The household mixer for jobs big and small!

The KitchenAid Pro 5 Plus is one of the newer models with the spiral dough hook. It draws 450 watts, and has a "flour power rating" of 12 cups (of all purpose flour) according to KitchenAid. The dough hook and flat beater came with a white enameled finish, while the wire whisk has a cast aluminum hub. The dough hook, flat beater, and stainless steel bowl are dishwasher safe, while it is recommended that the whisk be hand washed only. If the whisk is placed in a dishwasher, it will darken the hub considerably. The rest of the mixer can easily be cleaned with a moist cloth.

The purpose of each attachment is as follows: The flat beater is to be used for cakes, pie crusts, quick breads, cookies, and other recipes that don't require the development of gluten. The spiral dough hook is used for yeast breads, sweet doughs, rolls, pastas, and so forth where kneading the mixture would be required. The wire whisk is for beating egg whites, making meringues, whipping heavy cream for whipped topping, and light, airy mixtures.

The speed is electronically controlled, rather than geared, by a lever on the left side (with the mixer facing you), with 10 clicks, each representing the next higher level. For example, three clicks forward means the mixer is on speed 3. Since this is a bowl-lift rather than a tilt-head model, a lever on the right side (again, with the mixer facing you) is used to raise or lower the bowl to the beater, wire whisk, or spiral dough hook. To attach the bowl, you position the tabs on the side of the bowl on the pegs of the mixer's arms, and then you gently press down on the back of the bowl to latch it. The bowl can be removed by lowering it with the lever, lifting it off the pegs, and then pulling forward. All three of the attachments can be exchanged by lowering the bowl, without having to take the bowl off the mixer. The beater/bowl clearance can be adjusted by a screw on the front of the mixer, just above the bowl lifting arms when the bowl is lowered. More information on this can be found in the use and care guide.

KitchenAid offers a free exchange, should the mixer be defective, with no questions asked, during the first year of ownership. Included with my unit was a spiral bound instructions and recipes manual with over 60 recipes, and a lot of helpful information on the mixer's operation. If a customer has any questions, KitchenAid includes a phone number where their customer service can be reached on the back of the front cover. Also included was a warranty card, a small catalog of accessories, and a card that you can send in for a trial issue of Cooks Illustrated Magazine.

I tested this mixer with a stiff pizza dough, like that specified in the owner's manual. With a recipe like this, you always want to start out with the least amount of flour specified, which was 2 1/2 cups in this case. Since this machine has KitchenAid's "soft start" feature, there was a fraction of a second delay in starting, and then a gentle "ramp up" to mixing speed. I ran the mixer through its paces with 3 cups of flour in the recipe as opposed to the called-for 2 1/2 cups, and kneaded the dough for 5 minutes. The Pro 5 Plus labored considerably, yet was able to finish the batch without any problems. It was slightly noisier than an older KSM5 I used to own, but that is largely due to the Pro 5 Plus's metal gearing. The result was of very stiff consistency, and difficult to knead by hand. This indicates that the mixer has sufficient power to make bread and yeast-based recipes on a frequent basis. A dough like this is very desirable for a pizza, as the gluten is well developed for stretching before topping and baking. It's a "40% dough", which means that 40% of the weight is liquid, and 60% of the weight is dry. As per the pizza test, the mixer has no difficulties with cookies, breads, or sweet doughs. It is important to follow the guidelines in the instructions manual, and to not add more flour than a recipe recommends. I have also tested this unit with as little as 1/4 cup of whipping cream, and it performed well. If properly used and cared for, this machine should last for many years.

The wide bowl of the mixer makes it very easy to add ingredients while it is running. This adds convenience when adding cream of tarter to a meringue or sugar to whipped topping, for example. The older units had bowls that were narrower and deeper. Very little scraping of the bowl is necessary, as opposed to the lower-cost double beater type stand mixers such as the Sunbeams, Hamilton Beach, and General Electrics. This can be attributed to KitchenAid's orbital action, which is designed to thoroughly incorporate everything in a recipe. Commercial mixers are designed to work in a similar fashion. The KitchenAid Pro 5 Plus is most certainly a labor-saving device that will allow the owner to bake at home daily. The investment in a KitchenAid will pay for its self over a reasonably short period of time.

KitchenAid makes attachments for their mixers, including a slicer/shredder, meat grinder, pasta maker, and others. These tools are made out of a high-impact plastic with some metal parts. I have used a KitchenAid mixer with both the meat grinder, and slicer/shredder attachments with good results. The slicer/shredder is best when used with stiff vegetables like potatoes and cucumbers. It is not very well suited for vegetables like tomatoes, onions, or items with a high moisture and low starch content. Cheese shreds very well in this attachment, much better than you can achieve with a food processor due to the lower RPM and higher torque. The food grinder is very useful for small quantities of ground meats, up to 3 pounds. A course plate will grind beef for chili or pork for polish sausage, while a fine plate will produce good hamburger for the grill or for recipes.

In summary, who would I recommend this mixer for? Anybody and everybody who can't afford to eat out, of course.

Updates: I added more information about the mixer's attachments, controls, capacity, and product literature, since some people were asking for details like those on other reviews.