Stand Mixer

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KitchenAid

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Not sure if it's still the standard but I love mine. Have had it over 10 years. Use it regularly.

Are you saying the final price is $149?

KA pro is fine, but if you want to step up a bit in pricing and durability/flexibility, you can look at these:
—Bosch Universal Plus. ($400ish); lots of attachments, from a blender to a grain mill
—Ankarsrum Assistent ($700ish); also lots of attachments. I traded up to the Ankarsrum when my KA Pro crapped out after 10 years of service. I like the open bowl, bottom drive, and roller/scraper mixing motion, but it had a pretty steep learning curve, as it mixes very, very differently than the KA.
—Haussler Alpha ($2K); bulky, built like a tank, but seriously heavy duty as a mixer; has minimal attachments (whips, paddle, etc, but no shredders, juicers, pasta rollers, meat or grain grinders)

Pleasant Hill Grain is a good online site to check out some of the Kitchen Aid alternatives: LINK. KA spends a ridiculous amount on marketing, so their legit competitors don’t see much TV time or get prominent placement in most kitchen stores.

I have the grinder and the pasta attachments. Both work very well.

I saw that deal and thought about selling my 5 qt and upgrading. My wife and I bake all the time and my little KA Artisan is almost 10 years old.

I had gotten the GF that professional one and she didn't prefer it. It's a bit more awkward to work with and it's significantly larger than the other more standard models. I was able to snag a standard model for the same price at Best Buy and she likes that one. Ours came with that spade shaped mixing thing, some tines for making bread, and one other attachment I can't remember. The extra attachments are pretty expensive, but it would be cool to get the pasta one and the sausage one.

Anybody have the slicer attachment? Our 25 year old Cuisinart is on it's last leg, so we're considering getting one of those, too. We don't use it hat often, and are considering getting the slicer attachment for when we make large batches of soup or whatever so we can freeze leftovers. Just would like confirmation that it works okay for slicing carrots, celery, and the like...

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Slicer

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We use a mandolin when we need uniform slices. We have a Saladmaster slicer, shredder that we seldom use for slicing, because the mandolin works well. For years, we had a Presto Salad Shooter and it was really nice. Then after 20 years or so, the dang thing just quit one day. I'm not sure they make them anymore. It would slice, shred or grate anything. Really handy if you have room to store lots of appliances.


Salad Shooter

LOL

Might have been the first powered kitchen tool we purchased after we got married in 1971. Probably paid $20.00 for it back then. Last thing we need today is another grinder shredder slicer. but brings back memories.

Thanks for the info on the differences between the Tilthead and the Professional.

I was not able to find a Professional 6 quart for less than $249.00, so I don't understand your assessment of the price.
It might be cheaper out there somewhere, but all of the places I've seen have it listed higher. Plus no shipping because I can pick it up at Costco.

It does get complicated because you can see the same mixer for over 500 bucks, but then you realize that it includes a couple of extra attachments. Also, some are 5 quarts and others are significantly less powerful.

Get the professional model as it has metal gears. The other model has plastic gears and a less powerful motor