Hey...during the making of my last wedding cake I BLEW ANOTHER MIXER-it was a medium duty stand mixer I purchased when I was not doing a lot of cakes, and things have again changed. This is not uncommon in my 30 years of decorating. I have had 3 kitchen centres from Sunbeam but 2 went within the first five years of use so therefore I actually paid for only one. I have gone through hand mixers in a day...that one I purchased due to being in a pinch... it was what was available. I know it is the icing sugar being so powderey and getting into the gears as well as the difficulty of beating the thick consistancy of icing. I asked my husband to give me a good word to use and like a man he said... your mixers lacked torque and horsepower...grooaaannn. So I am asking what have you got and how is it performing? I have a birthday in February and hubby has his eye on a kitchen aid mixer at our local Costco...but remember I am in Canada...the machine is around $399. Canadian-I do get quite a bit of money from family on my birthday and would love it if hubby threw in the extra. It has all metal gears and he thinks it was rated commercial. I would appreciate any input before I buy. I want this to be my last purchase- one rating I read on kitchen aid is that if you want to hand it down to your children this is the one to buy! Ty in advance.

Hey cinnamon,

Well, for my birthday I received a KitchenAid Artisan. It was a lot of power and it's also pink! (special edition in support of breast cancer) Sears had a better sale than the Bay/Homeoutfitters.

If you do a search in the forum for mixer you will find posts about this discussion.

Here are a couple links:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-291-mixer.html

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-297-mixer.html

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-222-mixer.html

Happy shopping!

I have 3 mixers-the regular 4 1/2 qt Kitchen Aid Mixer. a 7 quart Delonghi (aka Kenwood) and a 3 1/2 qt Krups Combi (it converts to a hand mixer). I love all three of them for different reasons. (You would think I get a lot of orders. No, I'm just ready for any orders that come along-that's another story). I use the Kitchen Aid for icing-it's the perfect size for making a 7-8 cup batch of icing. I use the 7 quart when I have to make large cakes-it takes up to 7 cake mixes at a time. I use the Krups for making my mousse filling. If I had to pick the most versatile one, I would say the Kitchen Aid. My friend has had one for 20 years with no problems.

o wow! I need something too that would take a lot of cake as I mix up one at a time in mine, it has 4 egg whites beaten seperately with 2 cups of sugar...etc...I could mix up a few cakes at a time as it does double well with decreasing eggs and sugar. Ty so far for the great input!

I have a kitchen-aid that my husband and son got me last Christmas because I refused to spend the money on myself. I had been going through hand mixers and blew up another less expensive stand mixer. I love my kitchen-aid! I can't imagine how I would have gotten along this last year without it! It's a 5 qt and will do a double batch of icing (2 lbs icing sugar) and it will do 2 cake mixes at a time. It has plenty of torque! Royal icing is no problem to this mixer nor is fondant or any of the other rollable icings i've experimented with. You definitely won't regret spending the money.

Good Luck!
Debbie

The Kitchen Aid by far. They're like the energizer bunny...they keep going and going and going...That's why I got mine (took me 10yrs!)

And if you're looking at the 6QT Professional for 399CAD, it's not a bad deal; it's about $326USD.
You will definitely get your money's worth!!!
I'm inlove with mine; got my 5qt Prof for $199!! Crazy sale at Bloomingdales, to which ofcourse I dragged my husband to as early as 7:am to make sure I got mine!

I just got a kitchen aid last November and I purchased mine from Costco. It cost $249. in U.S. dollars and I thought it was a great deal. It's the 5 quart heavy duty model and it hasn't had a problem with anything. I have been able to do double batches of frosting wtih no problem. I feel it is well worth the money and consider it an investment!

In Canada, (I am in Ottawa, Ontario), the newer version - the 6 quart costs $699.00 plus tax. I have seen the smaller Kitchen Aids on sale for as low as $199. I have the 4.5 quart, which is good for most things until you get into large wedding cakes and then you really want the 6 quart. Also you can't mix fondant with with the 4.5 quart - the motor isn't quite strong enough when you want to knead it. But for nearly everything else the 4.5 or 5 quart will do.
At the present time there are no smaller bowls available for the 6 quart, but they will be coming out. So if you can afford it, I would go with the 6 quart.
Honestly though, after having Sunbeam and several hand mixers, I would say that you are going to find a big difference with any of the Kitchen Aid models you purchase. They just make your job so much easier and are so much more powerful.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I have 4.5 quart Kitchen Aid and love it, although I wish I had bought a slightly larger one. I wasn't thinking cakes at the time. Go for a bigger one if you can. My mom's had a Kitchen Aid for years and I USED it for years and never had a problem. Love it!

I agree with impressivecontr. That is the one I have. It holds only 2 cake mixes at one time. I've had mine for about 2years now, for the price of $199.00 I believe I bought mine at Wal-Mart or Target. It works wonderful and now I look at my hand mixer and laugh. I should of thought if this years ago!! Although VickiC has one hell of a machine. 7 Cake mixes? WOW
Good luck in choosing one.

I have the 7 in the wrong place. The Delonghi mixer is a 7 quart mixer, not 7 cake mixes.

You've got my vote for the Kitchen-aid-they are truly a wonderful and powerful, longstanding mixer....it's name stands the test of time. A cakemakers bestfriend-just turn it on and walk away for a while to do other things-I use my pourshield to keep the dust down from the powdered sugar-also, I first mix my wet items together then add the powdered sugar a bit at a time-keeps most of the dust down..seems to mix easier.

I posted the same question late last year and I did end up purchasing the Kitchen Aide. I LOVE it!!!! I purchased a heavy duty, 5 qt., 325watts mixer. One thing I will add is make sure you are purchasing a mixer that is 300watts or more. I don't know if you work in watts there since I am from the US. But all the cake decorators I have spoke to here and on the web say go for more than 300 watts.

mrsfish

I want a new mixer too! Went to the shop and found out that there was Kenwood and it was much more expensive than Kitchen Aid. Maybe because it's better& Anybody has it?

KITCHENAID IS THE BEST! I bake many cakes and I blew up many mixers until I bought the kitchenaid. It might cost a little bit more than others but it is a durable and heavyduty machine. It also has many other uses if you want to buy the attachments.

KitchenAid has my vote!! I've had the 4qt for about 10 years and it is still going strong. I like that you can buy replacement beaters with no problem. I also have the 6qt, which is fantastic. I can do 4 batches of buttercream at one time. This is a real time saver since I do a lot of sheet cakes. Good luck with your decision! Happy baking, Missey

Hi. I have been a cake decorator for years, but just found this site a few days ago. I just wanted to say that you should check out ebay for kitchenaid mixers. You can get the 5 qt. model for about $150 or sometimes less. There are a few sellers that have them all of the time and they are come with a warrenty.

I would recommend buying a kitchen aid as well. I don't have one yet (can't afford the one I reeaallly want ) but trust me when I say I have done my research. For the best overall value, longevity, and versatility, go with a kitchenaid. You can get so many attachments to use with your kitchenaid, like a pasta maker, a meat grinder, sausage make attachment (great for deer hunters), juicer, etc. Sunbeam recently came out with a stand mixer in the US that would compare to a mid-grade kitchenaid, for half the cost, BUT it has no versatility- only good for mixing. SO GO GET THE KITCHENAID YOU'LL BE HAPPY THAT YOU DID

KITCHEN AID!!!! Can't go wrong!! I used to have a Hamilton Beach & the first time I made royal icing/color flow in it it burnt up! I took it right back to the store got my money back & bought a kitchen aid the same visit!!! I sold my tread mill to get the money for the kitchen aid!! I figured it wouldn't collect as much dust!! It hasn't!!

I found a cake supply store near me that sells reconditioned mixing bowls for $10!! I have bought 3 already! They also carry the attatchments! Kitchen Aid has my vote too!

I don't know if you've already bought that mixer yet but I too live in Canada (50 min east of Toronto) and my husband got me the 6 qt professional Kitchen Aid...not a tilt head...the bowl lift kind for $399 at Caynes Housewares. He ordered it on-line and it arrived in two days! They are a great resource for Kitchen Aid products...much cheaper than Costco.

I hope you get this in time,
Suzanne M.
I'm not affiliated with Caynes or anything...just wanted to let you know about my experience...it's www.cayneshousewares.com

boy, is that the truth! there is nothing like a kitchenaid. if you plan to be doing cakes for a while, it is wise to invest in a kitchenaid!

I too asked a very similar question last year.

At the time I was doing a lot of royal and color flow and going through hand mixers (and a less expensive stand mixer) like crazy! I was getting so frustrated!!

My mom bought me a Kitchenaid Artisan 5 quart for Christmas. It was one of the refurbished models (which comes with a 6-month warranty) from Amazon.com. I am unsure what Canadian shipping would be or if they even still have them, but it was $179.99 minus $50 off of houseware items over $100 plus free shipping, so basically it was $130!!!!

I absolutely love it. I still haven't figured out all of the little tricks with it and exactly the best way to do icing, etc., as I was used to having to fight a hand mixer.

So, my advice is to really, really shop around. We searched for months before we found the best deal we thought we could!

Unfortunately, Amazon.com will not ship to Canada...not mixers anyway...I tried this route.

Suzanne M.

do you have any relatives in the states? if you do, you can have it shipped to their address and then they can ship it to you. that's what i did. i bought mine from ebay and had it shipped to my mom's address, then she shipped it to me!!

hey I just found this site a few days ago. After reading your reviews about the kitchen-aid, and telling my husband all about the ravs, I finally got one!! (artisan 5qt 250 model) I have been wishing for one for years and your advice finally made him pick me one up!I was so surpised and excited!! Thanks so much from this newbie!!

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. .. I have a kitchen aid that I've had for almost 20 years and it's still going strong. I've made many many wedding cakes with it. My Mom has a kitchen aid that is 35 years old and is still working great. I borrowed it once and the gears went in it so I took it to a repair shop and they fixed it. It cost me about $40.00 to have that done and now it's fine. It is a small one which might be why it gave out. She did wedding cakes with it for at least 15 years before that happened. There has been some question about who makes kitchen aid now. My mixer says hobart on the side. The new mixers don't say hobart any more but someone told me that they do still make them. Hobart makes the big professional mixers you see in bakeries.