Appliance Reviews

I bought it because: 1) I have been making bread by hand for several years and am finding it a bit tedious, but am not too keen on bread machines as they can only do one loaf at a time; 2) I periodically make grapefruit marmalade, and cutting up the grapefruit peels is very tedious work that can make your fingers sting (or you can cut yourself); 3) I hate slicing onions as it moves me to tears; 4) a lot of recipes suggest the use of a food processor to slice things quickly.

After some research, this one looked like the one to get. But don't be deceived by the 'Pro' tag on the name, because this thing is way too small to have much professional use.

The first thing I found out is that although this machine is the 11-cup size, it can't really handle more than about 3-4 cups of anything. For example with bread, the largest amount of bread dough it can handle is about 3 1/2 cups, which means you can just about make 1 large loaf. However, it blends the dough very, very quickly once you have figured out the correct proportions of water, so it does not take too long to make 2 loaves one after another, once you have done the measuring etc.

On the marmalade, the machine does a wonderful job of juicing citrus fruit, and is pretty good at chopping up the grapefruit rind, once you figure out which blade to use. Then again, you have to chop the grapefruit by hand into quarters before you can feed it in, and after two grapefruit the work bowl is full, so you have to empty it before you continue. (Makes you wonder about the 'Pro').

It does a great job of slicing onions. Again you and your knife quarter the onions and the Kitchen Aid does the rest. I have found it does help me approach new recipes, for example today I made a squash casserole (more of a souffle, really), and it did a great job of slicing the squash and then blending the other ingredients (with the dough blade).

Yesterday I made a chocolate cheesecake. The machine didn't do such a great job of breaking cookies into crumbs for the base, needing a bit of help from fingers, and I rather think that the old freezer bag and a few whacks with the rolling pin trick is more effective. But it did a wonderful job of blending the ingredients for the filling, which can be tedious by hand, and although I haven't done it yet, I can see it will be great for making pastry and mixing cakes.

So there you have it. Whether it is good for you or not will depend a great deal on what kind of cooking you do. In any case, this is just a power tool with attachments that you may or may not be able to incorporate into your culinary style. There is definitely a learning curve, but if you are a persistent kind of a person, you will probably be able to do some things quicker and some things better with it.

If you want something to peel potatoes or tomatoes, though, you will need a spouse, a lover, or an obedient child.

1. Overall quality combined with powerful, yet extremely quiet motor. Slicing and shredding is precise and so efficient. I made ratatouille for Christmas, and it took under one minute to slice zucchinis, eggplants, bell peppers, and onions for ten people. The machine is so powerful that you will rarely use the "on" button. Almost everything can be processed with a maximum of 5 "pulses." Grinding meat is a pleasure too. I now grind my own beef and pork, making alot of dishes lighter tasting.

2. Easy to use once you get the hang of it. Being new to food processing, even I was able to fully utilize the processor quickly. The construction is so logical, and the manual explains everything. I leave mine on the counter, and use it daily. It helps that the machine is sleek and beautiful. You won't mind looking at it.

3. Really safe- the motor does not turn on unless everything is aligned the right way.

4. Two-sized feed tube- this feature is what prompted me to get the 670 specifically. The other 11-cup Kitchenaid has only one size feed tube. This has a 3 inch opening and a 1.5 inch opening. If you do any amount of stir-frying, you will be grateful for this feature because it feeds virtually any amount and configuration of vegetables onto the disc to ensure precise cutting.

5. Three bowls- 11 cup, 9 cup, and 3 cup really helps when you need it- during big dinners when you don't have time to clean up between jobs. The 3 cup bowl is really useful for making all kinds of marinades involving herbs and spices.

6. Excellent customer service. I called with a question about usage, and the Kitchenaid people really are helpful and have a great attitude.

7. Minimal liquid spillage. Although food processors tend to leak when the mixture contains too much liquid, this one contains most everything I've thrown at it.

8. Easy to clean. There are no crevices for the food to get stuck in. It takes one drop of detergent, and a little whirling of water to get the bowls spic and span.

The only con for me is that I like it so much I will have to buy all the other accessories that go with the machine. I found even the thickest slicing disc too thin for cutting vegetables salad-size, so plan to buy the 5-piece set if you buy the processor.

The first thing I made was a loaf of regular honey white bread. It took three minutes to knock out a great dough using the dough hook. The bowl and hook are not hard to clean. From there, the dough rose in a pottery bowl and was dumped into a loaf pan. While this is not quite as easy as the dump-and-go method in a bread machine, it is simple enough. (We don't use the bread machine overnight for the "wake-up-to-bread" method as the thumping on the counter wakes us up. If you like unattended breadmaking, the KitchenAid won't be as care-free.)

Then I made mashed potatoes. I peeled potatoes, microwaved the slices in water, then dumped them into the KitchenAid bowl with the paddle attachment. Added butter, milk, salt. They came out great.

There are a number of attachments that go right on the front. Since we like homemade bread from home-ground flour, we got the grain mill. We also make our own Italian sausage, and there is a grinder set with a slicer, and sausage-stuffer tubes. So all you need is this one device on the counter to do a lot of things for baking and cooking. There are a lot of attractive colors to choose from, but we got the white one as it goes with any kitchen. We just love it.

This is the one kitchen appliance I own that I look forward to using every time. If every kitchen appliance was built like this mixer, a toaster would weigh 48 pounds, and a refrigerator would weigh 3000 pounds. This thing is built like a tank!

I own a lot of shop tools that aren't built as heavily as this mixer!

But, "heavy" is useless if the motor's not powerful. This machine has plenty of power. I like to whip up mashed potatoes in it... it makes the best creamed potatoes ever, and it makes the whole process easier -- no more instant potatoes!

When I bought it, I thought I'd use it occasionally. I don't cook every day, but I still use this mixer at least once a week. That's way more than I use any other countertop appliance I've got, and it comes from the fact that the thing simply does what it's supposed to do and it does it very well.

Cleanup is easy too. Just a bowl and a beater... the same as if you'd used a whisk.

Plus... and here's the macho part... when you hit that power lever it's like shifting your mixer into gear! The beaters began to swirl... rounding the first turn and heading into the second at breakneck speed! Whew! Too much excitement for this ol' country boy!

Back to reality... Get one! You'll be glad you did!

While I don't haul it out as often as I used to, it's great knowing it's there when I feel like making a ton of cookie dough or mixing up a fabulous cheesecake. My Christmas cookies are a family recipe for "kolachkis" (Polish ?) that use 2 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of butter, and 2 pounds of cream cheese for the dough. There would be no way I'd ever make them without this wonderful ol' beast! It can also grind the walnuts for the filling, and be ready to move on to the pumkin pie filling.

You'll never regret your purchase if you invest in a KitchenAid stand mixer!

On another note: I purchased this through a Gold Box offer. I had trouble with the Gold Box and the price would not show correctly. Amazon was FANTASTIC about getting me my credit and making sure I was happy.

Thanks so much for a great product at a great price.

This is the perfect thing for pizza lovers! We love not having to wait for the oven to heat up, and to be able to cook a pizza in about 12 mins is great when you are busy. This even works well with the DiGornos, and other rising crust pizzas that never really cook all the way in the oven.

We hope that we will get another one when ours does finally kick the bucket, but it's been 2 years so far, and we haven't had to replace or repair it. This is high quality. Just be careful when you clean the tray, don't use anything abrasive or you will peel off the non-stick part, but this is something most of you already know from working with Teflon pots and pans.

Get one, you'll love it!

The widest setting on the roller works to knead/roll the dough until its pliable enough to continue. Its amazing how such flaky dough can become so evenly mixed with minimal effort. From this point, its just a few more settings until you've got angel-hair thin dough. It is important to use the cutter before the ends of your dough dry out, lest they will clog the cutter.

Pasta is my favorite food, and this contraption makes it possible to make my own healthy, delicious pasta recipes at home, quickly!

Basically what I am trying to say is that this product is by far the best. Don't hesitate in buying this product it is worth the money.

I usually fill the infusion cup w/hot water, and the meats are more tender. It doesn't really "infuse" much flavor from it, but that's what seasonings are for.

I'm now looking for another GF item to buy!

I decided to replace it with Capresso 1000. It produced horrible weak espresso. I used the same bag of beans that worked with my old machine. After experimenting with other beans, all possible settings of the grinder I could not manage to get acceptable coffee.

I called Capresso service center. After a number of experiments they asked for the machine to be shipped to them. It came back (they must have looked at it as the box was opened and resealed. However, no improvement in the taste of coffee. I am planning to throw out this 2-month old machine and look for another one.

I have no explanation, perhaps the tamping is not as strong, letting the water go through the coffee without extraction. I am not a coffee machine technician. Of course I know how to use it as it is essentially the same as my old machine but has the Claris filter. And as I wrote above the old machine produced terrific espresso but the new one produces undrinkable espresso.

Also this machine has less features than the gaggia compact, yet the compact is sold at 600 bucks, which is much less money than this machine.

Overall, it isn't a bad machine, but isn't great either. Remember, super automatics only last for 5-7 years depending on care and usage, so if you are going to invest in a capresso, this is probably the way to go.

Finally, I am not totally sure if the Frothe Express fits on this machine (it most likely does), but assuming it does, get the Froth Express for it will greatly increase your convenience factor of the machine and this can be done for only 80 bucks.

In conclusion
Too big
okay espresso
nice features
TOO EXPENISIVE