Kitchen Aid Professional 5 Mixer

7 pounds of mashed potatoes, 10 dozen cookies, and 6 loaves of white bread. What do these all have in common? They can fit in the bowl of my mixer! Granted, I've never actually made 6 loaves of white bread, but I have made plenty of cookies, mashed potatoes, cakes, icing to go on cakes, and even divinity in my mixer. I remember trying to make my family's molasses crinkles one year with a hand mixer and thinking the poor thing was going to give out at any second. I don't even think I got to finish mixing the dough with the hand held, but when I made it in this mixer the planetary motion had no problem with this firm sticky dough.

I own the 5 quart stand mixer by Kitchen Aid that has 10 speeds and an attachment port that drives my meat grinder. I also don't grind meat, but I can make a mean cranberry relish! I used to have the "salad shooter" attachment but then I got my food processor and didn't really need the attachment any more. I did see Mario Batli rave about the pasta attachment on Oprah the other day and he has peaked my interest. It would be cool to make my own pasta right before dinner.

For other products I have deducted a star for price but not for this product! Now I hear some of you out there thinking, "But it's so expensive!" I agree that this mixer is probably more expensive than most other stand mixers out there on the market, but I have some thoughts about that. The best thing to do is get this item as a wedding present, but alas, some of us are past that point. First of all, if you are thinking of purchasing this mixer I advise you to wait for a sale. Not just any sale, but a really good one. I bought mine for at least $100 off retail at Kohl's right after Christmas. Secondly, I would say that for all the other mixers you will buy in your lifetime, you could just invest in one really good mixer. I'm writing this post not because of Mario and Oprah, but because my mom just texted me that her mixer died and she wanted to know what kind I had. Kitchen Aid, baby!

I know some friends who have the tilt head version (my "good" friend Alton Brown) and I really think the only difference is that on the stand mixer you do have to take the beater off to remove the bowl. I would take the beater off anyway in most cases, so this does not bother me. I also didn't want the tilt head because I like my mixer to sit way back on the counter under the cabinets, and if I had the tilt version I would need to pull the mixer out to be able to tilt it. I do still own a hand held mixer (I wonder where it is?) but I can't remember the last time I needed it.