PSA Kitchen Aid Mixers

[cintinative]

There seem to be a lot of bakers on here, so I thought I'd share this input from America's Test Kitchen:

Recently, KitchenAid has advised owners of all of its stand mixers not to exceed speed 2 when kneading dough with the dough hook, not to knead for more than 2 minutes at a time, and that the total mixing and kneading time should not exceed 4 to 6 minutes.

This is a concern. For years, recipes have called for much longer kneading times and higher speeds. We heard from readers that kneading longer has damaged at least one new KitchenAid stand mixer. With KitchenAid now insisting consumers use its mixers gently to protect their motors, we feel concerned about their durability and unsuitability for many bread recipes.

Our conclusion? If you plan to knead lots of bread and pizza dough, consider the Ankarsrum; it sets no such limits.

Full review: https://cooks.io/3FkRq95

 

 

My Kitchen Aid is 23 years old and we've never had a problem. I read through the FB comments on this post and it seems to be a problem with the newer models. FYI.

[silver]

I've heard this complaint about KA mixers. It's why I got a Bosch Compact. I love it and wish more Americans knew how great it is so that it would be easier to get accessories for it here.

[KungFuPanda]

I have a tilt head artisan that is 15 years old.  I routinely knead dough for 8-10 minutes.  I always figured I'd replace it with something heartier if I killed it, but it's ticking along.  This is coming from someone who actually killed her vitamix blender in 4 years. 

This reminds me that I need a new dough hook because the white stuff is chipping on mine.

[Pawz4me]

12 minutes ago, silver said:

I've heard this complaint about KA mixers. It's why I got a Bosch Compact. I love it and wish more Americans knew how great it is so that it would be easier to get accessories for it here.

I have the Bosch Compact, too. It works very well for everything I need. I definitely didn't want anything as bulky and heavy as a KA. But to be fair, the bread I make only requires one minute of kneading. I don't know how the Bosch would perform for longer dough kneading. 

[Carrie12345]

I had no idea! Gonna keep doing it anyway!

I don’t make breads constantly but, when I do, I guess I run it pretty hard. That’s WHY I bought it! 🙁

[kathyl]

I bought a new Kitchen Aid mixer off Amazon a year or so ago.  There is a part that's defective in the new ones.  I was doing some routine mixing, nothing heavy duty, when it just died.  I could hear the engine 'slipping' and then it was just a flat buzzing sound.  Dead as a door nail.

Dh took it apart and found the defective part.  We ordered a new one, but the same thing happened again.  I complained to Amazon and they gave me a refund.  They didn't want the mixer back so we got rid of it. 

I think the older ones are fine.  It's the newer ones that are defective. 

I had an older Bosch so I began using that one and it's great.  Never going back to Kitchen Aid. 

[EmilyGF]

11 hours ago, cintinative said:

There seem to be a lot of bakers on here, so I thought I'd share this input from America's Test Kitchen:

Recently, KitchenAid has advised owners of all of its stand mixers not to exceed speed 2 when kneading dough with the dough hook, not to knead for more than 2 minutes at a time, and that the total mixing and kneading time should not exceed 4 to 6 minutes.

This is a concern. For years, recipes have called for much longer kneading times and higher speeds. We heard from readers that kneading longer has damaged at least one new KitchenAid stand mixer. With KitchenAid now insisting consumers use its mixers gently to protect their motors, we feel concerned about their durability and unsuitability for many bread recipes.

Our conclusion? If you plan to knead lots of bread and pizza dough, consider the Ankarsrum; it sets no such limits.

Full review: https://cooks.io/3FkRq95

 

 

My Kitchen Aid is 23 years old and we've never had a problem. I read through the FB comments on this post and it seems to be a problem with the newer models. FYI.

I burned out a Kitchen Aid in 2008 by following a bread recipe that called for 10 minutes of kneading. When I called Kitchen Aid, this is exactly what they told me.

Emily 

 

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, EmilyGF said:

I burned out a Kitchen Aid in 2008 by following a bread recipe that called for 10 minutes of kneading. When I called Kitchen Aid, this is exactly what they told me.

Emily 

 

whoa. I figured this was more recent than that. My unit is from 2000. 

[wisdomandtreasures]

"Oh, you're interested in making your own bread? Please buy our $400 mixer with a dough-kneading hook but woops, sorry, you can't actually knead properly with it or the machine will break " 

[LuvToRead]

This isn't new advice (I learned about this years ago) but I can't remember where I saw it.  I actually bought a Nutrimill Artiste to make bread just because I was annoyed at having to turn it off/on again.

[mmasc]

10 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I had no idea! Gonna keep doing it anyway!

I don’t make breads constantly but, when I do, I guess I run it pretty hard. That’s WHY I bought it! 🙁

Same. I had no idea and had wanted a kitchen aid mixer for YEARS when I finally bought one in 20219-2020ish. I use it about once every 6 months to make a loaf of bread, which ironically is from an America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. I guess I will continue to do so and if it breaks, well, I probably won’t buy a new one of ANY brand for that twice a year bread. 🙄

[Lady Florida.]

I've never had a problem kneading with my Kitchen Aid. In their defense they clearly state that 2 minutes of mixing with the dough hook is equivalent to  10-12 minutes of kneading by hand. I think it's disingenuous of America's Test Kitchen to have left that out of their review.

[EmilyGF]

2 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

I've never had a problem kneading with my Kitchen Aid. In their defense they clearly state that 2 minutes of mixing with the dough hook is equivalent to  10-12 minutes of kneading by hand. I think it's disingenuous of America's Test Kitchen to have left that out of their review.

Many recipes call for "10-12 minutes of kneading by stand mixer."

[Lady Florida.]

1 minute ago, EmilyGF said:

Many recipes call for "10-12 minutes of kneading by stand mixer."

Yes, I've seen them. That's a long time to knead by mixer though. I'd rather err on the side of caution and not over knead. I've ruined enough recipes by kneading too much.

[popmom]

I routinely knead bread dough for long periods with my mixer because I use freshly milled whole wheat. Much longer than 10 minutes. 
 

I upgraded from an older KA (not a top of the line) to an Ankersrum a couple of years ago when I started making bread regularly.

Edited October 21, 2023 by popmom

[catz]

This is so annoying!  I saw this blurb this morning on FB.  I had a 22+ year old kitchen aid work horse die a couple years ago during covid.  I have always been hard on my mixers, but I'm going on 2 years of making sourdough 1-2X a week this winter.  I regularly run my KA with the dough hook 6-8 minutes.  Always on low, but still.  

10-12 minutes seems like a crazy long amount of time to need to use the dough hook.  Honestly, I question the need of 6-8 of the mixer as someone who rolls between hand mixing and folding and using the KA.  

Anyway, not going to change my habits now, but if it dies I guess I won't go with a KA.  But dang, that Ankersrum is expensive!  

[KatieJ]

I have owned a Bosch( similar to the Ankersrum) for over 20 years, my mother’s is much older than that. I can do 15 cups of flour = 6 loaves of bread, kneeling for 10 mins , and it doesn’t miss a beat.  I mix up large batches of meatloaf, 5 pounds of ground beef, at a time. 

My DDs and DILs all have KA, and they are no where near the workhouse the Bosch is. One of them bakes bread often and they had to repair/fix/ rebuild her’s several times.

The KA is much cuter sitting on your counter and definitely does some things very well. Bosch bowl is quite large so mixing up a cake , frosting or whipping a small amount of cream is not ideal.

Americas  Test Kitchen did a review of stand mixers a few years back . They rated KA higher mostly because of the size of the bowl and my above mentioned comments.

I have never heard of the Ankersrum until the newest ATK reviews came out. 

[popmom]

1 hour ago, KatieJ said:

I have owned a Bosch( similar to the Ankersrum) for over 20 years, my mother’s is much older than that. I can do 15 cups of flour = 6 loaves of bread, kneeling for 10 mins , and it doesn’t miss a beat.  I mix up large batches of meatloaf, 5 pounds of ground beef, at a time. 

My DDs and DILs all have KA, and they are no where near the workhouse the Bosch is. One of them bakes bread often and they had to repair/fix/ rebuild her’s several times.

The KA is much cuter sitting on your counter and definitely does some things very well. Bosch bowl is quite large so mixing up a cake , frosting or whipping a small amount of cream is not ideal.

Americas  Test Kitchen did a review of stand mixers a few years back . They rated KA higher mostly because of the size of the bowl and my above mentioned comments.

I have never heard of the Ankersrum until the newest ATK reviews came out. 

The Ankersrum has a different bowl with a 2 beater attachment, but I have had a little trouble incorporating ingredients when making a small batch of something. But man…it makes a perfect whipped cream cheese frosting. 

[KatieJ]

15 minutes ago, popmom said:

The Ankersrum has a different bowl with a 2 beater attachment, but I have had a little trouble incorporating ingredients when making a small batch of something. But man…it makes a perfect whipped cream cheese frosting. 

I have the double beater attachments , 2 versions and they are well used. I use them for larger batches of cookies.  I am really just saying it’s a pretty big bowl and some folks think it’s an issue. I personally don’t. But I have a hand mixer for things like a cake or making whipping cream. I don’t bake many cakes . I bow to my DIL whose baking is amazing. My favorite besides whole grain bread  is large batches of banana bread. Mine has the blender attached to the machine so it’s easy to do the banana and eggs and incorporate them. I dislike it immensely when I just want to use the blender.

Edited October 21, 2023 by KatieJ