I need to buy a mixer for my second home, so looking to find something more cost effective than a KA. I doubt any huge cakes will be made, all for personnel consumption ( it is a vacation home!), and likely only used a dozen to 20 or so times a year.

My 2 concerns: It does not seem to come with a paddle attachment. How does one "cream" with beaters? And as far as I can see, the largest bowl is 4.5qt. Any thoughts out there? The cost of their Heritage (better line) is about 150.00. Great price, any thoughts?

I'm new to cakes and borrowed a sunbeam from a friend until I caved and bought a KA. If you're used to KA, buy KA or you'll regret your purchase, even if the Sunbeam works for you.

I didn't buy a KA new, I haunted Craigslist until I found an Artisan for $150. Also, I found out too late, if you wait until just before Mother's Day or Christmas, go online and search for killer deals--about 40-50% off the list price from a LOT of stores.

I have a Sunbeam and I use the beaters to cream. If you think about it handmixers don't come with a beater either and people seem to cream quite well with them.

I have never had a KA so I can't compare the two. I have never made fondant in my Sunbeam either. But for everything else it works just fine. I like the fact that it has two bowls to accommodate batches of different sizes.

Since you aren't planning to mix massive amounts of batter then the large bowl should be big enough. I can mix enough for 3 9 inch rounds in mine with a bit of room to spare.


HTH

I grew up using a Sunbeam, and absolutely loved it. The standard beaters it came with worked just fine for everything I needed to do. And the darn thing was a total workhorse -- my family and I used it all the time for at least 20 years before it finally gave way and needed to be replaced. Only then did I go buy my first KA, mostly because I'd been dreaming about having one for years at that point.

Now, I love my KA, but I also loved my Sunbeam and have very fond memories of baking wonderful cakes with it.

Good luck whatever you decide to purchase!!

...Andrea

All I've ever used is a Sunbeam mixmaster. My mother had one when I grew up, I got one as a gift when I got married, and have bought another one since. I have just recently learned about KA and Hobart.

Now, I am just a hobby baker and don't make huge quantities. I do make double batches of doctored cake mixes and Indydebi's BC in it. It does both of these things just fine for me. If it ever dies, I might upgrade, but until then, it's doing a great job.

I have two sunbeams and a KA all lined up on the counter of my workspace. While the capacity of the Sb's are not as much as the KA, I find they do a great job of anything I ask them to do. I actually prefer doing batters in them. Hope this helps.

I love my sunbeam! I have a KA too, but I like my SB better! It gets along the bottom of the mixing bowl better and allows for less scraping. A big plus is that if it does break, it's inexpensive to replace. The last one I bought I got at my local WalMart for $35! I'm just a hobby baker too, but my mixer gets lots of use!

I also have a Sunbeam and I love mine. I make several batches of Indydebi's buttercream and several batches of Michele Foster's fondant each week using this mixer and I've never had any issues with it. I was a little concerned that I couldn't get a paddle attachment for it but honestly the beaters work fine for me. I never have air bubbles in my bc.

I have an old Sunbeam Heritage mixer (about 15 years old) and she has served me VERY, VERY well. I received a KA Artisan for Christmas and so she now lives in my cabinet as a back up. She is semi-retired but I still love her and use her occasionally. I had no trouble creaming with the beater blades. There are some features on the Sunbeam that I prefer over the KA.

My mom gave me a Sunbeam stand mixer for my bridal shower and it worked hard and long. It finally died in the middle of a batch of royal icing and I have been debating what to do next (have my mother-in-law's old Kitchenaid in the meantime).

I have a Sunbeam Heritage. My mom gave it to me for Christmas. There is a setting on the dial for creaming and my buttercream comes out very well. I just make sure that I make a double batch (4 lbs of powdered sugar/4 cups fat). For me it's easier to scrape the sides, though I wish I could get some extra bowls and beaters for the mixer.

I agree. I would love to have extra bowls for my Sunbeam.

I'm a Mixmaster girl from way back. I grew up with one, and my mother produced fantastic things with it. She converted to the KA after I got married and moved out.
My first one was a shower gift and lasted about 20 years. The next one lasted only a few years; the third and fourth were poor quality and didn't last long at all. And their customer service was inadequate. I was so disappointed because I love Mixmasters. I acquired my mother's KA a couple of years ago because, sadly, she was no longer able to bake due to health reasons. My Mixmaster died, so my parents gave Mom's KA to me. Bittersweet.

The KA (the monstrosity) is big and awkward (and I'm short); it takes up a lot of space in the kitchen; it weighs a ton; the bowl has a depression at the bottom which makes it difficult to scrape the bowl, even with the beater blade; it is difficult to clean batter from the blade; you must remove the beater to get to the bowl (I have the drop-bowl model, not the tilt head); it only has one size bowl; the bowl is stationary; and it only has one beater (how can 2 kids lick 1 beater?).

The Mixmaster is a more manageable size and weight; it has a large and small bowl; the bowls spin; the bowls and beaters are easy to scrape; it has 2 beaters (for 2 kids to lick!). The only drawback is the motor strength and customer service. Even though they had dough hooks, they really couldn't handle thick doughs. And the big bowl was too small for a few of my recipes. And I kept the bowls from most of my previous Mixmasters, so I have extras.

And I always have a hand mixer, in case of emergency, and for small jobs.

Thanks everyone. So one quick question: Mixmaster or Heritage? And does anyone know the difference?

I have two SB Mixmaster Heritage series and that is all I use. The dough hooks are awesome for kneading MFF. I do have two of them because sometimes I work them to hard and they will shut themselves off to cool down so it is nice to have a backup, just in case. Also I get them at Walmart for $79.00 and at that price they are a work-horse!

I grew up using the old yellow rocket-shaped Mixmaster that had originally belonged to my mother's mother...my mom used it until it finally died when I was in my 30s. (And Mom replaced it with a new Mixmaster...sadly, the new ones seem not to be as well-made as the ones before the mid-90s.) When I first had my own apartment, I got a new Mixmaster "Euro" (compact body design) and that's the mixer I still use and love today. I have a second set of beaters and a second set of bowls for it. Just regular beaters, and glass bowls. (It has dough hooks too, but I've never used them. I expect they'd work for MMF but for me, doing it by hand is easy enough that it's not worth the bother of coating the mixer with shortening.) It would honestly never have occurred to me that creaming butter would require anything other than regular beaters, either. (So that's what a paddle attachment is for? What's the advantage?)

I have used other people's KA mixers and I don't like 'em. Too easy to overmix everything. And while I realize that it's supposed to be more convenient not to have to scrape the bowl as you mix, it really annoys me. I want to get my hands in there and use the spatula to scrape and text the texture of whatever I'm mixing! And I don't like metal mixing bowls.

So...the only problem I have with my Sunbeam is that the bowls are too small for some of the things I find myself doing in recent years. The quantity of batter I need for a 12x18 cake is difficult to mix up in a single batch. So I've thought about getting something larger capacity. If that's what this "Heritage" model is, I may have to move beyond just thinking about it....

Unfortunately, the KA bowl does not spin. That's a BIG negative.

Sunbeam (and other brands) beaters and bowls can be bought from Goodmans http://www.goodmans.net/get_dept_159.htm Although Sunbeam does have some service centers that you can buy directly from.

I'm feeling all nostalgic for my Mixmaster. Guess I know what I want for my birthday. (We even re-built a cabinet so the KA monstrosity would fit on the counter.)

Well sounds like I'm going to be the only Sunbeam party pooper... I bought one out of desperation.--had a melt down and needed it for cookie dough. I returned it the next day. It would not turn to mix cookie dough. Maybe it's fine for batter, maybe the older ones (like the KA's) are a better machine, but the one I paid about $100 for at W-M was a giant wimp!

I have an older SB Mixmaster that I received from a friend when I started baking more seriously about a year ago because my handheld Cuisinart burnt out on my first batch of MMF. (didn't know I wasn't supposed to use it for that :-|) It's the one that attaches to a base, has beaters and hooks, ss bowl that spins and the mixer tilts. It has performed every job I've asked of it but recently I've been concerned of it "giving out" on me so I started my search for a KA. I ended up purchasing my first KA yesterday after much searching (craigslist, local classifieds and stores that sell refurbished). I bought a refurbished Professional HD 5 Qrt in silver. It's the bowl lift model with 3 standard attachments. Yes it is huge and heavy but I'm willing to give it a try after reading all the wonderful reviews. Only cost $199 which I thought was a great deal. I've got 7 dozen cupcakes to make for tomorrow so I'll see how my new baby does.

Good luck on your purchase!

kansas,
My original Mixmaster lasted forever, as did my mother's original from the 1950's or 60's. The newer ones just aren't as reliable.

I am a die hard KA fan for life. I bought mine about 5 years ago & it started making noises & smelled like it was burning when I ran it after 4 years of running perfectly.

I called KA customer service & was expecting to send it in for repair at my cost since it was 5 years old & I honestly don't remember sending in the registration card.

The KA representative said they did not want a customer to have a machine that could be a safety hazard.

They apologized my original machine was not available & upgraded me to a higher capacity model. They sent me a brand new machine & a fed ex label to return the old machine in that new box within a week.

Fed ex came & picked it up. Easy as pie. They were honest & beyond fair. I will buy from them any time I can & will always tell this story.

In todays world, not many companies treat customers this way. I am proud to be a KA customer for life.

Kaylani,
Great story.
I had a terrible customer service experience with Sunbeam, which is why I finally crossed over to KA. (But I did love my old Mixmasters.)