Help Please!! Kitchen Aid Mixer and attachments Vs. other options

9 years ago

Okay, I am finally purchasing appliances for my kitchen to make my life a little easier when I cook, right now its all old school/ takes forever. For now I am only cooking for two, except on holidays, but in a few years we will start our family. I love cooking and experimenting.

I am strongly considering getting the Kitchen Aid artisan. I like the idea of that particular mixer, because of all of the attachments. I am concerned about the strain that the attachments would put on the actual attachment part.

I want to be able to make my own pasta.
I definitely want a food processor.
I will eventually want an Ice cream maker.
My Fiance also wants a juicer.

I am not sure if they are all worth the price of the attachments, also I don't want to put ware on the mixer. I would prefer not to have a ton of appliances in my kitchen but I will if its better.

Alternatives to attachments:
Like the KA exact slice food processor seems like it might be better than the attachment.
or a traditional pasta roller maybe easier than the automatic one.
Attachments that seems perfect.
the pasta extruder seems easier if I want fresh macaroni or something similar.
The ice cream maker seems worth it rather than having a giant machine.
possibly the food grinder
sausage stuffer for rare occasions of making boudin

Thoughts, experiences, please help!!

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Comments (3)

nancylouise5me
9 years ago
We have had our Artisan and Pro. 600 KA mixers for many, many years. The attachments we have are the pasta roller/cutter, grinder, sausage stuffer and one more that escapes my memory at the moment.lol As we love to bake and the majority of food we make from scratch these mixers get a real workout. For rolling out sheets of dough the pasta attachment is fantastic. So happy we purchased it. Consistent thickness every time, doesn't get bogged down, clean up is easy. We make our own sausages and hamburger mix so we are always using the food grinder. Another attachment that gives us no problems. It comes apart for easy cleaning in the DW. We used the sausage stuffer frequently until husband wanted a bigger stuffer, so now it is regulated to the back of the pantry. But it too did its' job very well. Those are ones I can recommend to you. But it depends on how you personally cook and bake that will determend what you purchase. Seeing the food processor on TV that is one attachment I would pass on. For one thing the size is way small. Another, the constant pushing down on the food feed tube makes me wonder if it will damage the attachment bolt. I would just get a separate Cuisinart food processor. Even one of their mini choppers would be better then the attachment I believe. The other attachments you mentioned, sorry no help there. We have a jack lalane juicer that someone gave us for a gift, love it. Works well and cleans up in the DW. We have an ice cream maker but very seldom use it. Purchased a Vitamix a few years ago and that stays out in the kitchen. Use it all the time. Of course we have the storage room for all these small appliances. We have a pantry with many shelves. That also has to figure in on your purchases. Storage! HTH, and enjoy your KA mixer. NancyLouise
GaryFx
9 years ago
If you search the web for extruded vs rolled pasta, you'll get a large selection of opinions - not just on ease of use, but also in the taste and quality oft the results. Though it's been quite a few years since I've made pasta at home, I wound up giving up on the KA extruder because it wouldn't handle whole wheat flour well.

I use the food processors at least as much for chopping as for slicing/shredding. Although I have the KA slicer/shredder cone attachment, I've only used it a couple of times in the last twenty years, most recently to shred frozen shortening. I get far more use out of my traditional food processor as well as the small chopping attachment for my blender.

I originally chose the 5qt KA so that it would take the ice bath for ice cream, but by the time I thought my wallet could afford the luxury of home made ice cream, my waistline could no longer afford it.
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anoriginal
9 years ago
Sister bought a mess-o KA attachments a few years ago. Last summer, she "gifted" MOST of them to me... ones she wasn't crazy about?!? Said try them out and then do whatever I wanted with them.

A few of them I never even tried to figure out. Set of 3-4 different cone-shaped things to shred/slice... I already have a Cuisinart food processor with a variety of slicing/dicing disks. Some sorta juicer/strainer... we decided must be missing a part?? Pasta extruder... after reworking dough (that I KNEW was ready for a rest & hand-crank) at LEAST 2 times to incorporate more flour... all I ever got was a blob of dough. Would start to extrude as some form of pasta, but just go back together... wouldn't separate. The grinder works well. Don't know how well if I decided to make a HUGE batch of ground meat... but then I DON'T do that?!?

She KEPT the pasta roller/cutter attachment... said it works just fine and uses it close to once a week for home-made pasta.

Help Please!! Kitchen Aid Mixer and attachments Vs. other options

Comments (3)

nancylouise5me

GaryFx

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anoriginal

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