Worth every penny!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Easy to use, powerful, versatile

Cons: Hard to find any cons. Maybe a bit expensive.

The Bottom Line: 
This is one staple that every kitchen could use. It's ease of use and durability make it an excellent purchase.

Author's Review
I purchased the KitchenAid Artisan about 9 months ago for 300$ Canadian. I would like to preface this review by stating that I am not one for spending lots of cash on kitchen toys but I had heard so many great things about this mixer, that I couldn't resist. The 300$ price tag seemed daunting at first, but after even the first time using it, it felt justified.

This mixer comes in three colours: red, white, and silver. I like the silver or the white because it can match with most kitchens.

One of my favourite things about this mixer is the ease of use. As someone who doesn't like anything overly technical, the two lever system works great! One lever locks the mixing bowl in place, and the other is used to decide on what speed you want to mix at. Many times when you spend alot on an appliance, you end up having to spend weeks pouring over the instruction manual figuring it out, luckily with this one that is not the case.

The mixer comes with three attachable "mixing utensils". These are easy to attach and remove because they just screw on. One is a dough hook, one is a whisk for liquids, and one is a slightly more durable whisk for a heavier substance. We have used the dough hook to make homemade bread (something I never would have attempted before), pizza dough, and homemade pasta. The heavier whisk is great for things like cookie dough, muffins, cakes, or basically anything with alot of flour. The metal whisk is great for egg mixtures or sauces.

One concern I had before I bought the KitchenAid Artisan is that I didn't know if I would actually use it because I manage fine by hand. I was worried it would be too arduous to clean it every time I wanted to make something like scrambled eggs. I can safely say this concern was unfounded, as the bowl is very easy to clean as well as the attachments. It actually makes baking easier because instead of having numerous little bowls to clean, you can make it all in the one big bowl and just clean that. The bowl is dishwasher safe but since it is quite large, I usually just clean it by hand.

Another pro to this mixer is that it is relatively quiet. When the speed is increased, the mixer gets louder but even at the highest speed, it is still quieter than the average blender.

The only slight concern I have with this product is that on the rare occasion it may not mix evenly. As is the nature with any stand mixer, sometimes the sides get neglected when mixing. You can easily counteract this though just by scraping the sides into the mixture before you're finished. Again, it's really no big deal,  but it's the closest I could find to a complaint about the Kitchenaid.

One other slight issue with the KitchenAid is that it takes up a fair amount of counter-space. It's likely something that will permanently reside on your counter so if you are very limited in counter-space, that is something to consider. Since it's a large size, it would be a little heavy to store in a cupboard and bring out only when using. Because it is very heavy (roughly 10 pounds), it is very stable on the counter even without rubber feet on it.

So to conclude, don't be scared off by the price tag of this product. You WILL use it, I use mine a couple times a week at least. There are plenty of additional attachments you can buy as well if there are specific things you are looking at making like a pasta attachment or a cheese grater. This Kitchenaid stand mixer makes cooking and baking a much easier and more hassle free experience.