- Motor is powerful for most stirring, kneading and whisking tasks
- Bowl can contain dough for 6 dozen cookies or 3 loaves of bread
- Extremely easy to use
- Glossy finish is easy to clean
- Ingredients trapped in divot on bottom of bowl might need to be scraped up to be evenly mixed
- Motor seems to strain when mixing or kneading very stiff cookie or bread doughs
- Only available in white
- 250-watt motor
- Comes with a flat beater, "C" dough hook and wire whip
- 4 1/2 quart mixing bowl
- 10 Mixing speeds
- Attachment hub for using pasta maker, sausage grinder and other attachments (sold separately)
- Comes with recipe and instruction book
- 1-year warranty
The KitchenAid stand mixer is an icon in the kitchen. Heavy, sturdy and simply designed, it occupies a place of pride on many a home cook's kitchen counter. While KitchenAid's mixers can cost as much as $500, the KitchenAid Classic Series Stand Mixer (Model K45SSWH) is the company's entry-level option, priced at just $239.99.
The Classic Series mixer is also the least powerful in KitchenAid's stable (the Commercial Series has 450 watts and the Artisan Series has 325 watts). But for most home bakers, this gives you enough power to easily cream butter, knead cookie dough, and make the occasional loaf of bread. Very stiff cookie or bread doughs might cause the motor to strain, so if you bake a lot of bread, investing in one of the more powerful mixers might be a better choice.
This mixer has KitchenAid's tilt-head design; the top of the mixer and the paddle tips back to give easy access to the bowl, for scraping down the sides or adding more ingredients. The bowl locks securely into place with a twist, and a lock will also secure the hinged head so it won't "jump" when kneading stiffer doughs. The mixer comes with a flat paddle for mixing batters and cookie or biscuit doughs, a C-shaped dough hook for kneading yeast doughs, and a wire whip for beating egg whites or whipping cream.
This budget-priced mixer also doesn't come in the fun, trendy colors for which KitchenAid has become known, but the white finish is classic in any kitchen décor, and its smooth, glossy surface wipes clean easily. At 23 pounds, you'll need to find a home for this mixer on your countertop, because it is too heavy and bulky to be stored in a cabinet.
For the occasional home baker or a cook on a budget, the KitchenAid Classic Series stand mixer is a good value.
