Our 13 year old daughter has recently shown an interest in baking. So I bought her a 600-series KA mixer for Christmas.
Now I’m wondering if I’ve made a mistake. Reviews at Amazon indicate many owners have experienced problems with overheating, excessive noise, worn gears, blown electronics, etc. 
If you own one of these things, have you had any problems with it?
In addition, what attachments (if any) do you find useful?
Have a 600 series. Bullet proof.
The lower lines mixers sometimes have issues, but nary a problem with mine.
BTW I looked at the reviews on my phone there were 1295 five star, and 195 one star. Pretty good ratio IMHO.
As far as accessories go a silicone edged scraper blade is very handy.
Agreed with the silicone mixer blade suggestion. There are at least two different makes; Cook’s Illustrated preferred the Side Swipe version. I own it and love it.
I don’t know which version I own, but I’ve had it for years and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. The amount of effort it’s saved me is amazing. I use it all the time.
well, keeping in mind that people are more likely to go post a review if they’ve had a problem than if the thing works fine; it seems like many of the complaints center around a plastic gearbox they used for a while and have since reverted back to metal.
the other thing is (and there is some opinion here) that the “classic” KA stand mixers haven’t really had much in the way of design updates since they were originally released. which was back in the day before “Design For Assembly” (DFA) was common. So building these things still requires some fitment by skilled assemblers (e.g. gear clearances/backlash, bearing preloads, etc.) rather than just slapping part modules together. So, 99 times out of 100 you get a mixer which will last forever, but that other one time it’ll last a week and need repair.
I’ve had mine for almost 20 years and it still works like a champ. It’s a real workhorse, and my only complaint is how much it weighs when I haul it out of the cabinet.
I have a 600 series, bought used about 9 years ago, and I love it. (A neighbor had lost his wife, and was clearing their vacation home before moving away. I don’t actually know how old the mixer was at the time, but it had barely been used. When Mr. C. offered it to me for $125, I jumped like FloJo heading for the hurdles!) I use mine very often - maybe 5x per week on average, and that’s bread dough at least half the time. I have never had a malfunction: no overheating, no problems with the gears (but I think mine is the all-metal construction.) Mom uses her basic KA often, too - purchased in 1972. Both of mom’s sisters received mixers that year, too, and both still use them. Zero problems. Grandmother’s 1950s version (turquoise!) was used in her restaurant until 1976, and frequently afterwards to bake many, many cakes and pies until she went in the nursing home two years ago. It still works great.
I like the scraper paddle, but the most useful extra I’ve found is a spare bowl, so that I don’t have to stop and wash several times between the cake batter, filling, and frosting.
Mine is also 20 years old and still ticking. I’m starting to hear a squeak when I first turn it on so need to find out if there are any lube points on it.
I don’t know what model mine is–but it’s the one where the head lifts up to change beaters.
I love it. I’d only had it for a couple of years, and then we decided to pack up everything and move to AZ. The mixer was in limbo for about six years–trust me, it’s a LONG story!
I tried to make pumpkin pie for T-Day, and the head and the base are both leaking oil. Hubster looked at it, and said it’s probably got some blown seals.
So now I need to find an authorized KA repair place. I’m sure the repair would be MUCH less than a brand new mixer, but I bet the total will definitely hurt!
~VOW
I have a 45++ yr old K5…it is flawless. I inherited it from grandma.
Chefguy… you can repack the grease. here is some help.
http://artisanbreadbaking.com/ka_greasing/
tilt head (k4.5 and 5)are very similar in the drive to K6 (drop bowl)
good luck
Vow this may help How to Fix a KitchenAid Stand Mixer That Is Leaking Oil - YouTube
Dunno what model I have. It says “Classic”. Circa 1990.
Only issue is I have to use a silicone spatuta to push unmixed things back into the mix. Probably a good thing.
I got mine around 1997. Not sure what model, but as another poster said, it’s the ‘classic,’ and as far as I can tell, all-metal.
It’s great and has never given me a single problem. I too would prefer a spare bowl. I use the paddle mixer and dough hook all the time; the whisk attachment much less. Still, it makes holiday baking a thousand times easier. Worth every penny!
I love my KA mixer. It’s a 5 qt, but I’m not sure the exact model I’ve had it almost 20 yrs. It works like a champ. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of loaves of bread over the years it’s kneaded, cookies mixed, and so on. I have the meat grinder and ice cream maker attachments, too. I would be lost w/o mine.
I have the Epicurean - Kt2651xww 6 quart model.
I’ve had it for about a decade. Going strong. No issues. I love it.
Especially if I’m making butter or ice cream or frosting that needs to be beaten for many minutes.
I rarely use attachments other than the standard paddle, and occasionally the wire whip. I own the grinder and some pasta parts, but just never get around to using them.
-D/a
Thanks, I did find that site after posting. Looks like I’ve got some dirty work ahead. Or maybe a local shop will do it for me.
Don’t know the model. But I don’t use it very often so I expect it to last a long time. I used the pasta extruder to make ravioli for Christmas dinner, and I plan to get the meat grinder. I may end up using the attachments more often than the mixer.
We bought the silicon scraper blade (mentioned above) to fix this problem. It’s awesome! (make sure it fits your bowl).
I bought a 600 series two years ago. I don’t use it every day or anything, but it’s gone through quite a bit of bread and cookie dough, frosting, and such. I love it and haven’t had any problems.
I do make a point to follow the instructions to the letter. Whatever mix speed/attachment it suggests for any given dough/batter is what I use.
I’ve had no problems with mine. I don’t exactly use it daily or even weekly, but it’s been great for any types of doughs I want to make.
The only issue I’ve seen with the Kitchen Aid was when we were at a friend’s house using the meat grinding attachment. We were doing bulk sausages and had to grind around 25 pounds of pork shoulder, and the thing eventually crapped out on us. But if you’re just grinding a few pounds of meat at a time, it shouldn’t be a problem. For sausage making and stuffing, I prefer to have a dedicated meat grinder and a dedicated sausage stuffer, but for the regular mixing shit in a bowl stuff, it’s never caused me any problems and saved me a lot of elbow grease.
We use our KitchenAid (Professional 600) and the meat grinder attachment to make sausage as well, but we limit our batches to 3-5 pounds. We discovered early on that sticking the chunks of meat in the freezer for 30 minutes or so makes the whole operation a lot more pleasant.
The KitchenAid itself really is a huge help to make rustic bread, the dough of which is sometimes just a bit thicker than pancake batter.