the tilt top. I too, find un-mixed stuff in the bottom. And the spatula is my friend too. I don't like so many things about it. There isn't enough room between the head of it and the bowl. I have to turn it off to add stuff. I think I have given it an honest effort. I just don't like it. SM, you are not alone.

I had the most basic Kitchenaid you can buy for about 7 years and it did great. I just updated to an Artisan because I found it on clearance for next to nothing. I'm not doubting that people are having trouble with theirs, I just don't understand why I'm not I guess. I don't have trouble with unmixed food at the bottom (once I adjusted the clearance). It does exactly what it's supposed to; mix batters, bread dough, etc. I use it when I make sausage balls and even play-do. And there customer service is top-notch. I had a piece of paint chip off the Artisan and they sent me a new mixer, no questions asked.

SM, I hope you find a machine you really like because a good mixer makes life easier :) Please let us know what you end up with!

Tracey

Nancy,
Grin, I have the exact same KA as you! The 6 Qt Pro in graphite. I actually only got this color because it was $75 cheaper than the other colors on Amazon when I got it. But I ended up really loving the color. I had a 5 Qt Pro before in white. I gave it to a neighbor when I bought this one when I started making more pasta dough. The 6 Qt Pro has no trouble with big batches of pasta dough, the 5 Qt stalled sometimes with pasta dough, I thought I broke it one time! But it is still alive and kicking. I have never tried one of the tilt top models.

My Bosch is not ugly !!!!! LOL
I wouldn't trade it for anything. I bought it for bread making mainly and don't use it the odd little cake mix or pancake batter. I have a little cheapie Rival electric in the drawer for that sort of stuff.

Here's a pic of a recent vintage find. A GE Triple Whip stand mixer circa 1945-1949. It's missing two of its beaters but I found some on Ebay and awaiting their arrival. It works beautifully and it has a worklight that shines into the bowl.

From the 70's or early 80's this delightful little IONA made in Canada (now outta biz) stand mixer. Never been turned on yet.

May as well show some more.. Here's an impeccable condition Sunbeam Mixmaster Junior, chrome model. Not a scratch or smudge on it, the picture doesn't do it justice LOL

This early to mid 60's Braun KM32 kitchen center mixer. The height of Euro design as compared to the old fashioned looking stuff Sunbeam etc were making. You can see some Sunbeams behind it. These were pretty pricey when new and it's hard to believe this mixer is about 40-45 years old

The Braun KM32 kitchen machine. BTW these were made in West Germany, this is a North American 120v model.

Made in the UK, this one is N.american 120V. Still works like a charm. It's the UK copy of a KitchenAid which weren't sold in the UK. Has plenty of attachments as well, like a blender shown, food processor, meat grinder, can opener, sausage stuffer, berry press. Dates from mid to late 50's into the early 60's. It's heavy.

from the 60's with the new Euro Look

resting on the shelf out of harms way.

pkguy, I really enjoy the pictures you post. Don't happen to have a Dormeyer in the collection? In a moment of stupid generosity I lent my mother's to my SIL. It went walking with the divorce. My MIL's Dormeyer is now being used by her granddaughter. Those old mixers just never break down.

vacuumfreak, I feel hurt that you think Bosch is ugly, LOL. I think mine's kind of cute. Bosch Concept.

Like every other mixer out there it has its quirks, but it's light, powerful (mixing huge batches of fruitcake without protest) and I can store it in a drawer.

I also have a KA Pro and it's been great too. Maybe I should knock on wood.

Everyone's experience is so different, as are cooking styles. What one person hates another person loves. Hopefully we can each find a mixer that suits our needs.

Carol

Hi Carol, I only have the little Dormey hand mixer somewhere out of sight at the moment, now I'm wondering where it is LOL. I'll get a full size one along with a Westinghouse eventually. I never planned on collecting mixers but when I see one neglected and needing a home.....I'll blame it on Scott

I'd like one of those Bosch Concepts but my Universal is still perfectly functioning and I like it so to go and buy a new Concept.. well maybe in 20 or so years I'll find one for $5 like most of these others cost me, or less LOL

That's too bad!! I gotta' say I actually like my mom's old Sunbeam but then I don't do a lot of baking. I was afraid it might die and I wouldn't be able to get a decent, new, lightweight mixer. Then I learned about oiling it - probably from pkguy. Oiled her up and still going strong. I've since decided I'll buy another old Sunbeam on Ebay if this one croaks - all kinds of nice looking ones out there.

CI thought the center post design on the Bosch was a pain, but I think the advantages far outweigh any minor inconvenience. The reliability on the Bosch Universal is hard to beat, so I guess you can't count on it breaking down to give you an excuse, LOL.

My only worry about your pictures is I'll end up collecting the darned things myself. Some of those old designs . . .

You inspired me to dig out my old Osterizer chrome "commercial" blender (meaning I don't know if it's commercial or not). I bought it with the square glass jar and the stainless canister complete with a second base. I have put everything through that machine and it still refuses to die. I don't use it much any more but getting rid of it seems disloyal, if you know what I mean.

Carol

pkguy, My almost 3 year old (his birthday is Saturday) loooooved your photos. Julian has a bit of a thing for mixers so he was enthralled by a whole line of photos of them. When I take him to Williams Sonoma he wants to look at the mixers. One time the manager showed him the bug cakes they had made, thinking he would fall in love with them and I would buy the pan. He humored her by lookig at them, then she said, "What could be better then bugs right?" He said, "yeah, where are the mixers." LOL! I think one day he may have a collection.

Not that he is deprived, I have a bowl lift cobalt blue Kitchenaid that is about 17 years old. He loves making bread with me. We read the little red hen and when the hen said she was going to make the bread dough he said, "I think they have a mixer."

I love my mixer, it makes bread, mixes cookies, grinds meat, makes ice cream, removes the seeds form tomatoes and raspberries. Once I cracked the housing on the fruit veggie strainer and Kithcenaid replaced it for me.

-Robin

PKguy... Isn't IONA the company that started FANTOM vacuums? Wow, that Braun does not look that old at all... I'm shocked.

Maryanne... you bought a Euro Pro made Infinity vacuum? You mean you bought a vacuum without consulting the experts here on the forum? Well, I never! LOL

Carol, the Concept model is a great improvement over the Universal model!

I think that if I had to get another, it would be a mid-sixties Sunbeam Mixmaster. I just hope my Kitchen Aid holds out until I get a new car!

Has anyone tried the Hamilton Beach stand mixer that was made several years ago? It looked pretty modern, but reviews of it weren't good... apparently they had a pretty high failure rate. I just thought it would be fun to have one of those in the green apple color!

Mixers are fun!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Carol, is this the same Oster Commercial you have. We bought this one brand new back in the early 80's at a fair or exhibition. Came with the glass jar and the stainless steel jar.

Bobby, yes IONA was the company that came out with the Fantom, afterwards they changed their name to Fantom Industries or something. It's where Dyson worked before going it on his own and no wonder the Dyson vacs look very Fantom like including their new DC21

I needed to get new pics because I had them all on my old pc and it crashed before I got them all uploaded to picturetrail.

Here's a fairly new Waring Kitchen Classics blender I found in a thrift shop that looks like it's never been used..Saw these in the fancy kitchen stores and they're like $150

On the top shelf 3 GE's, missing the turquoise and pink ones so far... I like these,, very Jetsons looking
Below those all different kinds

Harvest, Avocado and white.. still missing the pink and turquoise
That's a green Hoover blender on the left.
Everything works as new.

some more mixers..on the right another white Sunbeam
a yellow GE
a chrome Sunbeam
and hard to see a Kenmore (Hamilton Beach oldy)

come on folks,, show your mixers or blenders.. don't be shy LOL

Thanks for the info... I didn't know which came first, the Dyson or the Fantom. One year when I was just starting high school, we got baby chickens for Easter. I named mine Iona because I knew they were the name of the company that made Fantoms... which were my favorite vacuum as a teenager!

That green Hoover blender is quite a sight!

Most of this stuff hasn't seen the light of day since I came to California, but here it is in a display in the late 90s or around 2000. I still have most of what is in this picture and of course there is much that has come and gone as well over years.

{{gwi:1500601}}

I think the Bosch is kind of cute -- and if Cooks Illustrated didn't like it, then I'm sure to love it. CI and I agree on (almost) nothing.

Scott, I once lived in an apartment where the GE stovetop and wall oven (and the counter tiles) were the same color as that pale yellow mixer on your shelf. :) I like that color...and I loved that kitchen. Best darn oven I ever had.

pkguy, Mine's the same concept but probably 10 years earlier ('72 or '73?). DH and I did see it at the State Fair but ended up purchasing at a local department store. I wonder if those were a special promotion?

Then, Lordy Lordy, the store threw in a Harvest Gold ice crusher as a bonus. I remember DH used to make some concoction called a Bullfrog, IIRC an insidious mixture of crushed ice, vodka and frozen limeade. Sort of a guerilla warfare slushy. I look back on it as a form of youthful insanity.

I remember at the time we didn't have two nickels to rub together and that Osterizer was a big investment for us. We debated mightily over the purchase.

If I can get my act together I'll post a picture later today.

This is fun - like a whole new universe populated by fascinating gizmos.

Carol

OK, here it is. The stainless canister has only a flat lid and the face of the blender is different.

{{gwi:1500585}}.

{{gwi:1500586}}.

Carol

I've posted this before-it's the only vintage appliance I own! I believe it's circa WW II.

Yes Tracey, that's their postwar model that ran into the early 50s. Very nice!

Oh dear Readinglady, your Bosch link took me to a familiar site, and when I went to the Universal part, I saw that they have come out with a newly re-designed, non-ugly Universal now. May have to rethink the rebate check going to the bank thing, LOL.

Now Scott..what's to think, you know you want one.
Looking forward to the unveiling pics LOL

Carol..that's an Oster keeper for sure. The commerical models while not really any different than the regular ones did use a bigger motor and a heavy duty power cord so they could be used in a commercial kitchen "legally"

Love the vintage KA mixer there Tracey, not very often you see those. They were out of the price range of many people when new as well they weren't as commonly available as were the sunbeams, GE's, Westinghouses etc.

Scott, I wasn't aware until you mentioned it that there is a new model Universal. Very cool design, I must say. And more capacity than my Concept. I am suffused with envy at the prospect of your getting one!

pkguy, thanks for the info on my old Osterizer. It has been a workhorse. I've made huge batches of pesto in it. One time it started to seize and I thought it was a goner but DH cleaned and oiled and it was as good as new.

Tracey, your mixer has the most beautiful bowl. And a KA? That is amazing. Do you have the booklet that goes with it? Some of the very best dessert recipes come from the old mixer manuals. The 40's and 50's elevated the homemade cake to art.

Carol

Carol,
I do have most of the original paperwork that came with the mixer! I'm not at home or I'd show you what it came with. I thought the Kitchenaids like this were rarer than the Sunbeams since I'd never seen one that I could remember. I love seeing all the vintage pics!

Tracey

Tracey, it is fun, isn't it? I have a 35-or-so year-old KA45 but that's a baby compared to yours.

I love the whole aerodynamic thing going on with some of the 30's and 40's appliances. You'd think they were going to take flight.

Carol

Carol, your blender is really neat! I haven't seen a commercial with pushbutton speeds like that before. I think the ones I remember only had high and low.

Tracey, I too have gotten some of my best recipes out of mixer cookbooks, especially before cooking forums and what not!

Pete, I think that Pleasant Grain often has a sale just before Mother's Day, so I'll watch and see if they do this year. I put all my holiday bonus and tax refund in the bank, so maybe I'll spend part of my rebate on something fun, since I guess technically what you're supposed to do is spend it, LOL.

By the way, on a similar but different topic, did you know that Miele is coming out later this year with a new line of upright vacuums that they are making themselves instead of rebadged Panasonics? I think Andy said they'll be out in the US in the 4th quarter, I think earlier in Europe, not sure about Canada.

I got my first Kitchen Aid Mixer for Christmas. My fiancee was so excited that he thought to get me a pink one with all the accessories. I had been wanting once since I moved out of the house a year or so ago. I had always used my mom's KA which was older than I was ( I'm 22 years old now and it was from the early 80's). That thing never died!

I absolutely love mine. I've made wonderful things with it (Black Forest Cake, Brownie tart, Key Lime Pies, and all sorts of cookies.) I haven't had an issue yet.

So here is the paperwork that came with my WW II era Kitchenaid mixer! The recipes are introduced by "Miss Kay"
who explains the difference between mixing by hand and with the efficient Kitchenaid mixer. I haven't tried any of the cake recipes because they are all shortening based and I usually try and bake with butter.

I have an electolux assistant and I am wondering how old it is and what the value it would be.