KitchenAid K45SS Classic 250-Watt 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer, White Reviews

I've had this mixer for 9 months now, and I love it.  I bought it primarily for making bread, and it has held up to that, and other uses (it makes great whipped cream!) splendidly.  I was a bit unsure about buying it at first, because of the cost, but decided that, "You get what you pay for" and I didn't want to have a cheap mixer that would break on me quickly.  This mixer has proven to be very much worth the money I paid for it.

This mixer is easy to clean and gets the job done. I have yet to use it for whipping because I need a replacement whisk attachment. The attachments are pricey and seem to only be available through the manufacturer. I chose to use a hand mixer for all of my whipping needs.

Have been using this mixer for ten years and it has stood up to everything thrown at it. It acts as a second pair of hands in the kitchen. It make time consuming task kneading, whipping etc a second thought.

Kitchenaid has been the industry standard for years and understandable. No ther mixer has it's versatility power. Well engineered attachments go on and off easily, and intuitively. Somewhat limited by it's size for large batches, especially bread. That said the dough hook is the attachment this family uses most. Pizza, buttermilk bread, cookies, naan... the list goes on. Bit pricey, but that's what happen when a products only competition comes from it's own product line. Bottom line, if you want to make dough, don't buy a stand mixer that doesn't say Kitchenaid.

Great stand mixer.  It works for all sorts of recipes.  It can whisk, mix, and knead.  The size of the mixing bowl is just right for a small household.  If using it for a larger recipe, expect to divide your work up into a couple of batches for best results.  There are a few annoying things I have noticed however.  When using the bread hook attachment, often the dough will form into an oblong shape, causing the top third of the dough-ball to flop over/above the bowl and hook.  Also, with some stiffer doughs--not STIFF doughs, but just slightly stiffer--the machine seems to have trouble kneading it.  It will tend to balk or hesitate at certain points with the stiffer dough.  But then again, how many mixers come with utility attachments for sausage stuffing, meat grinding, pasta making, and so many others?    The price, I feel, could be a little more affordable, but nonetheless, a great product!

The layout is very simple and user friendly, a total of 2 toggle switches means there is that much less to potentially break. Overall it is a great mixer that has stood up to almost 5 years of near daily use. The only place it seems to struggle is with using the dough hook. From what I understand the hook has been redesigned since I received mine, so this may now be a non-issue.