I'm looking to buy a KA Mixer, But not sure if I need to splurge for the larger 5 quart. I rarely use anything larger than 2 mixes. Advice?
Know of any bargains this week?

Yes, the 4 1/2 bowl will hold 2 boxes of cake mixes. You can check the KA websites for any deals.

HI Cindy,

The 4 1/2 will hold 2 mixes but barely. I have the 4.5 and wish I had at least the 5. So pay a little more and at least get the 5.

Sandy

I agree that you should go with the 5. It just offers that added space that allows for less messes!!

Think about how much you will use this mixer and how long you will have it. Go for the 5 quart, you will be so glad down the line that you did!

CindyW~

I have the Aritsan 5 qt, so I can not attest to the limitations of the 4 1/2 qt. HOWEVER, I just saw a post a week or so ago on CC that listed a website where you can buy refurbished KA's.

From the posts that I read, a couple people bought refurbished, and had no problems with them. So if they are a little cheaper then you can still get a 5 qt, and possibly spend little more than what you were going to pay for the 4 1/2 qt.

I will see if I can find the post, or you may be able to search for it using "refurbished" as a keyword. KitchenAid may come up with tons of results.

I still have my 4.5 mixer at that's all. When I first started baking, I thought I would only do a few cakes here and there. WELLLLLLLL, I got addicted and now I do sooooo much more. I really wish that I would have gone to something bigger in the beginning.

OK, found it. The official site is
http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/product_list.asp?SKW=KTAFACTSTAND&HDR=outlet&.

However, when I did a keyword search with "refurbished" in the forum, a whole bunch of posts came up with other websites also - JC Penney, Amazon, E-bay, Costco. You may want to check those out also.

I know I have probably posted this to alot of different questions but sams club has the 5 quart professional for something like $254 that is a great price for the 5 quart one. I was actually thinking about getting another one just because its such a great price.

If you watch the ads, you can get the 5 qt for $199 at Walmart. I have debated getting it myself. My GE 4.5 holds 2 mixes, but I would like to do 3 at a time, so if I upgrade, I want a 6 qt. I think!

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm going with a 5Quart
(unless Santa messes up, ha)

there is a 6 quart at aadeals.com for 319.00 and a rebate offer of 50 dollars (mail in) maybe you can look into that one too....not a bad price for a bigger mixer.

The 6qt is worth it! I bake maybe once a week and still wouldn't settle for anything smaller.

Go look at your mixing bowls. What size is the one you usually use? (It should say on the bottom) Then look at the smaller bowls. You can't buy bigger bowls, so buy the biggest KA you can afford the first time.