9 Unforgivable Sins Of Stand Mixers

Mixer review
WHAT IS THE KITCHENAID ARTISAN 4.8L STAND
MIXER?
With this year's The Fantastic British Bake Off in full swing, there is no excuse Required to get
baking. While last year the show caused a furore over replacing its traditional
KitchenAid stand mixers with Kenwood kMix KMX5 mixers -- a move that was quickly
Labelled as a cost-cutting step on the BBC's part -- this year sees the return of the
beloved KitchenAid Artisan.
While the KitchenAid Artisan mixer has found its way to many British bakers' hearts, it
Still comes with a somewhat hefty price tag. So is it all it's cracked up to be, or will it


DESIGN

at.
colours, from Frosted Pearl to Onyx Black, including on-trend pastel and several
Metallic choices.
When it comes to the weight of the beast -- 11.17kg, to be precise -- the extensive range
Of colours starts to make sense: this mixer is going to need to be the centrepiece of your
kitchen. It'll Be Hard to fit its bulky shape in any of your cupboards, even if you are
Inclined to attempt to lift it. You'll need some counter space to keep it out, but if you're a
Keen baker, this shouldn't be an issue.
This edition of the mixer has a stainless steel bowl as opposed to glass. While I'm
Fairly used to stainless steel bowls and don't expect to see every movement my stand

Nevertheless, the brushed insides of the stainless steel bowl are a perfect deterrent for
sticky dough.
balance, with or without being attached to the mixer -- have already made it my favourite
kitchen bowl. The bowl can also take plenty of contents -- up to 1kg of all-purpose flour
or 800g of whole wheat flour.

FEATURES

KitchenAid Artisan 4.8L mixer only comes with three attachments. But it's quality over
Quantity, since the machine beats, whips and kneads with speed and efficiency, equally


mashed potatoes.
While the ceramic dough hook is ideal for mixing and kneading yeasty doughs.

Pasta makers, which can be connected to the attachment hub in the front of the machine.
They're not cheap, though.

The machine in addition to in the instructions: 1 for stirring, 2 for slow mixing, 4 for mixing
and beating, 6 for beating and creaming, 8 for fast beating and whipping, and 10 for fast
whipping.
When adjusting the speed, the lever clicks into the gaps between the numbers marked
on the mixer. Speeds 3, 5, 7 and 9 are said to be possible for a finer adjustment, but it's
More difficult to evaluate the difference in speed level.
However, all the rates have a soft-start attribute, meaning the stand mixer
Automatically starts on a lower speed to help avoid turning into a floury snowman.
The mixer then seamlessly increases to the selected speed.
Having a pouring shield is a big advantage when comparing this model to its larger and
smaller cousins. The KitchenAid Artisan 6L and the KitchenAid Mini we previously
Reviewed both suffered from the absence of a splashguard.
KITCHENAID ARTISAN 4.8L STAND MIXER --
WHAT'S IT LIKE TO USE?
Putting the mixer together is simple. For beginners, the only thing to remember is that
The mixer head is always in Lock mode by default, whether it's up or down. To move the
Mixer head, the locking lever has to be held in the Unlock position.
The bowl twists and locks into its designated position without difficulty. When attaching the
Accessories, there's a small knack to pushing the attachment into the beater shaft and
twisting it to lock. Keep at it and it'll come naturally.
While the instructions come with mixing tips, including which attachment and speed
Level to use for particular tasks, there are no basic recipes. Still, KitchenAid boasts a
PDF cookbook, downloadable from its website, as well as an app for iPhone and iPad
users, with recommendations from starters to desserts, complete with illustrations of the
suggested attachments and speed levels.
I started with croissants, using speed 1 to slightly mix the ingredients before going on
Speed 2 for the appropriate kneading. The mixer stayed stable with only a small wobble.
The recipe itself is perhaps overly optimistic, not requiring to chill the croissant dough
overnight. As for the results, Paul would say they were too close-textured and Mary
Would probably have called them "a little informal", but they were definitely edible.
Next up was lemon and earl grey chiffon cake, which included copious amounts of
beating and whipping. The mixer held its own during the whipping on speed 8, to the
extent that a spoon balanced on top of it didn't move. The egg whites came out stiff in
no time and my chiffon cake was light and fluffy.
The final test was macarons, for which I made up my own recipe. This time I went rogue
And threw in the sugar with liquid egg whites right from the fridge. In 9 minutes at
Increasing speeds, I achieved a beautiful, stiff meringue I could easily hold upside down
above my head.
At this stage it's worth pointing out the mixer does all of that with minimal noise, which is
especially handy, as my best baking usually happens at quarter past midnight. While
venturing into the more dangerous (officially not recommended) territory of speed 4 with
A dough hook contributes to more wobbliness, the general vibration and sound levels are
Fairly low compared with a lot of different mixers out there.
SHOULD I BUY THE KITCHENAID ARTISAN 4.8L
STAND MIXER?
Regardless of the hefty price tag, many of those both capable rivals in the market are similarly
Priced, meaning quality and stability are still expensive commodities. This classic
Machine may do fewer things compared with many of its cheaper all-in-one
counterparts, but it does them very well. The splashguard and the sizeable bowl make
This a good investment for a baking enthusiast at any level of experience.
VERDICT
Not too big, not too small, this mixer has Star Baker written all over it -- if you can afford
it.