Buy Kitchenaid Appliances

Review by Gaylin Walli:

I've used this attachment more times than I ever thought I would. I've used it to prepare food items for my family as well as food items for crowds as large as 200 and regardless of what it is I've been making, this attachment has rolled through it without complaint. In combination with other pieces such as the sausage stuffer or the fruit attachments, you may well find that this single attachment stays on your machine the longest. I am absoultely stunned at how easy it is to put together and how simple it is to get wonderfully ground items out of it. I've had no trouble grinding any cut of meat (marbled or lean), type of meat (venison, beef, pork, chicken), or state of meat (cooked or raw). Things like chickpeas also get ground just the way I like them. The two, differently sized grinding plates give you just what you need in texture. My biggest pleasure in using this attachment is during hunting season when my husband brings home more than one deer. Venison burger meat and sausage processing never went faster. No more late nights with a hand-crank grinder!When you're done, there's nothing simpler in the cleanup. Nothing seems to stick to the plastic (plus, it's dishwasher safe!) and the metal pieces wash up quickly by hand. Even the little wooden stomper cleans well (and I've felt lost without it when I couldn't find it during sausage making). I think this attachment is the easiest to use of all of the ones I've tried.I'll never regret the purchase of this attachment.

Review by ringo:

Given all the concerns about e-coli and mad cow, we decided last year to start grinding our own beef and lamb. This grinder does the job perfectly. We grind right into the short round Ziplock boxes (about a hamburger's worth), which go into the basement freezer, and then we turn out the frozen "hockey pucks" onto a plate to defrost in the microwave, or right into the pot for bolognese sauce or sloppy joes. ("Honey, would you bring me up a couple of hockey pucks for dinner?)Assembly is easy and cleanup is easy (put a slice of bread through after the meat to make it even easier, or grind up an onion if you're making meatloaf anyway). The knife and both plates store inside the screw cap, so I don't worry about losing them (though KitchenAid sells replacements, as does goodmans-dot-net). The grinder even comes with a handy wrench-thingy to help take it apart if it tightens up.The knife and plates are not stainless (which wouldn't hold an edge), so you do have to dry them off right after washing, but I put everything, including the wooden stomper, right in the dishwasher, and after more than a year nothing has had a problem.[...] - this isn't an industrial tool! You can't set the mixer speed above three or four when grinding (less if the meat is gristly), and you've got to cut up the meat small enough to fit in the feed tube (the instructions say one-inch cubes, but long strips work too). Treat this right and it will return the favor.About the only thing that would make this more perfect is a cylindrical brush to clean out the horizontal and vertical shafts, since the dishwasher spray can't really completely reach both, and the horizontal shaft has a screw thread that tends to catch crud (Right now I'm using a folded sponge, and the abovementioned bread slice).

Review by D. Wolf:

After years of not having a food processor, finally broke down and bought this one. I'd made do with a stand mixer, blender, mortar and pestle, and knives. Not sure why I waited so long to buy one, but am very glad I did.

The 750 works as advertised. It has a powerful motor, the various cutting blades perform well.

The reasons for giving the product 4 stars instead of 5 are:

1. The lid does not seal very tightly so when processing liquids, there's a fair amount of leakage.

2. The mini-bowl is very handy and handles small amounts better than if they were put in the larger bowl; but, there is frequently some leakage into the main bowl.

These are minor issues and shouldn't discourage anyone from buying this machine. However, the new 760 model seems to have many more features for just a little bit more money. Before buying the 750, you should check to see if the 760 better meets what you need.

Review by FMG:

This is a wondeerful food processor with a powerful and quiet motor. There is one odd feature that is not very clearly mentioned about the amount of limited liquid this unit can handle and should be well understood before one buys this device. First you will not be able to put much more than 2 inches of fluid, 4 cups(32 ounces)due to the short center shaft which is only 2 inches that holds the blade in the main cavity. This is a design limitation that could have been overcome with simple mechanical engineering by using the full height of the cavity which is 5 inches. Instead of using a longer center shaft designed to slide the small work bowl on,the Kitchenaid engineers used a short 2 inch shaft. This in turn severly limits the height of fluid in the main mixing cavity to 2 inches(4 cups), because fluid leaks out of the main cavity over the short 2 inch center shaft that holds the processor blade. Unfortunately, this essentially makes the 12 cup a 4 cup food processor for items with fluids envolved. This equates to a 67 percent capacity redution. There are other models out there that overcome this limitation by using a center shaft that has a height that is equal or slighty less than to the cavity height. Why Kitchenaid made this poor engineering decision is realy one of those engineering mysteries. Since everything else on this machine is highly engineered. Some things simply just don't make any sense and this most certainly is one of them.

Hopefully, Kitchenaid will redesign the main cavity with a taller center shaft and eliminate this serious liquid limitation.

Review by Not my real name:

I bought this after reading a lot of reviews. My choice was based on a number of factors. I have owned a hand-crank, ice-and-salt ice cream maker in the past - it made great ice cream but was messy; I didn't want yet another appliance that I had to find where to store; and I have owned and liked my KitchenAid stand mixer for a number of years.

This is basically a double-walled, sealed mixing bowl, with the space inside the walls filled with some liquid (presumably like the refreezable ice packs). It comes with plastic paddle. The basic steps are:

1 Freeze the bowl (I keep mine in the freezer)

2 Make and cool an ice cream custard, or a fruit mix for sorbet

3 Assemble the frozen bowl and the plastic paddle on the stand mixer

4 Switch the mixer on lowest speed, add the custard

5 Let the mixer stir the mix until it freezes (to a "soft serve" consistency)

6 Transfer the ice cream to a bowl with a lid, and freeze until firm

Here are my comments:

First, take a black marker and obliterate all the nutritional information about the recipes in the instruction book. We know that ice cream is full of fat and sugar -- that's why we like it! We don't need reminding.

* Try a dry run to assemble the bowl and paddle. This is designed to fit many models of KitchenAid mixers, and it's not obvious. You don't want to be figuring this out when you are ready to make your first batch.

* Freeze the bowl for longer than the suggested 18 hours

* MAKE HALF QUANTITIES: the two-quart recipes fill the bowl, and I had a couple of overflows as the ice cream expands as it cools.

* Also, filling the bowl means that the ice cream takes longer to freeze. The first time I tried this, it didn't freeze as the bowl had not been frozen long enough to handle the two quarts.

* Get a good recipe to use up the egg whites. I make meringue from the New York Times Cook Book. I guess an omelet would be good too.

* There's mistake in the instruction book. In one place it suggests adding the fruit, nuts etc half way through the freezing process, and in another place it suggests adding these ingredients at the end of the mixing cycle.

* Use enough mix (custard or fruit puree) to at least fill half of the bowl -- this way the paddle will mix the entire batch.

* Remember that freezing enhances the sweet taste -- so do not over sweeten the mix before you freeze, otherwise the ice cream or sorbet will be too sweet.

* If you're making a fruit puree for sorbet, a blender makes a *MUCH* smoother puree than a food processor. I think this makes a difference in the texture of the final sorbet.

* After preparation, you need to cool the custard or puree in the fridge for a few hours. Use a jug that has a decent pouring lip: this will make it much easier to pour into the freezer bowl than if you just use a regular mixing bowl.

* There is very little space between the edge of the bowl and the paddle -- this can mean a mess when you fill the bowl. It **really** needs a pouring spout designed to fit

* Getting the semi-frozen desert out of the bowl can be messy - there is no handle on the bowl and it has smooth, slippery sides.

* Use a container for the final freezing that has a little air space after you fill with the semi-frozen ice cream -- this allows for additional expansion of the desert, and prevents the need to squash the final product into the bowl.

* I've used recipes from The New York Times Cookbook and Fine Cooking magazine -- all delicious, better than store bought, and slightly different than the regular recipes for vanilla, cookies and cream, etc.

* Use the freshest eggs you can find -- not the ones that have been sitting in the fridge door for a month

Update February 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks very much to all the kind comments that folks have left. For those of you who haven't read the comments on this review: it's worthwhile taking a few minutes to do so as some of the commenters have additional suggestions and ideas.

Update December 2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of the recent comments have asked whether the inside of the bowl is aluminum or non-stick. It *appears* to be metallic, but with plastics these days, it's anybody's guess. It is light gray so could be aluminum, but I'd wager that it is some sort of alloy. It is definitely NOT the type of non-stick found in Teflon-type frying pans.

BTW - I've had this for nearly four years and am still loving it. Long term durability seems to be good.

Review by Michael Trotman:

I think my wife is trying to murder me with this KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment! She bought this for me for Christmas along with the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Recipe book knowing full well that I would become obsessed with trying all of the recipes. I'm on the third batch (Cherry Garcia, Coffee Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip) and I can already feel my heart slowing down. I can hardly make it to the mailbox without becoming winded. Luckily I realized her dastardly plot before having an ice cream overdose induced myocardial infarction. She almost got away with it as nobody would have suspected her. The paramedics would have just thought I was another fat pig who overdosed on ice cream.

This is so easy to use you may also find yourself overstocked with fresh quarts of the best ice cream you ever tasted. Follow the recipes in Ben and Jerry's book and carefully follow the directions that come with the churn and you'll make great ice cream every time. As the other reviewers have mentioned, it is essential to allow the ice cream to "ripen" before serving. This is not a requirement that is unique to this churn by the way. This is necessary with other churns as well. So be patient, plan ahead, get creative, and enjoy.

Review by Joanna Daneman:

I have a KitchenAid and I must say, they are as good as their high reputation. I bought the mixer mainly to make bread, but what makes it even better are the accessories. These convert the stand mixer/dough maker into a vegetable processor, grinder and sausage maker. There is also a grain grinder that really works quite well. Here are the pros and cons of this set, as I see it:Pros:
You get a decent meat grinder with two blades, coarse and fine. This means you can make ground turkey with no additives, ground chicken without added fat, or fresh ground beef. You can also grind meat for sausage (about which, later.)You get a slicer similar to those hand-turned cone types that make cole slaw or waffled carrot slices.Cons:
The sausage nozzle for filling the casings is not included. This is, in my opinion, really dumb. It's just a couple of pieces of molded plastic. For heaven's sake, include it. The slicer is a bit clunky. If you don't put the bowl to catch the shreds just right, you get slaw all over. And sometimes it is hard to get the cone off the flanges of the connecting pin that fits into the mixer attachment point. But screwing it into the mixer and grabbing with a rubber mat usually works for me. I prefer a mandoline, a food processor or even a big board and a really sharp chef's knife to the slicer, but it does save on counter space. So, this is a good thing to have as an addition to your KitchenAid if you do any kind of prep cooking, such as canning, salads, baby foods, venison processing, or sausages. It's very good quality plastic and metal, though the cone blade finish seems a bit crude to me. I can recommend it, with the reservations I mentioned.

Review by Eugene Mah:

I use this with my Kitchenaid Epicurean and really enjoy it. Used it to grind our own beef and pork for meatloaf and shredded plenty of cheese for mac and cheese. The motor provides plenty of power to grind and shred through just about anything, and the shredding/grinding blades seem to keep their edge quite nicely.There are a lot of bits to keep track of though, and some of them can be a little difficult to clean properly. I also wish the hopper for the grinder attachment was a little bit bigger.It's not going to replace my food processor, but when I have a large volume of stuff to do, or for things my food processor's motor just can't handle, this certainly does the trick.

Review by :

I have had this cover (in white) for several months now and use it to cover my KitchenAid 6 Qt. Epicurean stand mixer (note that this will also fit the 6 Qt. Professional model). With the pouring shield and bowl in place, the cover just fits around the entire base of the mixer with perhaps 1/8" of room from the bottom. There is a large pocket (12" wide x 8.5" tall) along one side which allows for storage of manuals, cookbooks, and accessories. The cover is well made from heavy, quilted cotton twill backed with cotton covered polyester batting and is machine washable (cold recommended -- this thing cannot afford any shrinkage!!). There is contrasting black piping along the bottom and arched around the front and back sides. The cover accomplishes its intended task -- keeping dust and dirt off my prized mixer, and is a purchase that I would recommend for anyone who owns a KitchenAid stand mixer.

Review by M.D. Edwards:

I've had my Artisan 5 Quart Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for a few years now, and always thought that this cover was a bit of a luxury, and that I could easily find fifty other things to spend twenty-five bucks on. Even for all of that, it occurred to me recently that, with cats in my house, a cover for my stand mixer would save me some pre-mixing clean-up time. Now that I've gotten my cover, I'm thrilled that I decided to buy it!

This cover is plenty big for my mixer. I leave all of the attachments in the bowl, as I'm sure your average Kitchenaid stand mixer owner does, and this cover fits over everything with plenty of room to spare. The bottom edge of the cover hits the countertop and covers every inch of my mixer, with no problem doing so. I even put the cover in the washer and dryer after receiving it, to see how much it might shrink. Mine didn't shrink at all, and the laundering got it fragrant and wrinkle-free.

Even though my stand mixer is white, I opted for the khaki cover, which blends in perfectly with my kitchen cabinets and counter tops.

This may not have been the absolute best thing I've ever gotten on Amazon for .00 or less (that'd be my Weber chimney starter - best damned .00 I've spent in a long time!!!), but this is right up there with the best of my best-buy-for-the-money purchases!

Review by :

I have had every kind of pasta roller - the chrome manual kind, the one that does everything (mixes, extrudes) and now this. I LOVE it. I love having my hands free to hold the dough going in and coming out and not having the manual roller shift all over the place. I am amazed how thin I can make the dough - tissue paper-thin. My only complaint, and I make it for the sake of completeness, is the fact that it took SEVERAL batches of dough (the first of which I was willing to sacrifice) to "clean" it out. I noticed what looked like metallic deposits all over my dough, especially on the edges. This was very distressing to me. I tried wiping the roller with a towel (for about an hour), I tried rubbing it with olive oil and I tried dusting it with flour, all of which helped, but it was ridiculous how much time I had to spend and how many batches of dough I had to waste (about four)! Overall, however, I am very pleased, but I think they should include in the instructions a statement to the effect that you should expect to see the deposits and how to clean it, or they should make sure it's cleaner before sending it out!

Review by :

I decided to purchase this attachment instead of the other Kitchenaid pasta attachment (plates + food grinder) because I wanted to be able to make any kind of pasta: spinach, semolina, whole wheat, egg-free etc, and not be confined to a small number of recipes that were sure to work well with the plates. It has worked like a charm. Even the egg-free spinach pasta, which was very dry and crumbly to start, came out perfect.The widest setting on the roller works to knead/roll the dough until its pliable enough to continue. Its amazing how such flaky dough can become so evenly mixed with minimal effort. From this point, its just a few more settings until you've got angel-hair thin dough. It is important to use the cutter before the ends of your dough dry out, lest they will clog the cutter.Pasta is my favorite food, and this contraption makes it possible to make my own healthy, delicious pasta recipes at home, quickly!

Review by Kathleen:

My wedding gift mixer (a Sunbeam Mixmaster) turned 33 a week before Christmas, and my husband thought it was time for me to have a new one. He gifted me on Christmas with the KitchenAid 5 Qt. Artisan in white. I love this mixer and leave it out on my counter, something I never did with the Mixmaster. I recently purchased the citrus juicer attachment from Amazon and am very pleased with it as well. I have not read all 109 previous reviews on this site, but I have read a few that were disgruntled because their Artisans did not mix well. I initially had the same problem with the beater/bowl clearance. It is very simple to remedy. There is a beater adjustment screw on the mixer and the manual describes how to make the adjustments. I got even better instructions by calling customer support at KitchenAid. The technician told me to drop a dime into the empty bowl, turn the mixer on (about setting 2) using the flat beater, and it should move the dime 1/4" to 1/2" each time it rotates around the bowl. This is the right clearance for the beater to mix everything at the bottom of the bowl, but not low enough to cause wear on the beater from constant friction with the bottom of the bowl during usage. I tweaked the screw setting 1/4 turn each time until I got that dime moving. At this setting, I can now beat a single egg white to stiff peaks in the 5 qt. bowl. That's impressive.
This mixer is as sturdy as a tank, and you can hear the quality as it mixes. Although I had previously purchased a KitchenAid mixer for my daughter as a gift, I would never have splurged on one for myself. I am so happy my husband thought I was worth it!

Review by :

I love this thing! I have friends who've had KitchenAid mixers for years and they've always raved about their quality and durability. Well, I finally went for it and I have absolutely no regrets. You want to talk about a solid piece of kitchen machinery? This is the epitome of what "Made in America" used to mean! Unlike all the cheapo mixers out there, I'm completely confident that this thing will even outlast ME! The only problem is now I'm wondering why I waited so long!-----> This may help some of you - I read a review somewhere in which the reviewer gave this mixer a poor rating because it left dry ingredients in the bottom of the bowl - read the instruction booklet, people. It clearly states that if this occurs (or if the attachments scrape the bowl), there is an adjustment screw that raises or lowers the mixing assembly. I had to slightly lower mine and it now incorporates everything into the mix. The KitchenAid mixers are well worth the money....or you can keep buying junk mixers every couple years...the choice is yours.

Review by Amy Mcfarland:

I bought the white cover for my KitchenAid 11-cup food processor. It's a nice, heavy-duty quilted fabric, and the colors look very sharp. It even has a handy side pocket for a manual or a favorite cookbook.

My only complaint is with the fit. It's a one-size-fits-all kind of cover, so it can be used on blenders, food processors and even toasters. Even on the 11-cup food processor, I needed to use the pull tabs to tighten it several inches in, which gives it an odd appearances. Without the ties it was too baggy and kept falling off on one side.

It does the job of keeping my food processor dust- and scratch-free, but I wish it would have fit a bit better.

Review by P. Koryn:

I needed to match black covers for a KitchenAid stand mixer I already had and it was very difficult to find the matching blender cover in black. Amazon comes through again!! Cover is of good quality and has expandable sides so you could use it on the wider (deeper) food processors as well.