SO many choices for stand mixer! First off, I am lost on which brand to choose. I have been hearing very negative reviews on the KA models, bad customer service, mixers tearing up quickly....The Cuisinart seems to be very well liked among the people who have done the switch from KA to Cuisinart and with the 1000 motor, I could probably go ahead and mix up some concrete for my new commercial kitchen There there is the brand I have not heard anything about, Breville! Did anyone know this is the only brand that comes with a "scraper" paddle!? It has rubber edges for scraping batter or icing off the side of the bowl instead of doing it by hand! And, it too has a stronger motor than KA at 550 watts for the 5 quart. Anyone have the cuisinart brand??? I looked at the 5.5 quart in the store, it looks like you could only really get about 4.5 quarts of mixing, the paddle is really low in there! Can you get a full bowl? I really really hope ya'll give me yalls opinions on these brands!!!

I have the KA and the cuisinart. I love love love my cuisinart! I haven't really tried to use it to full capacity yet, but it mixes much nicer than my KA, the motor is more powerful and I love the timer, the fold feature and the fact that the bump in the bottom of the bowl is so much smaller than the one in the KA bowl.

I have several KAs due to the fact I am opening a cake shop. I also have the 7 quart Cuisinart. So my bias is because it is 7 quarts.

I have a small KA, the anniversary KA and I just purchased 2 620s. I did have a 600 professional, but returned it. It was soooo loud I couldn't stand it. I bought the 620s because all the reviews I read said the 620 has low noise volume. There is just no way you would say the 600 had low noise volume, so I am assuming something is different about the 620. They are a special edition and no longer show up on the KA website. You can get them from Amazon or Williams Sonoma if you want to pay twice as much to get it from them.

I like my anniversary KA. I use it exclusively, but it is only a 5 quart bowl and I now need bigger bowls.

I was not impressed with the Cuisinart 7 quart. The batch of cupcakes I made as a test did not fare well even though I scraped religiously. I have since bought the beater blade for the mixer to see if it will work better. In the meantime I plan on using it to make frosting at the store as it is quieter and will be in the decorating room at the front of the store.

I have not opened the boxes for the 620 KAs yet. So I can't comment on their performance. But I do love my KA anniversary edition one (candy apple red). I would say make sure you get a newer KA and not any that might be sitting around and not sold for a while. For a time they were using plastic parts and it did not hold up well. I understand from my research that they quietly went back to metal while all the time denying that the problems people were having were due to plastic parts.

HTH

I can't speak for a Breville as I've never heard of it. I've had KA (still do have one of the older pro models and love it, too) and have the 7-qt Cuisinart. I purchased the beater blade for the Cuisinart (it is a separate item) as well and have had no problems with the mixer whatsoever. I love the big bowl and the timer. Timer comes in handy many times. Some have said that the noise level is louder than the KA, but I don't tend to let those types of things bother me if I love the machine overall, which I do. I've only had my Cuisinart since last September, but I have been very happy with it and am glad I went that route versus the KA. I still use my older KA for some things, but definitely rely on my Cuisinart for large batches of frostings, etc.

I absolutely love my Breville! I let my KA go (newer classic model). My only complaint about my Breville is that I wish they made a larger bowl. I had a chance to test both the Breville and 7qt Cuisinart in a baking class. They both had great qualities (power, sleek design, timer, fold function) but my decision was based solely on personal preference. I did not like the narrow bowl on the Cuisinart and I kept getting flour trapped in the cupped section on the mixer attachment. My decision was based solely on those factors.

I don't feel there was a right or wrong choice in this situation because they performed equally it is also great not having to purchase the scraper blade.

I think you will be happy with the Breville or Cuisinart. Happy shopping!!