The 5 Best Attachments for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer

The 5 best attachments for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer include the food grinder, juicer, ice cream maker, slicer and shredder and the pouring shield with a wide chute.   I like these specific attachments because it turns my KitchenAid into an all around appliance.  Why have all these applicances to store when you can use your stand mixer to do all these things?  Here are the reasons why I picked these attachments:

1. My family has been making homemade pork sausage for years.  It is part of our tradition to grind up pork, season it, stuff into casings and save for the holidays.  My grandfather and grandmother would grind the meat in a hand grinder, but today I use my KitchenAid stand mixer to grind the meat quickly and easily.  It also comes with a tool to stuff the ground meat into the casings.  You can't beat that!  This food grinder attachment is useful when wanting to grind other foods too.

2. I love fresh juice and when our large juice stopped working, I bought the juicer attachment for the kitchen aid.  We even juice fresh apples during the fall when apples are abundant. 

3. If you have children at home or grandkids like I do, then the ice cream maker attachment is a must.  The KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker comes with a basic recipe to make homemade ice cream or use your favorite recipe too.  When the kids come over in the summer, we make some ice cream and let it chill in the freezer for a while.  They get a kick out of making their own ice cream.  With the price of ice cream today, this is a inexpensive way to go.

4. Lately, we have been watching our diet and eating more vegetables than ever before.  The slicer and shredder attachment turns the mixer into a food processor or mandoline tool.  When wanting to slice up a large amount of cucumbers or shred cabbage for cole slow, using this attachment sure makes the job quicker than cutting or chopping by hand.

5. Last but not least, I really recommend adding the pouring shield with wide chute to your baking and cooking needs.  This attachment really helps keep ingredients such as eggs from splashing out of the bowl when adding them for a baking recipe.  The chute attachs to the bowl and helps with pouring too.

If you cannot buy all these attachments at one time for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer, buy one at a time until you have the ones you need.  Or put them on your wish list for someone to buy you as a gift!

The Best Stand Mixer for a New Cook

The best stand mixer for a new cook is one that is simple to use with basic speeds.  It does not need to have lots of extra attachments or numerous functions like a professional stand mixer.  A new cook may be a young newlywed or even a pre-teen learning to cook for the first time.  I learned to bake and cook using a classic Sunbeam MixMaster Stand Mixer.

I remember my mother's Sunbeam stand mixer very well.  It was a sturdy mixer with 2 glass mixing bowls.  A small one for icings, eggs, and other small mixes while the large 4 quart bowl was used for everything else.  It had all the necessary speeds such as fold, knead, mix, stir, beat, whip, cream and blend.

Our Sunbeam Stand Mixer only came with the standard beaters, but today they have improved this by including a dough hook and wire whip to the mixer when you buy it.  I would have loved having those extra tools when I was a teenage using our stand mixer.  I had to mix everything with the same basic beaters.

This Sunbeam Stand Mixer lasted for many years.  I took it with me when I was first married and used it for several years more.  I made lots of Lemon Meringue Pies with beaten egg whites since that was my dad's favorite pie and this sturdy stand mixer never let me down on whipping nice stiff egg whites for meringue.

I would recommend this basic Sunbeam Stand Mixer as a gift for anyone who is learning to bake and cook or as a gift for a newlywed couple.  It will last them many years of wonderful baking.

Click here to learn more about the Sunbeam 2371 MixMaster Stand Mixer featured on Amazon.com

The Cuisinart Stand Mixer has the Best Warranty

Cuisinart makes a 12-Speed stand mixer that has the best warranty on its product compared to other stand mixers on the market. When shopping for a stand mixer to do heavy mixing, you want a mixer that will hold up and with this 3 year warranty by Cuisinart you know that they stand behind their product.  Cuisinart also offers a full 5 year warranty on the motor of this stand mixer. 

It may look cheap with it's plastic body, but it is a workhorse with a 800 watt motor.  If you are a serious bread baker or makes a lot of thick cake icing, this mixer is worth a look.  The product reviews from customers give this stand mixer a pretty high rating.  The mixer does not jump around when mixing these thick doughs or batters. 

For the mid-range price compared to other stand mixers such as a KitchenAid, this Cuisinart stand mixer offers a much better warranty than what KitchenAid, Sunbeam and Hamilton Beach offer.  For that reason alone, it is a reason to give this stand mixer a serious look.

The Best Stand Mixer for Those on a Budget

For those on a budget, the best stand mixer for the price is the Hamilton Beach Eclectrics All-Metal 12-Speed Stand Mixer which comes in at over one hundred less than the KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer.  If you are on a budget, but need a stand mixer that can do the heavy jobs like the other large stand mixer, than this Hamilton Beach Eclectrics is a good choice.

It has a 400 watt motor with a full 3 year warranty which is a real nice feature.  It has attachments just like the KitchenAid which include a dough hook, flat beater and whisk.  The finish is a brushed sterling over an all metal housing.  It is larger and heavier than you may expect for the price.  

I have a friend who owns this stand mixer from Hamilton Beach and she loves it.  Her daughter has a gluten allergy, so she makes all her own bread every week.  Sometimes she is mixing this heavy gluten-free dough several times a week.

The only complaint she has is the bowl tends to get wobbly and lets loose of it's latch when she stops the mixer to add ingredients or scrape the sides of the bowl.  This bowl is only a 4 1/2 quart size instead of the larger sizes other mixer brands come with.  But again, this is the mixer to buy when you want a professional stand mixer but save money. 

Compare a Breville Stand Mixer to the KitchenAid Professional?

When my classic KitchenAid Stand Mixer was needing to be replaced, I researched several professional quality stand mixers that were within my budget I had allowed for a new mixer.  I needed a good stand mixer that would withstand many minutes of mixing heavy bread dough.  I looked at the Breville 5- Quart Die-Cast Stand Mixer, KitchenAid 600 Professional Mixer and the Cuisinart 12 Speed Stand Mixer that I will discuss later.  I had narrowed it down to the Breville and KitchenAid stand mixers using the pros and cons list for each one.  Here is what I found about each one:

The pros for choosing the Breville 5- Quart Die-Cast Stand Mixer include:

A die-cast mixer body

Planetary mixing action (unique)

12 speeds with LED electronic control

10 minute timer with auto shut off

Lift asssist mixer head

Only 22 pounds

Retractable cord for storage

Just under $300 with free shipping online

The cons to consider before buying a Breville mixer include:

Only a 5 quart mixing bowl

Only 550 watts of power

Only accessories include a scraper beater

Includes a splash guard but no pour spout

No mention of warranty on motor or mixer

Now the pros for considering the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Stand Mixer include:

A 6 quart stainless mixing bowl

All metal construction of mixer

Has bowl lift feature

12 speed electronic control with Soft Start to minimize splatter

Accessories include wire whip, flat beater, metal spiral dough hook and pour shield

Has selection of colors to match kitchen decor

Some cons to think about before making a purchase of a KitchenAid 600 Professional Stand Mixer:

Does not have the Planetary Mixing Action

Does Not come with a timer

575 watt motor has auto shut off when motor gets hot; can be in the middle of mixing

No retractable cord

Cost is over $300, but has free shipping also online

As good as the Breville Die-Cast Mixer looks, I went with the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Stand Mixer to replace my classic KitchenAid Mixer.  Since KitchenAid has so many attachments available for their stand mixers, I wanted the option of adding these items later on.  The savings for buying the Breville Stand Mixer would only be approximately $25.

My Top 10 Stand Mixers

Since this blog is called Top 10 Stand Mixers, I think I should share with you my favorite 10 stand mixers.  These stand mixers are the best rated by consumers, chefs and home cooks like yourself.  I do not own all of these stand mixer that I am going to mention here, but I sure have used quite a few of them in my life.  I have been baking and cooking since a teen.  I have owned a restaurant and working in a commercial kitchen with both environments allowing me to use a professional stand mixer. 

Here is my list:


1. The Sunbeam MixMaster Stand Mixer has been around for decades. It is a reasonable but powerful stand mixer.  I learned to bake using a stand mixer by Sunbeam.  I remember as a little girl seeing this classic black and white stand mixer in both my grandmothers and my aunts' kitchens.  It was the stand mixer to own.  Today it still is a great mixer and a great mixer for a new cook to start out with.


2. The Westinghouse Stainless Steel Stand Mixer is a surprisingly wonderful choice in a stand mixer.  I have not owned this particular stand mixer, but would put it on my wish list just because of the positive reviews by cooks such as myself.  It looks a little different than the other traditional stand mixers.  It operates using a feature called a planetary mixing action which allows the beaters to scrape the sides as they mix.  Plus the 450 watt motor and 1 year limited warranty makes this mixer a great buy for the price which is hundreds less than a KitchenAid.


3. The KitchenAid Classic 250-Watt Stand Mixer is one of the best selling stand mixers that I have seen up to this point. This is the KitchenAid stand mixer that I bought my son while he was in college studying culinary arts.  His homework was just a little different than other college students.  This KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer came with just enough attachments, a easy to follow instruction booklet and 1 year warranty that helped me make my decision on this model for him.  Almost 10 years after college, this stand mixer is still going strong.


4. The KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixers is one of KitchenAid's most popular stand mixer. I think it is because of the large mixing bowl, attachments available to add on and all the pretty colors to choose from.  There is a color to match any kitchen decor.


5. The Hamilton Beach Eclectrics All-Metal Stand Mixer has a full 3 year warranty which means that Hamilton Beach really stands behind it's products.  The 400 watt motor and 12 speeds make this a mixer to compete against the others.  Then when you see the price, you will be amazed at how much of a mixer you get for a reasonable price.


6. The Cuisinart 5-1/2-Quart 12-Speed Stand Mixer is the closest thing you can find to a professional level stand mixer.  Just the name Cuisinart alone is one you can trust.  Cuisinart offers a 3 year warranty on its stand mixer with a 5 year warranty on its 800 watt motor.  If you are a serious baker who makes heavy doughs consistantly, than this is the stand mixer that you would want to consider.


7. The Breville 5- Quart Die-Cast Stand Mixer is build for the home baker who wants professional results.  The 550 watt motor is very powerful and it comes with the planetary mixing motion like the Westinghouse mixer.  This Breville stand mixer does cost a bit more than the Westinghouse stand mixer but it is quite a bit more powerful.  If you like to make your own bread, then I would highly recommend this mixer since it will hold up under years of bread baking.


8. The Viking Professional 7 -quart Stand Mixer is made by a company who makes ranges and stoves.  You know this is a good product.  This is the professional stand mixer that I use in my commercial kitchen at my adult retirement community.  When we bake cakes, we bake for 400 residents at one time!  The 1000 watt motor doesn't even strain with so much use.  A great mixer for large mixing projects.


9. The Delfino Die Cast Pro Stand Duo Mixer has twin motors which means one motor drives the beaters in opposite directions while the other one rotates the bowl.  It is a smaller, compact stand mixer which is a good choice for someone with limited storage space in their kitchen. 


10. The Wolfgang Puck Hand/Stand Mixer is number 10 on my list because if Wolfgang Puck endorses this little stand mixer, than I want to share it with you.  It actually doubles as a hand mixer which can be handy for small mixing jobs.  It is also compact to store away with ease.  The best part is that it is less than one hundred dollars which is good for those cooks on a budget.

Breville 5-Quart Die-Cast Stand Mixer

The Beauty of a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer

The beauty of the KitchenAid Artisan Series Mixer goes beyond its style, design and choice of colors.  It is just that this workhorse of a stand mixer made by the KitchenAid company is reliable and heavy duty.  It's strong motor lets you make things such as pizza dough, egg white meringue, heavy breads, flavorful cakes and more without any trouble at all. 

The basic Artisan stand mixer package comes with a large 5 quart stainless steel bowl, stainless whisk, flat beater and dough hook.  I really like the stainless steel bowl since there is no chance of chipping like glass bowls, it is lightweight to hold when pouring batter and it is the recommended material used in cooking safety.

The beauty of this particular KitchenAid Stand Mixer is that it comes in a large array of colors to match any kitchen decor.  There are actually twenty-seven colors available online.  In department stores I have seen the standard basic colors such as white, black, silver, and red.  Online you can special order colors such as orange, blue, yellow, green, purple and more. 

In fact there are so many pretty choices that it becomes hard to decide.  I have a apple theme in my kitchen, so I selected the gloss cinnamon color to match the apple red and leaf green that have accented my kitchen.  I almost selected the black model since my appliances are black, but I am happy with this cinnamon red.  For me this is the best stand mixer I could spend my money on.

Raspberry Ice KitchenAid Artisan 5 Qt Mixer

The Sunbeam Stand Mixer

The Sunbeam Stand Mixer has been my family's favorite mixer for as far back as I can remember.  My grandmother had the classic white and black Sunbeam mixer as shown here, and she would use it to make the most delicious cakes, breads and pies I have ever tasted.  Now many years later, I am a grandmother myself now and still use a Sunbeam mixer to mix up my grandchildren's favorite baked goods.   It easy easy to store away when not in use, and ready to go when needed.

What I like about the Sunbeam MixMaster Stand Mixer is the reliability, ease of use and power to mix all kinds of doughs and batters.  The Sunbeam Stand Mixer ranges in price from less than $50 to just over $120 for their largest model.  I really like the Sunbeam mixer that comes with the stainless steel 4 quart bowl, powerful 350 watt motor and extra dough hook attachments.  I like to make my own pizza dough and bread which having the special dough hooks make this easy to do.

Sunbeam 350-Watt Stand Mixer