A (Stand) Mixer of my own.
For a very long time now I have wanted to purchase my own stand mixer. And for all of that time I had my heart set on a KitchenAid planetary stand mixer, like Mom had. Because it never broke down, and basically did everything you needed it to (save for food processing). Let's face it, it's the Cadillac of the kitchen with that classic 1950's style. But stand mixers are not cheap, and they are more of a luxury if you don't plan on using them a lot, so I put off purchasing one for a very long time. Now that we are heading to Turkmenistan, and I plan on baking and cooking all the time, it's worth getting one- especially if I am going to be making loaves of bread on a regular basis.
So I stared looking online, because I wanted to get the best price I could find for the larger capacity KitchenAid mixer and the attachments, because hey, why would I need to consider any other brand when I could get a KitchenAid and it would last a lifetime- right? Right?
Apparently, somewhere between the before time (when my mom, Mike's mom and everyone's mom had that classic KitchenAid that never died) and present day, the company that partnered with Kitchenaid to make their planetary stand mixer (Hobart) dropped out of the picture. And so did quality. Why, I have no idea, but the stand mixers that KitchenAid has produced since have (according to reviewers as recent as this year) a number of issues, and they only have a 1 year warranty. I really wanted to buy this mixer, but after reading page after page after page of complaints I decided not to. Sometimes I can find a way to justify anything, but I cannot really justify spending a lot of money to buy one of these (and the attachments) only to leave the country and have it bust on the other side of the world.
So I started looking around for comparable mixers, with good reviews and good warranties. Which is how I came to find the Cuisinart 5.5 stand mixer. It had good reviews, the price was not bad (a bit more than the KA, but with a 5-year warranty on the motor and 3-year warranty on the mixer), and it had the same extra attachments as KA available for purchase. With that in mind Mike and I went looking in the local stores for one, to see if we could find it on display.
Sure enough, the local Bed Bath & Beyond had one in the box, for a few bucks more than the lowest online price (thank you Shop Savy app!). We had one of those coupons for an additional 20% off (but forgot it at home), and there was only one mixer left. So, not wanting to miss the opportunity we bought it, then got the 20% off when we returned with receipt and coupon. I did not actually get a chance to open the box until the next day...
Overall I am happy so far with the purchase. It has a nice look to it. It's nowhere near as heavy as my mother's KA mixer (the old-school model), and the top flips open to reveal the areas where you would attach items. The timer is a nice touch and I will likely be using it (or seeing how useful it is!) when kneading dough. But I can't really try it now- we're busy getting things ready to go and I don't want to use it once only to clean it and pack it up again. It's enough to see that yes, it works when you plug it in at the moment. I will likely be ordering the attachments online this week, so that everything is ready to go when the movers arrive.
So I stared looking online, because I wanted to get the best price I could find for the larger capacity KitchenAid mixer and the attachments, because hey, why would I need to consider any other brand when I could get a KitchenAid and it would last a lifetime- right? Right?
Apparently, somewhere between the before time (when my mom, Mike's mom and everyone's mom had that classic KitchenAid that never died) and present day, the company that partnered with Kitchenaid to make their planetary stand mixer (Hobart) dropped out of the picture. And so did quality. Why, I have no idea, but the stand mixers that KitchenAid has produced since have (according to reviewers as recent as this year) a number of issues, and they only have a 1 year warranty. I really wanted to buy this mixer, but after reading page after page after page of complaints I decided not to. Sometimes I can find a way to justify anything, but I cannot really justify spending a lot of money to buy one of these (and the attachments) only to leave the country and have it bust on the other side of the world.
So I started looking around for comparable mixers, with good reviews and good warranties. Which is how I came to find the Cuisinart 5.5 stand mixer. It had good reviews, the price was not bad (a bit more than the KA, but with a 5-year warranty on the motor and 3-year warranty on the mixer), and it had the same extra attachments as KA available for purchase. With that in mind Mike and I went looking in the local stores for one, to see if we could find it on display.
Sure enough, the local Bed Bath & Beyond had one in the box, for a few bucks more than the lowest online price (thank you Shop Savy app!). We had one of those coupons for an additional 20% off (but forgot it at home), and there was only one mixer left. So, not wanting to miss the opportunity we bought it, then got the 20% off when we returned with receipt and coupon. I did not actually get a chance to open the box until the next day...
Overall I am happy so far with the purchase. It has a nice look to it. It's nowhere near as heavy as my mother's KA mixer (the old-school model), and the top flips open to reveal the areas where you would attach items. The timer is a nice touch and I will likely be using it (or seeing how useful it is!) when kneading dough. But I can't really try it now- we're busy getting things ready to go and I don't want to use it once only to clean it and pack it up again. It's enough to see that yes, it works when you plug it in at the moment. I will likely be ordering the attachments online this week, so that everything is ready to go when the movers arrive.
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