They Must Use Kitchenaids in Heaven - KitchenAid 300 Watts KSM90 Ultra Power Series Stand Mixer
KitchenAid 300 Watts KSM90 Ultra Power Series Stand Mixer Key FeaturesMixer Type StandSpeed Settings 10 Speeds Other FeaturesPower Output 300 Watts...
What a mixer! - KitchenAid 300 Watts KSM90 Ultra Power Series Stand Mixer I received this mixer as a gift from my wonderful husband, after my old Sears model was showing signs of age. From...
Per the much appreciated advice of several advisors I updated this review on 5/10/02 with a few more details about the features.
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I love to cook. Just look at my waistline and those of everyone else in my family and you will see the results of my love.
I grew up watching Julia, the Frug, Justin Wilson, and many others. They all had one thing in common. They used Kitchenaid mixers. Needless to say, I had long decided that when I got married my first child would be a Kitchenaid mixer. My mother had other ideas. I grew up listening to her Oster Kitchen Center (when that thing was running that was the only thing you could listen to…no matter how far you tried to run from it). Therefore, since mothers “always” know best, I got an Oster Kitchen Center for a wedding present. The thing did not get pulled out much. For those of you that do not know what the Kitchen Center was, it was a stand mixer, blender, and food processor all in one unit. It was a neat concept however it had to be so big and bulky that pulling it out of the cabinet quickly became a nuisance. I didn’t keep it on the counter because it was not all that great to look at.
Fast forward to 2000. I am walking through the JC Penny Outlet and all of a sudden right before my eyes is a brand spanking new, white Kitchenaid UltraPower Stand Mixer with shield, on clearance for $179.00. Immediately the bottom lip protruded, the eyes teared up, the shoulders drooped……and the wife said yes.
Today the mixer stands proud, in all of it’s gleaming white glory, upon the countertop. It gets used on a regular basis and is a happy member of my family.
It gets used a lot because it is quiet. The mixer is on the counter only about three feet from my 4 yr old’s bedroom door. This kid has very sensitive hearing, yet he has yet to be awakened by the Kitchenaid. He used to wake up with the Oster all the way on the other end of the house.
The UltraPower is strong. It has a 300 watt motor. I have used it to make cakes, breads, cookie batters, and cheesecakes. This mixer has yet to show any signs of stress. Kitchenaid does make stronger mixers, but I would not recommend paying the extra bucks unless you would be using the mixer every day. I believe the stronger mixers are more appropriate for people that do cake baking as a business.
The Kitchenaid does a much more thorough job of mixing the ingredients. This is due to its use of a rotational orbit (Lord, I hope I remebered the term correctly). What this means is that while the beater is spinning around it is also orbiting around the interior of the bowl. This method allows for more thorough mixing with less effort. With the Oster I was always having to scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing. That is because the Oster used the same method that many stand mixers use. It has two spinning beaters that are stationary. While they do their thing the mixer rotates the bowl. The problem with this is that all it takes is a slightly heavy batter and the mixer starts to struggle with turning the bowl. This also creates quite a mess as the fast spinning of the beaters throws flour or batter all over the place. The best feature of the KitchenAid is it’s all-metal construction. This does make it considerably heavier than other mixers, but I think it is also what has given KitchenAid mixers the ability to be handed down through the generations. This is definitely one mixer you will need to find counter space for if you are going to use it on a regular basis.
The KitchenAid UltraPower comes standard with a 4.5qt stainless steel bowl that locks into place, a beater, dough hook, and wire whip. I like the steel bowl because it is just as sturdy as the glass bowl that came with the Oster, but much lighter. The mixer has ten speeds ( You will rarely need to go above 4. Just last night I made chocolate chip cookies. I kept the speed on 2 and the dough was thoroughly mixed within 30 seconds.). The front emblem on the top of the mixer comes off to allow attachment of various options, such as a meat grinder, sausage stuffer, and other items. The UltraPower also comes with a plastic pouring shield. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it as far as using it to add ingredients without making a mess. I do put it on though once the ingredients are added. It does a great job of containing all ingredients inside the bowl as the mixing process occurs.
I have found that it is best to follow the directions in the Kitchenaid manual for mixing speeds and times, rather than those listed on cake mix boxes. You will usually find yourself using a slower speed for less time because the Kitchenaid is so efficient.
When you first set up the mixer you may find that you have to adjust the height of the beater a little. The beater needs to just barely clear the bottom of the bowl. If it is too high the batter will not be mixed thoroughly. If it is touching the bottom of the bowl the white nonstick coating will wear off of the beater. This takes a little bit of work, but the instructions are very clear in the manual and this procedure should only have to be performed once.
It is very simple to clean. The regular beater and the dough hook have a coating on them that make them very easy to rinse off. The mixer itself uses a different method of mixing than most mixers. This method does a great job of preventing the splattering caused by most other stand mixers. Therefore, usually a simple wipe-off is all that is required for the mixer after use.
I hope you can tell from this review that I am completely thrilled with my Kitchenaid UltraPower mixer. I am sure that when God sent manna from Heaven to the Israelites, he used one of these babies to make it.
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Tags: Elite, KitchenAid, Oster