KitchenAid KP26M1XIC Professional 600 Stand Mixers, 6 quart, Ice

I bought my first KitchenAid mixer, the "Artisan" model, almost 20 years ago. It was still going strong and looking great, but I needed something bigger for my home based baking business. After researching a variety of products, I decided to stay with KitchenAid and buy the KP26 Professional 600 Series. After a holiday baking season in which I produced hundreds of cookies, cakes of all sizes and countless loaves of bread, I'm convinced that I made the right choice.There's a new feature - no matter what speed the mixer is set to, the paddle moves very slowly at first rather than jumping right up to speed. This prevents a cloud of flour or powdered sugar from popping out of the bowl and settling all over the kitchen. This might not seem like a big deal, but anything that reduces clean-up time is a plus. The pour-shield fits snugly around the top of the bowl and stays in place. It makes getting ingredients into the bowl much easier, and also keeps them in the bowl and off the counter. No more whipping cream or meringue splatters all around the mixer.I grant that the motor is noisy, but given the ease with which it handles large batches of bread dough, cake batter and decorator icings, I'm fine with it. The 6-quart bowl is huge! It is also very heavy, especially when filled with dough, but the handle is well designed and relatively easy on the hand. I have a bit of arthritis in my hands, so it's sometimes tricky for me to get heavy batters into the pans, but this is a minor issue in a product whose overall quality surpasses that of anything I've ever used.My one negative experience was with a defective starter switch. I had to tinker with it to get the mixer to come on, but I called Customer Service and got friendly, courteous service. A new mixer was sent right away, and meanwhile, I devised a method for getting the mixer to operate reliably, so all my baking was done as it should have been. The new unit arrived sooner than I expected, and worked perfectly. If it hadn't been for the excellent customer service, I'd have deducted a star from my rating, but my overall experience has been so positive that I felt that a 5-star rating was justified.If you regularly bake bread and/or make lots of big batches of other baked goods, this mixer is well worth the investment. I expect to be mixing away for years to come.Oh, and did I mention that the mixer is red and absolutely gorgeous?

EDIT after 3 months of use:I continue to really like this mixer. It's gotten a little less quiet, but is still "quiet' for a stand-mixer of this size and power. Stand-mixers in general are not quiet appliances, so expecting one which literally makes very little noise is not realistic. I am impressed by the efficiency and power of the bread hook. My ciabatta has improved greatly since switched to this machine.I do want to repeat my warning: This is not a machine you should allow children to use. If I had young children, I would not have one in my kitchen, except under lock and key. I was a kid once, so I remember trying things out even when my parents told me absolutely not to do so. The welts have long faded from the several spankings I got after I absolutely did so. In careless or unwitting hands, this is a dangerous piece of kitchen equipment. You wouldn't let your kids play with good kitchen knives or a food processor, so just add this to the list of NOT FOR KIDS.Original comments:This is in-between a commercial model and the usual stand-mixers I've used. It's not for use by children or careless teens. It's for serous cooks. There are some things about it which could present minor safety issues if you're not paying attention - such as not turning off the mixer before you lower the bowl. To repeat: the motor does not turn off when you lower the bowl. That could cause the beater to catch the splash-guard and break it. It could also splatter batter outside the bowl. However, being able to raise and lower the bowl is something that I find extremely useful, and would be disappointed if there were a switch incorporated into the stand mechanism.I broke the dough hook on my Kenmore 800 Watt 5-quart mixer, and the thing is so old now (15 years), I can't find a replacement hook for it. So I splurged on a new KitchenAid 6-quart Bowl Pro 600 model (a retail "professional" model) for about the same price I paid for the Kenmore 15 years ago. So far, it's been a pleasure. Everything has small tolerances, so that the beater and Whisk come close to the bowl. The bread-hook is exactly like the ones I've seen on commercial models. The mixer is relatively quiet compared to the Kenmore. (As it aged, I started wearing ear-plugs when using it. If I keep it, I will look for new gears to install in it.)The KitchenAid has a slow-start protocol built in, so that when you turn it on (by advancing the speed lever - there is no on/off switch) it doesn't sent a puff of flour in the air or splash liquid out (unless you go immediately to high). The Kenmore I had apparently was engineer with a fast-start; I resorted to starting the Kenmore with the beaters up and then lowering them into the bowl when the mixer had gone to it's appropriate speed. Still, if I had a lot of flour in the bowl of the KitchenAid, I'd start with the bowl lowered, and slowly ight the bowl to reduce splatter, etc.I like it because it's the closest I've seen to a real commercial mixer. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it is used in commercial kitchens for smaller jobs. I have just begun to use it, so I don't know how it will wear. If it develops problems from early wear, I'll be back to report on them.

Came a couple days late, but less than a week. All the pieces were there and packaged nicely. My wife gave it a good workout and she was happy. She's happy, I'm happy. That's all that needs to be said.

The flat beater paint is coming out and mixing with the batter, which is really harmful. Within 10 days paint coming out with this product

I use mine for bread and donut recipes. Love that I could get it in pink too lol

Esta es una batidora profesional, es potente y de gran calidad. Muy estética y lucidora. No sirve como reemplao de una Hobart de panadería pero si que sirve para hacer volúmenes un poco más contenidos.La calidad del equipo es de primera, sin problemas aquí. El motor es muy potente y tiene buen torque. La batidora es pesada y bastante sólida. Los acabados son muy buenos. Incluye 3 accesorios de metal; batidora de huevo, gancho batodor de masas y otro gancho tipo "flat beater".No se si vaya a ser muy durable, pero lo que si puedo decir es todavía existen en la familia batidoras Kitchen Aid de 20 años y siguen dando batalla.Importante: esta batidora no tiene cabeza pivotante, es decir; la cabeza es fija y no se levanta. En lugar de eso, uno tiene que quitar el bowl haciendo un par de malabares. Esto es importante porque algunas personas prefieren que la cabeza sea la que se levante y las aspas queden en el aire. Esto es para dar mayor eficiencia en los batidos.+ME GUSTA+ Color muy estético (la mía es la roja quemada)+Pesada y sólida+Excelente calidad+Motor profesional con gran torque+Accesorios de metal+Buen precio en Amazon+Variedad de velocidades+Muchos accesorios que se venden por separado-A MEJORAR- Un poco ruidosa- Cabezal no se levanta (modelos pro)Puedo decir son lugar a dudas que esta batidora es 100% recomendable.Gracias por leer mi reseña.

Work excellent