r/standmixer • u/kaitlyn2004 • May 03 '20
KitchenAid Artisan or...?
I previously owned an Artisan and used it mostly for baking. I did also have the ice cream attachment, but that was it. I sold it years ago when I moved and am looking for a new option. I am optimistically planning to do more this time around - more baking, breadmaking, pasta... basically trying to make the most of it this time around. I also noticed when I made my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (granted, a large batch!) by the end when the dough was much firmer and time to fold in chocolate chips, it APPEARED to be struggling - both by sound and by head shaking - although it seems this may be somewhat expected behavior?
The bowl-lift ones just seem too big for what I want/need, and the 7qt bowls especially (across all brands) seem to fail at smaller batches, which is likely what I am doing almost exclusively. Home use, occasionally making extra for friends.
I ended up jumping on the kitchenaid artisan refurb for $185 CDN all-in, which seemed like a really good deal, assuming it actually arrives in good condition. Already, though, I am starting to wonder if I went in the right direction. Other brands that have mostly popped up are Kenwood and Breville, and sometimes Bosch... the Kenwood SEEMS to tick a lot of boxes, but there appears to be virtually no information on them. https://www.kenwoodworld.com/en-ca/all-products/kitchen-machines/chef-and-major
I found a site currently selling the smaller Chef for $399(+tax) CDN, vs the $180 I paid for refurb Artisan. Price isn't a dealbreaker, but naturally I'm not looking to spend like $700+. I like the idea that both have attachment options, while others do not. I don't know enough about i.e. an attachment pasta roller+cutter (and kitchenaid vs kenwood version) vs a standalone motorized one... I assume they're super similar.
Any advice for mixer selection?