16 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
Great mixer, still miss my Oster.
Date of Review: May 25, 2009
The Bottom Line: I recommend it, but if you've had an Oster Kitchen Center, you'll be spoiled and maybe disappointed.
I got this mixer as a replacement for the lowest model of Kitchen Aid, which failed very quickly after I got it. The people in customer were extremely helpful and polite. I wasn't happy with the size of the original mixer, and they allowed me to pay the difference and replace the broken mixer with a bigger one.
The bigger mixer does the job. It is only a pint bigger than the old one, but it keeps the dough for two loaves from climbing out of the bowl. It has plenty of power to mix two loaves of whole wheat, sticky bread dough. The week after I got it, I baked 60 Moravian Sugar cakes, which is also a heavy, sticky yeast dough. I've done it every Christmas since (I give them to neighbors, coworkers and friends for presents) It does get warm, but the manual says that is normal.
This one came with the cover/funnel to facilitate pouring ingredients into the bowl while it is running. I don't find it useful. It is too hard to actually get the ingredients into the funnel, so I just stop the machine and lift the head. The beaters all work well for their purpose, provided you read the manual and use the right beater for the job. It makes lovely mashed potatoes. It beats cakes beautifully.
As with the first one, I love the ease of cleaning. There is no place for food to hide in this mixer. It wipes up very clean. As with the first one, I don't like that the bowl gets hammered tighter and tighter when kneading dough, which can make it hard to get off for washing. I'm really not happy with the juicer attachment with this mixer. It is not as well designed as the very similar attachment on my old Oster. It makes days of canning messier and harder. I wish they would redesign it. You can't put enough food down the tube at a time and it leaks all over the machine.
