Attachment Pack 1 with Food Grinder, Fruit & Vegetable Strainer, and Rotor Slicer & Shredder

Don't listen to any negative reviews because the Meat Grinder works awesome!I decided to make my own burgers. I buy rib-eye steak, cut out the inner fat that runs along the inside of the lip, leave just enough fat on the ends for moisture and flavor, grind, make my burger patties and grill. I noticed grinding burger meat at home also stays fresh. I put the meat in a stainless steel bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and it keeps for many days without spoiling and has never yet turned brown or even started to discolor.It grinds my meat at normal fridge temperature and I've not had to freeze my meat.When I'm done making burger meat, the last thing I put through is a large piece of fat so pure fat coats the blades so it does not rust (I catch this ground fat coming out with a napkin) because I never wash it right away and it usually sits for a few hours until I do the dishes.It's easy to take apart and wash, dry, then put away and it should not rust.And I've not had any metal chips or flakes in my meat, no problems like that.I cut my pieces small 1" wide, 1" thick, 2" long, use the end of a wooden spoon to push the meat down the tube.I run the mixer on 4 or 5, which is faster than the recommended speed.The veggie slicer I use for potatoes to make thin fried potatoes.It is a bit odd the way it works and spits out the slices, but they do come out better than cutting them thinly myself.However upon use you must wash and thoroughly dry instantly. I did not dry instantly and I have small rust-like discolorations.Did not use juicer or other features yet.

My husband purchased these in 2000 to go with my KitchenAid mixer-I'm one of those gals who loves getting appliances for gifts! I use the food grinder & slicer/shredder at least once a week. I slice cucumbers, potatoes to make scalloped potatoes with cheese, & apples for pies. The shredder works great for cheeses(the finer one for parmesan & the coarser for cheddar), as well as cabbage & carrots for coleslaw & salads & poatoes for hash browns. I use the grinder for bread crumbs & meats. The grinder works well for smaller projects but since my husband is a hunter we also have a bigger one with a stronger motor to grind up all the deer meat. I'm afraid it would burn out the motor in my mixer to use for so much meat. It's been 16 years & they still work well but the plastic part that surrounds the metal shaft (which is how it attaches to the mixer) is beginning to split. I'd say they're well built to hold up for 16 years with a lot of use. I'd highly recommend these attachments. I can't review the fruit/vegetable strainer because I've never used it.

For this particular pack of three kitchenaid attachments, I would recommend that you pay particularly close attention to exactly what sorts of things you like to cook, before investing in a very large package of plastic gadgets that may just collect dust. If you won't use all three, don't buy this packaged deal - buy the ones you'll use individually. I'll review my recommendations on which might work for what sort of cook:The meat grinder - the most elusive of the three attachments, you really want to think long and hard about whether you'll use this before you buy it. If you're country folk and regularly grind hunting meat, read the other reviews on how well (or not well) this works. But if you're city folk like me, the only reason you need this is if you are extremely particular about your food and don't trust ground beef, or want to make sure that you are getting the highest quality ground beef. Because you can then buy an expensive steak and turn it into ground beef. Personally, this is WAY too much work, I try to avoid cooking with beef too much anyways, and I really don't care that much about the quality of ground beef I buy...at least not enough to pay much more money and spend much more time to create something that goes into taco meat or a casserole. But that's (really) just me. If you already grind meat, or would be interested in taking the time to do the above things, then definitely you will get some good use out of this attachment. And I have to admit, sometimes I do even have fun with it.The slicer/shredder - this one is debatable. On one hand, this is WAY too much of a hassle to take out just to slice/shred a small amount of food. Allow me to illustrate if you need to shred 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Option 1 - you don't buy the slicer/shredder. You reach into the cabinet, grab your dime store shredder, place it over a cutting board, and start shredding by hand. Time to complete task: 90 seconds. Option 2 - you buy the slicer/shredder, thus feeling obligated to use it. You take the mixer cover off your mixer. Unattach the knob on the front. Take out your manual and remember how to attach it. Attach the 5 parts together or whatever it is. Take out a knife and sharpen it, take out your cutting board, and slice the cheese into smaller blocks. Turn on the mixer. Feed the pieces of cheese through the mixer. Time to complete task: 3-5 minutes depending on how often you've done this. Clean-up: A LOT MORE. HOWEVER, if you have a large family or love to entertain, this is AWESOME. When you suddenly have 5-10 times as much to shred, especially tough things like carrots, mushrooms, or stuff that would take forever to get through 10 cups of, then suddenly 3-5 minutes is heaven. And the clean-up...is so worth it. It also works well for odd jobs like shredding hard squash into potato chip sized slices with ease (I had to do that for soup today). So think about what you'd actually use this for, and then decide.The strainer - this one is also debatable. I use it to make soups, and it separates out the solids, which most recipes don't account for. I use the Mixer Bible to get the most out of my attachments, and they almost always use the strainer for soups. I suspect you don't need it. Technically I'm pretty sure that a food processor or blender is better. Some people like it for applesauce. Actually, it is pretty good for that. Maybe it's good for baby food?I'm still trying to get more comfortable with these attachments (hoping I'll then use them more) by working my way through "The Mixer Bible" book, though I've had better cookbooks.I probably wouldn't have bought these attachments in retrospect (LOVE the ice-cream maker and pasta makers (the metal ones) as they have changed my LIFE as the food is SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!), but it depends - as in everything - on your tastes and what you cook most often.