Kitchen Mixer Help

Product

2353

Key Features
Mixer Type
Stand
Speed Settings
12 Speeds

Other Features
Power Output
350 Watts
Bowl Size
4.6 quart (4.4 liter)

Dimensions
Height
14.2 in.
Width
9.3 in.
Depth
13.5 in.

Miscellaneous
43849431

The price : $100.00

I am currently waiting for the delivery of my 4th Sunbeam Mixmaster. My first, purchased about 10 years ago. It worked well until a year ago. I was mixing a batch of cookies. I turned it off to scrape the sides of the bowl and it never turned back on. It had had a good run, so I tossed it and went and bought a new Sunbeam Mixmaster, number 2.

Number 2 lasted 11 months. At that point it too was taken by the same fate as number one. I turned it off and it never came back on.

Product

2561

Key Features
Mixer Type
Hand
Speed Settings
6 Speeds

Other Features
Power Output
250 Watts

Dimensions
Height
7.7 in.
Width
9.9 in.
Depth
11.2 in.

Miscellaneous
43849430

The price : $30.00

I have always wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer. I have had other mixers, a Hamilton Beach which had a dough hook but did not seem to really work well with the dough hook and a Sunbeam which actually worked quite well. The sunbeam was of the shorter design which fit well under my low cabinets. But, I still really wanted a Kitchen Aid.

Finally after many years it was on sale at Linens and Things and I had a 20% off coupon. I was able to pick up the mixer for $159.99. I had never seen it priced lower.

All of the years that we have been married, my wife has been an avid baker. She loves to bake more than cook and she is always the one in the office to bake for co-worker’s birthdays. Some of the goodies that she is fond of baking include cookies, cakes, pies and even peanut butter eggs for Easter. She bakes something at least twice a week and sometimes has enough to feed a small army. During the holidays, she bakes at least six different types of cookies and makes several dozen of each to give away as gifts to friends and family. Over the years we have tried unsuccessfully to find a good hand mixer that would stand up to the kind of use that my wife was going to put it through. We even have a KitchenAid stand-up mixer, but the bowl is too small for her huge batches of cookies. She has burned up so many different brand and models of hand mixers that they are too numerous to mention. Right before the holiday season this past year, we found a new victim for her to put through the paces of her mixing needs. The Sunbeam 250 Watts Heritage 2547 Hand Mixer had the promise of enough power and all of the features and attachments that we were looking for.

I love to bake whenever my schedule (and wallet) allows for it. Being that I’m still a student, I really don’t have too many occasions to bake for, and still being single my friends are the ones who end up with the cookies of my labor. This past Valentine’s day I decided to bake cupcakes for a lab meeting and bring the remaining ones in for friends. In the past, I’ve gotten by on a wire whisk, but I was really getting sick of it to make cakes. So, I headed to Walmart to see if I could pick up a small mixer.

Bosch MUM 6610 Universal Mixer

Our 17-year old Sunbeam stand mixer died in a cloud of smoke just before Christmas, victim of my 13-year old son’s batch of gingerbread dough. I was quite cheerful about this because I like to bake with the kids, and the old Sunbeam didn’t have enough power for heavy mixing, plus I was concerned about little fingers near the twin beaters. I had been admiring Costco’s enormous heavy-duty 450 watt KitchenAid mixer for a couple of years, and now I could justify buying one.

INTO THE MIX

I’ve been in the market for a stand mixer since my 1980’s vintage Sunbeam drew its last floury breath. The engineers at Sunbeam designed the motor cooling intake directly above the bowl. 20 years of flour build-up in the motor finally finished it off.

I looked at the Viking 5 quart mixer with its utilitarian styling, and quality brand name. It seemed a good choice until further research revealed alleged difficulties locking the attachments in place. It is heavy enough to need wheels to move it, and at $399.00, is more mixer than I would ever need.

Product

2351 Legacy

Key Features
Mixer Type
Stand
Speed Settings
12 Speeds

Other Features
Power Output
450 Watts
Bowl Size
4.5 quart (4.3 liter)

Miscellaneous
26180646

The price : $150.00

I was ecstatic to find the Heritage design. It is almost identical to the one my mum-in-law received as a wedding gift in 1939, and which has been in use since then, although the stand was misplaced during a move in 1996. The ancient machine is extremely heavy and the arthritis prohibits me from using it as a hand mixer any longer, so when I found the new machine at Target, I bought it on the spot.

At first, I was put off with the light weight of the machine, but I’ve convinced myself that materials science has changed and you no longer need heavy to achieve quality.