Aargh...and this is why I hate typing on my iPad. COLOR, not olor.

Also meant to include a favorite way I use my mixer to keep it cooking related. I have to say I love my ice cream attatchment and use it all the time. My go to favorite base recipe is made with sweetened condensed milk.

3c any combo milk, cream, or half and half
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1T vanilla
Optional: any add ins like Oreos, chocolate chips, etc.

Tracey, I use that ice cream recipe too, or I let the kids do it. Bud and Makayla love making their own ice cream, although I use one of those little Cuisinart ice cream makers.

My mixer is red. It was a gift from Nancy/wizardnm back in my single-mom/so-broke-I-couldn't-even-pay-attention days. She got a new one to match her kitchen at that point and handed this one down to me. I love it, I'd never even used one before she gave me such a generous gift.

I've used to to make wedding cakes for both my girls and my own, I've used it to make Christmas cookies by the dozens. My mother loves it, she finally gets her beloved divinity which I burned up three cheap mixers making.

My favorite attachment is the slicer that beachlily sent because she never used it. I went through pounds of potatoes for those big birthday parties and Christmas potlucks with that thing. I haven't gotten the pasta attachment Elery bought beaten into submission yet and the meatgrinder sits too high, I have to stand on a chair to use it, so I'm still fighting with attachments.

Annie

When I saw your heading, I was going to ask, What color is your cocktail?, but I see that it was your iPad to blame!

My KA stand mixer is white - that was all that was available when I bought it - otherwise I would have bought a different color, stainless steel or gray or maybe blue. My KA hand mixer is also white for the same reason, but DM used to have a pink hand mixer in 1960 or so. My KA stick blender (with attachments) is red, and I have been using the chopper attachment a lot lately to mince vegetables for pasta salads, which I often make in hot weather.

For my KA stand mixer I have the ice cream attachment (which I also use frequently) as well as the meat grinder and grater attachments. The grater attachment pretty much lives on the mixer because I use it that often. At least my attachments match my mixer.

Lars

Cobalt Blue and apparently, a KA anomaly as I rarely see anyone who has the same version. It's a bowl riser from 15 years ago. Still runs great. My FP is a match.

Red. I love, love, love it. Goes in my red, yellow and blue kitchen.

Hellooooo, Sherry! So good to see you here! (((((hugs)))))

My KA mixer is cobalt blue, purchased second hand from a Sear's warehouse sale - I knew it was a good price! It is an artisan style, not a bowl lifter type. I love it! I mix most of my homemade bread in it, cookies, cakes, and I love to mix meatball recipes in it with instructions from a dear person here in the CF. You first put in the egg and other liquids, herbs, breadcrumbs, seasonings and mix that all together. Then add your ground meat(s) by the handfuls, just mixing enough to thoroughly combine all the meatball/meatloaf ingredients.

My KA is a boring almond. Its best feature is the plate on the side which says "Hobart". It has the 5 qt bowl with bowl lifter.

Honestly, though I make fun of the color, I wouldn't trade it for a new KA in any color. I just got the strainer, and had to get a new meat grinder because the strainer won't fit into the old grinder (don't believe the website which says it will). The new grinder is made of white plastic, which is bad enough. But the little cutting blade is lightweight stamped metal. A righteous POS.

My old grinder, given to me by MIL (now aged 89 and still going strong) is solid cast aluminium, probably older than I am. The cutting blade is solid aluminium, or perhaps steel? and will probably be cutting away long after I'm dead and gone.

Cheryl

My KA is a graphite gray 6 qt model. It matches my new kitchen perfect even though I bought it long before I knew I was doing a gray kitchen. I don't expect it to last like the older ones,so while I gave away the red one, I still have an original 5 qt Hobart in white out in the garage, it's 33 yrs old. All my extra attachments are old but work on the current mixer just fine.

Teresa, you are so funny ;)

Nancy

KA calls it Metallic Chrome, I call it grey. It's safe (read: boring) but it'll never really clash with anything. I do get jealous when I see some bolder colors, and the cinnamon gloss really stood out as attractive. I'd have bought that mint green on sale, too, and used the sale as an convenient excuse if anyone voiced their dislike!

Mine is red and I love it for making cakes!!!
Joann

My KA is black. I didn't get an ice cream attachment with me, just a paddle and whisk. Can you buy them separately? How does it work?

Karen

Mine is white, from the early 80's, when there were no colors available in small town USA.

But its still going strong. I have the one where you use the lever to lift the bowl.

Moni

My KA's white, a gift from my sis. I'm still amazed that I've cooked as much as I have in my life and never used a good mixer until a few months ago! What a revelation :)

So not as many wild colors as I thought! Classics like red, blue, grey, white, and almond mostly. Years ago, I really really wanted the pink one because pink is my favorite color. Now I'm glad I didn't get it! The green is fairly neutral at least. Pink, not so much!

Karen, the ice cream attatchment is a bowl that you freeze and use in place of your regular mixing bowl along with a dasher to make ice cream. It's great for me since I keep the bowl in the deep freeze which means no extra appliance sitting around.

I have no other attatchments except the ice cream. I've thought about the slicing/shredding one but I already have a food processor. I briefly considered the grain grinder but I read up and I don't think my mixer has enough wattage to handle grinding my own flour. I am so jealous of those of you with Hobarts! We are not big pasta eaters so I couldn't justify that one either. I really want the new clear glass mixing bowl and one of those beaters that scrape the bowl for you. I had one but it broke when I used it on butter that was too cold.

Tracey

Tracey - I think the cost of KA mixers has come down in adjusted dollars since the days they were made by Hobart. But the real money comes from the attachments. If you got the entire set of pasta rollers, cutters, ravioli makers, etc., it would be hundreds of dollars! This is where KA is making its money.

Some of the attachments are great, in theory. I confess to owning the ice cream maker, pasta roller and cutter (not all of them, just 2 that come with the roller), meat grinder (2, one the vintage cast aluminium, plus the crappy plastic one), strainer, and pasta press. The new attachments are cheaply made, mostly lightweight plastic, not designed for heavy service like the older versions.

Cheryl

Cobalt blue mixer...have ice cream attachment, but havent used much. Will try the recipe tracey oh posted soon! Thanks :)

Mine is dark metallic grey. It sits in the corner of my kitchen counter and I've never used it in the five years I've had it...seemed so much easier to take out the KitchenAid hand-held mixer instead. I also have a KA food processor, it weighs a ton.

Mine is an older one made by Hobart, it is sort of a yellow I guess. Before I got this one used, I had a white one and for a few years it worked. Then it gave out just a short time after I had bought the used one. I have a lot of attachments, but have not used them lately. I have used them to grind meat and juice tomatoes. Mostly I mix up pie dough and mix cake batter. I gave $20 for my used one.

Sue

Mine is an older one made by Hobart, it is sort of a yellow I guess. Before I got this one used, I had a white one and for a few years it worked. Then it gave out just a short time after I had bought the used one. I have a lot of attachments, but have not used them lately. I have used them to grind meat and juice tomatoes. Mostly I mix up pie dough and mix cake batter. I gave $20 for my used one.

Sue

Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine choosing to use a hand mixer over my kitchenaid! I am the exact opposite-the hand mixer seems like such a pain to use. My mixer is in constant use. Another reason I need to beater attachments. I have two bowls already and sometimes I have been known to need a third.

I'm with Cheryl, I just don't see the value in the KA attachments. I'd love the pasta attachment but it costs three or four times as much as a good manual machine. I don't understand why - it doesn't even have (or need) the table clamp or handle, so shouldn't it be cheaper?! The ice cream attachment gets good reviews and I'm tempted to buy that as well, but for half the price I can buy a complete Cuisinart machine which people here also seem to like.

If it weren't plainly visible on my baker's rack, I'd guess it'd take me two to three months to notice if my stand mixer went missing. Admittedly I don't bake much!

I've never had a stand mixer so I don't know what I'm missing. I often mix things with a large spoon. I have a hand mixer and a food processor.

Do I need a big ole KA?

Eileen

Yes. Like you said, you don't know what you are missing.
Is it necessary? No, but it is such a joy to use after having only a hand mixer.
I might have written your post, only inserted "Food Processor".

I also have a Cuisinart ice cream maker and a pasta machine. The hand mixer gets more action. The food processor, too. And the large spoon.

E

Truthfully, Eileen, unless you have a handy place to keep it, it won't get used, no matter how "handy". They are big, heavy, bulky, hard to move.

So, if you have a place right on the counter where it can live, you're good and I'd say you definitely want one. If not, you won't get enough use out of it to justify the expense. That's my opinion, of course.

I did without one for 50+ years, making everything with a wooden spoon or hand mixer, I didn't have a food processor either.

Now I have both and love them, they're great time savers but they have to stay on the counter top, they're too big and heavy to move around regularly. I put the KA on one of those flexible plastic cutting mats and use that to slide it around on the counter tops, far easier than lifting and moving it, since I'm short and it's hard to reach the back of my counters.

Annie

My KitchenAid is white, as is my Sunbeam Mixmaster, and my mother's Sunbeam Mixmaster, and my grandmother's was white too.

Mine sits back in the corner, on the counter, with a cover. Otherwise, I wouldn't use it very often.

I could keep it on the counter. I'm in no danger of buying one.

E

Annie hit the nail on the head...my problem is that I don't have a lot of counter space and this KA stand mixer is tucked away in a neglected corner of my kitchen counter. It doesn't get used because I never think to take it out...seems so much easier to reach for my hand held...I know, I'm weird that way...

I have an old Sunbeam I got on ebay a couple years ago, it's like new...black and silver. I'm like Donna, I reach for the hand mixer. I use the hand mixer all the time. I also have a new Cuisinart FP that I never use but I use the small one all the time. Something about dragging out the big appliances and then having to wash all that stuff is just a PITA.

I forgot I too have a white Sunbeam mixer that I don't use very often since I have the Kitchen Aid. I like it because it comes off the stand and can be used as a really heavy duty hand mixer. I have had it several years. I do have a couple of hand mixers that I use once in awhile for small jobs. Sometimes the big mixers just won't mix up a small amount of something.

Sue

I love my Onyx Black KA mixer. I bake lots of cookies at the holidays for my students and mentors, (and family) and love it for meringue, whipped cream, pizza dough and of course bread. I have hens so I often make Pavlova for dinner parties or to take to pot lucks.

I have a black KA food processor, too, which also gets a lot of use but I don't like it for doughs. I agree, I have a perfect little spot in my pantry so my mixer is out and ready for action all the time. If I had to store it elsewhere I would probably be cranky!

Like a couple of others have mentioned, I have the industrial beige and it has the little Hobart on the side. I wouldn't trade it for any of the shiny new colored ones... I LOVE my mixer! That said, if it ever dies, I will probably buy one on sale that is a past color and not worry about whether it "goes" or not. I don't keep it on the counter, so it really wouldn't matter.

And Tracey, I am LOLing about your "I hate typing on my iPad" comment. My MIL has an iPad and most of her emails are completely unintelligible LOLOLOL!

Alexa

Alexa, I LOVE my iPad almost as much as my kitchenaid mixer and wouldn't give it up for anything but typing on the keyboard is a joke! I can totally understand your MIL having unintelligible emails:) I can type 60 wpm on a normal keyboard but it's hunt and peck on the iPad. And the autocorrect is hit or miss when it guesses whatever word I am trying to spell. I really need to break down and buy a real keyboard to attach. Just haven't done it yet.

Tracey

Not to steal anything my mixer is a white GE (?). It was a gift.

Tracey, I got a Zaggfolio for my IPad and LOVE IT! The keyboard gives you enough room to acturally type without your fingers being right against each other and the case really protects my IPad. It makes it a little heavier than I'd like but, I'll take the little added weight for the keyboard and protection.

Mine is that boring off white/ beige/ almond color but it has a lovely tag on it that reads 'Hobart', so it's a keeper. I have another even older KA-Hobart that's sitting in my shop awaiting restoration. I gave $25 for it because it came with the grinder attachment (all cast aluminum). DH had given me a new grinder attachment for it (plastic) that was unused when we found the old KA. So, we returned the new grinder (that had cost more than the older mixer/ grinder.)

Interesting thing about the old, old KA is that the mixer body is cast aluminum. I had wanted to paint it a wild, crazy color but have my doubts about paint holding up since aluminum doesn't hold paint very good. Thinking about removing what's left of the paint & polishing the aluminum but then other parts of the mixer (the stand) are steel. Not seeing a two-toned mixer. So, I'm back to painting it. Maybe this winter....

And, yes, the KA attachments are soooo overpriced that I don't own any other than the grinder and that's only because pushing 40# of venison thru a hand crank isn't my idea of fun.

My only regret is that I didn't get a lgr KA when I bought this one. I have the 5 quart and a double recipe of our favorite cookies kinda' starts slopping over the sides of the bowl. Of course, anything that falls outside the bowl might be contaminated, thus must be immediately consumed. :)

LOL, ci_lantro, good thinking. You wouldn't want anyone to eat any of that "contaminated" dough, best to dispose of it properly. Ahem.

Annie

My big mixer is 1950's or earlier Hobart KitchenAid. The color is..vintage. LOL. It's a bowl lifter and I have no extras for it. I also have a hand held KitchenAid that is stainless steel. That's my go to for mashed potatoes.

Empire red, which I loved until I redecorated my kitchen to yellow and blue :(
It was a wedding gift though, so there's no way I'll part with it. It will look good for the holidays at least!

Red. I don't know if it's cinnamon red or just red, but I love it.

Although, when we were in Portland, we came upon a pile of great looking stuff on someone's curb. Being the scavengers we are, we had to stop and take a look. In the pile was an industrial looking grey mixer that looked like a Kitchenaid. My heart started pounding because I thought surly this must be a Hobart. About that time, the lady of the house came out and said the stuff was out for pick up by a charity. I asked her if she'd be willing to sell the mixer. Sure, she said, but then I found out it's not a Hobart, and it needed repair. Then I got to thinking about how to get it home on an airplane. So, the Kitchenaid, not Hobart mixer went to charity. Oh well. I'm still happy with my bright red Kitchenaid.

Sally

My KA is dark green - one of my favorite colors.

Bad news. I've had it for YEARS and.....well.....I've never used it. It had a nice spot in a hall closet and was just too heavy for me move. My previous kitchen was small with limited counter space.

Good News! That old house has been torn down and a lovely kitchen with a baking station is being built. There will be plenty of room for using that mixer.

Thanks for starting this thread. Love GW and all the GW inhabitants!

Mine is black and I used it for hours of holiday baking today. I probably only use it 4 times a year and do love it as I always used an $8 handmixer or did by hand before owning this, STILL! as even though I am a NOT a baker (but a dang good cook)I might replace this with the one where the head can be raised. It drives me nuts that the top does not come up and I can barely put the 5 cups of flour in...etc.

My KA is a matte charcoal that I got as a wedding present 22 years ago and I haven't seen the same color since then. The finish has a slight pebbly texture to it.

I'll always remember when it arrived at my mothers house. I unwrapped it and sat down on the floor with it, turned it on and watched it rotate for a long time. I dreamed about what a wonderful cook this would make me!

I also have a hand held KA mixer in apple green. I am lusting for one of the anniversary-edition KA stand mixers in the Cadillac red finish with the glass bowl. I really don't need it, as my original is still going strong...

Nicole

Just saw this post popped back up! Zippity, I love this forum too:) All the pros on here have taught me to cook. I've been on here since 1999! I cannot imagine not using my mixer but I consider myself a better baker than cook. I have two bowls for mine and have asked for the clear glass one for xmas. I use mine almost daily.

Noodles, I have always had tilt head....I'm sure I could get used to the lift mixer but it just seems so much bigger. What are you baking now?

Nigel, I love the matte charcoal...very classy. The anniversary edition is nice!

I just saw this on the kitchenaid facebook page....an espresso color! I love brown and this one is a beauty.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchenaid site

No KA here, but my Hamilton Beach mixer is white, as is the old hand-mixer (B &D, I think). The Sunbeam that I had before that was white. My mother's Sunbeam, circa mid-1950s, is also white.

Donna

I was looking for something else but this caught my eye. Just curious--about when did Hobart stop making KitchenAid?

My KA is about 35 years old; cobalt blue because that is what was on sale. I've never been crazy about the color. Planning a kitchen remodel, I was going to keep it in a cabinet with an appliance lift. But, I got the great idea of having it powder coated! I've checked into it and, while not cheap, it's less than a new KA, and I can get a unique color. I'm picking periwinkle and will keep it out on the counter!

Bought a basic white, tilt-head KA several years ago... after SIL convinced me I REALLY should get one. One weekend borrowing hers SOLD me on it!

A few years ago, came across a "vintage" (faded yellow), crank up/down model at a Good Will store. Pretty sure it says "Hobart" somewhere on it, so figured it was relatively "old". It ran just fine, had bowl, dough hook, whisk & paddle. Was market $49.99 but was HALF PRICE that day... just could NOT pass that up.

I got it home, did a little cleaning (didn't need much at all), taped everything off, and spray painted it with flat black paint (stuff for painting gas grills)... looks and works like a million bucks.

Shortly after that find, came across a BOWL for $5!

Mine is white. Bought it as a college graduation present to myself, and the white 5qt lever-lift model was on sale with a free attachment of choice. I got the grating/slicing attachment as my freebie and used that for several years before being given a food processor as a wedding gift - now that does the vast majority of grating and slicing. I would say that is the least useful attachment I have. I also have the ice cream maker (great and takes up less space than having a dedicated machine), pasta rollers (fun but probably not worth the price for the amount I use it), grinder/strainer (wouldn't want to do without it during canning season and super useful for making raw cranberry sauce the rest of the year), and juicer (I don't really use this one very much, but nice when I do).

With my "lifestyle", I don't think I could go without my mixer. I've now made four complete wedding cakes and probably 2-3 dozen or more special occasion cakes with it. There is no way I could imagine standing around for a half hour or longer with a hand mixer to whip up a batch of buttercream. On top of that, I use it all the time for basic stuff like whipped cream and cookies. Just this morning, I made gingerbread waffles, and having the mixer allowed me to pay attention to my cranberry syrup while the molasses was oh-so-slowly mixing into the wet ingredients.

Ihave a red kitchenaid stand mixer,love it

My husband came home with the KA bowl lifter model in white in 1974 as a surprise for me. It is one heavy load to lift to my kitchen island when I want to use it.

sheilajoyce, are you saying you need a KA lifter for your KA bowl lifter?