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5 Best KitchenAid Mixers: Your Easy Buying Guide

You don’t have to be serious about cooking to invest in a KitchenAid mixer. The popular kitchen appliance brand is perhaps best known for its classic and durable stand mixers, which not only catch the eye thanks to their good looks but also live up to expectations when it comes to performance and versatility.

What Are the Best KitchenAid Stand Mixers Available Right Now?

kitchenaid mixer Amazon Customer Reviews
  • Comes with several attachments
  • Power hub
  • Versatile
Price: $379.95 Shop at Amazon Shop now Read our review
kitchenaid stand mixer Amazon Customer Reviews
  • Tilt-head design
  • Attachment hub
  • Comes with dough hook and beater
Price: $249.99 Shop at Amazon Shop now Read our review
best kitchenaid mixer Amazon Customer Reviews
  • Planetary mixing action
  • Bowl-lift design for stability
  • Comfortable handle
Price: $999.78 Shop at Amazon Shop now Read our review
best kitchenaid mixer Amazon Customer Reviews
  • Compact
  • Powerful
  • Versatile
Price: $799.87 Shop at Amazon Shop now Read our review
best kitchenaid mixer Amazon Customer Reviews
  • Sturdy glass bowl
  • Powerful motor
  • Convenient and comfortable handle
Price: $499.99 Shop at Amazon Shop now Read our review
Our Unbiased Reviews
  1. 1. Best Value: Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head (KSM150PSER)

    Pros:
    • Over 20 available colors
    • Offers 10 mixing speeds
    • Tilt-back head
    Cons:
    • May require some tweaking for better bowl clearance
    • Vibrates a bit when working on heavier dough
    • Cumbersome pour shield

    From its spacious five-quart stainless steel mixing bowl to multiple included attachments and a motor that’s powerful enough for most cooking and baking tasks, this Artisan Series mixer stands out for its great value.

    The 350-watt mixer easily blends, whips, and stirs its way through most ingredients. This mixer also comes with several attachments. You’ll find a coated flat beater, dough hook and a wire whip along with a pouring shield to minimize messes.

    Its tilt head design, a classic feature on most KitchenAid mixers, provides fast and easy access to the bowl and its contents.

    In case you’re wondering about capacity, the five-quart bowl found on this mixer is the largest available in the Artisan Series. There’s enough room to make up to four bread loaves, nine dozen cookies or seven pounds of mashed potatoes per batch. A comfortable ergonomic handle allows you to easily remove the bowl as needed. The bowl is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

  2. 2. Best Budget Pick: Classic Series 4.5-Quart Tilt-Head (K45SSOB)

    Pros:
    • 4.5-quart stainless steel mixing bowl
    • Makes up to 72 cookies per batch
    • Planetary mixing action
    Cons:
    • Mixing bowl doesn’t have a handle
    • Not ideal for routinely mixing heavier dough
    • Only comes in two colors

    KitchenAid mixers aren’t exactly the cheapest on the market. Don’t worry if you’re shopping on a budget, though, as this Classic Series mixer will suit most average baking and cooking demands.

    Color choices are limited to black and white, but if color isn’t a top priority then this affordable stand mixer could be just what you need for your kitchen.

    This Classic Series 4.5-quart stand mixer features an upscale stainless steel mixing bowl and a convenient tilt-head design for easier access to your mixture.

    While the 4.5-quart bowl is slightly smaller than the five-quart bowls found on some other KitchenAid mixers, there’s still plenty of space. For example, you can make up to 72 cookies per batch. A handy soft start function blends slowly and methodically when the mixer first starts, which not only ensures ingredients and thoroughly blended but also minimizes messes.

    There are also 10 different available mixing speeds. Many consumers especially like the multipurpose attachment hub, which allows you to use over 15 attachments.

    Using the mixer’s motor, these attachments let you do anything from, creating your own delicious pasta to shredding an entire block of harder cheese in just seconds. Another bonus is the 59-point planetary mixing action to help scrape up every last bit and incorporate it into the mixture. A coated flat beater attachment is included, along with a dough hook and wire whip.

  3. 3. Best Heavy Duty Mixer: Pro 600 Series 6-Quart Bowl-Lift (KP26M1XWH)

    Pros:
    • Powerful 575-watt motor
    • Wide-mouth mixing bowl
    • Multi-use attachment hub
    Cons:
    • Dough mixer and paddle aren't dishwasher safe
    • Adding ingredients can get awkward
    • Some complain about the noise level

    Demanding cooking jobs call for the right stand mixer. This KitchenAid mixer is well suited for heavy and dense mixtures.

    With its 575-watt motor and a 10-speed control, this capable mixer powers its way through just about anything. In comparison, the motor found on the popular five-quart Artisan Series mixer is 325 watts.

    Combined with a bowl-lift design for utmost support and stability as the machine blends heavy mixtures, you have an all-around workhorse that’s designed for challenging tasks.

    The 6-quart mixing bowl is outfitted with a wide-mouth stainless steel mixing bowl and a contoured steel handle for effortless handling. In terms of capacity, there’s enough space to make up to eight bread loaves or pounds of potatoes per batch, not to mention enough dough to make up to 156 cookies.

    Bits and pieces won’t get stuck to the bottom of the bowl thanks to the mixer’s 67-point planetary mixing action. This mixer includes a power-knead spiral dough hook, wire whip, and a flat beater. The power hub works well with a variety of optional attachments, from pasta makers to food grinders. 

    As with most KitchenAid mixers, you’ll find this appliance in a wide range of colors.

  4. 4. Best Compact Mixer: KitchenAid 3.5-Quart Artisan Mini Series Tilt-Head (KSM3311XHT)

    Pros:
    • Ideal for dorms, apartments and smaller spaces
    • 250-watt motor is powerful enough for most standard tasks
    • Smaller and lighter than other KitchenAid mixers
    Cons:
    • Mixing bowl doesn't have a handle
    • Not available in as many colors as other KitchenAid mixers
    • Doesn't come with a pouring shield

    As the saying goes, good things come in small packages. It may be 25 percent lighter with a 20 percent smaller footprint compared to the Classic Series mixer, but this compact appliance delivers the same robust performance and versatility of its larger siblings.

    From dorm rooms to apartments to kitchen counters with limited space, there are plenty of living spaces that are best suited for a smaller stand mixer. This KitchenAid mixer has a compact 3.5-quart mixing bowl. Despite its smaller size, there’s enough room to mix up to 60 cookies, a batch of guacamole, a loaf of delicious bread and more. A choice between 10 speeds lets you fine-tune your recipes for yummy results.

    The 250-watt motor is powerful enough for most standard cooking and baking tasks, including blending wet and dry ingredients, whipping cream or kneading dough. Whether you need to access the bowl or want to add ingredients, the handy tilt-head design is especially useful.

    If you need even more versatility you can use the power hub, which is compatible with over 14 different attachments.

    As with most other KitchenAid mixers, this one comes in several colors. Add a pop of color to your home with a bright and vibrant color or opt for a more classic hue. Either way, the mixer looks so good, you’ll want to leave it on the counter for guests to admire.

     

  5. 5. Best Entry Level Mixer: KitchenAid 5-Quart Artisan Design Series (KSM155GBAZ)

    Pros:
    • Glass bowl has measurement markings
    • Convenient tilt-head design
    • Multipurpose attachment hub
    Cons:
    • Whisk, paddle and hook aren't dishwasher safe
    • Glass bowl is heavy
    • Doesn't come with a splatter shield

    If you’re looking for an entry-level KitchenAid mixer that can handle all the basics along with more demanding tasks, consider this versatile stand mixer.

    This Artisan Design Series mixer stands out for more than just its good looks. As with other KitchenAid Artisan mixers, this one has a five-quart bowl. However, instead of the standard stainless steel mixing bowl, you’ll get a glass bowl with measurement markings. This bowl is dishwasher safe. It’s also large enough to mix up several dozen cookies, up to four bread loaves and nine pounds of mashed potatoes.

    The stand mixer comes with all the essentials for getting started, including a burnished metal flat beater, burnished metal dough hook and a wire whip. A tilt-head design provides easy access to ingredients. A total of 10 speed settings lets you customize each recipe.

    If you’re looking for even more versatility, you’ll find it with the attachment hub. There are over 14 different attachments to choose from, allowing you to make everything from ice cream to pasta to burgers and more. Regardless of what you’re making you will get plenty of power from the 325-watt motor.

KitchenAid has several stand mixers on the market, which can make narrowing down the options that much tougher. Fortunately, there are plenty of differences between the models, from price to intended use to power and more. Knowing your budget, primary goals, desired features and even your preferred colors can help you choose the right stand mixer.

I've had my KitchenAid stand mixer for close to 10 years now. It's one of the five-quart Artisan Series models. I use the mixer for just about anything baking-related, from whipping creams to kneading dough to making monstrous batches of chocolate chip cookies. It's a hefty stand mixer that can be tough to store, though, which is why I settled on a darker blue color that easily blends in with its surroundings.

The Artisan Series mixer is popular, but so are many other KitchenAid mixers. KitchenAid created a stand mixer guide that breaks down the differences in a way that's easy to understand. 

For starters, you have a choice between tilt-head and bowl lift designs. While the tilt head design makes it easier to access and add ingredients, the bowl lift design allows the bowl to be raised up by a lever. Not only does this add a level of convenience, it also ensures the bowl is held firmly in place during heavy mixing tasks.

Some mixers come with coated beaters, which are dishwasher safe. The burnished alumium beaters and attachments need to be washed by hand. It's also important to note that a few KitchenAid stand mixers don't have handles. Stainless steel is the most popular type of bowl, but you'll find mixers with ceramic and glass bowls with measurement markings.

Most KitchenAid stand mixers come with a flat beater, whisk and dough hook. The beater is a versatile tool that's useful for most baking tasks, including mixing and blending most wet and dry ingredients. If you're whipping up a loaf of bread or a pizza, you'll want to use the dough hook. The whisk comes in handy for beating eggs and even making homemade butter.

Another popular attachment is a beater blade with a scraper edge. The tool scrapes as it goes, and works especially well for creaming together butter and sugar and folding in dry ingredients, according to Today.com.

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