Hey everyone,
I just took my 1st Wilton class last night and I am HOOKED! I know that this is something that I will really enjoy doing.
I graduated from cooking school in 2000 and my favourite part was the baking. I now work in a completely different field, but it would be nice to bake again.
I remember using a stand mixer in school and I LOVED it. I have always wanted one but could not justify the expense. Now I can 
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I am looking for a good stand mixer, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.
Thank you for all your help!
Well, I am STILL using a hand mixer. 
Don't ask. Long story.
But someday Miss Scarlett, I am getting a REAL mixer! I always thought I wanted a Kitchen Aid (KA). At first I thought I wanted the Professional Series, with the locked head and elevated lift. But the more reviews I read the more I decided that I would go with the Artisan Series with the 5qt bowl and the tilt head for $350. Still more money than I have to spend at the moment.
But just last week I fell in love with the Viking Professional series. Tilt head, planetary motor (just like the KA), WHEELS under the back edge to help you move it around and a 7 QT BOWL with 1000 watts of power!!!!
Now THAT is a mixer my friend! And I am in love with it. Of course it is about $150 MORE than the KA that I had settled on, but 7 quarts! That is a wonderful thing.
You can find refurbished ka mixers on ebay or you can check out a website called ' kitchenaid experience. I googled it and found what i wanted. Any way...this place has refurbished and new KA mixers and their shipping is free if you order 30 dollars or more...Also check your local newspapers too for people selling them.
Get a Kitchenaid 6-qt Pro if you are doing large scale recipes or big IMBC recipes. Sylvia Weinstock's IMBC recipe will fill it to almost overflowing.
Get a K5 Artisan if you want about 5 cups less room in the bowl but the option to switch out bowls for a 5, 4, AND 3-qt bowl (handy!).
Refurbished ones are everywhere, and guess what? I had one, used the heck out of it for 5 years, it died, I called KA, and they SENT ME A NEW ONE (refurbished of course) and had me box up my old one and return it! For free!! After 5 years!! How's THAT for amazing?!
....of course, I called them AFTER I had already bought a new-new K6, so I had them send me a K5 Artisan, and now I'm realllly happy in the kitchen with 2 mixers. Use them both all the time.
I have a KA Artisan. I got it in Jan of this year and LOVE IT! My life would not be the same without it. I also have a can opener attacment, and a meat/veggie/cheese grinder attachment for it. You can turn it into almost anything! If it dies, I'll get another one just like it or maybe upgrade to the bigger one, but will stick with KA!
I got a KA for my birthday this year, and I'm in heaven!!! It's the kind with the tilt-head. I've used only the Sunbeam stand mixers my whole life and always thought they were good enough - they're not. I'll never want to use anything other than a KA now. They are definitely worth the extra money. I have the 4.5 qt, but if I was buying one, I'd get the larger one. I don't know anything about the Delonghi, but I can guarantee that if you buy a KA you'll never regret it.
I have had only kitchen aid mixers. The first one I recked....my stupid fault. I was trying to dush a cake and the butter was just out of the freezer...needless to say it got stuck between the bowl and the beater and the motor stopped. STUPID STUPID STUPID. I got it fixed and then bought a new one. I have had that one for a while now. Both I had for a long time. Its really a good mixer, just dont put solid butter in it. STUPID STUPID STUPID. I thought I was over it....guess not. 
Now I want the bigger 600 series model.
i got my ka mixer from kitchen collection. they are an "outlet" type store, along the east coast. i bought my 6 qt professional KA for 239, wayyyyy cheaper b/c it is refurbished. i haven't had any problems with it and shipping was very quick. they also have an ok selection of baking tools and supplies. www.kitchencollection.com
I have a ka artisan and love it of course. I think anything is better than a hand mixer. The 6 qt bowl lifter sounds nice. Of course I wouldn't mind a 12 or 20 qt hobart but the 5 qt alone is $2200...never going to happen.
I think craigslist.com would also be a good place to look for that kind of thing if you do not want to pay full price.
I have the KA Artisan and KA Professional Series and I use the Artisan way more than the PS. You would think it to be the other way around but go for the Artisan.
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