Choosing a Stand Mixer

This is my mixer. There are many  like it but this one is mine… (with apologies to The Rifleman’s Creed)

This is my Viking Professional 7 Quart mixer. I don’t think Viking makes these any more.  No matter: my great grandchildren will still be using it. The thing is so well built I think I could mix concrete in it.

What About KitchenAid?

If I were going to buy a mixer today it would probably be this one: KitchenAid Pro Line 7qt Bowl Lift Stand Mixer. 1.3hp motor. Steel gears. Direct-drive transmission. All metal construction. Other people will tell you that you don’t need a mixer with that much capacity.  I’m telling you that you want it not for its capacity.  You want it for it’s ruggedness. You’ll never push it to its limit. Which means it will be the last mixer you’ll ever buy. 20 years from now it will still be performing just like the day it was new.

(Please stay away from the KitchenAid 4.5qt mixers you see in the big box stores in the $200 price range.  They are not built like the K-45 mixers our mothers and grandmothers handed down to us.)

Bowl Lift vs Tilt-Head

Though my Viking is a tilt-head mixer, I would recommend getting a bowl-lift mixer instead.  The reason is simple: When I tilt up the head on my Viking, it bumps into the upper cabinets in my kitchen, and I cannot get the head fully tilted up without repositioning it.  A bowl-lift mixer does not have this problem.

And While You’re At It

If you are going to buy a mixer, I have some recommendations for you:

Buy a spare mixing bowl.  If you don’t you will find yourself stopping midway through a recipe to clean the bowl. For example, if you are going to use egg whites to make a meringue then there must be no trace of egg yolk in the mixing bowl or the whites won’t whip up.

If your mixer does not come with the paddle, wire whip, and dough hook then order them.  If you do not you’ll curse yourself later for your false frugality.