I've got a Viking in my kitchen!

I have owned my Kitchenaid stand mixer, for over 20 years. Some of the speeds no longer work, but it is still usable. I could get it fixed, but won't.

I really needed to replace this machine for emotional reasons. My ex-husband gave it to me for Mothers Day one year. During the course of our divorce, he actually had his attorney formally request I return this to him. I replied that it was a gift, but I would gladly, if I got custody of his Circular Mitre Saw. The subject was then dropped.

Since then, my love for that mixer had faded. I never wrote a review on it, because the joy of owning it had ebbed. To replace it with another would still remind me of the past. I needed a fresh start.

SPECIFICATIONS

I found this Viking VSM500 Professional 5 quart, stand mixer for sale. It was much more powerful than its predecessor at 800 watts. The design is sturdy and sleek.

The VSM500 measures 9" wide by 17" long by 13.25" in height and weighs 25 lbs. It comes attached with a black, heavy duty 5 foot cord and a 3 prong plug, that is not self storing.

Viking also sells a 1000 watt, 7 quart stand mixer, weighs 31 lbs., however, it is just too big for my needs. Both are available in Black, Graphite, Stainless steel, Red, Blue and White.

THE UNIT

I was delighted to receive my new mixer, one that will create lots of delightful new memories, with no strings attached. First of all, let me say that this is a very impressive looking mixer. It was designed with the professional look to it. The outer housing and internal transmission are made of metal construction.

Due to the heavy weight of this mixer, the genius design engineers decided to put small rear wheels on it, for pulling it out of the cabinet or forward on your countertop. These engineers also designed the head of the mixer to spring up when the lever is depressed and to lock in both the up and down positions. They were very thoughtful.

This mixer comes with a stainless steel whip, "V" beater and dough hook. To insert the tool, slide the lever on the head of the unit to the right, insert the tool and release. Voila, the tool is locked in place.

The stainless steel bowl is placed into the phlange lined base with a twist, locking it in place. These thoughtful engineers also created the bowl with a roll out lip, for pouring ease, and attached a handle to the bowl. Just to make it even more convenient for the user, these tools are all dishwasher safe.

I received a request list from my children, just to test this mixer. An angel food cake, cheesecake and cookies. That would test the light, medium and heavy textures, and all three tools. So, I got busy.

The angel food cake turned out light and fluffy, no unmixed ingredients on the bottom of the bowl with the whip tool. The cheesecake recipe calls for mixing for about 30 minutes. There was no trouble with this mixer handling this type of use. I used the "V" beater and the cheesecake turned out smooth and creamy. The cookie dough mixed thoroughly with the dough hook, although I did scrape a bit at the top of the bowl, to insure a complete blend. This is not a quiet machine, but is not much louder than my former one.

CONTROL DIAL

On the right side of the mixer is a control dial, counterclockwise starting at stir and increasing by two's until number 12, then there is a max speed. The flow of the dial is smooth, but as you turn it, you do tend to note there is a noticeable gentle click to where one might stop at the even numbered markers. These gentle clicks would not prevent you from turning the speed from where you'd approximate, let's say a 5 1/2, if that what the speed you chose to use. In other words, you are not stuck at a 4 or a 6. There is no bucking or hesitation.

On the dial, clockwise of the off button is a "P", for pulse. This may have been created for separately purchased attachments, such as a blender. There are several capped areas on this mixer, created for attachments listed below.

ACCESSORIES

Viking manufactures a variety of attachments that affix to this mixer: Bar blender glass jar, food grinder/stuffer, pasta maker, juice extractor, disc slicer/shredder, collander/sieve, pouring shield and an extra handled stainless steel bowl.

UPDATE 12/8/08

I have now owned my Viking for 2 1/2 years, with semi-regular usage, I'm sad to say it has issues.  The opening to affix the whip, whisk and dough hook does not align properly, and it takes some fiddling to get the attachment piece to lock in place.  When I'm mixing, the motor seems to slow down, even though I haven't touched the dial.  The high speed feature to whip, is not as fast as it used to be, and my egg whites no longer fluff up as they once had.   

I sent it back to Viking and enclosed a note explaining my issues.  Three weeks later, my very same Viking was returned to me, all fixed and ready for my holiday baking.  I am thrilled, as I truly missed this mixer.

BOTTOM LINE

This stand mixer once again has a place of prominence in my small kitchen. I love my Viking mixer and I'm pleased to say the company did stand behind their product. 

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If you lose your owners manual, go to http://www.vikingrange.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m20121_f20258.pdf.

This mixer comes with a one year warranty against manufacturers defects. Instructions are written in English and Spanish and recipes are included.

Click to read my review of my Viking 2 Slot Toaster.


Thank you for reading my review.