The great mixer debate:
What kind of mixer do you use and what do you like or dislike about how it mixes cakes, frosting, or fondant.
My hand mixer recently went kaput.(poor thing was really over worked 
I would love to get a professonal quality mixer for making frosting and fondant and I'm trying to decide what kind would be best. I'm doing a lot of research on the different kinds and I'm kinda leaning towards a Bosch since it has more power. I would love to get your input on the kind you like best.
I purchased a Kenwood ka800 mixer about eight years ago. I love it. Has more power than KA and a larger bowl. My KA was retired to my garage cabinet. I don't think you can get them anymore. Another cake decorator saw that they were on sell at William Sonoma and told all of us on the cake board that we frequented at the time. It was on clearance for 225.00 regular 700.00 I couldn't pass it up. The latch broke on my KA after only one year and they wouldn't fix it unless I paid a fee. I have never had a problem with my Kenwood. My husband used to tease me about the brand because there is a company that makes stereos with the same name.
Love my KitchenAid. If the mixer alone weren't enough to sell me on it, their customer service is. I'd had it about a year when the motor blew on a batch of stollen dough. I never sent in the warranty registration 
A friend convinced me to call customer service anyway, and the 3 minutes on hold was the hardest part of the call. The guy who helped me acknowledged right away that it shouldn't have happened and said it didn't matter that I hadn't sent in the registration. Then he asked me what color I wanted. 3 days later, brand new mixer. 
I have a Cuisinart too & love it! Bought it at Bed Bath & Beyond with 20% coupon.
Yesterday I purchased a Refurbished 5 qt Artisan Kitchenaid from Kitchen Collection for $149. It came with a Wire Whip, dough hook, and flat beater. I figured it was a good starter for me since it's my first. I'm going to test drive it later this week.
Interested to see what you go with, and what others suggest.
I LONE my Kitchenaid! Mine's over ten years old and still works great! I use it for IMBC and fondant where it has to run for long periods of time, don't know what I'd do without it!
I have a 4.5 qt KA that's about 9 years old, and still running... and a 6 qt thats about 3 years old, this one sometimes gives me trouble because the speeds get stuck. My DH is in charge of maintenance.
I love them both. I make cookie dough, cake bater, fondant, buttercream, anything and everything...
I managed to burn up my first KA...with stiff cookie dough... 
I did contact KA and they wouldn't fix the mixer. I love my Kenwood the KA can stay in the garage. LOL.
I have a KA 6 qt and a Bosch Universal. If I could only pick one it would be my Bosch, though I do use them both.
I mill my own flour and bake all of our breads and the KA just isn't up to the task. The Bosch also has a two part lid that covers the bowl entirely so when I'm making frosting I just dump all the powdered sugar in there, put the lid on and let 'er rip! No powdered sugar coating my kitchen.
The one thing I prefer my KA for is IMBC. Since the bowl is metal it doesn't hold the heat like the plastic Bosch bowl so I can add the butter sooner. The KA is also pretty whereas the Bosch is utilitarian.
My 16 yo is an avid cookie baker and she prefers the Bosch (has actually stated that if she doesn't have one by then she'd like one as a wedding gift!) My 14 yo, who also bakes quite a bit prefers the KA.
Lucky us, I have both! 
I own a 5 qt ka and hate it. The bowl isn't large enough for cakes, cookies, cupcakes because I like to make larger batches. The shape of the bowl is awful becuase it is not optimal to mix all ingredients well in my opinion. I looked at the 6qt KA and my sister owns one but it sits in her garage - she hates it due to the bowl configuration. I've been looking at 7qt models and I see some of you like Cuisinart. I keep waiting because Cuisinart ususally doesn't have as good a rep on mixers. Anyone else like cuisinart and if so why? Does anyone have a mixer that is 7qt that they like better??
I have a KA 6 qt and a Bosch Universal. If I could only pick one it would be my Bosch, though I do use them both.
I mill my own flour and bake all of our breads and the KA just isn't up to the task. The Bosch also has a two part lid that covers the bowl entirely so when I'm making frosting I just dump all the powdered sugar in there, put the lid on and let 'er rip! No powdered sugar coating my kitchen.
The one thing I prefer my KA for is IMBC. Since the bowl is metal it doesn't hold the heat like the plastic Bosch bowl so I can add the butter sooner.
The KA is also pretty whereas the Bosch is utilitarian. My 16 yo is an avid cookie baker and she prefers the Bosch (has actually stated that if she doesn't have one by then she'd like one as a wedding gift!) My 14 yo, who also bakes quite a bit prefers the KA.
Lucky us, I have both!
Thanks for your post, it's nice you hear from someone who has both. My friends who have had their KA a long time love it but those who bought it more recently have had problems with motors burning out.
I'm leaning toward the bosch since I also mill my own four to bake bread and I'm usually making large batches of cakes and frostings. I was wondering how it is to clean. Some have said that it is hard to clean and the dough gets down under the bowl, have you had this problem? What has your experience been with it, is it easy to clean?
I also have the Cuisinart 7 qt. I had a KA Artisan before this. I would NEVER go back to the KA Artisan. It felt like a Holly Hobby toy compared to the Cuisinart. Plus the 7 qt bowl is huge and not only does it hold a ton, it also causes less mess on the floor and counter.
I have a KA 6 qt and a Bosch Universal. If I could only pick one it would be my Bosch, though I do use them both.
I mill my own flour and bake all of our breads and the KA just isn't up to the task. The Bosch also has a two part lid that covers the bowl entirely so when I'm making frosting I just dump all the powdered sugar in there, put the lid on and let 'er rip! No powdered sugar coating my kitchen.
The one thing I prefer my KA for is IMBC. Since the bowl is metal it doesn't hold the heat like the plastic Bosch bowl so I can add the butter sooner.
The KA is also pretty whereas the Bosch is utilitarian. My 16 yo is an avid cookie baker and she prefers the Bosch (has actually stated that if she doesn't have one by then she'd like one as a wedding gift!) My 14 yo, who also bakes quite a bit prefers the KA.
Lucky us, I have both!
Thanks for your post, it's nice you hear from someone who has both. My friends who have had their KA a long time love it but those who bought it more recently have had problems with motors burning out.
I'm leaning toward the bosch since I also mill my own four to bake bread and I'm usually making large batches of cakes and frostings. I was wondering how it is to clean. Some have said that it is hard to clean and the dough gets down under the bowl, have you had this problem? What has your experience been with it, is it easy to clean?
First, when I started making my own bread I burned up a KA with my whole grain dough. You know how heavy that stuff can be with all the whole grain in there! I stripped the gears, bought a new part and DH fixed it. I sold that one and bought the larger Professional that I have now. I have made whole grain bread in the new KA but still hands down prefer the Bosch for it.
As for cleaning the Bosch, I don't find it difficult at all. I have the previous model so my center post isn't easily removable. I have a sprayer on my sink faucet so as soon as I'm done making bread I use that to spray it down. I think the biggest thing is rinsing it before the dough dries. Same thing with the dough hook; clean the dough off before it hardens. After I spray it down I usually just toss the bowl into the dishwasher. I hand wash the dough hook.
I bought cookie paddles but we've broken two sets of those so for cookies we just cream the butter and sugar with the whips then switch to the dough hook. Works great and I don't have to spend any more money on cookie paddles. They work well if you take the time to make sure your butter is soft.
I believe the new model has a removable center post to easily clean it. It's also supposed to have a better footprint that keeps the mixer from "walking" when you're kneading. The motor is slightly stronger and the bowl is now a little bit larger too. I do just fine with mine and have made 6 loaves of whole grain bread at one time in the Bosch and it not only has the room for it in the bowl, but powers right on through all that dough.
It's also great for making fondant, just butter the bowl like you would in the KA.
I have the flaker attachment for flaking oatmeal and the blender; both work wonderfully.
I do use both the Bosch and the KA regularly but like I said before, if I could only have one it would be the Bosch.
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