Kitchen Aid 7 - Still GREAT after 6 years!

THE QUICK & DIRTY LOWDOWN

This is a must-have for the serious cook. Convenient, tough & easy to clean - you'll never break another wooden spoon stirring chocolate chip cookie dough (speaking from direct experience!)

THE FULL STORY

The History - I received this Kitchen Aid hand mixer as a wedding gift six years ago. At the time, I was already the proud owner of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, which made me feel that it was a bit frivolous to register for the hand mixer - but you only get married once (hopefully!)

Fast forward to the present - Having never owned a hand mixer before, I wasn't sure I'd really need it. Much to my surprise, I find that I use the hand mixer about 50 times for every one time I lug out the very heavy stand mixer.

This mixer is tough. Not only does it whip cream in no time flat, it stands up to tough dough without a problem. I don't know the technical specification of the motor, but I do know that I have never had to crank it up to its highest speed.

Feature-wise, it is pretty simple. There is an on-off switch and a digital display with arrows that you push to turn the speed up or down. It has a pause feature when you first turn it from 0 to the first speed, which causes the beaters to start up more slowly that on a traditional mixer - thus preventing it from shooting up any dry material you are mixing. Finally, it has a permanently attached cord, which is a nice feature for those of us who have had mixers that only work if you hold the cord in with hand while holding the mixer with the other!

Kitchen Aid also did a nice job on the details. The beaters are designed so that it is obvious which hole each goes into (they are different shapes at the end with matching drawings on each hole to show where each goes). Whoever came up with this design was a conscientious genius!

Finally, the mixer is well enclosed and easy to clean - no big crevices to get gunked up with crud.

I have experienced only one downside with this mixer, and it is minor. After six years of use, one of the beaters has become a little difficult to click into its hole. Given the amount of use this mixer has had, however, I don't think it is anything other than normal wear and tear.

CONCLUSION

This is one kitchen gadget that passes the most basic litmus test - it does such a good job I use it frequently. The same can't be said for the many things I have spent my hard-earned money on that lie unused in a drawer, otherwise known as the appliance graveyard. What more can you ask for? HOPE THIS WAS HELPFUL!