I am new to cake decorating. I have only sold two cakes so far. My cheap 9 dollar hand mixer finally died. I would LOVE to buy a Kitchenaide but cannot bring myself to paying the price. I was curious on what you guys use? Are there any cheaper versions of the Kitchenaide stand mixers? I saw a Hamilton Beach stand/hand mixer for $30. It came with beaters, whip and hooks. I has a 4qt bowl and six speeds. What should I look for in a good mixer without having to pay a lot of money that I don't have!

Thanks!!

I think it really depends on what you are using it for. If you are using it for just icing and batter, you can probably do with a cheaper stand mixer. I used my Sunbeam stand mixer for almost 2 years.

I do love it, but it's not a KA. It got to the point where I needed to move on. Need more HP so I can make MMF. Need that nice paddle blade thingy that really gets all the icing good. Needed a mixer that wasn't putting air in all my icing (though if I knew enough, I probably could have figured that out on my Sunbeam). We got a really good deal on my KA at Costco.

I guess I would just think of your needs. If you want to make MMF eventually, the $30 Hamilton probably won't cut it. Go on Amazon and find user reviews of any model you are looking at, check out HP and wattage.

BTW, where are you at? I am still looking for a home for my Sunbeam. Very inspired by Tita's story of shipping her old KA to Japan. Not sure I would be able to afford the shipping though. That had to be costly.

I actually have the one you're talking about I think. My hamilton beach stand mixer was $25 on Black Friday originally $49. The thing fussed over a cookie dough batter.. I am going to attempt making icing but not sure how it's going to turn out. It's max speed is 290 watts I believe.

I have two KA's, however, I have baked and make frosting with a heavy duty Sunbeam stand mixer that my sister had. It worked fine.

I agree that nothing gets a MMF going like a dough hook on the KA, though.

Good Luck.

I have MMF several times, but kneading with my hands, and I love it, now I am reading that you can do it on you KA? I had no idea? How do you do it? Do you pour the melted marshmallows first and then add the sugar or the other way around? A friend of mine tried it but she used the whipp attachment, we could not stop laughing, because of the way her kitchen cabinets ended

I had a Hamilton Beach Mixer for a long time. It finally gave up the ship and I bought a KA......I love it.....It is well worth the $$. I did get a chance to use a Viking mixer.....Oh....My....Gosh......but again it's Big $$$$$.

There are several stand mixers out there.......and they are good. You just have to weight the cost. Check the ads and discount stores , if you don't need one right away.....sometimes you can get them on sale.

Good Luck.

Just out of curiosity what is everyone's opinion on the KA? I know there's the professional, classic, artisan, and probably more. I want to get one but I'm at a stand still on which version.

-Courtney

I have the KA artisan...love it. When I first started, I burned up my hand mixer making icing. I went to the heavy Sunbeam mixer...burned up two of them. Finally broke down and got the KA..... don't think there's much chance of it burning out!

Mine is the Professional HD. 475 Watts. Haven't really gotten into the heavy stuff yet, since I just got it for Christmas. The only thing that I don't really care for is the set up of the bowl. This model has two arms that come out w/little pins on each side. The bowl had little tabs that come out w/little holes that fit over the arms. Then you have a lever that raises and lowers the bowl level. What I don't like about it is that you have to take the whisk /dough attachment off just to get the bowl out. The head doesn't raise either, so you either have to take the attachment out, or just scrape and stir around the attachment.

I'm sure I'll get used to it, it was just kind of frustrating to work with it the first time when I had so much to do.

I have the JcPenny Cooks stand up mixer. It's a bit loud but it has a great engine in it. If I'm not mistaken, I think it may be 750. They usually run them on sale.

HTH
Angie

I have the cooks as well. I have to agree it's noisy but great and it 750 watts. Wish I could find extra parts (bowls etc). I got mine on sale for 150.00. I also have a cheapy sunbeam that works great - just not for fondant making etc. Surprisingly it makes excellent buttercream. I use both depending on how lazy I'm being and how quite I want to be (hubby whines when I use the cooks for long periods - but it does work great.

HTH

Judi

I have the Kitchenaid Pro HD, I got it from Sam's Club about 4 years ago before I started caking. I was using an old hand mixer that was 20 years old trying to make some choc chip cookies and it kept cutting off. I was frustrated I called my sister in Reno to vent. She laughed at me and told me to take my cheap self to Sam's club and buy a real mixer. That's what I did, thinking I would take it out every now and then. Then I started caking and I'm glad I invested the $. Save your cake $ and buy whatever suits your needs but if you do a lot of cakes, icings and MMF invest in a good mixer. I would also like to have the Viking 7qt.

WOW! Thanks! I actually make MMF by hand and did not know I could do it with the KA! Now that would be easier!!

So can I ask another off topic here? How do I keep the air out of my icing? Does the mixer do that?

Thanks for all the input. I will keep this mixer and save for the KA!

I LOVE my Kitchenaid stand mixer, I got a heavy duty 5 qt. on sale for $199. I also went and bought myself another hand mixer, got a professional series for $49 (orignally $99) but went to their outlet website...

http://www.shopkitchenaid.com

Sign up for their newsletter, they send you sales and such. I have found some cool stuff there to add to my wish list!

WOW! Thanks! I actually make MMF by hand and did not know I could do it with the KA! Now that would be easier!!

So can I ask another off topic here? How do I keep the air out of my icing? Does the mixer do that?

Thanks for all the input. I will keep this mixer and save for the KA!

I know that the cost is high, but I would invest in a heavy duty model. KA quality has gone down over the years and many on CC have posted that they have issues with the new models.

The Cuisinart models have been getting better reviews and the 5 1/2 quart model is about the same price as a KA. I am looking at a Delonghi or Viking for my next mixer.

If you are going to make anything heavy you need to make sure that you have the Watts to pull through. I would get at least 500 watts.


Stephanie

I have two KA's LOVE LOVE them!

But, you certainly don't need the professional version in my opinion, I have two of the smaller ones and have had/used them for years.

Jen