I bought the same mixer- new from Costco about 4 years ago. I don't do a lot of baking either,but it's really a help when you have to beat something for a long time, or when the dough is really thick. I had lasted 28 years of marriage without one, but after the kitchen remodel and finding this board, I decided that I NEEDED one! LOL!

My brother bought me a Pro a few years back from Costco too..the only thing I have to complain about is the noise..It's very whinny...But I love it to pieces otherwise, and it lives on it's very own counter...

I had a KA a while back with 325 watts; it was just barely adequate for dough kneading. You're smart to go with a 450 watt model.

Bread dough kneading is the biggest challenge. This model should be fine for any reasonable task.

I love having a stand mixer--once I started actually beain the butter and sugar together for the 3 minutes recommended in the recipe, I realized what "light and fluffy" actually MEANT!

And more power is better. I've never tackled bread in my KitchenAid, but I've tackled stiff cookie dough, adn I'm always glad not to have to struggle (mine is 17 years old; it was their biggest home model at the time; it has the bowl lift mechanism and is a 5-quart)

The 5-quart size has been a good size, though I think twice I've wished for a 6-quart. But only twice, in 17 years.

I'm cracking up over that "buy it together"--nobody needs two mixers (though I suppose if you're thinking of buying gifts...)

I have a very old KA, probably 40 years old. It's been refurb'ed twice because of the heavy use. My MIL gave it to me when she bought a new KA Pro about ten years ago. She immediately tried to negotiate a trade so she could get the older one back. :) It really needs a bit of work. My foray into heavy breads a while back took its toll, but until I'm cooking for more than just me again, I've been putting it off. I'll probably just replace it eventually, but not with another KA. I've not been very impressed with what I've seen of the new ones. Even MILs much-newer Pro isn't as powerful as my older one.

I actually bake fruitcakes which are a lot of heavy fruit and nuts that are held together with some dry ingredients. Try mixing those ingredients with out a KA. You also start out creaming a half pound of butter with a packed cup of brown sugar. Another job for a KA. As a guy who cooks and bakes, wouldn't be caught dead with out my KA!

I have a 6qt and luv it. Just think about the color. The mixer will probably outlive your current color scheme, so if it has to set out all the time, you might want to give that some thought.

Nancy

Two years ago in anticipation of my new black and white kitchen I bought a black KA 450-watt Professional Plus 5. It has a slow-start mechanism which is handy if you're not always careful when adding dry ingredients. I know the new one has not been used more than 40 times, but last week after beating butter and sugar at a high speed--not the highest--it broke. I added the eggs with the mixer on slow, turned it off, added flour and turned it on again. Right then, at the very slowest speed, it went as fast as it could for about 10 seconds and then stopped. That was the only thing it would do. Needless to say, it scattered flour all over. Of course it was out of warranty, which only lasts for one year. I'm having it repaired right now at an appliance repair recommended to me by Kitchen Aid, and am told it will be as good as new. But I don't think I'll have much confidence in it now. Still, it has always looked nice in my kitchen.

Incidentally, I was first told that I could get a free estimate on the repair, but when we got to the shop I was told that I would have to pay $125 up front and that amount would be applied to the total bill if we decided to have the mixer repaired. Whereupon I whipped a Costco flyer out of my purse and showed everyone a gray (SS?) 475-watt Professional Plus 5 available next week for $239. The cost for repair came way down at that point, so I'm having it repaired.

TexasRedHead (IÂm a read-head too :-) Â Which KA do you have???

Nancy  I need help with color. Our kitchen is very monochromatic  brown cabinets, goleden granite counters, backsplash is tumbled travertine, etc.

For some reason, the Empire Red KA has drawn my attention. I have nothing red in my kitchen, but then again, I have nothing in my kitchen! LOL. IÂm thinking maybe I want to start using red as my punch of color But, I am concerned about it too It will likely live on my counter  so I do need to give it thought. ItÂs such an expensive appliance  I want to get a color that I will enjoy seeingÂ

Our appliances are all SS  so I could get a dark grey one, or a color to match the golden tones of the counter  but IÂm not sure that would be as much fun :-)

What color does everyone have???

LOL! Good for you, Carrie2! $125 up front for just an estimate? That's outrageous.

The old Kitchenaids used to be made by a company called Bobart that still makes restaruant equipment. That's no longer the case, and (IMO) the KA hasn't been the same since. If I decide to replace this one with a new machine, I'll be looking at the Viking or Bosch.

CostCo??? (running to coupon pile)

More decisions! CostCo $239 (plus tax) in a not as fun but would definitely fit Grey finish  or a Remanufactured Red (or other color?) for $199 (no shipping or tax from Amazon)

Bought this same red remanufactured mixer a bit over a year ago, it is awesome.

I have never had a mixer with such power, makes double batches of cookies and bread without any problems.

A very heavy mixer, not that you plan on carting this appliance around the house with you, but something to consider if it won't have a permanent home on your counter.

The raising and lowering of the bowl took a bit of getting used to for me, but after a few uses I had it figured out.

I love the red. It sits there and says, "Look at me, I'm special and I'm red". LOL

Lori-L

Oh crimony. Ok, I've had a cup of coffee now. I'm more awake. Make that the company named HOBART and they made restaurant equipment.

This is what happens when I'm up until 3 AM.

Jeri, if you like the red, go for it.

My last kitchen was mostly the same colors you described but with white appliances. My KA is white (but I had no say in that...besides, it didn't fit under my cabinets so it didn't sit on the counter all the time.) However, I had the chance to buy a really good tea kettle at cost and it was deep red. I loved the color, loved the tea kettle and bought it. Then we bought the red KA one-cup food chopper, and I really liked that punch of color. It was fun; it was cheeful.

After some research and reading reviews, I recently purchased a Cuisinart 7qt. stand mixer. I got it at Linen 'n Things with their 25% discount coupon. My kitchen is still being renovating so I haven't used it yet.

I chose this one because mainly, I'd be using it for kneading. The comments from users were that the KitchenAid was a bit weak for kneading and the Cuisinart had more power.

DH just "bought" me a KitchenAid Mixer, with credit card points. It is a 5 qt. and I can not wait to try it. I am going to give it a try this weekend. Mine is Cobalt Blue. I would love to have Cobalt Blue cupboards, but I don't think that will happen.

Carrie2, I had the same problem with my KA when it was about a year old, only mine didn't go fast, it just stopped in the middle of a mixing. Bad speed control, I guess. Had it repaired and it's now 23 years old and has never given me another moment's trouble. Pick it up from the repair, use it and don't worry about it.

Incidentally, mine has a 250 watt motor (that's the way it was at the time) and it does bread dough and double batches of cookies without breaking a sweat. I've never been able to figure out what folks are doing that are having so many issues with units that have bigger motors than mine.

I really like the red ones too, and occasionally toy with getting one. Even if I do, I'll never part with my original, for sentimental and other reasons. I'd probably get the 6 qt one if I did. At the rate of popularity of my cookies and baked goods at work, that capacity could come in handy!

I have the 5-qt. in white - it was the only color that Sam's offered. I've had it about 7 years now and can't imagine being without it - especially during the holidays.

I have lusted in my heart for either the cobalt blue or red one. I have a cobalt blue set of Fiesta Ware dishes that would go great with it.

One of my dearest friends (a breast cancer survivor for 5 years now) got the pink one for Christmas last year from her brother. She's very girly, so this was the best present ever for her.

Jeri,

I have the KA90 which is a 300 watt mixer. Mine happens to be green. I have a full compliment of accessories. Perhaps the most useful is the pouring shield which you really need when adding dry ingredients. Regarding my screen name, I happen to be a 66 year old with a full head of bright red hair and no gray. It's all in the genes.

Red! Definately red.

DH got me the 325 Artisan last year for Christmas, and it's red and I love it so far. I've used it for bread dough more than anything else, although I don't make bread super frequently, but maybe once a month or so. Anyway, the last bread I made called for the dough to be kneaded in the mixer for 10 - 15 minutes and it did fine. The mixer did feel hot to the touch, though, which might be a bad sign, but so far (knock on wood) so good.

Our kitchen is sort of an odd mix of colors, but they work together. We have terra cotta colored tile flooring, Uba Tuba granite (which is pretty much blackish) tile counters, white cabinets and pale green walls. Our curtains are dark red, and other accents are red. So, the red mixer works perfectly.

With your neutral colors, I'd think almost any warm color would work.

Sally

I have an old (30+ years) KA-Hobart 4.5, which has been a real workhorse. The only limit has been the capacity of the bowl.

I also have a KA Pro 6, which DH got for a Christmas gift in 2006. With a special offer from Amazon and a rebate from KA, he ended up paying $275.00. I haven't had any problem with this machine laboring with anything, including heavy whole-grain doughs. Nor have I experienced the loudness some have mentioned. Maybe it differs from machine to machine?

Wattage can't be trusted. Most wattage figures only list the amount the machine pulls from the outlet, not the wattage it puts out.

For example, the $1500 5-quart Hobart now available for home use actually has a very low wattage. So what? Wattage doesn't indicate power, at least not as the number is commonly used. Here's a quote from Cooks Illustrated's last review of mixers regarding the wattage issue:

"If I hadn't included the Hobart in the lineup, I might never have discovered the sneaky truth behind wattage ratings. Most mixers list their power in watts; Hobart is the only one to use horsepower. When I learned that 1/6 HP equals a mere 124 watts, I scratched my head in puzzlement. How could this quiet, powerful workhorse have the lowest wattage rating in such a hacking, shuddering group (from 250 watts to 1,000 watts)? Turns out Hobart is the only mixer to list output power rather than input power. What's the difference? Output wattage is the amount of power the motor actually produces--which flows out of the motor, moves through the mixer arm, and, ultimately, smacks the ingredients around. Every other mixer lists input wattage, which is simply the power that flows from the electrical outlet into the mixer's motor.

What does input wattage tell you about the power of a mixer? Absolutely nothing--it's purely a marketing gimmick. To wit, the six models that failed the bread dough test (our initial round) had power ratings ranging from low to high, mostly high (275, 350, 400, 450, 700, 700). In addition, every other test showed absolutely no correlation between mixer performance and wattage. (If manufacturers were willing to provide output wattage figures, comparison would be easy, but this key bit of data is never offered.)"

So apparently, whatever mixer you decide to buy, wattage shouldn't be the criterion.

Carol

I have a White 5-quart with the lift bowl, got it a long time ago for an anniversary gift!

Pat, that is a great gift your friend got! I got a pink one for free this past May from the Mike & Juliet Morning Show here in NY, they were giving away the free pink Artisan mixers to the audience for Mother's Day! I gave it away to a friend, I think the pink ones are very special, too!

I love most of the colors they have but I'm happy with the white one sitting on my counter, sort of blends in! If I were buying one now, I'd pick a really bright blue or an apple green :)

Too Funny! IÂve been away from the computer all weekend. I expected to come back to "Jeri  Get the new one from CostCo  it is new and the color will work best with your kitchen". I had pretty much talked myself into that But no! You are all supporting my desire for red! :-)

I wonder why I canÂt find any remanufactured 600 series Hmmm :-)

Accessories  I do think a pouring shield would be useful as well as a second bowl. :-)

jeri, mine's red, a gift from wizardnm who got a different color in her kitchen remodel, LOL. I love the color!

I don't use mine for bread at all, I use the bread machine, but this weekend I used it to grind and stuff 25 pounds or so of Italian sausage, and I used it last month to bake three birthday cakes. Pretty soon I'm going to test the limits with Christmas cookies, I bake dozens. Well, dozens of dozens, LOL. Plus Mom wants a batch of divinity, which I've burned up three mixers making!

Go for the red, is my vote.

Annie

My Sunbeam stand mixer died after approx. 10 yrs. of use. I decided I wanted a heavy-duty stand mixer this time around. So, after much research I decided on the new Cuisinart 5 qt. mixer. After reading the many cons about KA on this forum, decided to give the Cuisinart a try. It is fabulous! I love the tilt back feature, the timer on it, the fold feature, great bowl with handles and a snap to put together and clean. It is not a loud machine. One regret: it doesn't have a small bowl available to purchase which would be great when making a cake and frosting but maybe that will be available in the near future. Also, sorry it is not USA made. Best price available at LNT w/their 20% coupon. I find I want to bake even more and am an avid baker now! Check it out, no red, but comes in stainless and white. I chose white due to the timeless color.