Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I am seriously looking at buying this.
I have such a love/hate relationship with KA.

I have had my K45 since 1977, and it finally died last spring. They say you can't get the parts to fix them anymore. I am keeping it anyway just in case.

I bought a 6 qt almost ten years ago, and I was never happy with it. Last winter it died, and I tried to get the parts to fix it myself, but there was something not standard about my machine and nothing I ordered was right. I ended up sending it to KA to have it repaired. With the shipping it was nearly $200.
I was so frustrated, I bought a Bosch to make my bread in. I figured I would just use the KA for lighter duty stuff. I have been very happy with the Bosch for bread.
Last night my KA died again. I don't want to spend another penny on that POS.

But that new 7 qt sure looks nice. It seems like a way better machine than the older models. The reviews have been very good. I have a $100 WS gift card, and right now the shipping is free.

Any thoughts?

if you dislike KA so much and alrealdy have a Bosch, why spend money on another "POS" as you put it.

fitzie

The motor and drive in the 7Qt are supposed to be a completely different design, and all metal gears.
I can also use the 6Qt bowl and beaters on it if I wanted to. I hope it is not a "Pile of Scrap" or I would not want to buy it.

I suspect KA issues might be model specific. I've had my 6 qt Epicurean one for 12 years now and it still runs like new. I don't bake much bread though (just the occasional pizza dough) so that might be part of it, but I do meatloaf/meatballs and oatmeal cookie dough in it, both of which would be heavy on the motor. Seems to me many people were unhappy with their 600 series ones which replaced the Epicurean. I can't say I've heard much about the 7 qt, but the specs look impressive, and the 2 year replacement warrantee is nice. The online reviews seem positive too. I'd be tempted to go for it (but then, maybe I'm not the best one to let enable you).

I think that it is safe to either repurpose or discard a 30 year old K45. The metal case two pronged cord represent a potential shock hazard that pretty much eliminates the possibility that KitchenAid will ever make repair parts available. A parts mixer may revive it, but the amount of money KA owners think their used crap is worth on eBay is scary.

I have had nothing but good experiences with my eight year old Professional 6 so it is hard for me to get on the same page with folks who have had repeated problems with KA mixers, but I would not hesitate to buy a Professional 600. From an annoyingly rational point of view, my big KA that was purchased as a refurb for $220 plus $12 shipping has cost me about 60 cents a week. Considering the piles of great food that have come out of it, is has been a bargain.

OTOH, the Seven quart is as different from a Professional 600 as night and day. I think most of the links I posted last year still work and I still believe that the Seven Quart will not suffer from some of the issues that plague the Professional 600. If I was in need of new big wide bowl, I think I would spend the extra money for the Commercial version with stainless steel agitators and NFS bowl design, but the good reviews at Williams-Sonoma for the consumer version indicate that it is worthy mixer as well.

Thank you for the good advice, Jim.
Especially for encouraging me to discard my old K45.
I think the 7 quart would be a good choice for me.
I have time to think about it while I wait for my WS gift card to come in the mail.

I'm wondering something about this mixer that I don't think has been addressed yet. And please forgive me in advance if I come off as totally clueless when it comes to anything related to science or math. I am:)

I currently have the professional 6 qt. model -- got it several years ago and it's worked great. The drawback of it is that I frequently want to make double batches of yeast doughs or royal icing and it sometimes is too much for the motor, and even when it's something lighter, like cake batter, it makes a mess when I try to cram so much ingredient volume in the bowl. It seems like the motor on this one would solve that problem, but what I don't understand is -- if this is a 7 qt. bowl, the capacity is four cups more than the 6 qt. bowl, right? So how is it that this one is advertised as "16 cup flour power" when the 6 qt. model's capacity is 8 cups? Does that all relate to the motor and not really the bowl?

I am sorely tempted to get this for a combined birthday/Christmas/anniversary gift (the benefit of having all three occasions within a month and a half), so would appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

Emilie

Emilie,

My understanding is that the "flour power" is the maximum number of cups of flour (in bread dough) that the motor can handle when kneading without causing it to strain. Your bowl might physically be able to hold more, but the paddle wouldn't be able to turn without hurting the machine. So it's totally a motor power rating and not a bowl capacity measure.

Thanks Carey. I pulled the trigger and I'm sure I'll love the extra power. We're bracing for a hurricane here but I've got a new mixer and some leaf lard coming next week so life is good!

Emilie

Congrats Emilie! Sounds like you might be in for quite a whallop if the "European" model wins out over the "American" model.

btw, I was working from memory on the price of the leaf lard. How much was it, and for what quantity?

Amy