THE MIXERS
These KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixers are so beautiful, so nice and they come in a few gorgeous colors. There is a model that comes with a stainless steel bowl and plastic attachments and a model with a glass bowl and metal attachments. I said to myself that if I ever got one, I'd want the mixer with the glass bowl.
They also have a Pro Line® Series, a Professional 6500 Design™ Series and a Professional 600 Design™ Series as well as a couple of commercial series models.
These mixers have a 59 point planetary mixing action and there are 15 optional attachments to use with your mixer. From food grinders to pasta makers and more. The attachments are sold separately. Unless, there is some kind of promotion like the one I received with my mixer (FREE Food Grinder).
Between all the different models, they come in a huge variety of colors. Good luck trying to choose one color.
PRICING
Because these mixers are a tad on the expensive side, these last couple of weeks I did some pricing research. Online, I checked out Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Sears and Kohl's. The following prices for Target and Sears do not include taxes which would be around $18 - $20.
The regular price of a Candy Apple Red mixer is $499.99 on KitchenAid.com. On Amazon.com a Candy Apple Red is priced at $479.00. There's a bit of a price savings buying from Amazon.
NOTE: The following pricing was during the last week of September and first week of October 2015.
Target:
Regular Price: $399.99 - $459.99
Sale Price: $320.00
No Coupons
Site did not state FREE Food Grinder
Sears:
Regular Price: $459.99
Sale Price: $314.99
No Coupons
FREE Food Grinder: Value $50.00 - $60.00 (depending where you buy it)
Bed, Bath & Beyond:
Regular Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $399.99
Total (with the following coupon) $320.00
20% Off Coupon: $320.00
FREE Food Grinder: Value $50.00 - $60.00 (depending where you buy it)
Kohl's:
Regular Price: $469.99
Sale Price: $439.99
Total (with the following coupons, discounts and taxes) $319.80
30% Off: $308.00
Kohl's Cash: $10.00 off = $298.00
Note: For the 30% off, I signed-up for the Kohl's charge card
Kohl's Cash Received: $60.00
Kohl's Gift Card: $30.00 (my mixer model ended up not qualifying for this gift card).
FREE Food Grinder: Value $50.00 - $60.00 (depending where you buy it)
Total of around $120.00 back from Kohl's
In the end, if I would have gotten the mixer with the stainless steel bowl, I would have saved quite a bit more money but, I wanted the glass bowl right off the bat. LOL
The best deal (I thought) for the mixer with the glass bowl was at Kohl's. Since they didn't have the mixers with the glass bowls in-stock at the store, I had to order it. I placed the order through their kiosk. I chose the Sugar Pearl Silver color (model: KSM155GBSR) because, hopefully, next year I can upgrade all my kitchen appliances and I would like to get stainless steel. I would have liked to get the Chrome mixer but, those cost $670.00 at Kohl's.
Currently, I have all GE/GE Profile appliances in white. This coming January (2016), I will be starting 18 years of owning my house. So, I will have had my appliances for 18 years. It's time to upgrade!
Kohl's gave me $60.00 Kohl's Cash and I have until October 12 to spend it. If I buy something that comes to total $61.00, all I will spend is $1.00! Anyway, if I don't get an attachment for my new mixer at Kohl's, I'm thinking of a new silverware set or, a nice set of cookware like Cuisinart would be awesome!
It would be great if Kohl's had some of the KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixer attachments on sale like the pasta maker or, the stainless steel bowls, etc. I do know that they carry the pasta maker but, I don't think they have either the glass or stainless steel bowls in-store. I'd like to get an extra bowl or two such as another glass bowl as well as a stainless steel bowl with the splatter cover. An extra beater would be nice too like the one that has the scraper.
MIXING and BAKING
I have read that batters come out better when mixed with a KitchenAid® Stand Mixer (most likely with any other mixer as well) than mixing it by hand. But, on the other hand, a lot of people say mixing their batter by hand (with a wooden spoon) is better. So far, I've used my new mixer once. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies (pictured on the right) and the batter seemed to come out really good as well as the end results. The cookies came out great!
For this batch of cookies, I got the recipe out of the KitchenAid® booklet that came with the mixer. It was super simple and I had all the ingredients on hand.
I can't wait to make other baked goods such as cakes, brownies, pies and more cookies. Did I say "more cookies?" Hopefully, one day soon, some homemade pasta too! In that case, I'll have to make the pasta sauce from scratch. LOL
FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE
My favorite kitchen appliance is my new KitchenAid® Artisan® Design Stand Mixer. I hope it does last me forever so that I can hand it down to my one and only child.
What's your favorite kitchen appliance?
