I am in the market for a stand mixer (I am tired of blowing my hand held ones!). Does anyone have any recommendations? I want something that is somewhat practical...not too many gadgets that I am unlikely to use. Thanks in advance!

I have a kitchen aid 4.5 quart and I love it but I have to say alot of people have had problems with their kitchen aids. I think the bigger ones seem to get the worst reviews. I am actually in the market for a 20 qt hobart Hey a girl can dream!

I love my kitchen aid 4.5 quart! I had a hand mixer and broke it! It couldn't handle buttercream!

I just want a bigger one now! I guess I'm never satisfied.

I have a Hamilton beach stand mixer. It was way cheaper than a ka and has all metal parts and more horse power than the ka. I did some research first, and found it I believe on overstock.com. They don't have them now but amazon market place has them for 159. It has 400 watts and holds 4.5 qt., the 300 dollar ka only has 325 watts. I love mine. Only thing is I've never seen them in the stores, had to mail order it.

I'm a KitchenAid girl. They seem to be a lot sturdier than other stand mixers I have had. I have a 4.5 qt, 350 watt one and just purchased a 450 watt, 5 qt one from QVC. They have it on flexpay and I just couldn't resist. For some reason I feel like I needed 2 stand mixers. I really do love my KitchenAid!

Thanks for all of this! The other thing that I forgot to mention is that I was wondering whether I should buy one that has a paddle attachment. How necessary is this? I've noted that a number of the CC Buttercream recipes suggest the use of the paddle attachment.

I have the Kitchen Aid 4.5 qts, and I love it, it is my baby, no one can touch it, only me.

I also love my KitchenAid Artisan mixer -- I've had it (and used it A LOT) for the past six years and I've never had a single problem. It came with the paddle, whisk, and dough hook attachments.

-Sarah

I also have the KitchenAid Artisan. I love it. I had first bought a KitchenAid that didn't tilt, but after using it once, I returned it.

My 4.5 qt is also an Artisan. The new one I'm getting is actually a 6 qt, not 5 and it has the handle to lower the bowl which should be helpful on bigger batches. I do love my Artisan though. I'm not familiar with a "paddle" and haven't seen a paddle attachment for KitchenAid.