KitchenAid Commercial Stand Mixer Purchased

As some of you know I have had more than my share of bad luck with the KitchenAid lift bowl stand mixers. The first KitchenAid Lift Bowl Stand Mixer I purchased was in the late 80’s at a cost of $400.00 plus all the attachments for it at another $250.00. At that time I was deep into making my own pizza, so much so that I was thinking hard about opening my own pizza restaurant. I didn’t, but now wish I would have. Anyway the first KitchenAid lift bowl stand mixer got quite a workout making a lot of pizza dough and never gave an ounce of trouble or complaining about kneading all that dough I forced it to mix and knead! And that also included the meat grinder attachment from which I made all my own sausage and the slicing attachment to slice all the mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers etc. including shredding all the mozzarella and other cheeses for toppings. This machine had its butt worked off and never complained.

Well, the original mixer never complained until I got into Prepping and Survival baking! After a couple years of milling my own grain and kneading 100% whole wheat bread it began to overheat and eventually I could not knead for more than 2 minutes before an automatic thermal shut-down stopped the mixer and I had to finish kneading the bread by hand.

It was about 2 years ago when the first KitchenAid mixer died and I bought a new KitchenAid “Professional 5” lift bowl mixer with a lot more power than the old one. It turned out to be a piece of junk, the gear box literally screamed at such a high and loud pitch there were times I had to wear shooters earmuffs if I needed to stay in the kitchen when it was milling grain. KitchenAid said that was normal!!!! However after 3 months it was getting worse and I insisted KitchenAid take it back and send me a new one. Surprisingly they did that without a complaint. Unfortunately the brand new replacement was no better and after 18 months the gear box totally failed and yes it was out of warrantee. The mixer ended up at the curb for the garbage man to toss in the back of the garbage truck! $300.00 gone!

That makes three KitchenAid mixers that failed, now what to do?

I looked very seriously at commercial stand mixers like the Hobart N-50 with a price tag of $2,500.00 it was simply out of consideration. Changing mixer brands means I’d lose all the attachments including my grain mill. Replacing all these attachments with self-powered stand alone appliances would be very expensive to say the least.

The decision I made was to try one more time with KitchenAid and purchase their top model, the “Commercial NSF” model.

Manufacturers Product Description:

The KitchenAid KSM7990WH NSF 7 qt. commercial stand mixer is ready to handle all of your jobs, large or small - up to 16 cups of flour at a time! Its powerful 500 watt, 1.3 hp DC motor is KitchenAid's longest lasting power train, featuring precise all metal gears and advanced electronic controls that communicate with the motor 15,000 times per second to ensure optimum torque, less heat buildup and smooth, quiet operation. Delivering plenty of mixing power for everything from a slow stir to a fast whip, this high efficiency motor with 10 speed slide control is perfect for use in your bakery or commercial kitchen!

A glossy white finish and all metal touch points give a professional look to any mixing station while a 7 qt. burnished stainless steel bowl with "J" style handle and flanged edges can hold enough dough for up to 8 1/2 loaves of bread at once! The unit features a professional bowl lift design to raise and secure the bowl while using any professional or commercial style KitchenAid attachment. A professional-style attachment power hub is compatible with all KitchenAid attachments for added versatility. For additional security, speed control protection reduces the risk of turning on the unit during cleaning.

The KSM7990WH NSF 7 qt. commercial stand mixer comes with an 11 wire whip, flat beater, bowl and Power Knead dough hook, all constructed of durable, dishwasher-safe stainless steel. This mixer requires a 120V connection and comes with a 48" long orange commercial power cord and NEMA 5-15P plug. The cord's bright orange color lets your health inspector see right away that this is not a residential unit. Please consult the Specification Sheet for additional details. NSF Listed.

Summary:

The mixer is expensive at $899.00 list price. Most online prices range from $699 to $650. I managed to find one online restaurant supply store and paid $546.75 with free shipping. If it truly is a commercial use machine it should outlast me.

Web store I purchased from, they will e-mail the price to you:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/kitchenaid-ksm7990wh-nsf-7-qt-commercial-stand-mixer-120v/519KSM7990.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=519KSM7990&utm_campaign=PLA&gclid=CP2qlb323rQCFQ0GnQodZyIAwQ

At this time the mixer only comes in white, they say they are going to add colors later in 2013.

The attachments are strong and all stainless steel with an interesting design of the wire whip, see the photos below.

The metal gears are truly quiet even at the highest speed setting, a giant improvement over the Professional 5 mixers.

I did a two loaf test batch of whole wheat bread. The mixer milled the grain and mixed and kneaded the dough effortlessly. No moaning and groaning.

As my luck would have it the mixer arrived with the bowl handle broken off the bowl and lying in the bottom of the box. The shipping box didn’t indicate any really rough handling. I have contacted the seller; they are contacting the factory for a replacement bowl.

I also noticed the speed control knob appears not to be screwed on all the way. I tried to tighten it but more than likely they use a thread locker on it and now I’d have to force it to screw it on further, I’m afraid I may break it so I have sent photos to KitchenAid and waiting for their response.

We are witnessing what was a strong, proud, high quality American company’s total destruction by a pack of nitwit college jerks focused on profit rather than pride and quality. KitchenAid is a prime example of why China, India, Vietnam and many other countries take our jobs away. KitchenAid no longer makes their product in the USA, they only assemble it from all the parts they purchase off-shore.

Bottom Line:

It did knead a two loaf test batch of whole wheat dough today and it quietly and powerfully kneaded it. It’s promising and we’ll see how it goes from here.

I hope it does hold up but if it fails while under the 2 year warrantee I will take the new replacement and immediately sell it then go the Hobart route.

The three attachments that comes with the mixer.

Here’s the wire whip, notice it has an oval shape and not the typical round shape. I’m looking forward to trying this new shape out.

Milling the grain and doing it very quietly at maximum speed.

Kneading the whole wheat dough with ease.

The handle broken off the spot welds.

The speed control knob that looks like it’s not screwed on all the way and can’t screw it on or off now. Waiting for a response from KitchenAid.