I have a closet full of tried once, never-used-again kitchen appliances. And I know we have a number of excellent chefs and cooks on this forum.

The stand-up blenders have caught my eye. They are too expensive to be another closet gadget so I want to make a wise decision.

It seems I have seen the Kitchen Aid ones most frequently in homes and in commercial settings. The company also has refurbished models with full warranty and a greatly reduced price. So I am leaning toward a Kitchen Aid but am open-minded and glad to listen to suggestions.

Thank you!

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No school like the old school.

KitchenAid makes good appliances. But when her KitchenAid blender passed away at what I considered a young age I bought my wife one of the Vitamix blenders, it's a really great machine with some serious torque to it. It is a commercial quality machine. As much as I detest QVC, simply from seeing it on TV so much, that's where I ordered it from and for what I ordered it was a very good deal.

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Life Member GOA and NRA

My stand up blender is 5' 7'' , 150 lbs. and blonde. Have had it 44 years and never a problem, lol !!

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It all depends on what you want to use it for. You'll want a powerful machine if you make smoothies. You can get away with an inexpensive hand blender if you just want to make mayo, emulsify sauces or purée soups and they're a lot easier to clean. You just stick the head in a jar of hot soapy water, run it, wipe it off and put it away. You really need to take a blender container apart to clean it properly.

Brevelle and KitchenAid make decent blenders. Vitamix are excellent, but they can cost $300-$500. Try to find a used machine at a thrift shop or estate sale and see how much you really use it. It's a good to test it by putting some water in the container and running it, to make sure it doesn't leak at the blade seal. If you make your own horseradish, you'll want to have an inexpensive designated blender just for that.

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"I also cook."

I have one of those but it's the 4'9", 90 lbs model and it's made in China. Works great but could use bigger controls and the owner's manual is in Mandarin. Fortunately, mine is still in the 30-day warranty period.

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213th FBINA

A bit of advice....DO NOT take your wife's new blender out to the garage to grind horseradish roots. Very bad things ensued. Very bad indeed.

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paws for friendship

Why do you want one?? I have not felt the need for one in many years. On rare occasions when I want to blend something I'm cooking I like the immersion blender. Not into smoothies or frozen drinks. Plus I'm just too lazy to clean the thing afterwards. It also helps that I am not a frozen drink kinda guy but prefer my margaritas on the rocks.

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Forum consigliere

America Test Kitchen has a good review of many kitchen appliance on YouTube.

I had one of those, but it usually didn't work properly unless I gave it a sharp rap on the rim.

So, that stand-up worked best with a rim shot.

*Badum-Tish*

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What, me worry?

Check Goodwill first for a blender. Locally a few good used blenders are usually to be found on the shelf.

We have owned and used a Ronson blender for over 50 years, it is still working fine. Yes, that Ronson of cigarette lighter fame. They used to make appliances, and very good ones. Our blender is really good at chopping up ice cubes into slush. That takes lots of power and the Ronson has it.

Also we have a couple of immersion blenders, about all we use them for is making milkshakes and salsa. Mainly the latter. A couple of cans of tomatoes and a couple of cans of pickled jalapeños.

All joking aside, I bought my current stand-up blender at Good Will. I often pick up a few items there while dropping off others. A lot of treasures to be found. Great outfit to support.

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213th FBINA

Over the years we have found lots of really good stuff at Goodwill. And locally they will have some decent sales several times a year. We took a long trip this Summer and needed a very large roll-around suitcase. I found a very good one that was ideal for us at Goodwill for $10. When we returned, I donated it back to Goodwill. Like renting a suitcase.

I think most of the posts ahove are addressing stand up BLENDERS—like I initially asked in the title (and just corrected) to the OP. I am talking about stand up MIXERS, like the bad boys pictured below.

And to answer Caje’s question, I do a ton of from-scratch cooking. I wanted some help in preparation—shredding cheese, chopping aromatics, folding dough, etc.

Just this morning I was making crock-pot chicken and dressing. I had 3 monster chicken breasts I wanted to layer into the dressing mix. So I had to chop it then rip them into shreds with a couple of big carving forks. It was a mess and a 20 minute pain the rear.

I saw with one of these stand up mixers you can dump the chicken in the mixing pot, then put on the paddle attachment. Fire the monster up and you have a pot of shredded chicken in seconds.

PS. I AM SOLD! These things have a shaft on the front like the PTO on a tractor. You can hook all sorts of attachments up like the meat grinder picture I attach. Heck I can throw my squirrels, possums, whistle pigs and other critter’s meat up there and have critter burgers on the grill in no time!

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No school like the old school.

Ruthie has a KitchenAid mixer. I have a Bass-O-Matic blender.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Bought the wife one of the big red KitchenAid mixers for our wedding anniversary last year. She loves it. Definitely check the prices on eBay for them before you buy. I bought ours NEW there for about half what the local stores wanted, a little over $200. That was the 5 quart size. Like the middle mixer in your picture.

My wife was given a Sunbeam Mixmaster in 1979. It lasted until 1995. She wore it out baking, cooking, etc. Bought her a big Kitchen Aide that. summer. She is still getting excellent service from it. Uses it to make all sorts of good things on a very regular basis, i.e., cakes, various types of bread, pies, etc. Recently bought her some attachments that she wanted to have on hand for making ice cream, sorbets, etc. Sincerely. bruce.

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<><

KitchenAid stand mixers are excellent!



I shred cooked chicken with a fork, but it only takes me a few minutes. You might try pulsing it in a food processor next time.

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"I also cook."

Another vote for the Kitchenaide Mixer. Buy the refurbished one if you can. It will be completely checked out after it has been reworked. New things get a cursory glance.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

Oh yeah, then a Kitchen Aid is your answer. I bought one when we got married 38 years ago for my wife. She just gave it to my D-I-L because the off white color didn't match our remodeled kitchen. Not only are they basically bullet proof with more attachments than you could ever use, they come in a ****-ton of colors. I can't even imagine what else you would consider.

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paws for friendship

I have that red one in your pic(mines white) It’s at least 20 yrs old and going strong.I’ve tortured it frequently mixing batches of dough with no problems at all

Likewise. I wear a lot of Hawaiian type shirts for CCW. I find the majority of them at GW.

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213th FBINA

KitchenAid for the win. The refurbs are value for money.

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50 Years of Wish You Were Here

Definitely KitchenAid unless you need a commercial size, then it's Hobart (VERY pricey.)

We have the 5 quart KitchenAid. It's at least 15 years old and still going strong.

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Or something like that . . .

If going for a Hobart, the dough mixer is the most powerful mixer they offer.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

The KitchenAid mixers have many attachments available at extra cost, I think one is a meat grinder, another is a sausage stuffer. It comes with a paddle, a dough hook, and a whisk. Wife needs nothing more than those. Seldom need to grind meat or stuff sausage in our house. Will probably seldom use the dough hook and whisk that comes with it. We still have a small electric hand mixer my wife prefers to use for smaller projects like making cake batter for which the KitchenAid is overkill. That hand mixer is also over 50 years old.

I got a Ninja that's pretty awesome. Use the big blender for 'Ritas and salsa, the small one for smoothies, Mocha Frappuccinos, and hummus.

Freeze your leftover coffee in ice cube trays. Add them to the small blender with chocolate syrup and some french vanilla coffee mate and a little milk. Blend like crazy.

Frozen Margaritas: Into the big blender dump a can of frozen Minute Maid Limeade. Using the limeade can add: one can of tequila, one third of a can of triple sec. Fill the blender to the top with ice. Blend thoroughly.

Back when I worked for Hercules, smokeless propellant "dough" was made in Hobart mixers. But the mixer blades were much different. Just a lot larger than five quarts. Commercial bread bakeries use similar large Hobart dough mixers.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

The one I used in a pizza joint was more like 60 quarts. It was from the sixties, probably. A new one is like $25K today.

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The best I can with what I got

Got you. Can't believe a rich lawyer like you doesn't have a BIG RED KitchenAid blender with the meat grinding attachment. Those were de riguer about 20 years ago and everyone was buying them for their wives. I use mine to make fresh OJ from my navel orange tree. They a bear to keep clean though.
As long as you can dedicate counter space for them, all is good as they are a bit heavy to dig out when you want to use it.

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Forum consigliere

My grandmother had no need for a pre rinse while cooking.

There were three of us kids growing up. I got a beater, my sister got a beater and the golden child (my little brother) got the bowl and wooden spoon.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Relegated to behind the dish rack the 20 yr. old Kitchen Aid still beats up a storm.

The US Senior Open was at Oak Hill CC a number of years ago. It was sponsored by Kitchen Aid. Between the gate and the Merch Tent there was a technicolor display of mixers sitting on pedestals that had to be a hundred feet long. I'd say 30 or more colors in all. Impressive even if it was meaningless to a majority of the golf fans walking past.
My wife's new one is a powder blue, almost metallic color. I'll admit it looks great next to our weathered brick backsplash. It seems to be just as stout as her first one from the mid 80's. That one is still going strong at my son's house and will probably be still in use for their kids. Absolute beasts.

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paws for friendship

My wife loves to cook and especially bake. She does a couple of cakes a week and makes sourdough bread every week. I bought her a Kitchen Aid the year we were married and it gets more use than any other tabletop appliance in the kitchen other than the microwave. It's 32 years old now, hasn't had a single problem and runs as good as the day I bought it. I got the full package of accessories for it that attach to the front.

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It was un-American to not have a stand up mixer in the 70's.

Everyone, had to have a, "Orange Julius".

The kitchen aid is something of a Swiss army knife of the food prep world.
I make sausage with ours

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it just needs more voltage

The Kitchen Aid I had was given to me by a former boss in the early 90's. His wife had died and he was taking a load of stuff to Goodwill. I commented on the mixer in the bed of truck and he gave it top me. I don't know how old it is but my wife used it for around 25 years. So far that mixer has outlasted two of it's owners and my daughter still uses it.

The main problem with my wife's new KitchenAid mixer is as previously mentioned. It is too large and heavy to store somewhere out of sight. It has to sit out in the open on the kitchen counter.

My Kitchen Aide is at least 40 years old and still going strong

Refurbished is not a bad way to got straight from the company.

ENJOY!!

Refurbished 5.5 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer Blue Velvet RKSM55VB | KitchenAid

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I just bought a refurb Bissel hand vacuum cleaner, as the rechargeable batteries in my old one refused to take a charge and replacement batteries are unavailable. I bought it direct from Bissel for about a third less than the prices from the local stores. It arrived in a sealed factory box and could not be distinguished from new. Also it came with a full new product factory warranty. Seems to work fine so far. I have to wonder what about it was refurbed.

Just ordered direct from KitchenAid a refurbished 5 Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer in Metallic Chrome. The refurbished model was about 1/3—1/2 the price of the new models and I got an accessory kit with it too!!

Thank everyone so much for their comments and advice.

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No school like the old school.

MOST EXCELLENT!!!

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

Bummer...................

I thought this thread was going to be about "Speed Dating"!

Turns into 40-80 year old men talking about "Mixers"!!!!!
Looks like it needs its own sub forum.....
Turn in your "Man Cards" Guys...... this is so Wok!

The largest mixer I ever used.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

The only thing it's missing is the Darth Fader

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it just needs more voltage

I believe Kitchen Aid and Hobart are owned by the same company (they were years ago anyway). We have owned a few, gave the big one to a granddaughter and it's still going strong. Got one of the tilt head Artisans when we moved into the 5th wheel. It gets used at least monthly.

They really are the gold standard.

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Even older, even crankier....

People throw away Kitchen Aid mixers when they develop an electric smell. But generally they only need new brushes which can be installed from the outside.

After incessant hinting, I bought my ex a KitchenAid for her birthday. As when buying my toys, I assumed bigger is better, so I bought the bright red, industrial grade version; apparently that rule doesn't apply with countertop mixers. She couldn't overlook the massiveness of her new appliance, so she gave it to her sister.

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213th FBINA

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