Can you wait till Black Friday? I've seen some good deals in the past on KitchenAid from Costco, Macys, and Kohls. That's how my husband got me one for Christmas several years ago. It's the kind where the bowl lifts up and down.

When first married, I worked at an appliance store that sold some kitchen small appliances too. One of the 'guys' thought he was ordering 2 Sunbeam stand stainless mixers and he ordered two cases of 12 each. All of us working there got them at cost ;0) I used it many years.

I now have the Kitchen Aid 6000 Series (6 qt). Lift bowl, 1 horse power. It was about at your price range at Costco but a special for them that month and a $50 rebate from Kitchen Aid was running concurrently.

my KA lift bowl is about 12 years old ... used 3-5 days/week ... reliable ... makes a lot of pizza dough

I have a KitchenAid with a lift bowl, it's an older one and it gets used a lot. I also have a Magic Mill, it'll hold 25 cups of flour if I want to make a lot of bread.

However, if you are going to buy an additional machine and you really want it for making bread, get a Zojirushi bread machine. Mine easily holds 6 cups of flour, and it does a better job of kneading than either of the mixers do. I use any bread recipe I choose, I don't just use the bread machine recipes. I make Grandma's old Farmhouse White bread in it regularly, and that recipe not only pre-dates bread machines, it pre-dates ME! (grin) Liqui on the bottom, dry on the top, hit the "dough" cycle. When the dough is done take it out, shape it into loaves or cinnamon rolls or whatever, let is rise and bake it. I love the Zo and use it at least 3 times a week, sometimes more. I bake loaves and dinner rolls, hamburger buns and Babka, just using the dough cycle and then shaping and baking in the oven.

My carpal tunnel thanks me.

Annie

I agree that bread machines are good for making bread dough. I used to have one, but it died an early death, and I decided that I prefer to knead dough by hand. Since you do not want to do that, I think a bread machine is your best option, but I would never bake bread in one again.

You can also make bread dough in a food processor, but I do not do that either.

I have a 25+ year old KA tilt head mixer. It gets used four to five times per week, making everything from bread dough, to meringues. The machine has always worked flawlessly.

If I were to buy something new, I would be tempted to get the Bosch universal mixer for $250.

I have a Kitchenaid Classic Plus and have had it for probably 25 years. I’ve never had an issue and have made bread dough. I got it for $89 on clearance! I thought that was the best deal ever but 2 years ago I found one even cheaper. I bought a Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer for $250 on Sears.com Part of the sale was fir the next 10 weeks they would send me $25 in weekly Sears points to spend in store. I bought it asa Xmas gift for my daughter and used the points on various household items and clothes. I’ve never heard of a motor burning out. I have heRd newer models from the last few years have plastic gears, the older ones are metal, You could use a bed bath & beyond coupon to lower the price, Or watch for a Kohl’s sale with Kohl’s cash. I see them reasonably priced at estate sales. You could also check craigslist.

If you do get a good mixer it's more versatile than a bread machine and you may well come to appreciate some other features. I have a much loved kenwood but I don't know if you get those in the US.

I’ve had a standard Kitchen Aid mixer for several years now and while I thought it was pricey at the time, in hindsight, it was worth every penny. It’s easy to use, versitile and works flawlessly every time, but most importantly, it really improved the quality of the food I make using it.

I love my kitchenaid stand mixer. I love it even more because

1.) It's pink and

2.) It was free through a employer sponsored wellness program.

I have had it for 10 years and I use it to make bread dough.(among other things)

It might be hard to find a new(not refurbished) one under $250 BUT the minis are around that range. And the regular size ones are not that much more.

Get the pink one. Its way better than the rest. 😛

Since you already have the Kitchen Aid mixer, I would go for a nice bread machine. I use my bread machines a lot because, of not being able to knead bread by hand any more. I have shoulder problems. The bread machines are great for the kneading and the proofing. I have one machine I did bake bread in and it turned out really well. The others not so much. I make more yeast rolls than bread. I hope to make some this week for my family.

Sue

Marilyn, the Kitchen Aid mixer has a motor strong enough to do what the bread maker can do prior to it’s baking, my sister makes bread with hers all the time.

A have a Kitchen Aid that is several years old. I had one before that the was maybe 25 years old. The Kitchen Aid today is not what it was like 20 years ago. It's pretty good but I don't love it like Ioved my old one. It is definitely not the same quality.

I have the Kitchenaid pro 600 lift bowl. i use it for all my bread mixing and pasta making. I recently bought one for a second home on Costco for $230 including shipping on one of the instant savings deal which included the flex edge beater. I have seen this deal twice in last few months - first time I didn’t order on the first day so when I went to the website it was sold out. I think Sams sells the 5qt version for about $250. There will be limited color options.

I like my Kitchen Aid stand mixers, have two of them and they get used for making noodles, grinding meat and making tomato juice or apple sauce. The first Kitchen Aid died shortly after I had bought a used one for $20. It is made by Hobart. Then later on I bought another Kitchen Aid mixer, I have it and the used one now. The newest one is the lift one the other the tilt one. I have had 3 of them! I don't use them for bread making, my preference, Since she has the stand mixer maybe she would like the bread machine, maybe not.

Sue

Marilyn_Sue...she has the hand mixer.

I purchased my KA at BB & Beyond. But..........Home Depot has the classic KA stand mixer for $259.Click on link to view Note: If you apply for a Home Depot credit card, you'll get $100 off your 1st purchase. Information for the discount is also in that link.

I have the large Kitchen Aid mixer with the stationary head and the bowl lifts up and down. I have had it for 46 years, and I have never had a problem with it. DH came home with it as a surprise out of the blue.

Islay, Kenwoods are available at Williams Sonoma here.

I consider my KitchenAid to be an investment. I've had it for several years without any problem.

I used to have the hand mixer and it was a good one but I dont use one enough to replace it. I will use the big mixer or a hand wand. It would mix cookie dough and that is saying something,

I use my KA to make Brioche. Now that is a dough to challenge any mixer. It is a relatively dense dough that has to be beaten for a very long time with blobs of butter and must come out silky smooth. It can overheat a mixer but KA sails through.

I don't own one but the new Wolf Gang Puck mixer looks very interesting. Similar shape to the Ankarsrum.

https://www.hsn.com/products/wolfgang-puck-5-quart-600-watt-programmable-universal-m/8774832

From the reviews the thing that would be important to me is that it's not terribly heavy. So many are so heavy, that with the condition of my hands I can't lift or move around. If I baked more I might consider it. But I love the big kitchen aid mixers in the Pioneer Woman's kitchen they are painted with beautiful colors and flowers. Like a piece of art in the kitchen.

You can get the stick ons from etsy. Pioneer Woman's are painted by an artist. She mentioned on one of the shows. You send them your mixer and they paint it, not cheap!

Love that raven - mine is plain white.

Sheilajoyce - your KA is 2 years older than mine. DH and I were shopping for a mixer and when he saw me looking at the K 5A he urged me to get it. I thought it was such a splurge - we paid $164.89 in 1976. And no regrets. I always check the bridal registries to see if I can give one as a gift.

A few months ago DD found a lift-head model on the sidewalk with the trash when a neighbor moved. She took it home, cleaned it, ordered a bowl and beaters - and is thrilled that it works! She ran into the neighbor last week and found out that he had thrown it out because the glass mixing bowl broke and he had never used it.

As others have mentioned look for a KA at Costco, BB&B or when the sales pop up.

I like the flowers on yours, Raven. My old Hobart one is a yellow my newer one is called Mulberry.

Sue

I have a beautiful “Meyer Lemon Yellow” tilt-head KA. It’s about 20 years old. I love it, although I rarely make bread anymore.

Kitchen Aid has one in your price range--get it at a big box store vs the mall. I got mine with wedding money. Cant say I love it. I miss my Sunbeam--we should trade. ALL mixers require scraping and the KA is so tight it is mess to add ingredients and impossible to scrape. Also I LOVE the smaller bowl of a Sunbeam. SOOO many things do not require that dang large bowl!! The grass is always greener I guess.....

@arcy_gw

I use my hand mixer for small stuff. That being said, my big Cuisinart food processor is set up to take a smaller bowl and even came with the smaller bowl and smaller blade. I wish my KitchenAid did that. They came out with a small KitchenAid but I just want one stand mixer.

Marilyn Sue, I sure wish that flowered one was mine but unfortunately I don't have any.

Arcy, if you are anywhere near the San Francisco Bay area, I would gladly do a curbside exchange!

I have a KitchenAid 5-qt. with the tilt head. We have had that since 1979 and it still is going strong. It was OK for white or half wheat bread but strained at 100% wheat. You might find a good used one on Craigslist or ebay. For making bread I use a Zojirushi bread machine that I have had for 10+ years. Before that I had a small Welbilt since late 1980's.

arcy, if you were in ohio, I have a sunbeam you could have! :)

Kitchen Aid - over 30 years old, back when they were made by Hobart. It will easily out last me.

I have the old Hobart Kitchen Aid (bought new years & years ago) but, for bread dough, I use a bread machine. Saves wear n' tear on the KA, the bread machine bucket is easy clean-up (leave the bucket out so the dough can dry; it flakes right off) and I can buy once or twice used bread machines every weekend during garage sale season for less than $10.

You clean your bucket to your bread machine, just like I do, Ci_lantro and I look for the used machines too. The last one and my favorite one I bought was this summer and I paid $4.00 for mine.

Sue

This is mine, but I never use it for bread. The dough climbs up the dough hook and the Zojirushi just does a better job. After all, that's what it's meant for. I never bake in the bread machine, I dislike the crust, but I use the dough function for everything. I have cinnamon rolls in it right now.

I've also made bread dough in my KitchenAid food processor. It does an OK job, but is definitely not my first choice. LindaC makes a lot of her bread in the food processor, though, so if you'd like one of those devices, it's another option.

Anyway, here's my KA, it was plain when Nancy (wizardnm) gifted it to me, back when I was a newly divorced single mom and didn't have two nickels to rub together. She was doing a kitchen remodel and bought a new one to match her new kitchen. I did buy the stick on flowers from Etsy, they were super easy to apply and I can peel them off if I want something new.

Annie

Those flowery ones are lovely!

I have a 25 year old one that still works fine and is one of the post non Hobart but a desired KA model although I don't remember the model offhand. It's a lift pro though.

However, I would also determine what kinds of bread you want to make, if I were to make bread these days, (easier to buy) it would be 100% whole grain sprouted wheat etc and heavy. No white flour and that needs a powerful motor. I still do that occasionally in my mixer although if I were to do it all the time I would want something stronger.

"----The beaters don't even get close to the sides of the bowls----"

I also have a Sunbeam Mixmaster. There is a lever in front on the base of the machine which allows you to move the bowl sideways. This allows the beaters get very close to the sides.

dcarch

I had the KitchenAid Pro Bowl Lift and it was very heavy, had many attachments for it, but ended up giving it to my son. Did that because it became just too heavy for me to lift and it was so tall it would not fit on my counter underneath the top cabinets where I could slide it in and out. Then purchased a Kitchen Aid tilt head and love it. Also, have had a Kitchen Aid hand mixer for many, many years. As an aside, the can opener attachment for the KitchenAid was not good, it could not support the weight of a 15-oz can.

Dcarch, the beaters get "kind of" close to the sides of the small bowl, but even with that lever you mentioned, which is on the left front, they do not get close enough when using the larger bowl. At least, not in my opinion. And I still have to turn the bowl by hand. I give it a nudge and it might make one turn, then I'm back to turning it manually again. Defective, maybe?

Thank you all! I guess I didn't think about the other machines that could do the kneading for me and you gave me some good ideas.

I had a small bread machine in the 80's. I was never happy with the results and I eventually gave it away. Of course, I'm sure bread machines have improved in the last 40 years!

A few years ago, I purchased a Cuisinart DFP-14BCNY 14-Cup Food Processor. It got great reviews from several sources. Honestly, I had no idea one could use it to make bread dough. Guess I should have read the manual completely.

The next bread dough I make, I'll try out the food processor. If that solves my problem, AWESOME! If not, I think I'll pick up a new or used bread machine. Still not sure I will use the bake function though.

I truly appreciate all your assistance. At heart, I'm a gadget person and an impulse buyer. I'm trying to curb the urge to just buy one of the awesome mixers you've told me about.

Another Kitchen Aide Lift Bowl here. Bought it used for $150. Best money I ever spent. I even use it to shred cooked chicken!

I'm not a fan of baking in the bread machine, even though I now have a Zojirushi, but its wonderful for making the dough

we have the Kitchen Aid 7 qt mixer, bought deeply discounted due to an Amazon deal a few years ago. Honestly? even though we got a great deal, I wish we had gone ahead and bought the smaller one at full price. This thing is too big for us. the appearance is bulkier, and it's so heavy that you really need to have permanent, dedicated counter space for it. we only make normal size batches so it was the wrong choice for us. but if you make a lot of big batches, it's great!

as for small stuff: sometimes we do things as small as whipping 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and it still does a great job. so if you do big and small batches, this is a solid choice.

Rose Pekelnicky I also really dislike bread from a breadmaker. it's entirely possible to bake delicious bread in a normal oven, and it's a million times better.

so in that sense, a mixer or food processor would at least be a more useful appliance.

Have you read breadmaking forums, the ones I've seen love the Ankarsrum and Bosch Universal. For bread you need the bigger motor.

C Marlin, I had no idea there was a breadmaking forum.

If you just want to mix one loaf at a time, then a bread machine will do the job well. If you plan to do two or three loaves at once then you need a mixer. Almost no one who comments here seems to use their bread machines for baking. I expect that older bread machines are better at mixing than newer ones. Time and experience has shown how to save production and parts costs. Original machines were likely over designed and less likely to wear out or barely do the job.

I have and weekly use an original Dak/ Welbilt round glass top bread machine from late 80s or early 90s. Actually, I have two if one ever breaks but they are real tanks.

While you are deciding on what to buy (again I'll say it should be a used Ankarsrum!!) you can always used the Stretch & Fold method for mixing.

Mike and SourDoughHome.com has a great tutorial here. He's even used it to bake for a farmers market.

It's amazing how the dough changes over time and I'd suggest everyone do it at least once just for the experience.

Success! I "kneaded" a loaf in my food processor this morning. I made jalapeno cheese bread at DH's request. It came out perfectly, IMO. Soft and light, except where the cheese made it a little bit gooey.

I may still get a new mixer, but there's no rush now, since this worked out so well. Again, I thank you all for your tips and recommendations.

I know I'm late to the party, but my recommendation is the Kitchenaid Proline 7qt lift bowl mixer. Yes, it's huge and heavy - mine has a dedicated spot on my counter, but it has a DC motor and is so unbelievably quiet compared to other Kitchenaid mixers with the AC motors. I have two old tilt-heads which are in storage now, waiting to be gifted to my sons when they get their own places.

The downside is the price; I bought mine on sale with a coupon at BB&B, and it was still far more costly than any of the tilt head models. But I love it and use it so much, it was worth it to me - and it sure is purty! :-)