Few things cut down on time spent in the kitchen more than a good, solid stand mixer — especially one that can operate at different speeds and has the right amount of power to handle a variety of foods. We’ve evaluated plenty of stand mixers in our time, from simple budget-priced models to splurge-worthy high-end mixers that have all the bells and whistles.
So, like Goldilocks, we’ve settled on a mixer that’s “just right” for our needs: spacious enough to whip up everything you need, powerful enough to handle tasks like kneading dough, yet priced low enough to be in the budget of your regular home cook. That mixer is KitchenAid’s Classic Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, which is currently on sale for an impressive early Black Friday discount. Let’s get into a rundown of what it can do (which is quite a lot)!
KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, $249.99 (24% off)
First off, the KitchenAid Classic features a 4.5-quart bowl for mixing, which might be modest by some standards, but we find it’s more than sufficient for most of our cooking needs. For example, you can create the dough for a substantial loaf of bread or the batter for dozens and dozens of cookies in a single batch.
The mixer has ten speeds that can be used to incorporate a wide range of wet and dry ingredients to create foods like ice cream, pasta or burgers. True, you can find more powerful (and expensive) mixers on the market that can get things done a bit faster, but to us, a little extra time spent kneading bread dough is more than worth the price difference.
The KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer’s tilt-head design gives you easy access to the mixing bowl without needing to remove it, and the head locks in place while mixing. The mixer comes with three essential attachments: a dough hook, a flat beater and a wire whip. All of the included attachments and the bowl can be cleaned in a dishwasher without any issues. KitchenAid also offers additional attachments (sold separately) for food grinding, pasta-making and vegetable slicing and straining, just to name a few.
Finally, the mixer has that familiar, sleek, elegant design that characterizes all KitchenAid mixers. And at just under 15 inches deep, 14 inches high and 9 inches wide, it won’t occupy your whole kitchen counter like other more gargantuan models do.
From our perspective as family cooks, we give this KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer a thumbs-up as a practical and useful appliance that gives you all the functionality you need without the sky-high price.
