Goomba wrote:
> I'm seeing some great deals on Kitchaid stand mixers.
> Does anyone have any input on their's? Size? Horsepower?
> Features?

Do not buy a machine just because it's a pretty color and in your
mind's eye looks like something you just gotta display.

Wattage has all to do with power consumed, has not a whit to do with
power produced. With the higher Wattage rated units a greater
proportion of power consumed goes towards producing heat. The first
thing you need to do is decide on for what tasks will you mostly use
your mixer. If like most people you mostly mix cake batter, whip
cream, and those kind of high rpm tasks and you will not be producing
large capacities, then choose the lower Wattage unit with the smaller
bowl (larger diameter beaters consume more wattage, produce more heat,
and diminish shaft power... has to do with overcoming greater torque
resistance at higher fulcrum points). The lower wattage unit with a
smaller diameter bowl is more efficient for kneading dough... although
I don't really see the point in machine kneading so small a volume of
dough as can fit into any KitchenAid mixer... for so small a volume of
dough it's much better to knead by hand, and you'll produce a far
better product as no machine can knead better than the human hand.
For dough kneading the only good reason to own a small stand mixer is
if one is physically handicapped so that they are incapable of
kneading. And then if one is really into producing bread often I
would strongly suggest investing in a dedicated kneading machne, they
much better emulate the motion of the human hand than any silly dough
hook.. the dough hook was developed to conserve the shaft power of
under powered stand mixers, but they do not produce a properly kneaded
dough, they tear down more than they build up. I know you are so
intent on owning a kitchenAid stand mixer that you will totally
dismiss what I'm about to tell you... but you really need is your two
hands for kneading dough and for everything else a high quality hand
mixer... KitchenAid does indeed make a very nice hand mixer. And the
KA attachments, each and every one is absolute crap, they're all very
poor quality toys.