It's here-it's here-it's here-it's here!!!!!!! My dream come true! I FINALLY got my KitchenAid I've wanted for for-EVER, as I talk about in my Homemade Pasta post to be found here. Basically, I've wanted one since I was about eight, never thought I'd get one until I made some big bucks and would be about ten years older than I am now, but here! Here it sits in my living room! ^_^
I saved up my birthday money and with the combination of that and some money I had been saving on the side, I was able to purchase it. And the best part is it made it only a day late of my actual birthday! So....here's some info about it.
Model
I ordered the KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus in Gloss Cinnamon I believe it was (it's like a deep burnt red). This means it has a five quart bowl and it's one of the lift-up mixers, not the tilt head. I got the kind that brings the bowl up to it, which all the Pro Series ones do, because after my research, which was very extensive, I found that the lift-up mixers had metal gears inside-the tilt-head mixers had plastic. There were countless reviews of people who said after only a few years the plastic gears stripped, rendering the mixers useless. The main cause of it was if people used their mixers for heavier jobs, kneading dough or fondant for example, it was just too much strain on the plastic components. At first I tried to rationalize that I should get the tilt mixer. I mean the Pro Series didn't even have my favorite color, "aqua sky".
Come on! How awesome is that 50's-60's retro blue?! It looks like the color of the classic cars of those days!But in the end, I realized I'd better get one that works good, not just one that looks good and can do only more basic tasks, like mixing batters. Heck, I could even do that. It's the tough stuff, like kneading dough and dealing with miserably thick things as fondant that'd you'd wanna pass off to your little "kitchen helper". :) That, and also I had read over time the bowl bases, which just have a few threads to screw them into the base of the tilt-head mixers, tended to warp from the strain of bowl being pushed every which way while mixing, so some people were having to buy another bowl-at the lovely replacement cost of $60! If you're paying so much for the mixer in the first place, you don't wanna be worrying about replacing things. Ah, what a perfect way to lead into....
Price
Oh dear. The part everyone wants to read about except my husband. Just kidding. Like I said, I paid for it myself. Though, I suppose that doesn't mean he won't have a mini-stroke if he read the price. As it were, he was beyond stunned when I told him the cost of the next KitchenAid attachment on my Christmas wishlist. ;D
So, I looked high and low and found that the best deal, pretty consistently (even looking on Ebay), you could get was buying a refurbished KitchenAid through the actual KitchenAid company. Refurbished just means someone sent it back because they had an issue with it, and KitchenAid fixed it and is now sending it back out. But don't let that discourage you! I've bought plenty of things refurbished, even things like cameras and flat screen TVs, and they've worked wonderfully! How I think of it is, the first customer dealt with the one problem the item might have had in its lifetime, and now the company's fixed it and so you're in the clear! It should work dandy for you from now on! ;) So yes, I bought it refurbished, and if that wasn't saving me enough money, they were also running a free shipping promo and, thanks to me "Google"-ing before I purchased it "KitchenAid coupons", I also found a 10% off coupon code! I thought I was too lucky, no way. But, when I went to the "checkout", both the free shipping code and my 10% off code went through! This left my total, after taxes and all, at somewhere around $225. Not bad considering even on Ebay at the time the same model as mine was going for around the $300-$330 mark, not including shipping.
So, now that you've had enough info about it, here's the picture of my new kitchen beauty. I hope this post has helped you if you were on the fence about which sort of KitchenAid to buy, tilt or lift-up, or even if you were even tossing the idea around. Heck, even if you don't fall into either category, thanks for letting me show off my new culinary toy! I hope ya'll have enjoyed this post and I hope you'll keep reading my blog in the future. Well, until next post, happy cooking! :D
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