I have an Artisan - bought it when I was making a wedding cake and needed I don't remember how many gallons of buttercream frosting. I've used it for other wedding cakes since, but mostly it sits in a box in my pantry. Really, it's too big to consider buying to use once a year. It's also very heavy. I would consider buying a $40 (?) bread machine, even if it's just to knead the dough, rather than a $250 mixer. There may be smaller mixers that could still handle dough that would be less $$$ and also take up less room on your counter/pantry shelf if you think you might use a mixer for something besides bread dough. Maybe someone else can suggest one.

We have one and Dh makes fresh pasta with it. They sell pasta attatchments and it comes out great. Now that our kitchen is almost done I will start using it too. It has been in a box for the last 7 years(apartment living and not enough storage.) It's in a great spot where I can bring it out no problem. Clean up is really simple too.

yeah, I second that. If you are just doing one loaf of bread get a bread machine. It kneads beautifully. then you can bake in the oven. If you are doing multiple loaves of bread the KA will be too small and you will dent the bowl and have to get a new one(voice of experience). Then you will want a Bosch Universal or something like that where you can make 6 loaves of whole wheat bread at once with no problem. But that is kind of a pain to clean and I generally don't get it out for just cookies or some such small project (triple batch of cookies yes, single no). So I keep my KA and my Bosch is used mostly for the blender. My bread machine is down the cellar since I got the book Artisan Bread in Five minutes a day - now I bake bread every day but never knead. . . another option.

Here is a link that might be useful: artisan bread in five minutes a day

Since I got mine I use it for much more than I thought I would. I use it for of course cookies, but also for mixing meatloaf, cakes and batters, and making pasta.
However, I agree with the others it's an expensive and heavy machine for just a yearly loaf of bread. Bread machine would be your best bet!

I have had a Kitchen Aid Mixer for over 20 years and LOVE it. And last year I bought a 2nd for a vacation home. I bought that one on E-Bay and was very pleased with the price. It was brand new and a better deal than Costco or any Macy's sale. Also check Amazon, especially Friday bargains. I use it fairly often, even now that my kids are gone and I'm not baking and cooking for as many. Maybe if you got one, your husband would bake bread more often, and use it for cookies, etc.

I love mine. Its an Artisan, and I use it for so many things. Not just baking, but it makes great sweet potatoes, meatloaf, really anything that needs to be mixed.

I have a red artisan it looks great on my counter, that's one thing that's cool about them they come in such fun colors. When I make cookie dough I usually do so in large quantities, also the icing. So it's great for that. I use it for just about all my mixing. I also have a meat grinder that works great for my cranberry sald recipe. I wish I had a pasta maker. Maybe when the kids get bigger & I have more time.

I would echo just about everything in teresa's post. I have had a Kitchen Aid for almost 20 years, and used it often, occasionally for bread.
One thing that I didn't feel that the KA did well was 100% whole grain bread. I wanted to do more than one or two loaves, as well (we have a large family). So I have had a Bosch for several years, now. It makes fabulous, light, 100% whole wheat bread! I use it often, because it is lighter, and easier to lift than the KA. I don't have room to keep either out on the counter in my current kitchen, and probably won't want to in my new kitchen.
I just got the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" from the library, too, but haven't read it yet. I will still be making basic wheat bread for sandwiches, but am looking forward to trying some of the recipes for french bread and pizza.

I love my Artisan mixer. I think if you have counter space for it, you'll probably use it more often. Friends who have it stored away don't use it as much. I like to bake, so I use it often for cakes, cupcakes, frosting, cookies, etc. I will use it more once I learn how to make some of those other things.

I got mine at Kohls on a super discount.

As others have said, if you're going to buy a KA mixer - *any* KA mixer - it's best to be willing to leave it out on the counter. Otherwise, it's too heavy to get in and out of a cupboard and you'll never use it. If you're really just talking about an annual breadbaking session, a bread machine might be your best bet.

That said, I'm a regular breadbaker who recently upgraded from a KA Artisan (when I broke it kneading bread) to a KA Professional 600. If you decide you want a mixer and not a bread machine and the main thing you want is to be able to make bread, I highly recommend you spend the extra money (maybe $340 vs. $250) on the Professional. Almost twice the power (575 vs. 325 watts) - important for brread, a little bigger (6 quarts vs. 5) and, most importantly, a dough hook that actually works. The C-shaped one in the Artisan and smaller KA mixers causes dough to ride up the hook with many doughs, making it practically useless. The Pro's spiral-shaped one works great. The Pro is even heavier than the Artisan but that means the thing doesn't waddle around the counter when it's kneading.

As others have said, you can also make cookies and cakes and so forth. And KA sells all kinds of attachments. The pasta maker has been mentioned. I have a meat grinder and occasionally make sausage, there are also juicers and grain mills and on and on.

What you would probably *not* want to do in a KA mixer is whip a little cream for dessert or a couple of egg white - that small amount of stuff is lost in the bowl of an Artisan and even more so in the Pro. To get back to the original point, you need to decide whether this is something you'll use often enough to have it make sense occupying counter space full time.

I have one in a cabinet in my island. When I need it, I just pull it out and set it on the island. I LOVE mine, it's an Artisan and it's tangerine, which I would change if I could but that's okay. I have an ice cream attatchment which makes great sorbet, and I use my shredder slicer attachments all the time for shredding large blocks of cheese. I use it for whipping cream, baking cookies, whipping mashed potatoes, cakes, and quick breads. I don't bake a lot of regular bread but I have used it for that, too. Never thought of using it for meatloaf but what a great idea, I hate getting my hands in all that meat and a spoon just doesn't cut it. I don't use it every day but I do use it a LOT more than once a year. If you leave it out you can even get a can opener attatchment for it, but I don't know how well they work.

I decided to treat myself to a new kitchenaid. So i order the one with the bowl lift. Much to my surprise it will not fit under by cabinets because it is 17 inches tall. I will have to send it back because I have no where else to put it. Darn because it was the perfect color for my kitchen. So measure if you decide to purchase the big one.

The KA is best for baking, not for bread-making. The older Hobart-built KAs are what made their reputation, not the newer Whirlpool-produced KAs.

Get a bread machine. It's easier and your DH may find himself making bread more often, because it's a cinch with one!

If you have lived so long without a stand mixer, then you probably don't need one. The Cuisinart hand mixer is the top performing hand mixer brand and very good - my niece loves hers for cakes and cookies, her kitchen is too small for a stand mixer.

As I posted recently in the Cooking forum, Cook's Illustrated tested the new Cuisinart 5.5 qt stand mixer against their previous Best choice, the KA Pro 600. Performance was equal but certain features of the Cuisinart stood out as better, so the Cuisinart is their new winner.

As Markw points out, unless you are going to use this kind of mixer a lot, it makes no sense for a small-batch or occasional user.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cook's Illustrated new fav stand mixer

jkom51, fyi Cook's Illustrated updated this in the November/December issue. Apparently the reason Cuisinart was rated ahead of the KA earlier in the year was that dough hook I hated. With the new spiral dough hook, both KA and Cuisinart are now "highly recommended" per CI. I can sure vouch for the new dough hook - anyone who bakes bread and owns an older KA Pro 600 mixer should fork over the $19.99 wants for the dough hook. New mixers are shipped with it.

I bought an Artisan that failed and KA replaced it with a professional model (5qt) when I talked about the types of breads and pasta we made with it. I now have a 6 qt professional (will easily do 2 loaves) and would agree with markw and with those who say you should plan to keep a KA on the counter to really use and enjoy it. One of the "musts" for my kitchen remodel was a counter to upper cabinet clearance sufficient to allow the KA to be pushed back when not in use. The KA pro makes great bread doughs -- and the power is sufficient to do a couple of wet doughs that beat for 20-30 minutes. We have the pasta attachments, grinder, slicer/shredder (not used -- use the processor) and have considered the ice cream one, but we had just bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker when it came out.

I know many people love bread machines, but I've never eaten a bread made in one that I thought was as good as what I could make with my KA or even a bowl and wooden spoon. That has been a while and I can't say if the results are better for those who mix only in them. I do like the control and ability to adjust and learn the feel of the dough with a mixer. If your DH already likes to bake bread (as I did before I had the KA), I think he will appreciate that also. I started having problems with my neck and arms -- sometimes impacting my hands. The mixer has been a good thing for me -- and DH likes it too.

I will tell you that the 6 qt pro is louder than the Artisan. That is the one thing I'm not crazy about, but it only bothers me on the few things where it is used more than a few minutes. I've gotten used to it now, but it was really annoying at first.

If they are available to you, I would check Sam's or Costco. I've seen good prices there. I would also expect some sales next month as Mother's Day approaches. My current one was bought near Christmas on sale and with a 20% off coupon for a little less than $250 if I recall correctly.